Network DSC Alarm System disconnects

Plugins & Plugin Development DSC Alarm System
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Hi Guys
After reading through multiple posts I figured I’d mention that I seem to be having un=noticed and noticed fallouts with Vera3 latest firmware and my dsc 1832 using the IT100. Should I open a support ticket or is this being addressed in a bigger way through MCV already?

has the tcp keep alives feature been pushed through to end users yet? Is there any way of having Vera monitor the connection and make it scene aware ie we could select from one of the panel drop down options to be notified when Vera loses communication with the panel?

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The larger question is what’s causing the network disconnects in your environment. In a stable switch/router setup, this should not happen.

The Keep-Alive components put into UI5 (1.5.401) will help in the case when the Network does disconnect, but there’s always going to be the detect-and-correct “gap”, where data can be lost, so it shouldn’t be relied upon over the long-haul.

If you’re seeing frequent disconnects in your Network, then that problem really needs to be diagnosed.

The Ping sensor can be used to detect that any Network device has gone “unreachable”, and command-line ping is even better if you’re comfortable with the command-line. If you setup a few instances of it, “pinging” various components of your setup (routers, other network devices and the WIZnet itself etc) you could determine which component of your system is failing and look to replace it.

For example, when debugging the 2DS, one of the users found that his router was failing (through similar diagnostics) and then replaced it to fix the overall problem in his setup.

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Hi Guessed,

Thanks for the advice again! I will look into it a bit further, I’ve yet to remove the IPSerial plugin as I’m afraid I may have to reload the entire plug in - when I looked into my setup the wiznet address and port are already in the advanced settings, yet in the two instances that I lost the ipserial plugin the dsc main partition keeps saying missing port even though the information is in the advanced settings under IP 192.168.1.xxx:5000 If I do reload the plugin with a fresh version I assume it will have to recreate all my sensors and assign new device numbers etc. I just finished a rather elaborate coded scene that closes the garage doors at night and then checks to see if they are closed and toggles the doors until they show closed and in the event they don’t it will count the openings and closings and send us an automatorapp push notification when it’s tried 10 times and then reboots Vera. I’m pleased to say that it works beautifully. So if I reload the plugin that means I have to change all the device numbers etc correct? The house is full of dsc motion sensors too and all those would need to be changed? Or is there a way of uploading just the file that recreates the tcp connection without recreating all the devices? The trouble I’m having is that its hard to tell when say lights don’t come on or door sensors don’t update is a result of a loss of communication with the panel or if Vera is just busy waiting for reply’s from other nodes or if I have a faulty tilt sensor like I suspect might be the case on one of our garage doors. The router is only a year or two old and is a Lynksis E3000 which was one of the best at the time. There is a secondary switch between the router and the Wiznet as I have not enough ports and too many devices needing a wired connection
That’s why I was asking if there is a way of being notified when the panel and Vera lose communication and don’t reconnect. Then I can at least take the steps necessary to get them in sync again and it would help trouble shoot whats going on. Once again thanks in advance for your valued help
I have the ping plug in so I could set it up to ping various devices. When you mention command line are you referring to accessing Vera via ssh and initiating pings from there? I’ve pinged from a terminal app in Windows which is what I assume you are referring to?

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We need to strip you down to a basic config to eliminate any interdependency problems. That’s why I’m recommending you remove the IP Serial device, and transfer the IP Address over to the DSC… directly.

yet in the two instances that I lost the ipserial plugin the dsc main partition keeps saying missing port even though the information is in the advanced settings under IP 192.168.1.xxx:5000
You cannot configure the DSC to be both attached Serially and via IP. I suspect this is what you have currently, and you should configure for one or the other, but not both.

If you’ve got it configured for both, then you’ll also see a “value” in the IODevice variable under advanced. A value here, along with a value under IP, would likely be bad.

Making these changes will not require you to re-install the plugin (which will result in new DeviceID’s, and will [effectively] invalidate any scene scripting done against the old ones)

… but, as always, ensure you have a backup before making wholesale changes. This will give you something to restore if things do go awry.

The router is only a year or two old and is a Lynksis E3000 which was one of the best at the time.
Age of router has little bearing on whether it's failing or not. It's best to measure (using [tt]ping[/tt] etc) and make an assessment based upon the resulting data.

I’ve also seen cases where people have failing cables, connections or power supplies. All of these things can lead to a situation where Vera no longer communicates with a [network attached device] and is generally un-aware that it’s gone away… at least until the Keep-Alive timer kicks in.

That's why I was asking if there is a way of being notified when the panel and Vera lose communication and don't reconnect. Then I can at least take the steps necessary to get them in sync again and it would help trouble shoot whats going on.

Not really, at least not one that won’t corrupt UI4 user’s setups and I single-stream the code for UI4 and UI5 (and dont plan on changing that model)

When you mention command line are you referring to accessing Vera via ssh and initiating pings from there? I've pinged from a terminal app in Windows which is what I assume you are referring to?
When measuring, all primary measurements should be done from the perspective of the device that needs the connectivity... In this case Vera. Secondary measurements from other devices on the network can be handy to validate your findings, but measurements need to follow the same path they would if the system were running.

Think of it as a [car] service technician attempting to diagnose a problem with your car. Anything they do would involve your car, not the one next to it (which might have a totally different experience/problem set)

PS: Please put paragraph spacers into your postings, and clearly break out the questions. It took me ages to respond to this as I had a difficult time reading the “train of thought” posting.