If you are having trouble connecting to your Lightform device and are using Windows, please follow the steps in this article to give your computer permission to communicate with your Lightform device.

1. Allow Lightform through the firewall
2. Advanced firewall rules
3. Troubleshooting

If you are on a Windows computer and stuck in the pairing process on either of these screens:

• Pairing via ethernet and not seeing your Lightform device listed
• Pairing via Wi-Fi and unable to proceed past the first step

This indicates that a firewall, antivirus, or other programs on your computer are blocking the connection to your device.     

Allow Lightform through the firewall

When you launch Lightform Creator for the first time, a Windows Security Alert will appear and you will need to allow Lightform to communicate on Private and Public networks by checking the boxes:

If you hit Cancel, you will still be able to use Lightform Creator but it will not connect to your device. Follow the steps below to allow the Lightform device to communicate on your network.

1. Go to the Windows Start Menu and search for "Firewall"
2. Choose Firewall & network protection
   
   
   
   
3. Select Allow an app through firewall
   
   
   
   
4. Search this list for "lightform.exe".
   If you don't see it, click Allow Another App and add "C:\Program Files\Lightform\Lightform Creator\Lightform.exe".
5. Click Change Settings in the upper right
6. Verify that all three checkboxes are checked
   • Next to the "lightform.exe" 
   • "Allowed" on left
   • "Private/Public" on right
     
     

Advanced firewall rules

If the above does not fix the issue, you may have another firewall rule blocking Lightform Creator.

1. From the "Firewall & network protection" page, select Advanced Settings
   
   
   
   
2. Halfway down this window, click Windows Defender Firewall Properties
   
   
   
   
3. Ensure that both the Private Profile and Public Profile are set to the following settings:
   
   
   
   
4. Click Inbound Rules in the left column and New Rule in the right panel
   
   
   
   
5. Follow these steps:
   • Select Program
   • Select This program path and enter %ProgramFiles%\Lightform\Lightform Creator\Lightform.exe
   • Select Allow the connection
   • Check all three boxes (Doman, Private & Public)
   • Set the name as Lightform Creator
6. If you still cannot see the Lightform device after this, it is possible that an existing firewall rule is blocking the connection, or antivirus/router settings (see below for more details). 

Troubleshooting

If you still cannot connect to the device:

• If you have tried connecting to an unsupported university or corporate network, you will need to leave the university/office to be outside of its wi-fi range and try again on a supported network
• Antivirus or other software may be blocking the connection. Refer to your specific antivirus software guide for allowing other programs through (for example, this describes what to do for Malwarebytes).
• If none of the above works, it is recommended to try using Lightform Creator on a second computer in order to further narrow down the issue. If the second computer allows you to connect to your device, then this indicates that there is still a program/setting that is blocking the connection to your device on the computer you tried first. 
• If you are having this issue only when using your device on a certain network, there is also a chance that your router has been configured to block network traffic that the Lightform device needs to communicate with your computer. Lightform Creator uses the following ports:
  • TCP 7340-7349, 50051
  • UDP 7350-7351
    Refer to your router instructions for allowing traffic through these ports.