ATOM vs Core with respect to network activation and MQTT

[robjasey]

I have been developing using Micropython on Atoms (in USB Mode , using the M5Stack plugin for Visual Editor (mac). I set up a module as the equivalent of a print command that publishes the printed text to a log subscriber using MQTT. I found that I did not have to initialize the network since my router SSID and password are installed when you burn and configure using M5Burner. I think this is great because it does not expose my network information in my .py scripts.
However I just started using a Core (Panda) development unit. I set it up the same way but when I try to run the scripts in Visual Editor (in USB mode) the network is not enabled. (I get a 128 error in the MQTT publish). I really do not want to expose my network info and I have verified that the network works when I set it to internet mode and run it on web UIflow (as does the MQTT script).
Is there some way I can get the network started in USB mode (or APP mode for that matter) without activating it in a .py script?

Thanks in advance!!
Rob