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    Z-Net Wifi functionnality question

    Hi,

    I opened a ticket with homeseer about wifi issue I'm having with this newly Znet I got a week ago. But they will have to test it in their lab to see how it work on there hand and get back to me.

    But does anyone can confirm me that this unit should be able to boot and use only wifi to connect to it?

    I did configure static Ethernet and static Wifi IP address, when using an Ethernet cable I'm able to access it with both IP's.

    When I power ON the ZNet without the Ethernet cable, it should come up with Wifi and I should be able to ping it?

    Right now I cannot access the unit on the wifi IP when I power it ON without Ethernet cable plug in.

    And the strange thing is that if I power ON the unit without Ethernet cable, I cannot access it.... But if I then plug the Ethernet cable I can ping both IP's, and if I unplug after the Ethernet cable, I still can still ping the Wifi IP and the Ethernet IP... But the strangest thing is that after I unplug the cable over being able to ping both IP's I'm even able to ping the first reserved DHCP IP the unit had the first time I configured it!!!!

    All that make's no sense to me and I think I have a defective unit!

    Can anyone help me to understand and clarify how this unit should behave?

    Thank you,
    Joel

    #2
    Yes, I confirm it works and has worked for me for several months without issues. However, I just noticed my Z-NET had disconnected after I reset my network switch and didn't reconnect. I applied the most resent Z-Wave plug-in and hope it addresses the WiFi reconnect issue.

    Regards,
    Ultrajones
    Plug-ins: UltraMon, UltraM1G, UltraCID, Ultra1Wire, UltraLog, UltraWeatherBug, UltraPioneerAVR, UltraGCIR

    Comment


      #3
      FYI, in fact the unit was really defect!
      I'm waiting a replacement since they need to order more!
      I even tried to reset network setting at the boot up and it was not changing anything to the network setting...

      Comment


        #4
        I have bad luck using static ip in the z-net. I have to set it up as DHCP and do the IP Reservation via the router. Then, every 6mos or so something happens and the router lets it jump to the wrong IP and it takes me a while to figure out what happened. I'm almost certain I cannot connect WIFI using static IP, but I can on the Ethernet port. I've had my Z-Net for a couple of years now.

        Comment


          #5
          Okay got back another unit!

          Went thru all the configuration, and surprise surprise I'm still in the same situation!!!

          This is crazy, but beside of the fact I could not logon SSH on the previous, this one I was able to logon to it using user=pi and password=raspberry.

          The problem was the same, I'm setting static IP address on the Ethernet and WiFi configuration, and WiFi was not connecting by itself if the Ethernet port was not plugged! Useless if I want to bring the unit somewhere I only have WiFi connectivity...

          So I went deeply troubleshooting this unit configuration and after a lot of digging, here is the status now... Both are configured with static IP address, if power up the unit without the Ethernet cable plug in, the WiFi will come up, if I'm plugin the Ethernet cable, both are now working!

          But I had to manually reconfigure everything in /etc/interfaces and /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf files, because the automatic configuration done was not working!

          So here are the files before:
          Code:
          Original Settings
          
          pi@MainZNETv2:~ $ cat /etc/network/interfaces
          auto lo
          iface lo inet loopback
          allow-hotplug eth0
          iface eth0 inet static
          address 10.10.10.23
          netmask 255.255.255.0
          gateway 10.10.10.1
          
          allow-hotplug wlan0
          iface wlan0 inet static
          address 10.10.10.24
          netmask 255.255.255.0
          gateway 10.10.10.1
          wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
          
          pi@MainZNETv2:/etc/wpa_supplicant $ cat wpa_supplicant.conf
          country=CA
          ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
          update_config=1
          
          network={
              ssid="MyWifiSSID"
              psk="MyWifiPassword"
              proto=WPA RSN
                     key_mgmt=WPA-PSK WPA-EAP
              pairwise=CCMP TKIP
              auth_alg=OPEN
          }
          and after the changes I've done to make it work:
          Code:
          New Settings:
          
          pi@MainZNETv2:~ $ cat /etc/network/interfaces
          auto wlan0
          iface lo inet loopback
          allow-hotplug eth0
          iface eth0 inet static
          address 10.10.10.23
          netmask 255.255.255.0
          gateway 10.10.10.1
          
          allow-hotplug wlan0
          iface wlan0 inet static
          address 10.10.10.24
          netmask 255.255.255.0
          gateway 10.10.10.1
          wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
          
          pi@MainZNETv2:~ $ cat /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
          country=CA
          ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
          update_config=1
          
          network={
              ssid="MyWifiSSID"
              psk="MyWifiPassword"
              proto=RSN
                     key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
              pairwise=CCMP
              auth_alg=OPEN
          }
          My router is using WPA2 + AES Only to be very secure.

          Okay, at this point, I'm all set to use this unit as it should be!

          BUT, there is a strange behaviour, if someone (network configuration guru) have a clue on how to fix this be my guess...

          Now, my ZNET are using the Ethernet static IP 10.10.10.23 and WiFi static IP 10.10.10.24, but it looks like there is also an associated DHCP IP address given to those interfaces, 10.10.10.176 when I connect the Ethernet cable, and 10.10.10.178 when the Wifi is connected!!!!

          So, on my Ethenet interface I have a static IP 10.10.10.23 + a dynamic IP 10.10.10.176
          And on my WiFi interfaces I have a static IP 10.10.10.24 + a dynamic IP 10.10.10.178

          And all those IP are working perfectly!!!! That's is a part I cannot explain right now! Anyone have an idea?

          Normally, if you configure a static IP it should not have also a dynamic IP showing up for those interface... Am I missing something!!!

          Thanks,
          Joel

          Comment


            #6
            For the Raspbian releases from "jessie" forward, the "proper" method for setting a static address changed. The Z-Net didn't implement this change which explains the behavior you are seeing.

            New method
            https://www.modmypi.com/blog/how-to-...address-update
            vs. old
            https://www.modmypi.com/blog/tutoria...tic-ip-address

            Also
            https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.co...tic-ip-address

            Basically, the config happens in /etc/dhcpcd.conf instead of /etc/network/interfaces. Alternately, if you don't want to use DHCP at all you can disable dhcpcd and do it the old way.

            Word of advice: with static addressing you give up several benefits of DHCP. I recommend instead using DHCP and fixing the address assignments in the router.

            Comment


              #7
              Also, the wpa_supplicant file can be simplified:

              Code:
              country=US
              ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
              update_config=1
              
              network={
                  ssid="yourSSID"
                  psk="yourWifiPassword"
              }

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by zwolfpack View Post
                For the Raspbian releases from "jessie" forward, the "proper" method for setting a static address changed. The Z-Net didn't implement this change which explains the behavior you are seeing.

                New method
                https://www.modmypi.com/blog/how-to-...address-update
                vs. old
                https://www.modmypi.com/blog/tutoria...tic-ip-address

                Also
                https://raspberrypi.stackexchange.co...tic-ip-address

                Basically, the config happens in /etc/dhcpcd.conf instead of /etc/network/interfaces. Alternately, if you don't want to use DHCP at all you can disable dhcpcd and do it the old way.

                Word of advice: with static addressing you give up several benefits of DHCP. I recommend instead using DHCP and fixing the address assignments in the router.
                What are the benefits you consider with DHCP?

                Because for me almost everything is static, my range are defined depending of the device etc. X.x.x.20-29 are domotic stuff, x.x.x.70-79 VoIP, x.x.x.60-69 printers, and etc.
                My DHCP range is x.x.x.100-199 and doing the way you suggest I will have to reserve in this range which aren't what I want...

                But I will read all links you have, this seems really a good reference, thank you so much for it [emoji4]


                Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

                Comment


                  #9
                  The links aren't working!

                  Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

                  Comment


                    #10
                    The DHCP server provides
                    - Network address/subnet
                    - Default gateway
                    - DNS nameservers

                    For a common Z-Net deployment on a residential LAN, the primary function will operate with only the address/subnet specified. But if you want to check for firmware revisions, you'll need the gateway and nameservers properly specified as well. Note that the HomeSeer web config crapplication doesn't provide capability to specify the nameservers -- they are counting on that being properly set when initially configured for DHCP. Once you change to static addressing you're on your own. (This can be set via the dns-nameservers directive within /etc/network/interfaces, or via a "static domain_name_servers=..." clause within /etc/dhcpcd.conf, or possibly directly into /etc/resolv.conf, which is what the resolver library actually uses).

                    Another benefit is centralized administration. In the future if you decide to expand your network and want to change to a larger subnet, with DHCP its a single change on the router. With static addressing, you're going to be touching each and every client.

                    At the end of the day, IP addresses are just numbers... Having them all arranged in nice little bins based on "like" functions might seem appealing, but... why??

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by 838Joel View Post
                      The links aren't working!

                      Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
                      Working OK here - from both PC and Tapatalk on iPhone ...

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by zwolfpack View Post
                        Working OK here - from both PC and Tapatalk on iPhone ...
                        Haven't tried from my PC...

                        Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by zwolfpack View Post
                          Working OK here - from both PC and Tapatalk on iPhone ...
                          The links worked from my PC, but not from my phone using Tapatalk PRO!!!
                          Maybe it's the app!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Okay, here we go again, after the information received from zwolfpack, I reconfigured everything:

                            First I did put the /etc/network/interfaces file back to the default Pi3 format I got it from this https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...ork-interfaces


                            So now this file looks like this:
                            Code:
                            auto lo
                            iface lo inet loopback
                            
                            auto eth0
                            iface eth0 inet manual
                            
                            allow-hotplug wlan0
                            iface wlan0 inet manual
                            wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
                            Now, like suggested, I simplified my /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf file to this:
                            Code:
                            country=CA
                            ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
                            update_config=1
                            
                            network={
                                ssid="MyWifiSSID"
                                psk="MyWifiPassword"
                            }
                            And does work as expected.

                            Now the final file I changed is /etc/dhcpcd.conf, and I simply added at the end of the file those lines:
                            Code:
                            interface eth0
                            
                            static ip_address=10.10.10.23/24
                            static routers=10.10.10.1
                            static domain_name_servers=10.10.10.1
                            
                            interface wlan0
                            
                            static ip_address=10.10.10.24/24
                            static routers=10.10.10.1
                            static domain_name_servers=10.10.10.1
                            With all that done, it work perfectly, ie, without the Ethernet cable plugged the Wifi come up and there is no more DHCP IP associated to it, I only ping 10.10.10.24.
                            When I plug the Ethernet cable, I can ping 10.10.10.23 and no more DHCP IP associated to it either!

                            That is perfectly the behavior I was searching for!

                            But now there is a little strange behavior when I look in my router the IP addresses that shows up, are both 10.10.10.24 for the Wifi interface and the wired interface with a note "2 clients are connecting to RT-AC88U through this device." on the wired interface! Anyone knows why?



                            If I put down the Wifi interface, then I see 10.10.10.23 in the router has the Wired interface, which is good. If I bring up the wifi interface and disconnect the Ethernet port, then I see 10.10.10.24 in the router has the Wifi interface, which is also good. I did replug the Ethernet cable, now all look fine for a little while showing their respective IPs, and within a minute, it's back to that strange behavior of both showing has 10.10.10.24 with the note on the wired interface!!!

                            Any thoughts anyone? zwolfpack, my network king ?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Very nice!

                              Interesting. My Netgear router's crappy "attached devices" display reports a dual interface Raspberry Pi as

                              ETH 192.168.1.111
                              WiFi 192.168.1.111

                              when the eth interface is actually .119. Exact same behavior as you are seeing. I can't explain that right off, but it's a reporting oddity, not reality. Something to do with dual paths to the same resource perhaps?

                              If you're interested, you can set up WiFi "roaming" so that the WiFi shuts off automatically when the wired is connected.

                              1) Install ifplugd
                              sudo apt-get update
                              sudo apt-get install -y ifplugd

                              2) Edit /etc/default/ifplugd as follows:
                              Code:
                              INTERFACES="auto"
                              HOTPLUG_INTERFACES="all"
                              ARGS="-I"
                              SUSPEND_ACTION="stop"
                              3) Change last line of your /etc/network/interfaces from
                              wpa-conf /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf
                              to
                              wpa-roam /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf

                              4) reboot

                              To change back, just restore the interfaces file & reboot.

                              Comment

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