In order for your sign to receive a new playlist or other instructions, it must be turned on and connected to the internet. If the sign hasn’t communicated with our servers in a while, an Offline indicator will appear next to it. If this happens, don’t worry! Your sign is capable of showing the existing playlist, including all scheduled slides, without an internet connection. As long as there’s power at the sign, most likely your current message is continuing to play.
If you are attempting to connect your sign for the first time, please see our separate tutorial on New Sign Setup. For established signs, the most common reason that a sign is offline is that the internet service is down. This is often a temporary issue that will resolve itself in minutes or hours. If your sign uses the organization’s internet connection to communicate, make sure that the internet service is working at the sign’s location. Try connecting to the internet with a computer or other device while it’s using the same internet service. If you cannot connect to any websites, contact your organization’s Internet Service Provider to resolve the issue.
If internet access is available, the next step is to check the sign and all communication devices. As with any electronic device, we recommend first turning the sign off and back on using the circuit breakers or other provided electrical switch. This may correct any temporary issues that the sign software is experiencing. If you use any equipment such as a wireless radio or router between the sign and your internet connection, make sure that they are powered on and have an indicator light showing a network connection. These lights will typically flash as new network traffic is received. As with the sign, it’s best to turn each of these devices off and back on to try to clear any temporary software issues.
Of course, you will also want to check that your sign is receiving power. If the sign is off, check the circuit breakers or other electrical switches to ensure that they are in the on position. If the sign is receiving power but is not displaying any kind of message, this may indicate a hardware issue. Speak with your sign provider if you require assistance with your sign hardware.
For more advanced troubleshooting, see our tutorial on retrieving your sign’s diagnostic information. Automated tests are run on your sign, and will indicate any warnings or failures within this information. Our support website has a reference list of potential error codes and how to resolve them. If you are near the sign and must change the message before the connection is restored, you can download a playlist to a USB drive and plug it into the external USB port on the sign, if equipped. See our tutorial on Downloading for USB for more information.