How to get a IP9258W to work wirelessly

Paul Haese · #1 03-09-2013, 09:20 AM

I am asking anyone who knows about the IP9258W IP power boards if they know how to get them working wirelessly. I have spent several hours last night looking in the system panel for this thing but to no avail.

I can get it work through the Ethernet cable attached to the modem, but that is in the house. Since I don't have an Ethernet cable going to the observatory I am relying on wireless.

If I unplug the Ethernet cable I get the load incessant beeping of no connection, which also means it is not going to work.

When I look in the system panel (software) it says the wireless is down, but there does not appear to be any issues.

I have enabled port forwarding with the IP for this unit but all to now avail.

There are several people here that I know would love to get these working and have tried in vane from what I hear. So if you know how to get this thing working wirelessly please tell us all.

Barrykgerdes · #2 03-09-2013, 10:25 AM

I am not familiar with the ip9258 except what I can see on a google search. by downloading the manual.

However I see it has a built in server. This could be used to drive a wifi unit like the netgear. From there you should be able to log on to it from any of your "client" computers.

Barry

jase (Jason) · #3 03-09-2013, 10:41 AM

Yep, what Barry said. Just install a Wifi Bridge and you're done. Enable telnet or ssh, then start scripting it so you can have CCDAP turn on/off gear at startup and shutdown respectively. If you're still from the old school and want to click on the web interface, you can do that too.

jase (Jason) · #4 03-09-2013, 10:44 AM

Second that, ditch the wifi bridge and use the built in wireless of the IP9258W. Whats the problem? Enabled it in the web interface first (over wired ethernet).

rally · #5 03-09-2013, 11:18 AM

Paul,

I'll assume that WiFi is correctly enabled on your home router ?
Can you for example gain WiFi access to the internet using your LapTop OK ?

Or are you using a PC with Wireless - if so in what mode, and in what OS ?
Obviously you dont want to be using both.

What are the settings you have used to configure the WiFi side of the 9258 ?

Listing them all would help anyone trying to diagnose your problem - as would the equivalent details on the PC or router side (WEP passwords excluded of course !)

Specifically what Country code are you using, what WiFi mode - Adhoc or Infra and what Security Encryption type is enabled - does it match your router and what WEP key have you used - is the same key being used ?
Have you assigned an SSID to it ?
Note - It only supports 802.11 B or G modes

From the scant info you have provided it sounds like the device isnt transmitting or isnt broadcasting anything you can detect, but that's a stretch based on what you have said, since I dont know what you were using to look for it.
What software are you using on the PC ?

The manual is pretty detailed and its not any different to most other WiFi devices, so its likely something pretty simple.

If you can provide that info, someone can probably start helping you, without it - all you can tell us is you have a problem, but we cant help much.

Rally

Paul Haese · #6 03-09-2013, 12:00 PM

Thanks guys for all the suggestions and comments. I have it sorted now. I got some tech support from Scorpion Tech whom I bought the IP power.

This is what they did, I was able to watch while sorting things.

OK we went with WEP inscription at 128bit. My router at the house was using WPA2 encryption and we had to change that to WEP. Not my preference but that is the way it is.

Under wireless we made the operation mode infra. Made the wireless type mixed mode. Gave the SSID a name and adhoc mode 802.11g 54mbps.

Authorisation type is shared key, encryption type WEP and then put an encryption password into the WEP ID slot. Save and reboot.

Rebooted and then made sure we had the same WEP ID in the router/modem. You will need to reconnect afterwards by deleting the old network connection in the computer you are using to work with. In my case a laptop. Then reconnect that using the WEP ID password.

Then I went down to the observatory and made sure I changed the network (delete the old one first via network center) and connect to the current one with the new WEP ID password.

Downside is that if the computer in the obs goes down I cannot boot that (but UPS will sort most of that drama) anything back up. That also means the wireless router needs and small UPS to continue for external communication.

All this was done via team viewer and I watched it all while talking to tech support guy. From this experience I am really happy to recommend Scorpion Technologies. I bought those units two months ago and they asked nothing for the tech support. I rang them on a hunch that they might be able to help.

It would have (despite this looking fairly simple) taken me a while to cotton on to this. BTW Fred you were right.

Sorry Rally I was once again remiss with my detail. I must remember to be more informative in future.

With more info it might have been solved easily by someone here.

acropolite (Phil) · #7 03-09-2013, 12:24 PM

Paul if both Obs are on the same power phase you could also us some Ethernet over power adapters, which would be more reliable (and less hackable) than wireless.

Bassnut (Fred) · #8 03-09-2013, 01:49 PM

I remember now that the name you give it can't have non letter or number characters either.

I don't get the PC reboot problem, why can't you power the PC via the Ip switch?, or is the wireless router connected to it?

Paul Haese · #9 03-09-2013, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acropolite

Paul if both Obs are on the same power phase you could also us some Ethernet over power adapters, which would be more reliable (and less hackable) than wireless.

This is something I looked into for a while but as yet am not sure one way or the other. It may be a necessity at some point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bassnut

I remember now that the name you give it can't have non letter or number characters either.

I don't get the PC reboot problem, why can't you power the PC via the Ip switch?, or is the wireless router connected to it?

The answer to that is I don't know. I have been viewing the IP stuff through a computer in the obs. I will look into this more. It would be preferable to leave nothing running in the obs at all to save on power, but given I have a solar power system at the obs house, it is a mute point in that regard. Being able to boot though is another matter.

Do I just use Radmin to view the ip power via the host which is the static IP? Or is there some other way?

Bassnut (Fred) · #10 03-09-2013, 03:22 PM

no. Im not an expert, so the terms might be wrong. And I think you know most of this already.
Have only the wireless router and ip switch powered 24/7 and the PC powered via the ip switch. you access the ip switch simply via a browser on any other PC on the web, the ip switch has its own web site built in.

Turn the obs PC on/off via browser anywhere and then log into the obs pc via say radmin. You can then also access the ip switch via the obs PC browser off course.

So,You dont need radmin just to control the ip switch. If for some reason you need the obs PC up to get to the ip switch, you can set the ip switch to "cycle" PC power, so that the PC will come back by itself after a power reset.

mithrandir (Andrew) · #11 03-09-2013, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul Haese

Do I just use Radmin to view the ip power via the host which is the static IP? Or is there some other way?

From the doco I read the power board (not for exactly your model) runs a web server, so you could set it up with a static IP and configure your router to deliver some internet port to port 80 on the board. I wouldn't consider doing that unless the board supports HTTPS and a configurable logon/password.

Bassnut (Fred) · #12 03-09-2013, 04:46 PM

It has username/password login

Paul Haese · #13 03-09-2013, 04:54 PM

OK guys, I will have to get my head around this. Good tips.