The Portal Light is Kontakt.io's BLE-to-Wi-Fi gateway. Mounted in a fixed position, it continuously scans for nearby Kontakt.io BLE-only tag and infrastructure devices. Tags are the moving devices that are attached to assets, badges worn by staff, or tags worn by patients. BLE-only infrastructure devices include the Portal Beam, Beam Mini, Anchor Beacon, Dispenser Beacon, and Temp Monitors. Every Kontakt.io deployment requires Portal Lights or BLE-enabled Access Points as the bridge between on-site BLE devices and the cloud.
Kio Setup Manager is the tool used to install, configure, and maintain Portal Lights on-site.
Portal Light models
Three Portal Light models are available. All are managed the same way in Kio Setup Manager unless noted.
- Portal Light
- Portal Light 2
- Portal Light 2 IR
What you can do from Kio Setup Manager
Kio Setup Manager covers the full lifecycle of a Portal Light — from first installation through routine maintenance and troubleshooting.
| Action | When to use |
|---|---|
| Install | Initial deployment — connects Portal Light to Wi-Fi and assigns it to a Smart Location room |
| Assign to location | Assigns a pre-configured Portal Light to a Smart Location room without repeating Wi-Fi setup |
| Replace | Swaps Portal Light hardware while keeping the existing location assignment and configuration |
| Configure network | Updates Wi-Fi credentials after installation — use when the network changes |
| Configure NTP | Sets the NTP time server the Portal Light uses to synchronize its clock |
| Fetch diagnostic report | Runs a connectivity and configuration check; returns detailed results for troubleshooting |
| Collect logs | Downloads BLE diagnostic logs from the device; typically used by support |
| Track your device | Triggers the Portal Light's LED to blink for 10 seconds so you can identify which unit you are working with |
| Update certificate | Refreshes the API certificate on the device; shown only when certificate verification fails |
How Portal Light connects
The Portal Light needs two things to operate:
Wi-Fi — connects to Kio Cloud to deliver data and receive configuration. A Portal Light without a working Wi-Fi connection cannot forward any BLE device data. A connection problem shows as ORANGE blinks, and the blink count identifies the cause — 2 blinks means the network is unreachable, 3 means the network name (SSID) or password is wrong. A solid RED LED means the Portal Light is powering on, not that it failed to connect, and a blinking RED LED indicates an internal hardware issue. See Portal Light LED status indicator guide.
Power — the Portal Light is powered by plugging it into an AC-power outlet.
Kio Setup Manager communicates with the Portal Light over Bluetooth during configuration. Once installed, the Portal Light reports to Kio Cloud continuously over Wi-Fi — no ongoing Bluetooth connection is needed.
What the Portal Light receives from BLE devices
The Portal Light passively receives broadcasts from any nearby Kontakt.io BLE device:
- Tags (Asset Tag, Smart Badge, Nano Tag, Sticker Tag) — location data
- Portal Beam — room data, occupancy data
- Beam Mini — room data
- Anchor Beacon — location infrastructure signals
- Dispenser Beacon — tag and dispenser data
- Temp Monitor Pro / Temp Monitor Lite — temperature and humidity readings
The Portal Light does not distinguish between these types — it forwards all BLE packets it receives to Kio Cloud. Kio Cloud routes the data to the relevant Kio Apps. Placing Portal Lights correctly — one per room, centered — directly affects the quality of data for all of these devices.