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  • #16
    Hey Guys, just the heads up my Wemo arrived today.. Haven't had much time to muck around with it but I've managed to connect it to my wireless and switch the machine on and off via my phone... I see what you guys mean about the Wemo app being a little buggy, but its bearable IMO.. So far I'm impressed and look forward to getting the rules / time schedule programmed in later tonight.

    Thanks again for the advice!!

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    • #17
      Tampinator, don't know how but since the fixed ip ( and no new plugs added) the app is ok. The first software upgrade when you first turn them on seems to take forever and seems to go through the app. Good luck

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      • #18
        Originally posted by 338 View Post
        Tampinator, don't know how but since the fixed ip ( and no new plugs added) the app is ok. The first software upgrade when you first turn them on seems to take forever and seems to go through the app. Good luck
        Ye first update seemed to install pretty much straight after I connected it to my wifi.. took about 5 minutes though, I've yet to make it fixed ip. When I finish work I'll give it a shot.

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        • #19
          I make use of a WeMO Insight and so far, the only problem I found, is that if I re-boot or restart my router then it's a good idea to power the WeMo back on/off to allow it to re-establish its connection to ensure the remote access will work. It works fine after a router re-boot within my own local network, but when I use Remote Access it fails to find the devices. So far this seems to be a consistent issue for me, although may possibly be related to my technology and provider?

          GrahamK

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          • #20
            Originally posted by GrahamK View Post
            I make use of a WeMO Insight and so far, the only problem I found, is that if I re-boot or restart my router then it's a good idea to power the WeMo back on/off to allow it to re-establish its connection to ensure the remote access will work. It works fine after a router re-boot within my own local network, but when I use Remote Access it fails to find the devices. So far this seems to be a consistent issue for me, although may possibly be related to my technology and provider?

            GrahamK
            That might explain the issues I've had in the past - previous ISP was hopeless so router resets were a frequent occurrence.

            Is there anything to do in the WeMo app after allocating a fixed IP address for the devices?

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            • #21
              Originally posted by Magic_Matt View Post
              That might explain the issues I've had in the past - previous ISP was hopeless so router resets were a frequent occurrence.

              Is there anything to do in the WeMo app after allocating a fixed IP address for the devices?
              This might be stating the obvious, but when setting a fixed IP on any device, make sure it's not in the range that your router is handing out.

              So, for example, your router might be configured to have an IP of 192.168.1.1, and to hand out addresses in the range of 192.168.1.100 - 192.168.1.200 (this would be listed under DHCP server settings on your router). You would want to set your fixed IP outside of that .100-.200 range. (In this example, valid options would be 192.168.1.2 through 192.168.1.199, and then 192.168.1.201 through 192.168.1.254.)

              The router has no knowledge of any fixed IP addresses you manually assign. And it will happily hand out your chosen IP to another device if it's in the same range.

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              • #22
                Hi Matt, good advice from dmz (I think router dependent, the asus rt88 seems to know) but fixing the ip was all I needed to do to fix mine and the app. Previously would install wemo point, upgrade software, then next day find app and point out to lunch for hours with a message "updating software". This would go on and off for a month, fixed ip solved everything, actually made it an ok product.

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                • #23
                  Interesting; my Dlink router has an option for 'reserved addresses' on the DHCP settings page, it complains if the IP isn't within the DHCP range! I'll google it [emoji6]

                  Just wanted to double check I didn't have to do anything in the WeMo app itself to let it know that the devices are fixed IP; sounds like that's not the case?

                  Funnily enough I've been unable to set rules lately for a similar reason - on saving it just sits on a spinner until I kill the app. I'm using IFTTT as a workaround for now, but have found it flaky in operation and doesn't allow the same flexibility with the WeMo lights (eg you can't set a brightness percentage when turning a light on).

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                  • #24
                    Originally posted by Magic_Matt View Post
                    Interesting; my Dlink router has an option for 'reserved addresses' on the DHCP settings page, it complains if the IP isn't within the DHCP range! I'll google it [emoji6]
                    I hope we're talking about the same thing. When I say "fixed IP" or "static IP", I generally mean where you set the IP in the device (e.g., Wemo) itself. What you're referring to above is a DHCP reservation, where you tell the router to always hand out the same IP to a specific device.

                    The end result is mostly the same (the device gets an unchanging IP address), but the process is different. I mostly always use DHCP reservations, because it's easier to manage. But you have to be aware of how they work. The router is still responsible for assigning the address, and there can be instances where this can lead to problems. For example, when the power comes back on after an outage, the router may not be fully up-and-running by the time the Wemo switch requests an IP address. So even though you have configured a DHCP reservation, the Wemo might not get an IP address. I've also heard of people shutting their routers off at night, which can cause similar issues.

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by 338 View Post
                      I think router dependent, the asus rt88 seems to know
                      Easy for me to get in trouble by not being specific. When I said "the router has no knowledge", I really meant "the DHCP server in the router has no knowledge". Many routers (like your Asus RT-AC88) will show a summary of all client devices that are passing traffic through the router, including ones that have a manually set static IP. I do not believe this list will be considered when the DHCP server (in the router) automatically assigns IP addresses to other devices.

                      So, best practice:
                      - when manually setting a static IP, set it outside of the DHCP range
                      - when using a DHCP reservation, you will often (but not always) have to choose an address inside the DHCP range

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                      • #26
                        Cool, that makes sense, thanks.

                        So is there a way to set a static IP in the WeMo app? I can only find the 'hardware settings' screen, which lists network settings including IP for each device but doesn't seem to be editable. [emoji848]

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                        • #27
                          Originally posted by Magic_Matt View Post
                          Cool, that makes sense, thanks.

                          So is there a way to set a static IP in the WeMo app?
                          I don't actually know. I thought that's what people were referring to when they said "fixed IP". A quick google suggests the answer may be "no".

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                          • #28
                            Originally posted by Magic_Matt View Post
                            Interesting; my Dlink router has an option for 'reserved addresses' on the DHCP settings page, it complains if the IP isn't within the DHCP range! I'll google it [emoji6]

                            Just wanted to double check I didn't have to do anything in the WeMo app itself to let it know that the devices are fixed IP; sounds like that's not the case?
                            I'm pretty sure that setting is so that the router won't give it those addresses to devices that attach, so that if you set the WeMo to 10.1.1.2, add that to the reserved list and the router won't assign that address to something else. It's so it knows what is not allowed to use. I think there's another page where you can set a device to a fixed IP from within the router instead of the device.

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                            • #29
                              Originally posted by level3ninja View Post
                              I'm pretty sure that setting is so that the router won't give it those addresses to devices that attach, so that if you set the WeMo to 10.1.1.2, add that to the reserved list and the router won't assign that address to something else. It's so it knows what is not allowed to use. I think there's another page where you can set a device to a fixed IP from within the router instead of the device.
                              While you could use it that way, that's not really the intention. Every network device has a MAC address that's globally unique. When requesting an IP address via DHCP, the device (e.g., WeMo switch) identifies itself with its MAC address. When the router receives the DHCP request, it looks in its table of DHCP reservations (by MAC address) to see if there is a matching entry. If so, it responds with that IP address. If not, it just gives out a random address from its configured pool/range.

                              If you set a DHCP reservation, you don't have to do anything at all on the WeMo switch. It doesn't know the difference. It asks for an IP, and it gets an IP. It's completely unaware that it always gets the same one.

                              Hopefully I haven't gone too far down the DHCP rabbit hole.

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                              • #30
                                All 5 Wemos at our place have always been on dynamic IP and never had an issue.

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