Reef Angel Forum

My wifi attachment was blinking blue so I decided to reconfigure it. I tried to an hour with no success. I decided to uninstall the reef angel controller. I downloaded the latest windows installer and went through the setup. I get to the point where you plug in the cable. I wait for windows to advise that the hardware was found and the drivers were installed, but nothing happens. I hit next anyway and go through the rest of the install. When I try to setup the wifi attachment through the wifi setup utility I get as far as plugging in the cable. When I do I cant drop down the serial port box. If I plug in the cable before I open the wifi utility then I can drop down the box. Either way thats as far as I get since I get an error. Sooo... do I have a problem with the reefangel installer? not installing the drivers perhaps? or do I have a problem with the wifi utility?

The cable must be plugged into the PC before you start the utility or the utility will never find which serial port you have available.

okay, got a little farther that time.
when I get to the wifi status screen on the utility
it shows
associated - false
authenticated- false
DHCP - false

I checked my port forwarding and it is set to 192.168.1.180:2000
I checked the port and it is open
I also have the wifi attachment set up with a static lease

That should do it

9 out of 10 times I get an error after I enter the SSID and passphrase. Thats where I'm stuck now

Shouldnt the authentication,associated and DHCP fields read true?

You said you tested the port and it said open.
That tells me that you are good.
Do you still have the blue blinking?

no the blue light is out
So if the blue light is not blinking it's connected to my network?

yeap

Wouldnt you know it...3rd day of vacation and my wifi not responding. Thanks Murphy! First time it happened of course...thankfully tank sitter coming tomorrow and the web cam still up

Edit: it's magically reappeared! Whew.

Mine went out on day 3 as well. Webcam still works. I have to get on the phone with my tank sitter this weekend to reset the controller or router. Boo

My Wifi notoriously seems to drop on day 3 as well. Sometimes it doesn't take three days and drops seemingly at random on day one or two, but I have not yet ever made it through the third day of any time away from my tank (or even past day three while home) without it dropping. Unplugging it from the controller and replugging it fixes it right up until the next drop. Tried auto rebooting my WiFi access point daily at 4am, tried setting sleep and wake timers in the Wifi Mod. Tried multiple firmware revisions from Roving networks. Currently trying a firmware release (2.2.3) from before I purchased my Reef Angel (on recommendation from Roberto) I should know in the next couple days if that has made a difference. Nothing so far has made any difference in the drop outs. Still trying... Here is my current "Get everything" config of my module in case it is helpful for comparison to anyone else in their efforts.

WiFly Ver 2.23, 04-26-2011 on RN-131
Beacon=100
Probe=5
OPEN=
CLOSE=
REMOTE=
FlushSize=1420
MatchChar=0
FlushTimer=10
IdleTimer=3
CmdChar=$
IF=UP
DHCP=ON
IP=192.168.128.200:2000
NM=255.255.255.0
GW=192.168.128.254
HOST=198.171.134.6:80
PROTO=TCP,
MTU=1524
FLAGS=0x6
BACKUP=0.0.0.0
DNS=192.168.128.254
Name=www.reefangel.com
Backup=backup2
FTP=198.175.253.161:21
File=wifly-GSX.img
User=Roving
Pass=Pass123
Dir=public
Timeout=80
FTP_mode=0x0
SSID=2WIRE993
Chan=0
ExtAnt=0
Join=1
Auth=OPEN
Mask=0x1fff
Rate=15, 54 Mb
Linkmon=0
Passphrase=mywirelesskeygoeshere
SleepTmr=1800
WakeTmr=1
Trigger=0x10
Autoconn=0
IoFunc=0x0
IoMask=0x20f0
IoValu=0x0
PrintLvl=0x0
TimeEna=0
TIMEADR=129.6.15.28:123
Zone=7
Baudrate=57600
Flow=0x0
Mode=0x2
JoinTmr=1000
Replace=0x24
DeviceId=ReefAngelWifi
Password=
Format=0x0
Signal=0
Average=5
BCAST=255.255.255.255:55555
Interval=0x7
Sensor=0x0
SensePwr=0x0
<2.23>

My webcam on trips has been a godsend. I set up a cam on my sump water level and on my tank so I can monitor them visually while on business trips. It has helped provide peace of mind while gone and well worth the purchase.

Nick

Someone posted an external antenna you could get on amazon. It was like $8 if i remember correctly...

I would also see about moving or updating your router if possible...

I saw that antenna. nice idea. However my signal seems rock solid and adequate according to my access point. Also my Wifi mod is literally 21 feet from my access point and has nearly a line of sight view to the AP. I highly doubt a signal issue. The troubleshooting I have done so far with auto rebooting the AP daily and with putting the Wifi mod to sleep and waking it seem to eliminate that. The AP auto reboot reconnect has been 100% successful (not a single last good read just prior to the reboot time and nothing after) over several weeks. Also the WiFi mod sleep/wake cycle I do every half hour seems successful (adding and removing it from the mix makes absolutely NO DIFFERENCE with this issue). Been looking at everything I can think of. So far the best explanation I can conclude is some sort of Wifi mod flakyness although I completely admit I have zero solid proof of this. Roberto has offered to replace my WiFi mod, and it may come to that. I'm hoping everyone with this issue can help each other and Roberto with any info we can provide and maybe together we can all figure out why this is happening to a small number of people and get it resolved for everyone

Nick

I have been playing with mine and noticed that several times it won't wake up for the programs. If I send a wake on lan call from my android phone it will come alive work. I have set a router IP reservation for it and hope that will fix it. If not I'm going to try some of the sleep modifications in some of the other posts.

Well, mine randomly worked for a couple hours this morning, then died again. Its definitely not a signals issue as the router is pretty much across the room.

I wonder if rolling back the firmware to an much earlier version would help?

I rolled back the firmware on my wifi mod to 2.23 as suggested by Roberto for a test. I'm not about to go out on a limb and say it is fixed yet as today is day 3 since I did the rollback and I prefer not to Jinx myself. So far so good. When I have not had to reset anything for at least a week... then maybe we will be on to something...

Nick

So I had someone reset my router and the wifi module (I am away from home). It's updating every 3-5 minutes, but still says Connection Status: Unreachable Address. So essentially, it's a one way thing. And the android app won't connect. Any ideas? I am heading home in two weeks for the weekend so I can troubleshoot more, but would love to have full capabilities before then if possible.

One other suggestion from the manufacturer I got today:

The link monitor is described in the user's manual:
set wlan linkmon <value>
This command sets the link monitor timeout threshold, where <value> is a decimal number representing the number
of failed scans before the module declares AP is Lost and de-authenticates. If you set this parameter to 1 or more, the
module scans once per second for the access point with which it is associated. The module re-attempts the
association based on the join policy setting. Roving Networks recommends setting the threshold to 5 attempts,
because some access points do not always respond to probes. If you do not set this parameter, there is no way to
detect that an access point is no longer present until it becomes available again (if ever).
Default: 0 (disabled)
Example: set wlan linkmon 5 // Set the number of scan attempts to 5

Regards,
Josh

rimai wrote:One other suggestion from the manufacturer I got today:

The link monitor is described in the user's manual:
set wlan linkmon <value>
This command sets the link monitor timeout threshold, where <value> is a decimal number representing the number
of failed scans before the module declares AP is Lost and de-authenticates. If you set this parameter to 1 or more, the
module scans once per second for the access point with which it is associated. The module re-attempts the
association based on the join policy setting. Roving Networks recommends setting the threshold to 5 attempts,
because some access points do not always respond to probes. If you do not set this parameter, there is no way to
detect that an access point is no longer present until it becomes available again (if ever).
Default: 0 (disabled)
Example: set wlan linkmon 5 // Set the number of scan attempts to 5

Regards,
Josh

firmware 2.32 v1.0r manual wrote:
set wlan linkmon <value>

sets the link monitor timeout threshold. If set to 1 or more, WiFly will scan once per second for the AP it is associated with. The value is the threshold of failed scans before the WiFly declares “AP is Lost”, de-authenticates. The WiFly will retry the association based on the join policy variable. A value of 5 is recommended, as some APs will not always respond to probes. Default is 0 (disabled). Without this feature, there is no way to detect an AP is no longer present until it becomes available again (if ever).

set wlan join <value>

sets the policy for automatically joining/associating with network access points. This policy is used when the module powers up, including wake up from the sleep timer.

Value Policy

0 - Manual, do not try to join automatically

1 - Try to join the access point that matches the stored SSID, passkey and channel. Channel can be set to 0 for scanning. (Default)

2 - Join ANY access point with security matching the stored authentication mode. This ignores the stored SSID and searches for the access point with the strongest signal. The channels searched can be limited by setting the channel mask.

3 - Reserved – Not used

4 - Create an Adhoc network, using stored SSID, IP address and netmask. Channel MUST be set. DHCP should be 0 (static IP) or set to Auto-IP with this policy. (unless another Adhoc device can act as DHCP server)
This policy is often used instead of the hardware jumper to creat a custom Adhoc network

Not sure I fully understand the behavior here. IF linkmon value >0 then one time per second the Wifi mod contacts the access point (pings it) to verify it is still alive/exists/in range. The recommended "value" according to the manual is 5 even though the default is 0. So this essentially means if there is not a successful two way communication between the WiFi mod & the access point after 5 tries (once per second totaling 5 seconds) The Wifi mod assumes connection to the access point is lost and disconnects and then looks at the "join policy" to determine what to do next. If the "join policy" is set to the default value of 1 then the Wifi Mod attempts to reconnect to the Access point using the access point info stored in it's memory.

What happens if the linkmon value is =0? Sounds like the WiFi mod just happily assumes the connection is still valid and tries to communicate throwing data at the AP blindly. Lets say the access point does become unavailable for whatever reason for say 5 minutes, does this mean that the access point will still be usable once it again becomes available even though the WiFi mod has not disconnected and reconnected or does the connection between them become stale/orphaned somewhere? in other words will it pick back up how it left off when the AP is available again or not be capable of communicating any further?

I may try setting the linkmon value as my next test but Im not sure it would matter. if the linkmon value is 0 and there is no stale/orphaned state communications should pick up like nothing happened when the AP becomes available if the mod just continues throwing data at (pinging) the AP until it responds, no? If the linkmon value is >0 and the mod tries to reconnect according to the wlan join policy value of 1 a clean disconnect/reconnect should occur and there should be no issue, no?

Nick

Woke up this morning to fast flashing green light and no connection on my WiFi mod. Last contact between WiFi mod & Android app was at 12:38 am well before my 4am router reboot. Contact NOT re established automatically after my 4am router reboot. It appears as if firmware 2.23 has not resolved the issue however this is the longest it has gone without loosing contact at 4 days. A quick 5 second unplug of the WiFi mod and replug had it working again almost instantly after plugging it back in. Unplug replug fix until contact re established was literally less than 10 seconds.

Nick

This is what he responded to your questions:

Hello,

If the link monitor is disabled (set to 0), it may not detect the loss of connection to the access point. Since it doesn't detect the network being dropped, it won't disconnect, and thus try to reconnect.

Please let me know what results you see when trying it with this function enabled.

Regards,
Josh

Since the 2.23 firmware didn't show any improvements I decided to upgrade to latest firmware from Roving ftp site.
Now up to 2.36 Also decided to give the "set wlan linkmon 5" setting a go. So around midnight last night I got it back up and running. We will see how this test goes. Here is my current running test config just for reference.

WiFly Ver 2.36, 09-27-2012 on RN-131
Beacon=100
Probe=5
Reboot=0
OPEN=
CLOSE=
REMOTE=
FlushSize=1420
MatchChar=0
FlushTimer=10
IdleTimer=3
CmdChar=$
IF=UP
DHCP=ON
IP=192.168.128.200:2000
NM=255.255.255.0
GW=192.168.128.254
HOST=198.171.134.6:80
PROTO=TCP,
MTU=1524
FLAGS=0x6
TCPMODE=0x0
BACKUP=0.0.0.0
DNS=192.168.128.254
Name=www.reefangel.com
Backup=backup2
FTP=198.175.253.161:21
File=wifly-GSX.img
User=Roving
Pass=Pass123
Dir=public
Timeout=80
FTP_mode=0x0
SSID=2WIRE993
Chan=0
ExtAnt=0
Join=1
Auth=OPEN
Mask=0x1fff
Rate=15, 54 Mb
Linkmon=5
Passphrase=mywifikey
SleepTmr=1800
WakeTmr=1
Trigger=0x10
Autoconn=0
IoFunc=0x0
IoMask=0x20f0
IoValu=0x0
DebugReg=0x0
PrintLvl=0x0
TimeEna=0
TIMEADR=129.6.15.28:123
Zone=7
Baudrate=57600
Flow=0x0
Mode=0x2
Cmd_GPIO=0
JoinTmr=1000
Replace=0x24
DeviceId=ReefAngelWifi
Password=
Format=0x0
Signal=0
Average=5
BCAST=255.255.255.255:55555
Interval=0x7
Sensor=0x0
SensePwr=0x0
<2.36>


Nick

Didn't help mine. I had loaded 2.3.6 Sunday and it had been good for about 4 days. I decided to change the setmon yesterday and I lost connection somewhere in the night.

do you mean linkmon? Can you paste your dump settings so I can forward to the manufacturer?

Yeah. Linkmon. Stupid phone autocorrected. I'll paste it when I get home from work.

Crazy 12 hours later it connected and I can see everything. I will still send my settings later.

I'm not sure if linkmon had anything to do with this or not, but I seemed to loose connection to my controller for about 3 hours this afternoon while at work. When I got home the green light was at a slow green flash. I still could not connect. I checked my network and braodband, all were fine. I waited it out and didnt touch the controller or WiFi mod and about an hour later things started working again. Just thought I would mention. I will have to keep my eyes open to see if this happens again.

Nick

This happened to me to. Lost the connection about 12:45 pm and I was out of town and it regained connection about 7:00pm. I didn't touch anything or reset anything..
d