Iphone trouble

[bailers]

Hi,

I am new to the plugin so you will have to excuse me. I would like to use ultramon to allow homeseer to be aware of whether me or the wife are at home by pinging our iphone, the trouble is Ultramon can't seem to discover them. I have assigned them both a static ip address on my network, i try to manually enter their ip addresses and the both just timeout and then go offline. Am i missing somthing here? Also will i be able to use the plugin for my desired use?
Thank you in advance

Chris

[nightwalker]

the problem with this is the Iphone goes dark (shuts down it's IP connection) when it's at rest. Mine gets discovered but only if I go and look at the same time the iphone is active and being used.

[bailers]

Thanks for the reply, i thought that was the case, although i cannot even get to that stage, i try and discover the iphone when it is awake and it just does not see it. Shame really as it would make a great occupation indicator.

[Rupp]

Thanks for the reply, i thought that was the case, although i cannot even get to that stage, i try and discover the iphone when it is awake and it just does not see it. Shame really as it would make a great occupation indicator.

You could use the bluetooth plugin to detect your phones presence but that too may shut down as well.

[bailers]

Actually rupp that is not a bad idea, i know the bluetooth still runs with the iphone locked as it still streams audio/takes handsfree calls. Two questions:
1. Do you need to pair the phones or does it detect any bluetooth presense
2. Can you have multiple devices to one bluetooth adapter?

Many thanks

[killervette]

I tried the iphone bluetooth method. Worked fairly well when paired. However, it KILLED the battery during the day. I determined that it was not a viable solution.

[nightwalker]

I just looked at my ultramon screens and realized that my Iphone wasn't discovered by the plug-in either. Since the Iphone has a static IP on my subnet I just added it manually and it's been fine ever since.

[Krumpy]

You say that the IPhone has a static IP address. So then you're using WIFI, right?

While I too would like to do this, I don't think that it can be reliable as the network stack on the IPhone is powered down when the phone is locked.

I am wondering if Bonjour tracing would work. It might be that the Iphone would announce itself periodically, or I suppose, if it doesn't announce itself then it would browse for services.

I'll have to play around.

[nightwalker]

Krumpy, yes I'm talking about WIFI here at home. Maybe static isn't quite the right term. I reserved the IP in my router for the Iphone so it's always served the same IP when it's connected to the home network. So while not a true static IP it essentially works out the same for my purposes.

[bailers]

Nightwalker/krumpy,

I also have assigned my iphone a fixed ip address via my router. I have however not assigned my wifes with a fixed address and last night it was in the kitchen in a locked state and occasionally i picked it up on my routers discovered devices, mine however was not. What we need to establish is if the iphone checks in on the network every now and again or if it stays detached. Also what settings are you using to add you iphone? I.e icmp ping or tcp? Are you entering the mac address manually?
It would be great to get this working as the plugin would make a great occupancy sensor.

Chris

[bailers]

Killervette,

I completely agree, bluetooth does severely drain the iphones battery!

[nightwalker]

Nightwalker/krumpy,

I also have assigned my iphone a fixed ip address via my router. I have however not assigned my wifes with a fixed address and last night it was in the kitchen in a locked state and occasionally i picked it up on my routers discovered devices, mine however was not. What we need to establish is if the iphone checks in on the network every now and again or if it stays detached. Also what settings are you using to add you iphone? I.e icmp ping or tcp? Are you entering the mac address manually?
It would be great to get this working as the plugin would make a great occupancy sensor.

Chris

Not being a network guy I'm a bit out of my element here but I use the ICMP ping on the iphone. I don't see it as a viable occupancy sensor since i see it connecting and disconnecting in the HS log all the time, as it logs in to get email or I do something with it. I notice messages about connected and troubled from the plug-in during the night when it's just plugged in and charging more so than during the day when I have it with me and it's being used. I would think the bluetooth would be far more favorable to track occupancy but as others have said it kills the battery at a much faster rate.

[bailers]

Yeah i agree, looking at the stipus bluetooth plugin it has an autodiscovery mode which looks like you are not actually connected by bluetooth, perhaps not consuming too much battery. On my way out of the door to get me a bluetooth dongle to trial! Watch this space!

[killervette]

Yeah i agree, looking at the stipus bluetooth plugin it has an autodiscovery mode which looks like you are not actually connected by bluetooth, perhaps not consuming too much battery. On my way out of the door to get me a bluetooth dongle to trial! Watch this space!

The problem for auto-discovery on the iphone is that you need to be in the bluetooth settings app in the phone for bluetooth to be active if its not paired. The only way to "auto" discover the iphone is to have it paired. As far as the ping on the network, it will not work since the iphone shuts down wifi frequently when not being used to save battery.

[Krumpy]

I have an XLINK box which uses bluetooth to communicate to the IPhone and its communication does not drain the battery a whole lot. I haven't played around with bluetooth too much.