Connect Your Yard Monitor

Background: What is the Yard Monitor, and what does it do?

Wait, what does the Yard Monitor do, again?

Think of the Yard Monitor as your way of knowing what's going on with your dog when you're not around it. The Yard Monitor relays information from the collar, through the internet, to your phone.

What type of information does the Yard Monitor relay?

The Yard Monitor relays updates to your dog's location, for one, but also boundary and battery notifications, like if your dog is testing its boundaries, or if your collar battery is low. It does this all the time so that when you're not near your collar you get updates in your app. You don't need the Yard Monitor for your collar to contain your dog -- the Yard Monitor is just for your information. It's just one  part (the main part) of SkyShepherd's overall 'Yard Monitoring' information relay system.

But Isn't that what Bluetooth does? 

Yes, and no. Bluetooth connection gives you the same information, but Bluetooth is mainly for directly controlling your collar (activating a boundary, changing feedback settings, updating firmware, etc.), and for using Training Mode. Also, Bluetooth connection range is only around 33 ft. The Yard Monitor can hear your collar out to about a half-mile, in excellent conditions, so it's a good tool for yard monitoring when you and your phone are not near your dog.

Do I need to be within a half mile of the Yard Monitor for it to work?

No. It's your collar that must be within a half mile of the Yard Monitor. That's so the Yard Monitor is able to receive the messages your collar is sending out. You can be anywhere in the world that your phone has an internet connection. And remember again, the Yard Monitor is just for your information, it is not a component of SkyShepherd's containment technology. You do not need the Yard Monitor working to contain your dog. 

Do I need the Yard Monitor to contain my dog?

No. The Yard Monitor only relays information it gets from your collar. The Yard Monitor sends the information from the collar to your phone via the internet so that you can can see the updates in your SkyShepherd mobile app. The Yard Monitor constantly listens for and relays information from one or more collars, but you mostly notice this when you're not around your collar, not connect to Bluetooth.

So, do I need Bluetooth to contain my dog?

No. You only need a Bluetooth connection to activate a boundary on your collar, but after that, the GPS collar unit contains your dog on its own (after you've trained your dog on the collar, of course).

What if I don't connect my Yard Monitor to the internet, or maybe I don't have Wi-Fi where I'm at?

That's totally fine. You can still activate a boundary on your SkyShepherd collar to contain your dog. You just won't see the collar's position update on the map in the SkyShepherd app (if you're not connected over Bluetooth), and you won't get any boundary or battery notifications.

Procedure: How to connect the Yard Monitor to Wi-Fi

Ok, so how do I connect my Yard Monitor to Wi-Fi so I can get updates when I'm not around my dog?

Reminder - your collar is always sending out location updates and notifications in hopes that your Yard Monitor can hear them and pass them along over the internet. So, to get those messages from your Yard Monitor to your phone, your Yard Monitor needs an internet connection. That's where your Wi-Fi network comes in (or any Wi-Fi network that you trust). To connect your SkyShepherd Yard Monitor to the internet, you’ll need to use the SkyShepherd mobile app. 

Connecting Your Yard Monitor:

To connect your Yard Monitor to a Wi-Fi network:

1. Go to the bottom corner of your SkyShepherd mobile app, and tap the gear icon.
   
   
   
2. Tap on, "Yard Monitor Setup"
3. Now select the Yard Monitor that you want to connect to the internet. If you only have one, you'll only see one listed.
   
   
4. Tap "Setup WiFi"
   
   
5. Select the Network you want the Yard Monitor to connect to
   
   
6. Enter the password for that network, and tap "Connect"
   • The process may take a minute or two
   • If you see a spinner that seems to take forever, close the app, open it, and go back through steps 1 through 3 - you'll probably see the Yard Monitor successfully connected to Wi-Fi. If not, just try again.
     
     
7. If you're successful, you will see a green light on the physical Yard Monitor itself. Also, in the app, the Yard Monitor's "Network" will list the network it is connected to and its "Wi-Fi- Status" will be shown as "Connected."
   
   

Yard Monitor LED Color Code

When your Yard Monitor is not connected to a network at all, the LED will show red:

When your Yard Monitor is connected to a Wi-Fi network, and communication is flowing to the SkyShepherd cloud, the LED will show green (green is good. that's what you want to see):

If your Yard Monitor is connected to a Wi-Fi network, but there is a problem with the communication through the network for some reason (like if your network has lost internet, or there's a break in communication with the SkyShepherd cloud), then the LED will show Orange. The best thing you can do is to check your Wi-Fi network's connection to the internet, and if necessary, go through the steps above to connect to your network again. 

Any time you are connected to your Yard Monitor via Bluetooth (this happens after you select it from the Yard Monitor select menu in Step 3 above), you'll see a blue LED on the gateway. When you disconnect from the Yard Monitor by backing out of the menus all the way to the Yard Monitor select screen, the LED should indicate green if connected, and red or orange as appropriate if not connected.