Network Failure

[ice32]

Hi,

I’ve been running a opensprinkler V2.1 for a year now without issue but last week while manually operating the valves the web interface froze and has since been intermittent.

I was on firmware 2.0.3 but have since updated to 2.1.3 to try and resolve the issue, this hasn’t fixed the issue, I’ve tried pinging the static IP of the opensprinkler and it has massive packet loss and high latency.

The LCD is fine (it some times displays a little cross next to the network symbol) and when I could connect to the controller the values operated successfully, so i think the controller hardware is fine. I’ve tested it with multiple cables/switch ports etc to rule out my internal network.

Is there any logs I can access to check for errors from the network component? if this is the issue can i just replace the network component?

Any tips for further troubleshooting or advice would be great.

Thanks

[Ray]

If you use static IP, we strongly recommend using the router’s DHCP reservation to manage static IP, and do NOT set static IP on OpenSprinkler. The reason is that users often set a static IP on OpenSprinkler, but forget to set the correct gateway (i.e. router’s) IP, resulting in OpenSprinkler not able to reach the weather website. Using router’s DHCP reservation can easily avoid such issues. We’ve just released a new video tutorial that goes through DHCP reservation and port forwarding:
https://opensprinkler.freshdesk.com/solution/categories/5000022938/folders/5000099521/articles/5000569763-video-how-to-set-up-port-forwarding-for-remote-access

[ice32]

Hi Ray,

Thanks for the reply, I’ve set it back to DHCP to test that theory but it exhibits the same behaviour, it obtains an IP address from the router but it continues to have high packet loss and high latency.

Are there any logs i can access to see if the network component has an error etc?

I’m a SQL/C# developer so am happy to hear any technical troubleshooting you may suggest.

Thanks

[Ray]

Is your OpenSprinkler connected to router through wired connection or WiFi adapter? If WiFi adapter, I suggest that you try wired connection and see if that reduces packet loss and latency. If so, it’s probably a WiFi related issue.

[Tom]

Hi,

I recently purchased and installed openSprinkler; I’ve been using it for about three weeks.

I’ve been experiencing intermittent “network failures” as well. Basically the OS unit goes away periodically and I cannot talk to it via either the webApp or the iPhone app. If I wait a few minutes, it always comes back. This happens several times a day.

I’m on the same subnet using local access for both webApp and iPhone app (webApp via computer on wired Ethernet; iPhone app on wifi). My OS unit is using DHCP as recommended. The unit’s IP add is not changing, so that is not the problem. And, I have the OS unit connected via a dedicated Ethernet cable so no wifi issues.

I’m currently running firmware 2.1.2 with hardware version 2.2.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Ray]

Here is my suggestion: when it loses response, check the LCD screen and see if there is an arrow icon displayed at the right end on the second line. If you see that arrow, it means the controller is trying to ping the router but cannot reach the router.

If there is no arrow, try to click button B1 or B2. If the LCD does not respond to button clicks, it’s likely the controller is busy waiting for NTP sync to return, or waiting for weather / time zone query to return. These are likely due to issues with the Internet connection (or in case you have installed a firewall, perhaps the firewall is blocking incoming packets to OpenSprinkler for some reason).

If the LCD does respond to button clicks, then it’s really unclear to me why it has intermittent connection issues. We may have to ask you to send it back to us for further checking.

[ice32]

Ray might be onto something with the unit requiring internet access, I fixed my issue by connecting the unit directly to the router instead of through a switch.

I went back to look at my switches diagnostics as it’s a managed switch and noticed on the ports the sprinkler was connected to(i tried different ports, both have similar stats) it had a number of packet collisions, so i assume the switch was nuking the traffic to prevent further issues. for now though I’m happy enough to leave it plugged into the router directly.

Thanks for the help Ray, good luck Tom,

[Tom]

OK those are great suggestions; I’ll investigate some more and get back to you. Thanks for the quick response!

Tom

[Author]

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