Alfen chargers are configured with Alfen's own Windows program, the ACE Service Installer. The catch is access: you need an Alfen account to use it, and new accounts can take several working days to be approved. So the one thing to do early, ideally a week before you plan to set up, is request the account.
Before you start, check you have
An Alfen account: request one at support.alfen.com via "Sign up for an account". Allow several working days.
The ACE Service Installer from alfen.com/downloads, installed and logged in. Update it when prompted on opening; the configuration won't work properly on an old version.
The charger already online via Wi-Fi or ethernet, on the same network as your computer
About 30 minutes once the account is sorted
1Find the charger's identifier
Open the ACE Service Installer. Your charge point appears on the left side of the screen with an ID in the form ACExxxxxxx. Copy it down exactly.
Worth knowing: this identifier is not always the same as the serial number on the unit's label. The ACE identifier is the one that matters here.
2Add the charger in your GuestCharge dashboard
Run the onboarding wizard with the ACE identifier from step 1.
3Enter the backend settings
Select your charge point in the ACE Service Installer and set:
Backoffice preset: Manually enter backend settings
Protocol: OCPP 1.6
Backend URL:wss://ocpp.guestcharge.co/ followed by the ACE identifier, like wss://ocpp.guestcharge.co/ACE0123456
4If the charger uses a SIM card
Using your own SIM rather than a hardwired or Wi-Fi connection? You'll need to enter the SIM's APN:
Keep the Backoffice preset on Manually enter backend settings
Go to Network Profile 2
Change the priority to 14
Enter the APN name, and the APN username if your SIM provider uses one
Be patient with SIM connections: the first connection to the backend can take up to an hour.
How you know it worked
The charger shows as connected in your GuestCharge dashboard. On Wi-Fi or ethernet this is usually within a couple of minutes; on a SIM, give it that hour before worrying.
If it won't connect
Check the backend URL and the ACE identifier character by character, and that the wizard entry matches the ACE identifier, not the label serial, if the two differ
Confirm the charger and your computer are genuinely on the same network, or ACE won't even show the unit
On SIM connections, double-check the APN details and the Network Profile 2 priority
Still stuck? Email the ACE identifier to team@guestcharge.co and we'll check from our side.