daneboy55 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I'm trying to straighten out a problem I caused for a friend of mine. I replaced her wireless router when her existing router died. I solved that problem. Now, she explains that she can not access her control4 box from outside her home. So, I guess, the old router allowed some traffic to flow through to the control4 box? Are there some ports that should be configured to allow external access? Her husband was the master of the network and he is gone. I'm unfamiliar with control4. It would be wonderful if someone could tell me what I probably screwed up by installign a new wireless router. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 no ports are necesary to be open for control4 to work remotely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-defunct- Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Defaults on most routers should be fine. No portforwarding necessary. Firewalls used by business IT would need things unblocked, but a normal router should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-defunct- Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 What router did you install? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneboy55 Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 Any idea what I could I have changed by replacing the old wireless router? Nothing else in her network has changed. I installed an Asus RT-AC66U B1 router. The previous router had been a Linksys WRT54G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 i would recommend rebooting the c4 controller to see if it will properly re-register with the cloud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneboy55 Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 Ah, yeah. I'll give that a try. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-defunct- Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 If that does not work. Make sure the new router is on the same subnet and IP as the old router. Other than that, the Asus should be WAY better than the other router. I'm surprised the Control4 system even worked with the WRT 54G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneboy55 Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 The old router had a custom firmware installed on it. I can't remember the name of it, but it was from an open source site. So, whatever he needed, I guess that firmware provided it. When she uses her control app in the home, it connects and works properly, She can also go to the app's settings and select her other home and remotely access everything in that home from her tablet. It is only when she is in her other home and tries to access this home that it fails to connect. I reset the control4 box and then tried to connect her tablet to an external network through my phone and access this home, but it would not connect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-defunct- Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 What Control4 OS version is her system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekohn00 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 How is she accessing the Control4 from the outside? The old box could have been using DDNS, a VPN, etc..... Start with the access methods and see where it breaks. Might be as simple as having a fixed IP on her device and the new router go a new IP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mstafford388 Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 When was the last time she connected remotely? It's also possible her 4Sight which is her remote access license has expired. OceanDad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 9 minutes ago, mstafford388 said: When was the last time she connected remotely? It's also possible her 4Sight which is her remote access license has expired. Sometimes it's that simple. 4sight is a yearly subscription to access your home remotely. She should be able to login to her web portal and confirm details, customer.control4.com. If she wasn't paying for it, some people against Control4's advice were forwarding ports, which is a huge security issue, don't do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 4 hours ago, daneboy55 said: The previous router had been a Linksys WRT54G. I had one of those back in the day! When the day was 2003! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 In all seriousnes, if that was her router then she probably has a lot of obsolete tech equipment. That router was released in 2002. I had to replace my WRT54G when I got an internet download speed above 25 Mbps (if I remember correctly). It is quite possible her Control4 equipment is pretty old as well. She will likely need to get a dealer in some time and spend a bit of cash if she has very old equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 5 hours ago, zaphod said: I had to replace my WRT54G You should have replaced it the moment you got it - or at least once you got a C4 system.... those things are KNOWN to be riddle with issues and are really for tinkerers... 9 hours ago, daneboy55 said: The old router had a custom firmware installed on it. I can't remember the name of it, but it was from an open source site. So, whatever he needed, I guess that firmware provided it. Tomato or most likely DD-WRT. And yeah I'd guess it was set to port forward. And no I'm not going to tell you what ports to do that with, nor should anyone else - as you simply SHOULD NOT PORT FORWARD FOR ANY REASON. VPN is possible, but unless she's on OS 2 still....not very likely for your average user. 4Sight is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 11 hours ago, Cyknight said: You should have replaced it the moment you got it - or at least once you got a C4 system.... those things are KNOWN to be riddle with issues and are really for tinkerers... The WRT54G was useful back in the day due to being able to install third party firmware. I cant' remember the big advantage of that but I remember it was a big deal back in the day. I think I also used them as WAPs way back when. That must be why I have several of these (one is a phoneline networking version). Interesting to see the colour fade - presumably from sunlight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneboy55 Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 It was DD-WRT firmware. I'm trying to get into the old one to see what's different. Not sure I'll be able to do that. I understand the port forwarding security risk. I have asked her if she is paying for 4Sight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daneboy55 Posted March 17, 2021 Author Share Posted March 17, 2021 OK. She does have a valid license for "4Sight". She sees a director version of 2.6.0.455411 in her app which I assume is the OS version? I was able to get into the old router which I brought home with me. It is configured on subnet 1. In other words, devices on the network are found at 192.168.1.X. The new router is configured on subnet 50. Devices on the network are found at 192.168.50.X. I'm not sure how it got to 50. I don't remember setting that. I would have left it at 192.168.1.X. Anyway, is the subnet of the router critical for external access? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 2 hours ago, zaphod said: The WRT54G was useful back in the day due to being able to install third party firmware. I cant' remember the big advantage of that but I remember it was a big deal back in the day. (open source and free)VPN first an foremost, as well as out of regional limit radio signal boosting. Plus a million and one tweak settings for port forwarding and other security bypasses for old style online gaming. BUT (at least as a router) they were unable to handle more than a (relative) handful of consecutive connections which will kill a C4 (or any other automation) system in short order (for the end user seen as things not working in C4 of course, but in reality is the network preventing devices from staying connected). Not to mention the very fact that there are so many different hardware revisions and firmware version makes them a support nightmare. For years there was a running 'joke' on the dealer forums: "friends don't allow friends to use WRT54G" - think it was Shawn but... 57 minutes ago, daneboy55 said: I have asked her if she is paying for 4Sight. Just FYI - you're looking at 99 USD for a year's worth of remote access - but also, you may want to check what software version the system is running on, because older software is no longer able to do most 'online' things since a somewhat recent security update (off the top of my head any system software under 2.7.1) - so remote access may 'just' require a software update (noting that software updates potentially force hardware updates as well) Anyway, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, daneboy55 said: OK. She does have a valid license for "4Sight". She sees a director version of 2.6.0.455411 in her app which I assume is the OS version? I was able to get into the old router which I brought home with me. It is configured on subnet 1. In other words, devices on the network are found at 192.168.1.X. The new router is configured on subnet 50. Devices on the network are found at 192.168.50.X. I'm not sure how it got to 50. I don't remember setting that. I would have left it at 192.168.1.X. Anyway, is the subnet of the router critical for external access? AH, see my last post just as you posted - it's likely software version related. Good news being that 2.6 can go to 2.8.2 without required hardware upgrades. There are several remote dealers on here that can help you get that done - it's not labour intensive (well unless something goes wrong during an update, but that's not overly likely) The IP range as such doesn't matter, but if the controller happens to be set to a static IP (not required but commonly done) it may operate on a different range than teh network, and that WILL of course cause issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 PS several consumer routers actually will change the subnet automatically if they detect a WAN ip that falls withing their own subnet (as most people have no clue that that would be an issue, and many ISP routers use the 'standard 1 subnet) that's not a terrible idea as such). I've found however that some of them do this 'falsely' on reboots as well, so I would suggest that you do in fact change the subnet to something other than "1" - but as mentioned above, you'll want to ensure you have no static IP devices before doing that (Common: Main controller, Camera NVRS, IP controlled TVs and surround receivers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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