The Reasons
You may be encountering this error due to of one or more of the issue listed below. Please go through each step to resolve your inability to connect the sharing station to your device server.
The PicPic Social Device Server is not running
You need to RUN and START the PicPic Social Device Server on your photo booth computer.
If this is your first time using PicPic Social and you did not see the First Time Setup Guide you should start from Step 1.
The First Time Setup Guide is a series of video guides that show you how to use PicPic Social for the first time.
The sharing station and the device server are not on the same WIFI network
Make sure that your PC running the PicPic Social Device Server and your tablet device/PC that you are using as a sharing station are connected to the same 5ghz Hotspot/WIFI network.
Windows Firewalls are enabled
PicPic Social cannot run properly if your Windows Firewall are enabled on your computer. To fix this issue do the following:
Disable Windows firewall on your computer running the PicPic Social Device Server
If you are using a PC as a sharing station then you need to disable the Firewall on your Sharing Station PC too. If you are using an iPad or Android as a sharing station please ignore this step.
There is a 3rd party antivirus software controlling your Firewalls
Is your computer running any antivirus software or a 3rd party Firewall software like:
Avast
AVG?
Norton
Hitman
McAfee
You may need to uninstall the software completely.
You are using venue/client WIFI
You should never rely on venue/client WIFI. Venue/client WIFI may have “Hardware” firewalls on their system that will prevent you from using PicPic Social. This is something that cannot be disabled.
The client/venue may tell you that their internet is “good” and will work. NEVER rely on this.
You should always bring your own 5ghz hotspot. If you have to use venue/client WIFI and you are getting this error, you need to use Connectify. Connectify is a paid application that will turn your computer into a hotspot.
You are using a 2.4ghz hotspot in a congested area
As stated in Step B, there are 2.4ghz hotspots and 5ghz WIFI connections. A 5ghz connection will give you a stronger connection and will help even more at events where there is a lot of interference from other electronic devices.
When you get a hotspot that supports 5ghz, it will come in 2.4ghz mode or dual band enabled. You have to specifically enable 5ghz mode. In 2.4ghz mode you will get interference and disconnections. In dual band mode the hotspot will go back and forth from 2.4ghz mode to 5ghz, which is not ideal.
You are running the server on a Mac and are not properly setup
If you are running PicPic Social with a Mac there are certain additional steps you need to take. Please see the following guides: