In the Vera UI, I found myself in a contradictory situation.
Vera did not have a connection to the Internet. I had not yet plugged in her ethernet cable. I was accessing Vera via its wireless network. Part of the Vera UI told me there was a problem with the Internet connection, but in other parts because I was able to view the movies (because the computer I was using has both wired and wireless connectivity) and was told that my “Internet connection is OK.”
Part of this is, I think,exacerbated by the “you, me, my, and I” language used in the movies. It’s friendly and cute, but imprecise.
I found myself confused at first, and I have a lot of networking experience. I think the average non-tech user wouldn’t realize there was a problem.
Thanks for the comments. I understand the situation. The presumption, as explained in the quick start guide, is that the user will look at the power indicator on Vera and if it’s blinking, then they know Vera couldn’t get an internet connection and they need to manually setup the network and check the cable, and normally the user won’t continue until Vera’s power light is on meaning there’s a network connection. Then this doesn’t happen.
The complexity arose because the assumption is that if Vera doesn’t have internet, neither does your pc since your PC would normally be on the same network You obviously are a more advanced user having dual network connections on the pc. When your PC brings up the Vera setup web site there are 2 internet checks: The java script on the pc side tries to find the video server to display the helper videos, and it also asks Vera if it has a network connection. In this case, one check turned up ok, the other not.
I do see the problem. The challenge is figuring out how to convey this accurately to a user like you who understands the networking concepts, without scaring away a “normal” user who won’t have a clue what’s going on and just wants a simple “please check the cable” message.
Any suggestions?
I think the simplest solution is to remove the parts of the movie (and perhaps elsewhere) where it reports that the Internet connection is OK. That is, remove anything that supports the assumption you described in your reply.
The blinking light is very obvious, and a good idea, just use that and there won’t be any contradiction like there is now.