You can think of this board as grbl with wifi. Anything that works with grbl will probably work for fluidnc. A cheap tablet or old phone would be a decent wifi interface. But an attached computer (even a pi) via USB can run gcode sender or cncjs or anything that works with grbl.
I already own the board because it was recommended
I dont like using wifi to send data for cnc. Its not always reliable. I prefere direct connection. Where the cnc will be placed, i cant guarantee a wifi connection.
The jackpot’s default mode is to act like a router. You can connect to the FluidNC wifi AP and your laptop will be connected straight to the jackpot. It won’t need your home wifi signal. But I don’t want to convince anyone to use wifi if they don’t want to.
The jackpot has a SD card slot and that’s still the preferred way to run a job- put the files on the SD card and then start the job. If you just want to do that, you can set up the jackpot in AP mode in which case all you need to do from your laptop is connect to the jackpot’s internal wireless AP- and you use the web UI to start a job. The job then runs from the SD locally.
If you really, really don’t want to use WiFi at all, there is a design available for a FluidNC pendant.
There’s several threads here about that. I just built one that was used to run an LR3 at the Rocky Mountain RepRap Festival. My build thread for that is at
There’s a long thread from when @DougJoseph first mentioned it located at
Frankly, I think you’ll be happy using the SD card and the jackpot in AP mode- but since there are multiple options we can help you sort out the best way to set things up for you.
I did not know that when it was Wi-Fi enabled that it meant that the controller acted as the Wi-Fi router and that it didn’t depend on home Wi-Fi. That makes a lot more sense now. I’ve never used Wi-Fi for any type of CNC control. All my 3D printers and laser engravers are directly controlled with the SD card.
I don’t mind using the Wi-Fi that way, but I also like using an SD card like how I use with my 3D printer.
I just use the WiFi interface as the screen. I don’t send ANY files to the Jackpot for CNC milling. I still use EstlCAM to prepare the gcode, put that on an SD card and bring it to the machine. From there I use the WiFi to position and command the machine, start the milling operation, etc. Just think of the WebUI on your tablet or phone as a wireless control screen.
Now that i jave read stuff, i can use the wifi to position the cnc etc, then run the file from the sd card. That sounds great. I just disnt want to send gcode over wifi
So I guess this seems a good place to ask for clarification. Isn’t the wifi functionality, relating to actual files and gcode, just sending the file to the sd card, and then actually running the job from the sd card? At least thats how I remember it from the GrblESP32, before fluidnc came about. Or can you now stream the gcode directly over wifi?