Note

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Public Network Management Routine Explanation

Routine Location

• Development board firmware path: /sdcard/examples/14-Socket/network_manager.py

• SDK source path: src/canmv/resources/examples/14-Socket/network_manager.py

The public library itself resides at /sdcard/libs/Network.py, corresponding to the SDK source src/canmv/resources/libs/Network.py.

Routine Purpose

This routine demonstrates the complete basic workflow of libs.Network.NetworkManager: viewing registered NICs, selecting a network type, establishing a connection, displaying interface status, and querying the current default uplink. The manager stores interface objects, so HTTP, WebSocket, or media components within the same application can reuse the same connection.

Configuration Parameters

NETWORK_TYPE = "wifi_sta"
WLAN_DEVICE = "auto"
WIFI_SSID = "TEST"
WIFI_PASSWORD = "12345678"
NETWORK_TIMEOUT = 20

Configuration	Example Value	Purpose
NETWORK_TYPE	"wifi_sta"	Choose default, lan, wifi_sta, or wifi_ap
WLAN_DEVICE	"auto"	Auto-select Wi-Fi; can also be fixed to USB, SDIO, or SPI
WIFI_SSID	"TEST"	SSID used for STA connection or AP creation
WIFI_PASSWORD	"12345678"	Wi-Fi password
NETWORK_TIMEOUT	20	Wait up to 20 seconds to obtain a valid address

"default" only reuses the default/auto interface that is already connected to the network; it will not actively connect to a new Wi-Fi. If the device is not yet connected to the network, you should explicitly choose "lan" or "wifi_sta".

Code Flow

Create the Manager

manager = NetworkManager(
    network_type=NETWORK_TYPE,
    ssid=WIFI_SSID,
    password=WIFI_PASSWORD,
    wlan_device=WLAN_DEVICE,
    timeout=NETWORK_TIMEOUT,
    show=False,
)

The constructor only saves the configuration and does not connect immediately. show=False means that information will not be repeatedly printed during the connection process; the routine later explicitly calls show_devices() and show_info().

View Dynamically Registered Devices

manager.show_devices()

This call prints the complete device list returned by network.get_dev_list(), along with the current default device. Device names are dynamically assigned by the driver, and the application should not assume that names remain fixed based on hardware type.

Connect and Wait for IP

netif, ip = manager.connect()

The behavior for different NETWORK_TYPE values is as follows:

• lan: obtain the LAN object, start DHCP if necessary, then wait for a valid IP;

• wifi_sta: select the WLAN device, connect to the SSID, then wait for successful association and a valid IP;

• wifi_ap: create a hotspot and wait for the AP address, without setting the AP as the default uplink;

• default: find an interface that is already connected and has a valid IP.

After the LAN and Wi-Fi STA connections succeed, the manager sets the interface as the preferred default uplink. When the interface becomes invalid, the system can still automatically switch to other ready uplink interfaces.

View Results

manager.show_info()
print("Network ready:", ip)
print("Default network device:", get_default_device() or "auto")

show_info() prints the device name, activation status, connection status, IP configuration, and MAC address. The returned netif is the actual network.LAN or network.WLAN object, which can be passed directly to other modules.

Interface Reuse

The manager saves the netif and ip. When manager.connect() is called again, if the original interface is still connected and has a valid address, the same object is returned directly. If called again after the network is disconnected, the recovery process is executed.

netif, ip = manager.connect()
# Pass the same netif to multiple components of the application
netif, ip = manager.connect()  # Will not create a second interface if still available

manager.disconnect() is used to stop Wi-Fi and, by default, clears the manual preferred device and restores automatic route selection. LAN will not be hardware-disabled by calling disconnect().

Running and Verification

1. Open /sdcard/examples/14-Socket/network_manager.py in CanMV IDE.

2. Modify the network type and Wi-Fi credentials.

3. Run the script and check whether the target interface appears in Network devices.

4. Confirm that Network ready is not 0.0.0.0.

5. For LAN/Wi-Fi STA, confirm that Default network device matches the selected interface.

If network address timeout occurs, check the network cable or Wi-Fi credentials, DHCP service, and whether WLAN_DEVICE selects an actually existing device in order.

For the complete interface description, see the network module API manual.