Weirdest wireless SSID and passphrase programming I've seen... DUCK HUNT-esque

[the86d]

Helped the only local business I still support on the side yesterday, and plugged in the supplied stranded what appeared to be CAT5 to the USB to Ethernet/WiFi adapter to manually plug the SSID/Passphrase like most devices, but couldn't browse to it, no love. It turns out you program it against the SCREEN with flashes, almost like Nintendo Duckhunt's zapper sensor tech...

https://setup.smartlink.pitneybowes.com/connection

Hit wireless.

Drop your SSID and passphrase into this page, hold the Wireless USB adapter's window to the LCD display to program it with screen flashes...

WEIRD.

Failed once, but that is because they gave me the wrong WiFi passphrase, once the correct one was plugged, worked 1st time.

I haven't seen anything like this Pitneybowes Smartlink programming on anything in the last 15 years, almost like an old retro idea brought back.

[MrBlazito]

Interesting. Is this a security thing? Does this smartlink even have any user settings? or do you just set it up via flashing and let it run as is?

[NYT]

i support a couple print houses and pitneybowes is a customer. this kind of tech is just a smidgen of the nuttiness that goes on in a print room. its all coming around to modern tech but yeah, a lot of it, if not most is based on 80s tech.

[crufflers]

I haven't seen anything like this Pitneybowes Smartlink programming on anything in the last 15 years, almost like an old retro idea brought back.

That's funny. Have you seen the wireless IP camera's that use sound to transmit an ID to close proximity device running an APP? Kind of like a high pitched 300 baud modem sound that an APP picks up and registers the unique camera ID. Seems to work just as well as a QR code.

[the86d]

Interesting. Is this a security thing? Does this smartlink even have any user settings? or do you just set it up via flashing and let it run as is?

I tried browsing to some of the device IPs I thought this might be, but no love. I had no idea which one this was.

That's funny. Have you seen the wireless IP camera's that use sound to transmit an ID to close proximity device running an APP? Kind of like a high pitched 300 baud modem sound that an APP picks up and registers the unique camera ID. Seems to work just as well as a QR code.

I have not, however it sounds like the 70's-80's tech for TV/VCR remotes, before IR was adopted. Sonic tiicking like this is also used in some devices for taking sonic measurements on Cubiscan stations, like sonar, which is pretty weird too. This is the same tech that was used on the NES Powerglove.