Wi-Fi and transfer
Wi-Fi is off until something needs it. Then you can send books to the reader, fetch them from catalogs and keep your place on all your devices.
Join a network
In the settings, open Wi-Fi and switch Wi-Fi on. The reader looks for networks and lists them with their signal.
Choose your network and type its password on the keyboard.
The reader joins and keeps the network and its password. The status line now shows a Wi-Fi sign. Tap it to open the page again.
The X4 and X4 Pro use Wi-Fi at 2.4 GHz only: if your router offers two networks, choose the 2.4 GHz one. Your network is not on the list? Press Look for networks again. A network without a password is joined only when you choose it. The first-start guide has a Wi-Fi step too: see Getting started.
Set up with a phone
A long password is slow to type on a reader. Choose Set up with a phone on the Wi-Fi page and type it on your phone instead. This is for the X4 and X4 Pro.
The reader opens a network of its own and shows its name, a password and a code. Scan the code with your phone's camera to join that network.
When your phone has joined, the reader shows a second code. Scan it to open a page on your phone. If the reader does not go on by itself, press Next.
On the page, choose your network. If it is not listed, type its name under Another network, its name (optional). Type the password and press Connect.
The reader leaves its own network and joins yours. Its screen says whether it worked, and you can close the page. The reader keeps the password.
If the page does not open, turn off mobile data on the phone. The reader's own network closes by itself after ten minutes without a sign from the phone.
What the reader tells you
The first row of the Wi-Fi page says where you are: Off, On, not connected, Looking for networks…, Connecting to and the network, or Connected to and the network, with the reader's address. Each network in the list shows Connected, Connecting or Saved, its signal (Excellent signal, Good signal, Fair signal or Weak signal) and Open, no password where that is so. More help: Troubleshooting.
| The reader says | What to do |
|---|---|
| Wrong password for the network | Enter the password again. |
| The network is not in reach or did not answer | Move closer to the router and try again, or choose another network. |
| Could not connect to the network | Try again, or choose another network. |
| No saved Wi-Fi network in reach. | Join a network on the Wi-Fi page first. |
Wi-Fi comes and goes by itself
The radio is off while you read. It comes on when something needs the network, such as Wi-Fi transfer, Catalogs, More plugins or an update. It joins a saved network that has a password: the one you picked last if it is in reach, else the strongest. If that fails, it tries the next one.
| Setting | What it does | At first |
|---|---|---|
| Connect when needed | Lets Wi-Fi come on by itself and join a saved network. Off: you switch Wi-Fi on yourself. | On |
| Switch off after | How long Wi-Fi stays on after its last use: 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes or 10 minutes. | 1 minute |
| On while charging | Keeps Wi-Fi on in a saved network while the reader charges. | On |
Wi-Fi goes off at once when you are back on the home screen or in a book and nothing uses it. It stays on if you switched it on yourself with the Wi-Fi switch, until you switch it off there. The power mode Offline keeps it off: a screen that needs the network then asks first (Offline mode, Go online). See also Settings.
On the X4 and X4 Pro the reader sets its clock from the network once it is online. Choose your Time zone in the settings so that it shows your time.
To forget a saved network, hold it in the list (with buttons, hold Select). The hint then shows Forget. The reader removes the network and its password, and leaves the network if you are in it.
Send books over Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi transfer puts books on the reader from a computer or phone in the same Wi-Fi. You need no cable and no app.
Open Wi-Fi transfer in the tools. The screen shows an address and a code. With no saved network it says No Wi-Fi: join one in the settings under Wi-Fi and open it again.
On a phone, scan the code. On a computer, type the address into a browser. The device must be in the same Wi-Fi as the reader.
The page opens in your library folder. Press Upload files or drop files on the page. The reader says Received: and the name, and the book is in the library at once.
The address may show the reader's name, such as paperpaw.local, instead of numbers. It is easier to type and works on many networks, not on all. If it does not open, type the numbers or scan the code. Type the whole address, with the part after ?k=: it is a key made anew each time, so others in your network cannot reach your files.
- Upload files, one or many. A file with the name of an existing one gets a number, for example
book (2).epub. Nothing is written over. - New folder, Rename, Move (open the folder it goes to, then press Move here) and Delete, which asks first. Choose a file name to download the file to your computer.
Books in a folder outside your library do not show in the library. The page then offers to upload to the library folder instead. Upload here keeps them where they are.
The transfer runs only while its screen is open: Back ends it. If a file does not arrive, the reader says Not received and the page says Not sent with a reason, for example when the card is full. After five wrong keys the reader ignores all requests for a minute.
To type a long text on your phone, such as a password, press Phone in the text field. Scan the code, type or paste the text and send it with Send to the device. It lands in the field. This needs Wi-Fi too.
Without a router
On the X4 and X4 Pro, Without a router at the bottom of the Wi-Fi transfer screen makes the reader its own network. Use it when you have no router, or when your computer is in another network.
The upper half of the screen shows the network's name, its password and a code. The password is new each time. Join with your phone: scan the code, or type the name and password.
The lower half shows the address and the code of the page. Scan or type it as before. The network closes when you leave the screen, or after ten minutes without a request.
Catalogs
Catalogs are online libraries that offer books in a format called OPDS. Catalogs in the tools browses and searches them like folders and downloads their books into your library. A first catalog is on the list at the start.
Choose Add catalog and type the address of the catalog. You find it in your server's settings. If the catalog needs an account, enter a User name and a Password too.
Choose a catalog to browse it. Where it can be searched, Search is there. Choose a book to download it: Back stops the download. The book lands in the catalog's folder in your library. Then choose Read now or OK.
Hold a catalog (with buttons, hold Select) for Open, Sync now, Edit and Remove from the list. In Edit you can set the Folder, switch on Sync this catalog, or enter a Cloud folder (WebDAV) instead of a catalog.
Sync catalogs downloads the new books of every catalog with Sync this catalog on. Stop syncing stops it, and the books so far stay. In the settings under Library, Catalogs, Books per sync limits one sync (50 at first) and Catalog covers shows pictures in the lists.
If the address begins with http and not https, your password is sent unencrypted and others in the network can read it.
Wireless library
Wireless library lets your e-book manager on a computer send books to the reader over Wi-Fi, list them and delete them. You add it with More plugins or in the setup under Add more: see Plugins.
Works with Calibre on a computer in the same network.
Put the reader and the computer in the same Wi-Fi. Open Wireless library in the tools.
On the computer, start the wireless device connection in your e-book manager. When the reader has found the computer, it shows its name. Press Connect (tap it, or press Select).
Send books from the computer. They go into the library. A book whose file name is there already is not replaced. Closing the screen ends the connection.
Connect only to your own computer: it can add and delete books on the reader. The reader remembers it.
If the computer is not found, enter its address in the settings under Library, Wireless library, Address (an advanced setting). Add :port if it does not use 9090, for example 192.168.1.20:9091. If asked, type the password you set on the computer.
Progress sync
Progress sync opens a book where you stopped on another device that uses the same sync service. You add it like the wireless library. It uses a public sync server at first. You can enter your own under Server. In the settings under Progress sync, Account lets you make an account (Create account) or sign in (Sign in). Changing Server signs you out.
With Sync automatically on, the reader fetches your place when you open a book and sends it while you read, at most once a minute. Sync progress under More in the reading menu does it right away.
If another device is further, the reader asks: Go there or Stay here. Books are matched by their file, so use the same file on both devices.
Privacy
PaperPaw needs no account and has no ads or tracking. The reader goes online only when you use something that needs it, such as an update search, More plugins, a catalog or progress sync. An update search tells the update server the kind of reader, the PaperPaw version and your plugins, with no identifier.
Nothing listens in the background. Wi-Fi transfer and the phone setup serve a page only while their screen is open, and every request needs the key in the address.
Passwords for networks, catalogs and accounts stay on the card. They are hidden from view but not encrypted, so keep the card safe. You can remove them under Passwords and keys in the settings. A catalog password goes only to that catalog. Under Network per plugin in the settings you can switch Network off for a plugin.
On Android
Android handles Wi-Fi itself. The settings have no Wi-Fi page: join networks in Android's own settings. Wi-Fi transfer, Catalogs, Wireless library and Progress sync work in the network the device is in. Set up with a phone, Without a router and the .local name are for the X4 and X4 Pro only.
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