Connecting to CNI issue

I have an issue connecting to a CNI.

It failed to connect to the CNI once last week. When I checked the Billion router port which it is connected to the LAN LED was amber not green. I swapped the cable and still amber, I swapped the port and still amber. I reset the CNI power and still amber. It worked again after the power cycle but the port LED still amber.

When it was in error mode I got an asynchronous socket error message 10061

Now trying to connect from Adelaide to the CNI is in Port Douglas via the DYNDNS which is working nicely and I get the error message 10061 again.

I communicate via the DYNDNS to my Ness M1 system flawlessly. I had communicated to the CNI a couple of times no problem then the error message.

I am concerned that the LAN port continually reports an amber condition irrespective of what port and cable is used to connect to the CNI.

I require a reliable connection to the CNI both locally and remotely, it appear there might be an issue with the CNI albeit it works after cycling the power and continually on amber on the LAN port at the router.

I could cycle the 12V power via a relay on the Ness M1 or get one of our forum members to volunteer to go to Port Douglas to switch the power to the CNI on and off.....any takers!!???

Cheers,

Fleetz

 

The port light on my router is always amber for CNI's which just indicates that it is connected at 10Mb/s rather than 100Mb/s. Not sure if that helps.

 

I have one of the very first CNI's and I have seen issues when it has been on for long periods of time - requiring a power cycle to get it going again (usually worked).

I turn mine off now because of this issue. I dont have much faith in it working all the time

Mick

 

Hi Fleetz

The amber on the Billion is definitely a 10Mb/s connection (green is for 100Mb/s). The CNI only works at 10Mb/s. You mentioned connection with DYNDNS... this is only for locating the IP address of the unit. Did you setup port forwarding to the CNI? if You are not sure about this aspect (with the Billion), PM me and I'll go through it with you.

Cheers

 

Can't argue with that, all I can do is tell my experience.

Mick

 

I hope people are not opening up their C-Bus network to the internet by port forwarding!!!

I suggested this a little while ago (something I do with a customer) and was accused of joking around and that it was a bad thing to do - seriously, who is going to try and hack a residential lighting system?

Mick

 

Whilst you setup port forwarding, you don't need to leave it switched on (well not in the Billion devices anyway). It's a case of having remote access to the router and when you need to access the network, enable the port forwarding, make your connection, then disable the port forwarding again. As soon as the connection is made, you can switch off the port forwarding and the connection will not be dropped. I've always used this to make sure that I don't forget to 'lock the door behind me'. The port otherwise, is always closed.

Cheers

 

I have had a CNI connected to an install for almost 2 years now, and have only had to cycle power to it on one occasion.

In the end it was not the CNI but a cheap and nasty NAS drive that was on the system causing the DHCP server in the router to fall over.

But the only other thing i did have to get around in the first little while is that the dafault lease time on the port was set to something like 100 hours, once that was changed to 99999999 (or something like that) it has all been smooth sailing.

Good luck!

Grant

 

Thanks Guys,

All useful stuff!

Port forwarding info is very useful however I am VPN'd to the Billion. This makes the need to port forward redundant.

I am accesing all devices using their local IP addresses as if I was on site.

Happy now with the amber light status however not happy that I can't see the CNI

I can access the CNI by pinging the IP address. I can also connect to it on Port 80 (ie the Jave Applet front end). The CNI is not listening to Port 10001. Both Toolkit and C-Bus Diagnostics come up with fail to connect to the CNI IP. It's there but it's not

Just to throw you guru's a curve ball.

Cheers,

Fleetz

 

<sarcastic mode on>
Don't tell me there is a C-Bus unit that a user can update firmware on. I would have done that a long time ago if I know it could be done.
<sarcastic mode off>


I'll give it a go, Thanks

 

Hi Ashliegh,

Do you think this is a firmware issue I am experiencing? Unfortunately can't interogate the CNI to let you know what firmware I have loaded. The CNI is probably 15 month vintage.

Cheers,

Fleetz

 

Mine has V4.2, and its one of the oldest. I dont recall doing a firmware update previously either. If V4.x is OK then I will leave it as it is

MIck

 

The CNI's have 2 firmwares, you have to check the lantronix firmware using the lantronix software (available on the Clipsal site).

Just clarifying that to make sure everyone is on the same page.

 

Any thoughts Ashleigh??

Cheers,

Fleetz

 

Is there anythine else on the network that could be making a connection to the CNI? You should be able to telnet into it on port 10001 if it is free. The fact you can ping the device but can't connect to port 10001 suggests something else has hold of the port.

I've found the CNI doesn't 'drop the socket' (that is become available for a new connection) very fast.

 

You may need to check the configuration of the CNI, it may be setup to not use 10001. telnet to it on port 9999 and that should launch the interactive confuguration tool. If you want to configure it using a GUI the lantronix software is available on the Clipsal Website.

 

Hi Chris and Richo,

Tried Telnet both Microsoft and Lantronix same result can not connect but I can ping.

The CNI is connected a Billion router as is the M1 ethernet adaptor and the TS07 M1 touchscreen......can't see them holding port 10001.

Need to do a power cycle I would be nearly 100% certian connecting from there on would be fine until the CNI digs it's heels in again.
For those interested he are some happy snaps of my install.