Topic: transmission problems

[SchoolHouse]

I just sent them a nice note explaining the facts and common thread we found and asked them to prioritize this issue.  I gave them a link to this board so they can read through the dialogue as well.  I agree, lets just keep asking for resolution.

[dalecoy]

I to agree that we shouldn't have to pay for additional hardware. I just wonder if Davis will spend the time and resources to fix a problem that seems to be tied to one ISP . Schoolhouse, I do not have a router around anymore that I could use to test this and it kind of bugs me that I would have to buy additional hardware for a system to work that I already paid top dollar for. I could see if I was using dated technology, but Fios is anything but.

First, I'm glad I provided a question that led to discovery of a "coincidence" that may be the clue to the problem.  If that proves to be the case, Davis can figure out how to pay me.  

And, I'm sure the problem won't turn out to be limited to just one ISP - so Davis will pay attention.

I also agree that adding another wireless router could create more problems than it might solve. I'm begginning to wonder if I could just program my WLIP to upload to weatherunderground or somewhere else rather than the proxy Davis site.

I wouldn't recommend another WIRELESS router under any circumstances, unless you know how to disable wireless capability on the Verizon router.  In fact (as another post here indicates), adding a second ROUTER needs to be done with care and understanding of the local network... not just from a set of simple instructions.

And it is possible to disable the WLIP uploading to WeatherLink.com.  That might cure the 6-hour freeze.

And it is rather easy to use WeatherLink software to take data from the WLIP and upload to weatherunderground, and other places.  Whether that would work for longer than 6 hours at a stretch, would be an interesting question and a good diagnostic.

[d_l]

Another possibility for these lock ups is some sort of DNS problem in the WLIP.  If you look at the WLIP firmware change log page: http://www.davisnet.com/support/weather/software_frmwr.asp you can see that Davis has worked on several DNS bugs over the past year or so.  One of which even mentions that the datalogger would lock up if a valid DNS couldn't be found. Firmware 1.0.7 had several fixes regarding DNS problems.

I'm not suggesting hardcoding a DNS server into the WLIP, but if those with problems could try to collect diagnostic info and report it to Davis, then the fix for the problem might be accelerated.  I doubt that Davis has access to a FiOS connected WLIP as their office is located in AT&T territory.  If Davis hasn't suggested using this tool: Network tool before and after the problem occurs to see if there are any differences in the network settings, then it might be worth trying.

[George Richardson]

Maybe I'm all wet here, but it seems to me that its a Verizon problem rather than Davis. Even if the verizon supplied IP address rotates frequently, I would think the verizon supplied router should have an internal static IP address. I'd call verizon rather than Davis.

JMO

George

[dalecoy]

Maybe I'm all wet here, but it seems to me that its a Verizon problem rather than Davis. Even if the verizon supplied IP address rotates frequently, I would think the verizon supplied router should have an internal static IP address. I'd call verizon rather than Davis.

JMO

George

If it's a problem with DNS, it might be a Verizon problem.  But if it's a problem with IP addresses changing, then I doubt that it's a Verizon problem (nor a problem with the Verizon-branded Actiontec modem/router).  It is absolutely legitimate for an IP address (private or public) to change when it expires, and/or when there's a renewal request.

And, why would the " verizon supplied router should have an internal static IP address"?

[Lite]

OK, just an update here, I spoke to another tech @ Davis and he helped me to set my WLIP software to a static IP address, I will let you know if this works and I will walk thought the simple steps if it does.

Look for an upate at about 1630 EST.

[SchoolHouse]

thats great news hopefully it works..i will check back in.

[Lite]

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a fix !!

After Speaking to a tech at Davis and giving him the information that was gleaned here through some great questions by those who know my unit has been transmitting to Weatherlink.com for about 6.5 hours

You first need your IP address, this can be obtained by opening up your Weatherlink software on your computers.
Go to


Setup

Communications Port

Down about halfway (in the TCP/IP box) click the find button. It should find your device and an IP address XXX.XXX.X.X


Open up an Internet browser window and type that # in the address bar . Click enter

it should open up an orange Weathrlink configuration page
The box "obtain IP address automatically" should be clicked

Click the box under that"Use the following IP address" Your IP address should be there.

click save IP settings and you are in business

This makes our WLIP "static" something I never even heard of before a few days ago

As I said I have been sending information to Weatherlink for over 6.5 hours, way longer than i ever have before.

Let me know how you make out.

[Bushman]

It will be interesting to see what happens when you dynamic IP address provided by Verizon changes.

[Lite]

It will be interesting to see what happens when you dynamic IP address provided by Verizon changes.

The #'s were not loaded by me or anyone else into the configuration page. AS far as I know I have had this # since I got Fios. I'm thinking if my Dynamic IP changes it might change in the config. I could VERY well be wrong.

There is an information page that does not change (at least I don't think it does) and it lists he same "dynamic" IP address as the current one that WLIP detected. Fios loaded this page and address along with other info when I got Fios

Worse case scenario I would have to do this process over again. It's still easier than rebooting every 5-6 hours.

It's still working fine by the way and I think it will for some time.
I will report any problems promptly right here.

[dalecoy]

I'm happy it's working for you, and hope it continues to work for a long time.  However:

Click the box under that"Use the following IP address" Your IP address should be there.

click save IP settings and you are in business

This makes our WLIP "static" something I never even heard of before a few days ago

If you (ever) have more than one real computer on your network, that procedure is guaranteed to cause problems, sometime in the future.  They will be "mysterious" problems, and may require (for instance) rebooting every other computer in your home.

Let me see if I can explain simply. 

The quoted procedure tells the WLIP that a particular address is "static", but doesn't tell your modem/router that the address is "static".

Your modem/router assigns IP addresses to devices, and those IP addresses have lease times (expiration, as I previously outlined).  If the lease is not renewed before expiration, then the router believes it can re-assign the same IP address to the next device (computer) that asks for an address.  That's dynamic address assignment (the "D" in DHCP).

The procedure above tells the WLIP to use a particular "dynamic" address, but to treat it as a static address.  So, the WLIP is happy, but the router doesn't know anything about this.  So, the next request to the router for an IP address may be given the same IP address as the WLIP.  That's just like two people having the same cell phone number.  You can imagine the confusion on the network.

Now, it may be quite a while before this happens - but it will, eventually.  And it will be confusing.  Write this down somewhere:  when that happens,  go back into the WLIP configuration (using whatever computer works), check the "obtain IP address automatically" box, and do the "save".  Then reboot every computer in the house, followed by rebooting the WLIP.  Then you can re-do the procedure that Davis said.

Footnote: when Davis finally comes out with a firmware version that permanently fixes the problem, you'll need to remember to go back into the configuration and check the "obtain IP address automatically" box, save, and reboot the WLIP - to fix the exposure.

[dalecoy]

By the way:

If you want to know what your home network's external IP address is, just go to:

http://www.whatismyip.com/

...which will not be anything like the following.

I'm betting the IP address of your WLIP was something like 192.168.1.X, where X was a small number like 3 or 4.

If that's substantially incorrect, then I misunderstand your configuration, so ignore everything I've written. 

[d_l]

If Lite's chosen static private IP address is outside of the range the Actiontec router uses, then there will be no problem. Ever.

Glad the static IP idea I've been suggesting worked: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=6580.30   Perhaps Davis needs me as a consultant.   

[dalecoy]

If Lite's chosen static private IP address is outside of the range the Actiontec router uses, then there will be no problem. Ever.

If not changed by the user, the Actiontec M1424WR modem/router apparently defaults to a range of 192.168.1.2 through 192.168.1.254

And, if I recall correctly, Lite didn't "choose" the IP address - it was already there - having been supplied by the router via DHCP.

[Lite]

dalecoy you are right on with my WLIP # . I am currently running 2 computers on my network, one wireless and one pc via ethernet. I will print a copy of what you have said as Murphy and I are on a first name basis, it WILL go wrong.

Just so as i understand a little, when my WLIP "auto" finds an external address it is no longer looking for one even when that one expires, correct?

d_l I like the what you suggested that makes life easy.

dalecoy I have seen the external IP# that came up from whatismyip.com right here on the bottom of my posts, I also have seen a different # there on different posts.

How do we get Davis to address this problem in the first place? I'd like to think they are working on something right now.

[Lite]

If Lite's chosen static private IP address is outside of the range the Actiontec router uses, then there will be no problem. Ever.

If not changed by the user, the Actiontec M1424WR modem/router apparently defaults to a range of 192.168.1.2 through 192.168.1.254

And, if I recall correctly, Lite didn't "choose" the IP address - it was already there - having been supplied by the router via DHCP.

That is correct, my router defaulted to that address

[dalecoy]

Just so as i understand a little, when my WLIP "auto" finds an external address it is no longer looking for one even when that one expires, correct?

Not exactly.  When your WLIP is set to "Use the following IP address", then it no longer looks for one (that is, it doesn't ask the router anything - period).  But the router knows when that IP address expires, and may then re-issue that IP address to some other device.  In that case, two devices would have the same IP address.

When the WLIP is set to "obtain IP address automatically", it will ask the router for an IP address, and then should observe the expiration period and do the right things, communicating with the router, etc.

dalecoy I have seen the external IP# that came up from whatismyip.com right here on the bottom of my posts, I also have seen a different # there on different posts.

I'm not quite sure where you're seeing that (probably depends on what browser you're using) - but external IP addresses that are different from time to time is not particularly unusual, and would indicate that Verizon is changing the assignments.  That's not a problem (at least for well-behaved devices) because the router handles all of the changes, transparent to your computers.

How do we get Davis to address this problem in the first place? I'd like to think they are working on something right now.

You can inform them that you've been told that the method they suggested will surely cause home network problems at some time in the future, and will have to be un-done when they fix their firmware.  

The specific "omission" was setting the WLIP to a private static address, without "obtaining" a legitimate private static address (by telling the router about it).

I'm quite sure that Davis does have engineers who understand networking.  Apparently the person you spoke to was giving you a "quick fix" that did not cover all aspects of the situation.

By the way - the "fix" is an excellent diagnostic for Davis.  If your WLIP continues to work, it will be rather conclusive that the firmware problem is somewhere in the area of handling DHCP-assigned addresses (and probably associated with expiration/renewal).  

[dalecoy]

Glad the static IP idea I've been suggesting worked: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=6580.30   

There's absolutely no question that a static IP address, done properly and completely, is a perfect workaround for WeatherLink IP problems related to dynamic IP addresses.

However, the WeatherLink IP should not  require a workaround, to work properly when the default "obtain IP address automatically" is chosen, provided that the ISP is reputable (e.g. Verizon) and the router is from a reputable vendor (Actiontec).

[Cienega32]

Couldn't the WLinkIP address be reserved in the router and assigned to the WLIP's MAC (ala LinkSys)?

[TampaFL]

Good morning everyone.

I had to reset my router once again at 12:17am - so 6hrs from that time ~6:05am-6:25am I will have to reset my router & console once like I have been doing since going on line Jan. 2ND.

However I have just done the steps that lite explained in a previous post about setting to a "static" IP address. I did this at 4:50am - so lets see if I go past 6:30am this morning and not having to reboot the router/console.

Lite made his change & posted yesterday morning & so far as I can tell he has not had to reboot - as he has not posted on having to do that.

Lite can you give us an update?

So now there are two of  - Lite & myself that have had the same issues & hopefully this will take care of the rebooting issue of the console/router.

I agree we should not have to be doing this - Davis should & needs to correct the firmware issue on there end as it appears to be where the problem is.

Will let you all know how it works.

Robert

[Lite]

24 hours later Tampa and I still haven't had to reboot. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues and that none of the problems dalecoy mentioned happens, although as i stated previously, I am on a first name basis with Murphy (of Murphy's law fame)and if it can go wrong it WILL go wrong with me 

[dalecoy]

24 hours later Tampa and I still haven't had to reboot. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues and that none of the problems dalecoy mentioned happens, although as i stated previously, I am on a first name basis with Murphy (of Murphy's law fame)and if it can go wrong it WILL go wrong with me 

It could easily take months or years for those problems to show up - and by then you will have forgotten why.  It might happen the next time you add an additional computer, or replace one.  And it won't happen until something on your network changes "unexpectedly". 

I'm really glad that we've apparently diagnosed the root cause of the problem.  I'm just a bit sad that Davis suggested a "cure" that really just addresses the symptoms, not the disease.

[Lite]

The one thing I did notice is that the last # in my dynamic IP (I still can't believe I even know what that is  ) seems to be addressed to the port my WLIP is connected to. I tried fooling around by typing my IP address with different last #'s and the # 1 actually brought me to the admin page for my fios , or more precisely the log in page to it.

[SchoolHouse]

I followed the steps outlined by Lite last evening (Friday) about 10:30 pm and as of Saturday at noon I have had no issues.   
Just a quick note to future users who might experience the same problem, since I had not repowered my console for 2 days while we were waiting for potential solutions, I did have to reboot the console before I followed the steps by Lite.  I guess because the connection was previously lost just following the steps created a error message. 

Davis provided me the same solution steps in a separate communication so obviously this has caught there attention.  I will respond back to them that the fix (although a workaround) works and that I think a more permanant solutions should be addressed in there next version.

[dalecoy]

The one thing I did notice is that the last # in my dynamic IP (I still can't believe I even know what that is  ) seems to be addressed to the port my WLIP is connected to. I tried fooling around by typing my IP address with different last #'s and the # 1 actually brought me to the admin page for my fios , or more precisely the log in page to it.

Yes, if you get the manual for the Actiontec, it says that 192.168.1.1 is how to log in to the modem/router.

And, if one of your computers and the WLIP have the same IP address, that's the issue I was talking about.  You might then notice that your computer - or the WLIP - is occasionally having problems with network connections.

But, just to make sure I understand - you are not saying that your WLIP is set to the same address that you see with http://www.whatismyip.com/, are you?  I presume the WLIP is something like 192.168.1.4.