Troubleshooting Player Devices
This article seeks to provide suggestions for troubleshooting player device (typically phones and tablets) at Rockstar Bingo events. In the unlikely even that Rockstar Bingo itself is down, you can check our systems status here: Rockstar Bingo - Systems Health Page
Poor Internet or Wireless (Wi-Fi) - A lot of established venues (bars, pubs, restaurants) may have existing (legacy/older) wireless and Internet in place that previously served the locations needs (occasional Internet or perhaps just for staff purposes and/or POS/Tap devices). When you add Rockstar Bingo to a location, you may be increasing the amount of Internet traffic (load/use) without anticipating this problem initially. It is important to ensure your players (customers) have reliable Internet and Wi-fi throughout the venue (i.e. everywhere they might hear the music, as they may not just stay at their table when playing).
* Daubing a square doesn't "stick" - On occasion we have seen (and heard) of a player or two 'daubing/tapping/clicking' on their player card and it doesn't "stick" or "remember". We have seen a few cases where this can occur (and none of which we can control - all location/network or player device related). If this is happening, it is due to one of these scenarios:
If a friend shared the Rockstar Bingo join link using Facebook Messenger, Slack or another app that tries to 'hijack' their browser session (so they aren't actually using the native phone Safari or Chrome browser), these browsers change the behaviour of the website visit (they are also invading your privacy, so try not to use them ever for opening websites 😏
If you are using QR Codes at your events, some players may have downloaded/purchased 3rd party QR code readers (instead of using their cameras, which any modern phone today has a QR code reader built into their phone for free). Some of these readers also try to highlight and control the browsing experience (again, uncool and they are invading your privacy so try to avoid that too - the age of needing to download/use a QR Code reader isn't really a thing anymore so this might just be a 'teaching moment' for your players to improve their lives :)
Some large Internet Providers or phone carriers provide 'free wireless' at locations. Some of them (cough SHAWOPEN cough😏) require you to register your device on their network. So they allow you to connect but do not provide Wireless or Internet and leave your phone in a confused state ... and in some cases, the phone may be confused and constantly jumping between cellular and the invalid Wireless network. The trick here is confirm the person has a reliable Internet connection and isn't on a rogue network all of a sudden or periodically. Simply "Forget" that crappy network.
* Invalid Game Code - for the same reasons as the one above (square/selection not 'sticking'), we have seen players initially able to connect to the Rockstar Bingo join screen/app but then they can't get in and the message is 'invalid game code'. In this scenario, it is often because the persons device is switching between their cellular network and an unusable Wireless network (i.e. they had a connection at first but then their phone jumped to a rogue/unreliable/unusable wireless network and the browser has the screen cached (but a connection is not available). The fix here is to ensure the phone is on/stays on a reliable network (i.e. "forget" the crappy wireless connection).
Possible Problem areas
Poor Internet or Wireless (Wi-Fi) - A lot of established venues (bars, pubs, restaurants) may have existing (legacy/older) wireless and Internet in place that previously served the locations needs (occasional Internet or perhaps just for staff purposes and/or POS/Tap devices). When you add Rockstar Bingo to a location, you may be increasing the amount of Internet traffic (load/use) without anticipating this problem initially. It is important to ensure your players (customers) have reliable Internet and Wi-fi throughout the venue (i.e. everywhere they might hear the music, as they may not just stay at their table when playing).
Occasionally Reported Behaviours
* Daubing a square doesn't "stick" - On occasion we have seen (and heard) of a player or two 'daubing/tapping/clicking' on their player card and it doesn't "stick" or "remember". We have seen a few cases where this can occur (and none of which we can control - all location/network or player device related). If this is happening, it is due to one of these scenarios:
If a friend shared the Rockstar Bingo join link using Facebook Messenger, Slack or another app that tries to 'hijack' their browser session (so they aren't actually using the native phone Safari or Chrome browser), these browsers change the behaviour of the website visit (they are also invading your privacy, so try not to use them ever for opening websites 😏
If you are using QR Codes at your events, some players may have downloaded/purchased 3rd party QR code readers (instead of using their cameras, which any modern phone today has a QR code reader built into their phone for free). Some of these readers also try to highlight and control the browsing experience (again, uncool and they are invading your privacy so try to avoid that too - the age of needing to download/use a QR Code reader isn't really a thing anymore so this might just be a 'teaching moment' for your players to improve their lives :)
Some large Internet Providers or phone carriers provide 'free wireless' at locations. Some of them (cough SHAWOPEN cough😏) require you to register your device on their network. So they allow you to connect but do not provide Wireless or Internet and leave your phone in a confused state ... and in some cases, the phone may be confused and constantly jumping between cellular and the invalid Wireless network. The trick here is confirm the person has a reliable Internet connection and isn't on a rogue network all of a sudden or periodically. Simply "Forget" that crappy network.
* Invalid Game Code - for the same reasons as the one above (square/selection not 'sticking'), we have seen players initially able to connect to the Rockstar Bingo join screen/app but then they can't get in and the message is 'invalid game code'. In this scenario, it is often because the persons device is switching between their cellular network and an unusable Wireless network (i.e. they had a connection at first but then their phone jumped to a rogue/unreliable/unusable wireless network and the browser has the screen cached (but a connection is not available). The fix here is to ensure the phone is on/stays on a reliable network (i.e. "forget" the crappy wireless connection).
Updated on: 27/02/2023
Thank you!