Lost remote access to ISY 994i

[ASC]

I have had an ISY 994i unit working well for over 10 years – now on firmware v.5.3.4 and doing simple tasks with sensors, switches, and irrigation.  I use Mobilinc Pro on an iPhone for remote access via cellular data connecting with a dyndns.org fixed address forwarded to a router port.  Also, I liked the ability to access and edit ISY programs from a remote browser.

I had a problem in late September while away on vacation when my router seemed to do a factory reset for no apparent reason.  This caused multiple problems due to loss of DHCP reservations and port forwarding, but all devices and connections have been restored except for the ISY remote connection. 

I can still access the ISY on the local network, and the router-port-forwarding with reserved IPs still works for remote access to other devices (e.g., ESP32 microprocessors).  Synchronising and connecting the ISY with Mobilinc over local wifi works as per normal, as does its ability to send emails, but when attempting to synchronise over cellular, I get Error Code 0 so I suspect SSL certificate issues.  I have tried to install a new self-signed certificate following the Dashboard instructions, but I still can’t connect remotely.   I would appreciate any and all helpful suggestions to re-establish remote connectivity.  Thanks.

[Geddy]

20 minutes ago, ASC said:

I had a problem in late September while away on vacation when my router seemed to do a factory reset for no apparent reason.  This caused multiple problems due to loss of DHCP reservations and port forwarding, but all devices and connections have been restored except for the ISY remote connection. 

Sounds like the IP address for the ISY wasn't restored. If the port is pointing to the old IP make sure the ISY is at the correct IP. With the ISY994 there's no need for certificates if you're using port forwarding.

 

Do you have an ISY Portal subscription? It's been the much preferred method to contact the ISY remotely. Poking holes in a consumer level router makes a lot of security issues. 

Trying to fix with port forwarding:

In Admin Console:

Help -> About  - Make sure the "My URL" is the IP address you have the port directing to.

Click on Configuration Tab and check "HTTP Port" and "HTTPS Port" - confirm those ports are what your directing the open port to.  

Otherwise, if you have ISY Portal you should setup Mobilinc with the ISY Portal access with the directions found here: 
https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY_Portal_MobiLinc_Configuration

Make sure you use your ISY Portal credentials and NOT your local Admin Console credentials. 

Should end up looking like this:

Works perfectly every time and don't have to poke holes in the router. 

 

34 minutes ago, ASC said:

Also, I liked the ability to access and edit ISY programs from a remote browser.

Here's where it gets fun! If you have ISY Portal then you also can use the URL in there to access Admin Console from any computer remotely. You don't use a browser (that's not been the method for many years now). You need the ISY Launcher and add the remote URL to connect to the Admin Console. 

In the "ISY Information" is an address for "Admin Console URL" - Add that to ISY Finder and use your ISY Portal credentials to log into the Admin Console from anywhere.

ISY Portal also allows you to integrate with Amazon or Google (with supported skills). 

 

[ASC]

Thanks for taking time to offer assistance, much appreciated.

Ports and Router

The ports for http and https that are set in Configuration do match what I have set on my router.  However in Help, About, My URL, I only see the local http IP and not a https IP as should have been set via dyndns.org and the https port as defined in Configuration.  I know the dyndns.org URL is correct as it works for remote connections on other ports for other devices.  I will reset these port forwarding instructions for ISY and check again.

 

ISY Portal

I did get a 30-day trial as suggested on this Forum.  I did not investigate that fully, as it seemed I could not get remote access to the Admin Console.  Now, thanks to your information, it seems that I should be able to do that.  However, my first attempts don’t work.  I can access the Portal and it shows my correct UUID, Alias and Firmware (5.3.4).  The ISY Information shows the correct Internal IP, but shows a stranger format for External IP (::ffff: followed by the correct IP for my router).

I added the Admin Console URL as defined in the Portal to ISY Finder, select Admin Console (Cloud), the Admin Console loads, I input my portal ID and password to authenticate, it starts to Initialize, I can see my devices, but it does not complete.  It hangs at Starting Subscription.  Loading Admin Console from the ISY Finder using the local IP works fine.

So bottom line – I still can’t get remote access to the Admin Console.

[MrBill]

4 minutes ago, ASC said:

I did get a 30-day trial as suggested on this Forum.  I did not investigate that fully, as it seemed I could not get remote access to the Admin Console.  Now, thanks to your information, it seems that I should be able to do that.  However, my first attempts don’t work.  I can access the Portal and it shows my correct UUID, Alias and Firmware (5.3.4).  The ISY Information shows the correct Internal IP, but shows a stranger format for External IP (::ffff: followed by the correct IP for my router).

I'd try rebooting the ISY to clear and restart the subscription service....

[ASC]

Thanks MrBill.  I did try that but loading Admin Console(Cloud) still hangs during Initializing - Start Subscription.

I only have the 30-day trial version of the Portal - might that be limited in some way?

[MrBill]

6 minutes ago, ASC said:

Thanks MrBill.  I did try that but loading Admin Console(Cloud) still hangs during Initializing - Start Subscription.

I only have the 30-day trial version of the Portal - might that be limited in some way?

no that should work, no difference in the 30-day portal other than short expiration date. 

open a ticket with support.  it's far safer to use the portal than open ports, and the portal is very inexpensive at under $1/month  support@univeral-devices.com

[ASC]

As mentioned above, I have installed the 30-day trial version of ISY Portal in an attempt to re-establish remote access to my ISY 994i, running v.5.3.4.  Both local and remote access (cellular using Moblilinc on an iPhone) had been working OK, but something got messed up, possibly with port forwarding in my router.  It was suggested I use ISY Portal.  It installed OK, and it shows up in the Help-About window on my ISY Administrative Console.  In order to get remote access to the Admin Console, I added the "Admin Console URL" shown in the ISY Information on the ISY Portal to ISY Finder.

Loading the ISY finder on the local PC, I see two ISY lines – both the same UUID, but one with the local IP and one with the longer cloud IP (https://my.isy.io/isy/ etc etc).

On my local PC and using the local IP link, I can reach the Admin Console, Admin Console (Cloud) and the Dashboard.  Also, from my local PC, and using the remote ISY Portal link, I can reach local Admin Console (Cloud) and the Dashboard.  Also, using my iPhone with Mobilinc on local WiFi, and local IP and port in settings, I can reach the ISY Desktop.  So far so good.

However, using a cellular connection on my iPhone (WiFi off, to force a remote connection), and trying to connect with the Mobilinc with settings changed to my ISY Portal credentials and Secure https set to my.isy.io and port 443, Mobilinc tries to synchronise but then a window shows “Connection Error” and another window appears at the bottom of the screen telling me that “Mobilinc Disconnected” and Attempting to Reconnect to ISY.  Also, if I try to connect to ISY Finder at https://isy.universal-devices.com/start.jnlp using Safari on my remote iPhone, I can sometimes reach the Dashboard, but mostly nothing happens.  Sometimes, I get asked if I want to download start.jnlp, but then I never get connected to the ISY portal.  Given that remote connection using both Safari and Mobilinc fail, I suspect ISY.

I would really like to be able to get reliable remote access to the ISY, preferably Admin Console as well as Dashboard.  Help, pleeeeeaaaase.

[Javi]

Please open a ticket for help with diagnostic.  

We also have an app, UD Mobile, which works with ISY Portal and may show a better error message if there is a connection error.