San Diego Coaster — Setup Guide

Every COASTER train on the line, lit on the map as it moves. No account and no app — the sign needs Wi-Fi and power, then it runs itself.

The sign on a wall: stations lit blue, a red northbound and a green southbound train passing near Sorrento Valley — Two trains passing near Sorrento Valley.

Set it up

About two minutes, once.

Plug it in

Any USB-C charger. The map stays dark for now — that is normal, it has no network yet.

Join SETUP SD COASTER

On your phone, join that open network. The setup page opens by itself, or visit 192.168.4.1.

Pick your Wi-Fi, then Save

Choose your home network (2.4 GHz), type the password, tap Save. Trains appear within a minute.

The setup page: nearby networks listed above a network and password field and a Save button — The setup page in step 2.

Reading the map

Four colours, and that is the whole language.

Red — a train heading north

Green — a train heading south

Dim blue — a station with no train at it

White — no data from the feed

A train pulls into or out of a station and its light pulses. Where a northbound and a southbound train meet they share one light, and it flashes red and green.

The two controls

Both on the back of the sign.

Switch

The direction light. In one position each train gets a second, dimmer light that blinks on the track just ahead of it, so you can see which way it is heading at a glance. In the other, each train is a single solid light and nothing runs ahead of it. Flip it whenever you like; the next frame follows.

Button

Brightness. Tap to step through seven levels, from a deep night dim up to a full strip. The sign remembers the level through a power cut.

Reset, or change your Wi-Fi

Hold the button for about three seconds. The map fills from the bottom as a warning, then the sign forgets your Wi-Fi and reopens SETUP SD COASTER so you can set it up again from step 2. Let go before the map fills and nothing changes.

Passing the sign on? Do this first — it is what takes your Wi-Fi password off the device.

When something looks wrong

All white

It cannot reach the train feed, nearly always because Wi-Fi is down. It keeps retrying and comes back on its own — no reset needed.

No trains

Stations lit and the line empty is a working sign at a quiet hour. The COASTER does not run around the clock.

Setup won’t finish

The sign’s radio is 2.4 GHz only. If your router gives both bands one name, join the 2.4 GHz network specifically.

It looks after itself

The sign updates over Wi-Fi every six hours and rolls itself back if an update fails to start. There is no account, and your Wi-Fi password stays on the device. To re-flash one from scratch, open bricekevin.github.io/fw/coaster in Chrome or Edge.