Spun Box: set up with Spun Router Setup

Scenario: You want your WhatsApp connection to run from a Spun Box, a small router at home, instead of a computer that has to stay on. You use a Windows or Mac computer once, for a few minutes: the Spun Router Setup program installs Spun on the box for your account. After that the computer can be switched off.

This option is being rolled out. If you do not see Download for Windows or Download for Mac in the Router box section of your Self Proxy card, it is not available on your account yet. No computer at hand? See Spun Box: install with a package, which works from a phone browser. For the computer version of Self Proxy, see Self Proxy.

What you need

• A GL.iNet Beryl AX router (model GL-MT3000).
• An account manager's Spun login.
• A Windows or Mac computer for the few minutes of setup.

Before you start: set up the router (about 2 minutes)

These steps belong to the router, not to Spun.

1. Plug it in, with a cable if you can. Connect the power cable. If your internet router is nearby, connect the included network cable from the Beryl's WAN port to any free port on your internet router. This is the most reliable setup.
2. First-time router setup. On your computer, join the Wi-Fi network printed on the bottom of the Beryl (its name starts with GL-MT3000, the password is on the label). Open 192.168.8.1 in a browser, choose your language and set an admin password. Write the password down: Spun Router Setup asks for it.
3. No cable? Use Repeater. If you could not connect a cable in step 1, open Internet on the router page, then Repeater, pick your home Wi-Fi from the list and enter its password. Wait until the page shows Connected.

Set it up

1. Get the program from Spun. In Spun, go to Settings → WhatsApp → Health and find the Self Proxy card. In the Router box section, click Download for Windows or Download for Mac. The file is named SpunRouterSetup followed by a code, and is made for your account, so there is nothing to type. Do not rename it: the program reads your account's code from the file name. The code expires, so download a fresh copy whenever you set up a box.

2. Connect the computer to the box. Join the Beryl's own Wi-Fi (the GL-MT3000 network), or plug a cable from the computer into the Beryl's LAN port.

3. Open the downloaded file.

   • Windows: double-click the .exe. Windows asks whether to run a program from Spun Life LLC. Confirm it.
   • Mac: double-click the .pkg and follow the installer. When it finishes, Spun Router Setup starts by itself.

   The program opens its own page in your browser. It runs only on your computer and talks only to your router and to Spun.

4. Type the router password. Spun Router Setup finds your Beryl. Type the router admin password from the router setup above and click Connect router to Spun. The password goes only to your router, over your local network. It is never sent to Spun and never saved. If you changed the router's address yourself, type it in Router address (only if you changed it).

   The program shows each step as it goes: Checking your download, Finding the router, Signing in to the router, Checking the router model, Installing Spun on the router, Waiting for Spun to confirm.

5. Wait for Connected. The program shows Connected only once Spun has confirmed the box: it is under your account, its first check-in arrived and a proxy test passed. It shows the box's name and your account. Close the program. The Beryl keeps working on its own, so your computer can be switched off.

The box then appears on your Self Proxy card. Like any new Self Proxy, it carries no WhatsApp traffic until a manager presses Activate there, which you should do once the box is plugged in at its final place.

If something goes wrong

Spun Router Setup says what went wrong in one sentence. Fix it and click Try again.

The program says	What to do
No router was found.	Connect the computer to the Beryl's own Wi-Fi, or plug a cable into the Beryl's LAN port, then click Try again.
The router did not accept that password.	Type the admin password you chose in the router setup. If you forgot it, reset the router with the pin hole and do the router setup again.
This download has expired or is not valid.	Download Spun Router Setup again in Spun and open the new file. A renamed file also shows this.
This router reports model ... with firmware ...	Spun Router Setup supports only the GL.iNet Beryl AX (GL-MT3000) with firmware 4.8.1 or 4.11.0. Nothing was changed on the router.
This computer cannot reach Spun right now.	Check the computer's internet connection, then click Try again.
Another Spun Router Setup is working on this router right now.	Wait for the other one to finish, then click Try again.
The connection to the router was lost.	Reconnect to the router and click Try again. Setup continues from where it stopped.
The router's identity changed during setup.	Setup stopped to keep your password safe. Restart the router and run setup again.

Installed, not connected yet

If the program says Spun is installed but the router has not connected to Spun yet, it lists the usual reasons:

• The router has no internet. Check its WAN cable or its Repeater connection.
• The download expired. Download Spun Router Setup again in Spun and run it.
• The router belongs to another Spun account. Run setup again and choose Move.

Running setup again is always safe: it repairs the install and never creates a second connection.

Run it again on a box that is already set up

Spun Router Setup first reads what is on the router and offers only what fits:

• Spun is not on this router yet: Connect router to Spun.
• This router is already connected to your account: Repair reinstalls Spun and keeps the same box, or Remove.
• An earlier setup on this router did not finish: Finish setup, or Remove.
• This router is connected to another Spun account: Move, see below, or Remove.

Move a box from another account

Sign in to the account that should own the box from now on, download a new Spun Router Setup and run it. It says the box is connected to another Spun account and offers Move to your account. Before anything changes it asks you to confirm: the other account loses the box right away, and its WhatsApp numbers stop using it. On confirm, the box connects to your account and the old account's access is cancelled, even if the box was offline. Only move a box you own, or with the other account's agreement.

Remove Spun from the box

Run Spun Router Setup once more and choose Remove Spun and erase account data, then confirm. Spun is removed and its account data on the router is erased. The router keeps working as a normal GL.iNet router. Resetting the router with the pin hole does the same.

Later

• You moved house or changed your Wi-Fi: change it in the router's own page: 192.168.8.1, Internet, Repeater, pick the new Wi-Fi. Spun needs nothing.
• The router updates its own software: allowed, with "Keep settings" on. If the box stops showing Connected in Spun afterwards, run Spun Router Setup once more to repair it.
• You pressed the pin-hole reset: do the router setup again and run Spun Router Setup. Spun recognizes the box and puts it back under your account as the same box.

Related

• Spun Box: install with a package - the same box with no computer, from any browser
• Self Proxy