Moving home and (probably) leaving my OpenSprinkerPi behind

[Stephen]

I run my garden’s OpenSprinkerPi (firmware: 2.1.7) with a static IP address and hooked into my WiFi network. There is no LAN access where the Pi lives.

I have done this by editing these files:

/etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
/etc/dhcpcd.conf

and the setup now seems quite robust. No remote access has been set up (yet).

Here’s my question …

When I sell our home with its automated sprinkler system (a selling point) how do I grant access to the new owners? They will almost certainly bring a new modem/router with new network SSIDs and password keys and possibly a completely different range of IP addresses too!

My head hurts from even starting to think how I do this, because the simple backup/restore-with-new-settings may not work because I won’t know their new internet protocol to overwrite the existing ones.

Will they have to go through the similar setup issues that I had?

Is there any (easy) way to do this?

What might you recommend please?

[RottenMutt]

I think easiest is to log in with monitor and keyboard.
Set wifi using the following instructions https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/wireless-cli.md

I do wish there was a pkg to connect to wifi like Amazon Echo and Skybell. Would need input button on OpenSprinkler board to reset wifi to access point.

[Stephen]

RottenMutt,
Thanks for your reply. I just can’t imagine someone buying my house with its automated sprinkler sytsem and then telling them they need to unhook it all from the wall, bring it inside, hook it up to a keyboard and monitor and then run the wifi setup as you kindly suggested.

This is no slight on your comment, but only on the “process” of introducing someone to the Raspberry Pi/OSPI world. It would almost be easier to just buy an off-the-shelf, unless I created a “paint-by-numbers” instruction sheet for all this!

As you suggested, wouldn’t it be great if there was a button on the OSPI or Pi to press that then pinged all readable WiFi networks and from there, you could add in your SSID passwords!

I guess you’d still need to bring the device indoors to access a keyboard and screen, but it would make the setup/handover so much easier!

ps: Followup – would an “OpenSprinkler” be easier to set up for a “noob”, because it has an inbuilt LCD?

[Samer]

OpenSprinkler unit doesn’t have wifi so it’s not a direct comparison however the TP Link wireless bridge we sell is probably a little easier to setup then wireless on the Pi, but not by much.

With that said, I think outside of the wifi setup, the Arduino based OpenSprinkler would be easier to maintain and use for a new customer as the Pi version requires Linux skill (to restart service if any issues, manage possible OS issues, etc).

[KSprinkler75]

It’s highly likely that anyone who buys your home won’t have a clue how a sprinkler system works, has never changed their own car oil, calls the repair person when something breaks and has never touch a lawn mower.

If they do change their own oil, repair their own appliances, mow their own lawn, have rebuilt their own transmission and have installed a 16 zone irrigation system like I have, they’ll be able to figure it out themselves. Otherwise, they’ll just call someone.

Once the papers are signed, it’s their house and not your problem.

[Stephen]

Samer,

I’m leaning towrds an OpenSrinkler with TP Link wireless bridge for ease of setup for a new owner. Before we sell our home, I may switch from an OpenSprinkerPi to an OpenSprinkler with TP Link wireless bridge, but, truly, how easy would it be for someone to inherit my OpenSprinkler system and change to their network details.

Is the TP Link Wireless bridge easy to re-configure with new modem/router SSIDs and passphrases?

[Stephen]

KSprinkler75,

I qiute agree that many people won’t have a clue how a sprinkler system works, has never changed their own car oil, calls the repair person when something breaks and never touched a lawn mower.

Our home only runs a small 7 zone system with 8 valves, but I have put a lot of time into it to get the watering set up well for each garden bed, and the garden is an asset to the home. I would not want it to “die of thirst” because a new owner can’t access the OpenSprinkerPi or an OpenSprinkler, and, where I live, don’t reckon there’d be too many OpenSprinkler experts on call.

Any new owner would probably just go to the local hardware store and buy an 8-zone device that they or someone else can set up, but I was thinking of advertising the house with a “mobile-phone-ready” sprinklers system.

Unless the “OpenSprinkler + TP Link wireless bridge” is easy to set up, and I swap over to this setup, perhaps I just won’t mention the sprinklers!

[Ray]

The TL-link adapter is fairly easy to reset: press the reset button for more 8 seconds or more, then it reboots and becomes an access point. Use your phone or computer to connect to it, and the default homepage url, ssid, password are all printed on the adapter label. We also have a video tutorial that walks through how to set up the adapter.

I admit that the setup process is not as easy as a traditional sprinkler controller. On the other hand, we are talking about a web-connected sprinkler controller that has many software features not so easy to explain in one sentence. So I think users really need to at least browse through the user manual to get a good sense of it. I also know that many homeowners are indeed interested in learning and finding out how these gadgets work.

[Stephen]

Ray,

The OpenSprinkler (and OpenGarage) project has taken home automations to another level – but also that is available to those of use who are happy to tinker a bit.

It’s looking like the TP-Link and OpenSprinkler is the way to go. During reset, am I to understand that its default setting are on a label, and then pressing “reset”, those settings are to be used to access it, and from there, I could change the IP Address, subnet mask, SSID and password to match settings of a new home nework?

ps: I could not find the device in your store – is it this one? TP-Link TL-WR802N

[Vendril]

Hey Stephen,

Since the IP is static can’t you just tell the new owner “Hey, to use the Sprinkler open a web browser/app and type in the IP ‘10.0.0.50::8080/#sprinklers’ address and this is the login:password. Also that IP address is Static which means that when you set up your new network it has to be ……’

Obviously they will want to set up a new SSID/password but it may ease the process. Paint by numbers is right but TBH they are getting a great system.

[Stephen]

Vendril,

Nice idea if their router has an IP range of 10.0.0x to 10.0.0.xxx – the same range as my current system.

I switched from a Billion router with a range of 192.168.1.xxx to another router with a range of 10.0.0.xxx so had to recreate some static IPs on various devices.

Oh for a world with simple IP ranges!

[Ray]

@Stephen: TP-Link has retired TL-WR702N and it’s replaced by TL-WR802N. We haven’t got a batch of the new model so it’s temporarily out of stock on our store. The factory default SSID and password are both printed at the back of the adapter — once reset, it will go back to the factory default setting.

For people who don’t want to mess up with the WiFi adapter, I would recommend the powerline Ethernet adapter — it’s like a wired connection except it uses the powerline wires as the signal wire. So you just plug it into the router and there is no need to reset the adapter etc. Of course if it’s convenient to just run an Ethernet cable from the router to OpenSprinkler, that’s the easiest option 🙂

[Stephen]

Ray,
After some thought, I have decided to try a EoP setup because there is no easy way to run etherent cable into the back garden. If the two poerpoints are on the same circuit (I have two) than this setup might be more stable than my current wifi setup, and it that’s the case, may switch to an OpenSprinkler so any new home owner does not have the added (and fun) challenge of the Raspberry Pi setup.

I’ll try to keep updating this thread with my progress so others can see how I go !

[Poppeye]

Stephen
I have been thinking about this problem too, as it not only applies to OpenSprinkler pi but also all the other raspberry pi systems I have now built using fixed IP addresses.

The main problem is the fixed IP address that we used for the user-interface. If you only had the one OpenSprinkler then I suggest the simple answer would be to leave that device in DHCP mode and tell your new home owner to use the OpenSprinkler App. As when he first uses the App it will automatically finds your Controller.

The second issue is your WiFi connection and its Network SSID and password.
The suggestion offered by Samer and Ray would be to set up a WiFi Client and connect your OpenSprinkler to its’ Ethernet port… which still needs some intelligence from your new home owner to understand how to reprogram it to his wifi network and also I don’t think this would solve the problem.

I have now found a solution that works by using a similar type of device (but not the same) as Samer and Ray suggested but in AP mode… here’s the details of how I setup my Wifi AP adapter which has a Ethernet WAN and as a bonus a LAN port.

Power up the adaptor, plug an Ethernet cable into it and connect that cable to your home router and then follow the manufacturers instructions on how to set it to AP mode. (My one instantly came up in AP mode when I pressed its rest button). The adapter then sets up a “open” wifi network that you will see on your computer or mobile device (you will see it as a unsecured wifi signal as stated by the manufacturer instructions).

My new wifi network was called Wireless-N and on the back of the adapter was its IP address as 192.168.10.253 and its username and password. Using those setting I logged into its user interface. And then changed its SSID to “Home Controller” and gave it a new password.
I then changed back to my home WiFi network and SSH into each raspberrypi and changed their static IP address for wlan0 (the wifi connection) only. I left the eth0 (Ethernet connection) with it current setting just in case I screws up with its wifi settings.

Wlan0
Address=192.168.10.122 (the new static address of my pi)
Router=192.168.10.253 (the AP router address also known as the Gateway address)
Domain name servers=192.168.10.253 (you might need to set this)

Then changed back to the new wifi network.

Next open up OpenSprinkler App and manually connect to your controller and change the IP address to its new address.

Problem solved.. you now have a OpenSprinkler and in my case a home automation system on its own network.

So when you sell your home, leave this adapter with its Ethernet cable for the new owner to connect to his routers LAN port. And give him the SSID and password and tell him to use OpenSprinkler APP as you do.
Tip… be aware not to install this adaptor to close to your home router as it will weeken the strength of both WiFi signals.

Now back to the Ethernet connected OpenSprinker
As above for the wifi connected devices and now change the static address of your OpenSprinkler and connect that to the LAN port of the WiFi AP adaptor. Or use another adapter in Client Mode.

Hope that helps.

[Poppeye]

Added note… Ray did suggest you used the TL-Link as a access point but I missed that comment… as you seem to be moving towards using Ethernet.

Just to add some more detail about Access Points and there ability to act as an extension to or even exstend the range of your home internet router.

Once you have this new network setup and you have made changes to your raspberry pi(s) with their new IP address. You can then forget about them being on a different network, as with the WAN connection between the AP adapter and your home internet router… any IP address on this new network can be seen from your home router network even with them being with different network addresses. Therefore, this means your new home owner doesn’t need to know anything about setting IP address or changing WiFi setting. He just needs to know how use the OpenSpinkler APP…(give him the user name a password for the wifi AP adapter just in case he needs to change anything)

Example my main controller was on 192.168.1.21 and my slave was put onto 192.168.10.122 I could access and control both of them on my OpenSprinkler App on my iPad

One thing I haven’t yet solved is how to get port forwarding to work from this new network.

[Stephen]

*Updating this thread*
Since starting this thread, I note that there is anew product that might really suit me the OpenSprinkler 3.
It has a tiny OLED screen where you can see the IP address of the device, and this might make it simpler to manage for the new owner of our home when we sell it!
It’s WiFi only I think, but as there is no ethernet cable running to the existing Pi, and I connect using Wii anyway, this won’t be a problem.

However, setup might be tricky. I’ve read the OpenSprinkler v3.0 Getting Started Guide and it looks like it boots into 192.168.4.1 whereas my current router setup is 10.0.0.xxx.

Could I still set up this new OpenSprinkler 3 if I set my laptop to this new range – 192.168.xx.xx and, once set up, change the device’s IP address from 192.168.xx.xx to 10.0.0.xx?

I think this might work, but would appreciate feedback.

[Samer]

OpenSprinkler 3 will work on any IP range. The reason it boots to a specific IP is to allow wifi setup the first time. Once configured, the device will use whichever IP is provided by DHCP.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stephen]

Samer,

Thanks for the quick reply!

Just so I’m sure. it boots into AP Mode so it can be found by typing in 192.168.4.1 and then, once connected to my WiFi network, it reboots into Client Mode I can change the IP range to something different to match my router?

In my setup, my router’s IP range is 10.0.xx.xxx so I can set the OpenSprinkler 3 to that IP range and with a static IP of say 10.0.0.111?

If this is the case, this new hardware looks ideal for me to leave behind when we sell our home, as the new owner would only have to find the “3” by using the same range of IP on their router – 10.0.xx.xxx or, if different, reset the “3” to factory and then typing 192.168.4.1, find it there, then change the IP address to whatever they desire.

Only issue could be that my modified configuration settings for the names of the zones and the watering times would be reset, but, I guess I could give them a copy of the config file and they might be able to upload it once they have reset the “3” to their desired range.

Does that all make sense?

[Samer]

Yes that does make sense and that is correct. One thing though, it is recommended to use DHCP reservations on your router for assigning IPs to the device rather then set a static IP on the device. This allows the device to continue connecting if the router is changed or if the IP range is changed.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stephen]

Samer,
The benefit to me of assigning a static IP address on the device is that, in theory, I always know what to type into Terminal when I am upgrading its firmware & software, and I don’t therefore need to do a network LAN scan!

I already have another device (a NAS) in my router that has a static IP, but, if I understand you correctly, you are suggesting I use the mac address of the device and reserve a range of IP addresses via DHCP for that mac address – right?

[Ray]

Yes, we recommend binding a fixed IP to the MAC address of OpenSprinkler. Most routers these days support this (this is called DHCP reservation or IP reservation). This way OpenSprinkler is still in DHCP mode, but the router guarantees to assign it the same fixed IP every time. This is the recommended way because it eliminates the chance of setting the wrong gateway IP or not setting gateway IP at all (DHCP will automatically set these for you), or mistakenly setting two static IPs that are exactly the same causing IP conflict.

[Author]

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