Wireless Development Board

The Wireless Development Board is a wearable EVA suit module that gives the MCP server and VS Code extension remote access to Lua chips on a powered Wireless Data Access Point data network — without needing to stand at a computer with the IC editor open.

What It Does

Normally, MCP and VS Code can only see Lua chips when you have the IC editor open on a computer. The wireless development board removes that limitation: once equipped and connected, all Lua chips on the selected wireless data network are accessible to your external tools while you walk around your base (or EVA outside it).

This is especially useful for:

• Debugging scripts on remote devices without running back to a terminal
• Live-editing chips across your base from anywhere within wireless data access point range
• Monitoring multiple chips simultaneously while troubleshooting distributed systems

Setup

1. Print the board at an Electronics Printer
2. Insert the board into the Suit Module slot on a supported EVA suit (also accepts the Suit Networking Module)
3. Wear the suit
4. Open the wireless board slot in your suit inventory to access the board's controls

Optional: Wireless Diagnostics

For full compile and runtime error diagnostics over wireless, install a Lua Debugger Motherboard into the board's internal debugger slot. Without the debugger board, MCP/VS Code can still access chips but won't receive detailed error information.

Board Controls

The board has three interactions (accessible from your suit inventory). In multiplayer, the server applies connect, disconnect, and mesh changes only when the request comes from the player wearing that board.

Control	Description
Wireless Network	Cycle through powered wireless data access points in range. Hold Alt to cycle backwards. Shows the target name, range, and network ID.
Wireless Mesh	Toggle mesh handoff. When enabled, the board automatically hands off to the best in-range access point on the same network. When disabled, it stays locked to the specific access point you selected.
Wireless Disconnect	Clear the current wireless connection.

How Connection Works

• The board scans for powered wireless data access points within range
• You cycle through available access points and pick one to connect to
• Once connected, all Lua chips on that access point's data network become visible to MCP and VS Code
• The connection persists across save/load — on relog, the board reconnects automatically if the network is still in range
• Brief outages (momentary power loss, multiplayer replication/streaming gaps) are tolerated with a reconnect grace period (~5 seconds) before the panel shows the selected network as unavailable
• Removing the suit or the board immediately drops the wireless connection
• Power: while you stay connected and in range, the board slowly draws extra power from the suit battery. When you inspect the board, the description includes a note while this extra drain is happening. The wireless Lua tablet cartridge uses the same drain rate (see ScriptedScreens docs).

Mesh Handoff

When mesh is enabled and multiple wireless data access points share the same data network, the board will automatically switch to whichever access point has the best signal as you move around. This is useful for large bases with multiple access points bridging one network.

When mesh is disabled, the board stays locked to the specific access point you selected, even if a closer one is available.

Requirements

• The server config AllowNetworkChipAccess must be enabled
• You must be wearing the suit with the board installed
• At least one powered wireless data access point must be in range

Dedicated Servers

Dedicated servers do not expose the HTTP/MCP listener directly. In multiplayer, a client can use its own local StationeersLua bridge while the game routes debug traffic to the server over mod network messages.

Suit and Toolbelt Chip Scripting

Lua chips installed directly in a suit run automatically while the suit has battery power and the player is wearing it. If a Wireless Development Board is also installed in that suit, the chip gains full network access (read/write devices, pub/sub, RPC).

When either the wireless development board or the suit networking module is in the suit module slot, worn Lua hosts also gain personal area network access to other top-level equipped gear via device_list / read_id / write_id. See Suit Networking Module.

Lua chips in the Survival Toolbelt run while the belt has battery charge. If the same player wears a suit with a connected Wireless Development Board, the belt chip shares that suit board's wireless network the same way a suit chip does.

See SuitTelemetry.lua in the mod for suit pub/sub telemetry. For the Survival Toolbelt, see SurvivalToolbeltChip.lua and SurvivalBeltAutoInjector.lua (ic.host_info().type == "toolbelt"; Auto-Injectors via ic.write(pin, LT.Activate, 1) on the belt's own slot pins).

Scripting API (ic.wireless)

Suit chips, Survival Toolbelt chips (via the wearer's suit board), and wireless tablet cartridges can programmatically control their wireless connection via the ic.wireless table:

Function	Description
ic.wireless.list()	Returns a 1-indexed array of in-range access points. Each entry: { id, network_id, name, distance, max_distance }
ic.wireless.connect(id [, mesh])	Connect to an access point or network by id. mesh defaults to true. Returns true on success, or false, error_string on failure.
ic.wireless.disconnect()	Clear the current wireless connection.
ic.wireless.status()	Returns a table with available, connected, in_range, mesh, network_id, transmitter_id, transmitter_name, distance, max_distance. Never throws.
ic.wireless.set_mesh(enabled)	Toggle mesh handoff mode without reconnecting.

TIP

ic.wireless.status() is safe to call from any chip — if no wireless device is available, it returns { available = false, connected = false }. All other functions throw an error if no wireless device is present.

ScriptedScreens Alias

On wireless tablet cartridges, ss.tablet.wireless is still available as an alias for backward compatibility. Both ic.wireless and ss.tablet.wireless resolve to the same underlying device.

Combining with the IC Editor

If you have the in-game IC editor open on a wired computer and a wireless development board connected to a different network, both networks are accessible at the same time. This means you can edit a local chip at a terminal while also monitoring remote chips over wireless.

Tips

• Only powered wireless data access points in range appear when cycling networks
• The board's tooltip (hover text in your suit inventory) shows the current connection state
• Mesh mode is recommended for most setups — it gives seamless roaming across your base
• Lock to a specific access point only when you need to guarantee which network segment you're accessing