From 355faadc318f212e35b730ce88d624a1918383fd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Adrian A. Baumann" <ade@adebaumann.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 01:32:11 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] WiFi made more resilient

---
 gauge.py | 77 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------
 1 file changed, 54 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)

diff --git a/gauge.py b/gauge.py
index fb0480b..976b85a 100644
--- a/gauge.py
+++ b/gauge.py
@@ -526,14 +526,27 @@ _last_wifi_check = 0
 _wifi_sta = None
 
 
-def connect_wifi(ssid, password, timeout_s=15):
+def connect_wifi(ssid, password, timeout_s=15, force_reconnect=False):
     global _wifi_sta
     _wifi_sta = network.WLAN(network.STA_IF)
+
+    if force_reconnect:
+        try:
+            _wifi_sta.disconnect()
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+        try:
+            _wifi_sta.active(False)
+            utime.sleep_ms(250)
+        except Exception:
+            pass
+
     _wifi_sta.active(True)
-    if _wifi_sta.isconnected():
+    if _wifi_sta.isconnected() and not force_reconnect:
         ip, mask, gw, dns = _wifi_sta.ifconfig()
         info("WiFi already connected")
         info(f"  IP:{ip}  mask:{mask}  gw:{gw}  dns:{dns}")
+        utime.sleep_ms(250)
         return ip
     info(f"WiFi connecting to '{ssid}' ...")
     _wifi_sta.connect(ssid, password)
@@ -549,6 +562,7 @@ def connect_wifi(ssid, password, timeout_s=15):
     info(f"  SSID    : {ssid}")
     info(f"  MAC     : {mac}")
     info(f"  IP      : {ip}  mask:{mask}  gw:{gw}  dns:{dns}")
+    utime.sleep_ms(250)
     return ip
 
 
@@ -858,19 +872,36 @@ def _subscribe_all(c):
 def connect_mqtt():
     global client_ref, _mqtt_connected
     info(f"Connecting to MQTT broker {MQTT_BROKER}:{MQTT_PORT} ...")
-    client = MQTTClient(
-        client_id=MQTT_CLIENT_ID,
-        server=MQTT_BROKER,
-        port=MQTT_PORT,
-        user=MQTT_USER,
-        password=MQTT_PASSWORD,
-        keepalive=30,
-    )
-    client.set_callback(on_message)
-    client.connect()
-    client_ref = client
-    _mqtt_connected = True
-    info(f"MQTT connected  client_id={MQTT_CLIENT_ID}")
+    last_error = None
+    for attempt in range(3):
+        try:
+            if client_ref is not None:
+                try:
+                    client_ref.disconnect()
+                except Exception:
+                    pass
+
+            client = MQTTClient(
+                client_id=MQTT_CLIENT_ID,
+                server=MQTT_BROKER,
+                port=MQTT_PORT,
+                user=MQTT_USER,
+                password=MQTT_PASSWORD,
+                keepalive=30,
+            )
+            client.set_callback(on_message)
+            client.connect()
+            client_ref = client
+            _mqtt_connected = True
+            info(f"MQTT connected  client_id={MQTT_CLIENT_ID}")
+            return
+        except Exception as e:
+            last_error = e
+            log_err(f"MQTT connect attempt {attempt + 1} failed: {e}")
+            utime.sleep_ms(1000)
+
+    _mqtt_connected = False
+    raise last_error
 
 
 _mqtt_check_interval_ms = 30000
@@ -1124,10 +1155,7 @@ def _append_vfd_discovery(entries, dev_ref):
                 "cmd_t": vfd_topics["set"],
                 "stat_t": vfd_topics["state"],
                 "avty_t": gauge_topics[0]["status"],
-                "max": 4,
-                "mode": "text",
                 "icon": "mdi:alpha-box",
-                "pattern": "^[0-9A-Fa-f-]{0,4}$",
                 "dev": dev_ref,
             },
             "Discovery: VFD text",
@@ -1206,10 +1234,13 @@ def service_discovery():
         return
 
     topic, payload, log_msg = _discovery_queue[_discovery_idx]
-    if isinstance(payload, bytes):
-        client_ref.publish(topic, payload, retain=True)
-    else:
-        _publish_discovery_entity(client_ref, topic, payload, log_msg)
+    try:
+        if isinstance(payload, bytes):
+            client_ref.publish(topic, payload, retain=True)
+        else:
+            _publish_discovery_entity(client_ref, topic, payload, log_msg)
+    except Exception as e:
+        log_err(f"Discovery publish failed for {topic}: {e}")
     _discovery_idx += 1
     _last_discovery_ms = utime.ticks_ms()
     if (_discovery_idx & 3) == 0:
@@ -1247,7 +1278,7 @@ def main():
     info("Gauge MQTT controller starting")
     info("=" * 48)
 
-    connect_wifi(WIFI_SSID, WIFI_PASSWORD)
+    connect_wifi(WIFI_SSID, WIFI_PASSWORD, force_reconnect=True)
 
     connect_mqtt()
     _subscribe_all(client_ref)