E-mail notifications and clock synchronization don't work.

[Richard]

I've sorted through a number of issues with great help from the forum and staff of Universal Devices, and I'm very happy with how my ISY99i performs. But I have yet to get my e-mail notifications and internet clock synchronization working.

 

With the clock, I can synchronize with my PC but fail to get a connection with a time server over the internet. When I click to "synchronize now" with the NTP server I get the following error message: [-60001]NTP Server DNS Error[pool.ntp.org].

 

With e-mail notifications, I've run the test using a gmail account and an account going through another server. I've tried the settings suggested in a couple of threads on the forum, all to no avail. This is the error message I get for this: [-50010]Mail Server DNS error[Null].

 

I've checked the IP settings on my router and the ISY99i. I don't know if there is a discrepancy which could be the source of the problem. Here are the numbers:

 

Router:

 

IP Address: xx.xxx.89.9

Subnet Mask: 255.255.240.0

Default Gateway: xx.xxx.80.1

DNS 1: yy.yy.103.15

DNS 2: yy.yy.103.16

 

ISY99i [from telnet access]:

 

IP Address: 192.168.1.zz

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway: yy.yy.103.15

DNS Server: yy.yy.103.16

 

The subnet masks differ, the default gateway on the ISY99i = the DNS1 on the Router, and the DNS Server on the ISY99i = DNS2 on the router.

 

Would appreciate assistance.

[JacquesB]

Hi,

 

the default GW in the ISY controller must be the internal IP address of your router. Without that, the ISY controller can not do anything at all over the Internet.

 

Your router has an IP address of 192.168.1.Z (probably 192.168.1.1) and that is the IP address you must use as the default GW in the ISY.

 

This is one problem for sure. If you have more, just update your post with the new errors messages and settings...

 

Have fun,

 

Jacques

[Richard]

Jacques,

 

Every time I try to change the Default Gateway in the ISY99i through telnet, using the CT command, the change seems to be there initially; but when I run through the CT command again, whether or not I've exited and reentered the controller through telnet, the address reverts to the yy.yy.103.15 address. Why won't it hold the address I'm trying to change to? Would that have anything to do with the difference in the subnet mask address?

 

Richard

[JacquesB]

Hi Richard,

 

may be would it be better not to fix these parameters manually, but over DHCP. This is how I work here.

 

Your router, as most routers, should be capable of acting as a DHCP server. In your router settings, create a DHCP entry for your controller and put back your ISY in its default mode : DHCP client instead of static IP. Also be sure the DHCP in your router sets all parameters properly : DNS Server, Default GW, etc.

 

May be the setting is overwritten by this right now : you try to set something that is set to a different value by the DHCP client.

 

Should you need more help about that, simply post your progress.

 

Good luck,

 

Jacques

[Richard]

Hi Jacques,

 

My router, a Linksys WRT54GL, is set to be a DHCP server. but I don't see where in the router's firmware I can create a DHCP entry for my controller. Also, when I try to set the controller to request a DHCP assigned IP address, following the instructions in the ISY Advanced Configuration Guide, it fails to release the static IP address. I'm stumped and my knowledge on how these things work is limited. Will I have to do a factory reset, and if so, will I lose my programs and device links? Further suggestion will be appreciated.

 

Richard

[JacquesB]

Hi Richard,

 

Here is the manual for your router :

http://downloads.linksysbycisco.com/downloads/WRT54GL_V11_UG_C-Web,0.pdf

 

At page 8, you have the details about how to configure your DHCP server. At the end of the manual, you also have the option of seeing the DHCP client table. Take a look at this table. If you see your ISY in the DHCP client table, than you may have a mix of TCP/IP settings : part of it is DHCP, part of it is static. It will not work properly. You must go either fully DHCP or fully static.

 

Be sure that all parameters in the DHCP server are right.

 

DHCP server are not designed to mess up networks. Even without a reservation, they -should- not move a resource from an IP to another without any reason. You can go DHCP even without a reservation and your ISY should remains at the same IP because I'm sure you have less than IP devices in your network

 

For going fully static with the right IP settings, try this :

telnet to your ISY controller's actual IP address ;

telnet 192.168.1.100

Enter the command

CT

The controller will ask for all the parameters it needs : IP address, netmask, gateway and DNS server.

You should use an IP address outside of the DHCP scope used by the router. By default, any IP like 192.168.1.XXX, with XXX under 100 and not 1 should be good.

Your netmask should be 255.255.255.0, again, as a default of your router (of almost every router I should say...).

The gateway is the router's internal IP address : by default 192.168.1.1

The DNS server is the same for your ISY than for the router, the one you wrote in your first post.

 

To be sure these new settings are effective, do a reboot of the controller after that, with the command

RS

 

For going back to DHCP, do the same procedure but use IP address 0.0.0.0 instead.

 

A thing as simple as TCP/IP settings does not require a reset to factory default.

 

Good luck with this,

 

Jacques

[Richard]

Jacques,

 

I've downloaded the manual for my router and tried your suggestions. I've configured the router as a DHCP server as per the manual and tried to set the ISY99i to let the router as a DHCP server set it's IP address by accessing the controller through telnet and using the CT command. Even though I reset the IP address at 0.0.0.0 rather than its current static address of 192.168.1.49, and I say yes to being asked whether to enable DHCP, after I reboot it retains the static address. When I look at the client table in the router, the ISY99i is not listed, since the ...49 address is outside the DHCP range I've set. And with the static address I am not able to set the default gateway address in the ISY99i to be the router's address of 192.168.1.1.

 

I will mention that I had trouble gaining access to the ISY99i through a remote internet browser when I first got the controller. Through a series of e-mails with Michel Kohanim, I ended up using the static address and a specified port which I've set to be open on my router. One of the problems I had at that time was the phone adapter which I use for Vonage. It was connected between the router and the internet, causing problems with addressing. I ended up moving the phone adapter to sit behind the router instead of in front of it. That allowed the addressing to work properly. I would think it now shouldn't have any effect on the functioning of the ISY99i.

 

Any further suggestions from you or others will be appreciated.

 

Richard

[JacquesB]

Hi Richard,

 

Unfortunately, I do not understand why the ISY refuses to be a DHCP client... What is sure is that you will have no Internet interaction (mail, DNS, NTP...) while your ISY's default gateway is not the internal IP of your router.

 

May be someone else from UD can help you to turn your IP settings to the appropriate walue...

 

As a TCP/IP requirements, your settings must be :

IP Address = 192.168.1.XX where XX is an unused number on your network and between 1 and 254 (1 is probably used by the router...)

Netmask = 255.255.255.0

GW = IP of the router, probably 192.168.1.1

DNS = The IP of your ISP's DNS server.

 

They can be configured either by DHCP or manually. I failed to help you achieve that with any of them...

 

Hope someone else will be capable of helping you about that.

 

Jacques

[Michel Kohanim]

Hello Richard,

 

Please note that Y must be capitalized when responding to CT commands. So, y will not work.

 

Please retry and let me know if this fixes the issue.

 

With kind regards,

[Richard]

Yes, Michel, that was the problem. I was using a lower case y, not capital Y. I have finally enabled DHCP on the ISY99i. E-mail notification now works and the clock synchronized over the internet. Now I have to see if I can still access the controller remotely.

 

Thanks, as always.

 

Richard

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Richard,

 

I am so very glad that it worked. What you might want to do is to have your router reserve this IP for your ISY. Otherwise, when the router changes the IP, you might lose remote access.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

[Richard]

Hi Michel,

 

Thanks for your suggestion. Now I need to know how to do this in my router. The only thing I can figure might work is the advanced router screen which allows the user to set up a static route between the Router and another network. But the ISY99i isn't a network. Jacques' posting has a link to the manual for my router. Is there anything else in the firmware which would allow me to do what you recommend?

 

By the way, for the first time today I was able to access the ISY99i from my office. I turned on a light from the office -- it was on when I came home. Wow!!!

 

Richard

[JacquesB]

Hi Richard,

 

unfortunately, nothing in the manual of your router shows that it can do DHCP reservation. That means your router will not guarantee that your ISY's IP will not change, but if you keep your ISY On all the time (as it should), your router should not change its IP address.

 

But even if it does change the IP, you can always found easily where your ISY is by looking at the DHCP client table your router has.

 

The option you were talking about (static route to networks) is something completely different than DHCP reservation and can not be used as a replacement.

 

The only thing you can do that will help is to keep the default DHCP lease time to its maximum (1 day).

 

Should your router behaves badly and keeps moving your ISY all over the place all the time, you may look for a router that will do DHCP reservation (many routers do it). Just go on the Internet before buying it and read the user manual. You will see if the router does DHCP reservation or not.

 

Sorry for the bad news,

 

Jacques

[Richard]

Hi Michel,

 

Thanks for taking the time the check out the router manual. I do keep the ISY99i on 24/7. I'll watch to see how stable the IP stays for the controller. If it does jump around, I can look for an alternative router -- or see if one of the open source firmware options for my current router, such as DD-WRT does include DHCP reservation.

 

In the meantime, I believe that everything here now is functioning the way its supposed to function. Perhaps it won't be too long before my low priority requests for some additions to the programming capability of the ISY99i can get done. Then I'd be 100% happy.

 

Best regards,

 

Richard

[MikeB]

Why not just configure the ISY with a static IP address outside of your router's DHCP range?

[Richard]

Hi Michael,

 

When I began this thread, I did have the ISY99i configured with a static IP outside my router's DHCP range. But as indicated in my first post, with the static IP, I was not able to configure the Default Gateway and DNS settings in the ISY99i to allow for e-mail notifications and clock synchronization. Perhaps, now that I know a bit more, the problem was that I didn't use upper case when trying to make changes in the ISY99i through telnet.

 

If my router starts bouncing around the IP address with DHCP enabled in the ISY99i, I can give the static address a try once again, using upper case.

 

Richard

[MikeB]

Yes, I suspect your issue was y vs Y.

[Algorithm]

Hi Richard,

 

It has been my experience that most Linksys routers do not provide for DHCP reservations (some few do), while most D-Link routers do provide them.

 

A static IP address should work fine in your ISY. From an earlier post of yours, your router's IP address is 192.168.1.1. Should you wish to try again to give ISY a static IP address outside the router's DHCP pool, configure ISY as follows:

 

ISY IP: 192.168.1.x

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1 (your router IP)

DNS Server: 192.168.1.1 (your router IP)

 

Remember to use upper-case 'Y' to answer each prompt. ISY will reboot.

 

If you do, please let us know how it goes.