What is Servicing access?

Starting with the BM40 generation of Boat Monitor devices, it is possible to fully test device installation using the Sentinel Marine solutions app without activating the subscription plan. This allows you to test wired sensors, pair wireless sensors (e.g. Hub), configure CZone and NMEA sensors.

 

Servicing access is officially supported on Android version of Sentinel app. iOS version is functional even though it is still in testing phase. With right permissions in place the user is prompted to pair the Bluetooth device with the mobile phone running the Sentinel app. Pairing prompts might depend on the version of Android or iOS operating system. If you have Android 12 phone 3 additional steps are needed to enable Nearby devices permissions.


Prerequisites:

- Android or iOS phone with latest version of Sentinel Marine solutions mobile app 

- minimum a Boat Monitor BM40 device (devices shipped after April 1st 2019 fully support this functionality with an updated firmware)


Note: 

This functionality is currently only available to whitelisted users. If you require this functionality please contact support@sentinelmarine.net with the email you use to login to the Sentinel apps.


Activating Servicing access mode:

Note. Servicing access only works if the device has no connection via internal SIM card. If the device is connected internally, offline mode will not be established. 


1) Open the Sentinel App (and log-in with your account).

2) Open your boat. 

3) On iOS a red dot appears in the upper right corner of the screen. As soon as the dot turns green, servicing access is connected. 

3) On Android there are several pairing steps required first time you are connecting to the device. A screen similar to the screen below will pop up.


4) If Location and Bluetooth are disabled, you will be prompted to turn them on.

 



5) Now, the phone should be connecting to Boat Monitor. When prompt box appears, click "Pair".

    Please note that this pairing confirmation will only appear first time when connect

6) If you click "Cancel" by accident, or if you do not click anything for a while, the prompt box might disappear, resulting in phone trying to repeatedly connect to the device, but it will unsuccessful every time. To stop this, completely close the app and turn off Bluetooth and start from Step 1.


7) Once connected, a green dot will be displayed in top right corner.



Additional steps for Android 12

4) Open the Android Settings and navigate to the Sentinel app settings


5) Tap on Permissions


6) Tap on "Nearby devices" and make sure that is allowed.


7) Also, you might need to have the "Location" permission allowed (we don't check your phone Location, but this permission was needed on Android 11 and older for accessing Bluetooth devices nearby).


8) Restart the app


Problems establishing Servicing access (offline mode)


If Service mode cannot be established, here are several things you can check:

  1. Make sure your phone / tablet has a reliable connection to the internet
  2. Make sure that Sentinel App has Bluetooth and location permissions
  3. Make sure you have Bluetooth enabled
  4. Make sure the device is running (LED are blinking) and that the phone is in proximity of the device
  5. Restart sentinel app
  6. Restart your phone


Advanced troubleshooting (Older Android versions only, applicable for cases where many different devices were connected to the phone in the past):

6. Android phones limit the number of paired devices. This limit is usually 100 devices, but sometimes lower. Each device that you test is added to the list of paired Bluetooth devices. When this list is full, you cannot add more devices, so you have to delete the old ones. Go to Connections/Bluetooth in your Android settings and Forget/Unpair old Boat monitor devices.