How to set up a new device
Congratulations on your EkiBoard. Setting one up takes about five minutes and happens in three steps. Have your Wi-Fi password to hand, along with the phone you want to set it up from. If what you are seeing doesn't match what follows, write to us and we'll get you going.
Open app.ekiboard.comSet up your device
Power it on, hand it your Wi-Fi network through the board’s own setup page, then link it to your account with the code it shows on screen.
STEP 1Choose what it shows
Pick your stations, lines and directions in the app, set the hours the board is awake, and adjust how it looks.
STEP 2Leave it on the wall
The board redraws itself every minute while your trains are running and sleeps the rest of the day. There is nothing left to maintain.
STEP 3Step 1 — Set up your device
Every EkiBoard leaves the factory identical: no account, no serial number to type in, nothing printed on the box. Everything below happens once.
Power it on
Plug the USB-C cable into the back of the board and into any USB power source. The screen wakes within a few seconds. If nothing appears, the battery has run flat in transit — leave it plugged in for a few minutes, then press the button once.
Open its Wi-Fi setup
Press and hold the button on the back until the screen asks you to connect. The board then broadcasts a Wi-Fi network of its own, named EkiBoard- followed by six characters.
Join that network from your phone
On your phone or laptop, connect to the EkiBoard network. A setup page opens by itself — if it hasn’t appeared within 30 seconds, open a browser and go to http://4.3.2.1. Give it a moment to scan for the networks around it, or type your network name and password in directly if yours is hidden or doesn’t appear.
Hand it your Wi-Fi password
Pick your own network, enter its password and save. The password goes straight from your phone to the board over the board’s own network, and is never sent to our servers. The board reconnects on its own, and its setup network disappears once it has.
Link it to your account
Once it is online the board shows an eight-character pairing code. Open app.ekiboard.com, create an account or sign in, choose Add a device, and type the code in exactly as it appears — O and 0, I and 1 are interchangeable. A board that has just joined Wi-Fi can take a couple of minutes to check in.
Step 2 — Choose what your board shows
A freshly linked board has no departures to draw yet, so it keeps showing setup instructions until you give it a station. Everything here lives in the app, and changes reach the board on its next update — usually within a minute.
Stations and lines
Up to two stations. For each one: the line, the direction you travel, and the train types worth showing — leave that empty and every type appears.
Time to the station
Tell the board how long it takes you to reach the platform and trains you could no longer catch drop off the list. What is on screen is what you can still make.
Active hours
The board is awake only during the windows you choose — 7am to 9am by default, plus an evening one if you want it. Precisely setting your schedule greatly improves battery life; four hours a day is a sensible maximum. Eco mode drops live delays for a window and refreshes far less often.
How it looks
Language, the standard or Japanese station signage theme, larger text and its weight, normal or inverted colours. Set them once for your account, or override them on a single board.
If something doesn’t go to plan
Some phones don’t open it automatically. Open a browser and visit any address: the setup page appears instead. Check first that you are still connected to the EkiBoard network.
The board only broadcasts it while it’s waiting to be set up. Hold the button again until the screen confirms, then refresh the Wi-Fi list on your phone.
The board joins 2.4 GHz networks. If your router publishes 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz under separate names, choose the 2.4 GHz one.
Networks that need a browser sign-in, a certificate or per-device approval can’t be joined from the setup page. Use your phone’s hotspot or a guest network, or ask whoever runs the network to allow the board onto it.
Codes expire after 24 hours, and the board shows a new one when it next wakes. Use whichever code is on the screen now, and check it character by character.
The board redraws once a minute while your trains are running, and rests outside your active hours to save battery. Outside them it shows when it will next update. Press the button once to wake it now.
Nothing is baked into the hardware. Ask the previous owner to unlink it from their account: it goes back to showing a pairing code, keeps its Wi-Fi settings, and is yours to link from its own screen.
It has no station yet. Add one in the app and departures appear on the next update.