AirGradient Forum

Great Device, but the Non-Dashboard Setup Is Really Confusing

#1

First off, the product is great — thank you for making air monitoring so accessible. But the setup for people who only want local HTTP access (and not the cloud dashboard) was very confusing.

Here are the main issues I ran into:

  1. No basic documentation upfront.** I couldn’t find explanations for readings like CO₂ or PM2.5 until I made an account and paired the device. This info should be available to everyone.
  2. Cloud-off option doesn’t work.** Even if you choose “no cloud,” the device still connects to the server on firmware 3.1.21.
  3. Local settings unclear.** I couldn’t find any way to change LED settings, PM2.5 correction, or other options without the dashboard.
  4. Auto-update without asking.** As soon as I connected to the dashboard, the device updated to a version not listed in the changelog, which was alarming.
  5. HTTP routes barely documented.** I eventually found /measures/current in the changelog, but nothing else. It makes me wonder what other routes exist.

Overall, the hardware and software are great, but the local-only experience feels unfinished. A little documentation would go a long way. Thanks!

#2

Hi there, and thanks for the detailed feedback!

We’re already building a knowledge base that will become a full public documentation hub. The goal is exactly what you’re asking for: clear, complete documentation for every product, including local-only setup, all available HTTP endpoints, LED and correction settings, and firmware behaviour. It’s a lot to pull together, so it will take some time, but this gap is fully on our radar.

On the cloud-off behaviour: I’ll let @Samuel_AirGradient comment on the details since he’s the one closest to that part of the stack.

Thanks again for calling this out and improving the overall setup and local-only experience is something we know we need to do better.