Network problems

[Ray]

@Domenic: we’ve received your return. For the record, here is the diagnosis result: I’ve tested the controller right away and I honestly could not find any network related issue at all. I’ve used Linux’s ping command to continuously ping it for 10 minutes and there is not a single lost packet. Also, this is going through a TP-Link WiFi adapter, which generally performs less reliably than direct wired connection. So I assume the issue you encountered is specific to your network setup. Without replicating the setup, I honestly can’t reproduce the problem. Thanks for understanding.

[davidvd]

Hi Ray,

I’m having the same issue with my OS. I noticed that some times, the web page was not responding and I had to reboot it. So I started to monitor it with icinga. And now I have a full report from the last month that is now attached to this post.

I really like your interface and your GUI but it starts to be a showstopper for me because my wife and me get irritated by this bug every other days…

How can we fix that?

Attachments:

1. notifications-sprinklers.csv

[Ray]

@davidvd: if you submit a support ticket, we can send you a replacement unit so you can check if it improves the connection. In the end I think the issue is that every user has a different network setup, and the open-source library based on Microchip’s ENC28J60 chip is probably not the most reliable one that fits all different network setups. In the lab we’ve tested and couldn’t find any obvious problem; in the wild it may present issues but we don’t have the resources of testing every possible router / network setup out there. If the replacement unit works, at least we can gain some information about the issue.

[Derek]

I know that this thread is quite old, but I bumped into it during my troubleshooting, and wanted to update it with what I’d found in case it helps someone else.

Background:
I’ve had opensprinkler for 3 years, and the first 2 years went well. This year has been a battle.

My Scenario
I was seeing frequent lock-ups on my OpenSprinkler, where the UI would completely stop responding (the browser would basically throw a 404 page not found). Rebooting the device would bring it back up for a period of seconds, minutes, or hours – it never seemed to be consistent. After dealing with this for a month, I decided to try to figure out it. Being a technical guy, I did the usual networking things (made sure other devices were accessible, tried accessing inside the LAN and over the WAN, tried changing IPs and my forwarding in case I had an IP conflict, etc. Nothing seemed to make any difference.

To be fair, I was also seeing some weird behavior on another networked device, my multi-room audio system that had also been running flawlessly for years.

Troubleshooting
I started to think of changes to infrastructure, and I had added a few new network devices. I disconnected these, thinking that had to be the source, and it seemed good, for a few days, and then the problem came back.

I have a fully-managed network infrastructure (with managed switches that allow me to isolate things at the port level among other things). I isolated the OpenSprinkler on it’s own VLAN (network) where it is the only device. After doing this, the issue has gone away – I think that this basically tells me that the OpenSprinkler basically can’t play nicely with something else on my network – at idle without anyone around I have about 20 devices on the network, so this could be coming from anywhere (DirecTV DVRs, thermostats, TVs, Vacuum cleaner, gaming consoles, tablets, PCs, Printers, NVR / Cameras, IP Phones, A/V Receivers, Multi-room audio controllers, Sonos devices, Personal Weather Stations, etc). Since almost all of these devices are “black boxes” with the exception of the Tablets and PCs, it’s nearly impossible to troubleshoot. If you have an OpenSprinkler, you’re probably the type like me that may have other devices.

Going Forward
In the end, I’m going to segment my network into 3 VLANs. LAN (Printers / Tablets / Phones / Printers), IoT – OS (OpenSprinkler by itself), and IoT (Everything else). I’m going to limit access from IoT and IoT – OS so that they can only access devices on their own VLAN, and I’m going to allow access from the LAN to the other two VLANs so we can still access these items from our Tablets / PCs / Phones.

I realize many other people probably don’t have the equipment (managed switches) or skillsets to do this, but after battling this for the better part of 3 months, it’s just the easiest way to work around it – keep it by itself in a controlled environment.

[Ray]

@Derek: thanks for sharing your findings. Very informative!

[jsmart4]

Thank you Derek for your detailed write-up, which continues to be helpful 2 years later. The exclusive virtual network tip (which I wouldn’t have thought to try) aptly solved my connectivity problem!

Out of the box, my OpenSprinkler 3 (OS 3.0 AC) was unable to hold wifi connectivity. I had also ordered ethernet adapter just in case, but wired ethernet was unable to hold connection either. I was limping along having to power-cycle just to get fleeting, bare minimum connectivity. I set up OS 3.0 to be solo client on its own (wifi) virtual network (Asus router with Tomato firmware) and connectivity problems solved. As noted, this is an advanced network set-up, but can be helpful work-around for those well versed in router set-up.

I have done a bunch of RPi and Arduino projects, and am very appreciative of this product. It really serves my needs. THAT SAID, I would urge Ray to migrate the OS 3x product to a more stable/performant platform so that the non-nerds aren’t pulling their hair out over something (connectivity) that should be a given. I see 64-bit SBC boards with built-in Arduino microcontroller, so 32-bit options should be pretty affordable/doable. Time to leave 8-bit behind (or warn buyers that connectivity is “hobby” quality).

[Ray]

@jsmart4: thanks for your feedback. Please note that we also offer Raspberry Pi-based OpenSprinkler, which is based on RPi and it runs a full Linux operating system, with both WiFi and Ethernet connection options.

Also, OS 3.0 is based on ESP8266, a 32-bit MCU, not 8-bit. I honestly do not know what causes the connectivity issues in your case, particular as you encountered it both in the WiFi version and Ethernet version. I honestly admit the product hasn’t been tested exhaustively with all WiFi routers or Ethernet switches — we can only test it with the WiFi router models we have. That said, I don’t think the connectivity issue is a generic issue with the product itself. I think it has to do with your particular network setup, which, without the ability to replicate here in house, I do not really know how to diagnose the issue.

[Author]

Posts