Setting up remote access to HeaterMeter


 
NickMV said:
1. TeamViewer is free and is a top-notch remote access app.

2. Why exactly would you want to do that, versus doing it the right way and getting the HeaterMeter routed through the router's NAT/port forwarding feature + dynDNS service? Your proposed method will be harder every time.



3. I'm a tad confused by this question and how it relates to your main question? Are you asking if you'll be able to use the PitMeter app if you configure your router using the correct dynDNS setup procedure?


Getting your HM set up for remote access outside of your WiFi connection is quite simple.


1. Find the IP address of your HeaterMeter on your router's webpage, or look at what IP it displays on the HM screen after bootup

2. In your router's port-forwarding feature, create a new rule to route traffic from port 80 externally to port 80 of the internal IP address. This portion allows the router to pass comms to and from the HeaterMeter without issue. This step is an absolute must. See here for what one of these port forwarding screens may look like.

3. Sign up for a free dynDNS service such as noip.com, and simply "renew" the configuration every 30 days or whenever your internet resets its IP (most home connections don't change IPs very often nowadays).

That's it, you're done, you should be able to type in whatever address you set up in step #3, and it should take you to the HeaterMeter's page.
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To answer question # 2... I wasn't sure if it was an easy method. If setting up the router is the better/easier way, then I will definitely go that rout.

#3 Yes... Trying to figure out if that app will work once the router is configured. I don't know much about routers and IP's and such but I'm assuming that the app is just trying to access the HM IP so I have to assume the app will work once I get everything set up. Just to be clear... The app works fine when I'm on my wifi network.
 
Russ Oz said:
To answer question # 2... I wasn't sure if it was an easy method. If setting up the router is the better/easier way, then I will definitely go that rout.

#3 Yes... Trying to figure out if that app will work once the router is configured. I don't know much about routers and IP's and such but I'm assuming that the app is just trying to access the HM IP so I have to assume the app will work once I get everything set up. Just to be clear... The app works fine when I'm on my wifi network.
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Yeah, setting it up through the router is going to be easiest, in my opinion, mainly because you can use the PitDroid app (or its iOS counterpart) to quickly connect to only the controller interface. This saves both time and data. In terms of setup within PitDroid and other apps, the difference between your current config and an external setup is simply the address that you'll type into the server IP/address info. Instead of an actual IP, you'll use the dynDNS address.


You can certainly get a more complex setup, like mine for example. I run a music server on a desktop computer at home. As such, I allow port 80 to pass through to that machine. This of course presents an issue with accessing my HeaterMeter when I do a cook --- I can't run both a music server and a BBQ controller page on the same web port, at least when it comes to external connections. So, using the router's forwarding rules, I tell it to route requests from port 8080 (commonly an alternate port for HTTP) externally to port 80 of the HeaterMeter device. That way, the HeaterMeter requires no special changes to run on a different port, and I can simply type ______.ddns.net:8080 into PitDroid's config.

Let us know if you have questions. Also, take note that many routers nowadays have support to configure dynDNS out of the box, so you don't have to manually renew the address every 30 days.
 
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NickMV said:
Yeah, setting it up through the router is going to be easiest, in my opinion, mainly because you can use the PitDroid app (or its iOS counterpart) to quickly connect to only the controller interface. This saves both time and data. In terms of setup within PitDroid and other apps, the difference between your current config and an external setup is simply the address that you'll type into the server IP/address info. Instead of an actual IP, you'll use the dynDNS address.


You can certainly get a more complex setup, like mine for example. I run a music server on a desktop computer at home. As such, I allow port 80 to pass through to that machine. This of course presents an issue with accessing my HeaterMeter when I do a cook --- I can't run both a music server and a BBQ controller page on the same web port, at least when it comes to external connections. So, using the router's forwarding rules, I tell it to route requests from port 8080 (commonly an alternate port for HTTP) externally to port 80 of the HeaterMeter device. That way, the HeaterMeter requires no special changes to run on a different port, and I can simply type ______.ddns.net:8080 into PitDroid's config.

Let us know if you have questions. Also, take note that many routers nowadays have support to configure dynDNS out of the box, so you don't have to manually renew the address every 30 days.
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Man. Thank you! Just got everything set up exactly how you said. It's working like a charm. I feel like I just did some crazy tech stuff, and to most it was probably the easiest thing in the world to do. It took me forever to get into my router (password crap) and then, like a dummy, I updated the firmware which made me reconfig every damn thing in my house including the wifi adapter on my HM and the wifi within the HM, direct tv receiver, my Pioneer receiver.... You get the point.
So, obviously, anyone can go to my domain page that I created.... And I'm guessing that's why it is password protected when you go into the config.
 
Now I'm trying to set up my email / SMS notifications. I can't get it to work. I have set up my SMTP client (I think). I use a gmail account and used smtp.gmail.com. I checked the "Requires Auth" box and entered all my info there. Not sure why it's not working.
 
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I just went through that... Everything else worked except the email/sms notifications when ever I had it set to a static IP. I had everything entered correctly, it would just not work... Changed it to DHCP and it works like a charm. Ken B mentioned using a reserved DHCP address in my router so that the HeatMeter would always get the same IP and it has been working great.
 
I'm not sure if this is the same issue that you had Marc - could be. If the HM can be reached over the network but it cannot reach other services via their URLs (like smtp.google.com), it suggests that the issue could be that the HM network configuration doesn't have its DNS settings set correctly. By using DHCP and avoiding static addressing, the DHCP server will supply the correct DNS info. So, that would be the area that I'd investigate further.
 
So, I'm having an issue with the problem. Forget all the DHCP, DNS, SSC, SCP, SCO, POOP, PEE, and all that crap. If you're having problems, re-flash, re-boot and try again. And by no means worry about the Japanese, Chinese, Americans intruding your password. Quit being so paranoid.

Plug and play, mate.
 
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Re-flash roms to diagnose networking issues? That's rather odd advice in my experience. Plug and play doesn't play in the world of port forwarding and static IP addresses when people want to access their stuff when away from their home network.
 
If the alarms would work within the PitMeter app, I wouldn't even worry about it. If I read correctly, the newer hm software and the app do not work together in regards to the alarms.
 
Russ Oz said:
If the alarms would work within the PitMeter app, I wouldn't even worry about it. If I read correctly, the newer hm software and the app do not work together in regards to the alarms.
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Doesn't sound right. I can't imagine why the software on the HM itself would have any impact whatsoever on the coding of an alarm within an app that's accessing temp data remotely, unless there's some crazy process I don't know about.

Sounds like the app itself is messed up, but I'm no programmer.
 
I plugged my HM in on Sunday to show a buddy and had to change the IP address within my router so I could access it. I know absolutely nothing about ip addresses and how that stuff works. I was so excited the other night when I got the port forwarding set up and those settings had to be changed a day later. Is that normal? Does the HM's IP address change from time to time?
 
In its default setup, the HeaterMeter will ask your router for an IP address every time it starts up. The router will pick an address based on what isn't being used in the range of addresses it manages. It can give the HeaterMeter the same one but it can easily assign a different one especially if some time has lapsed since the HeaterMeter was last used. This ask for and receive protocol is called DHCP.

You have two choices if you want a consistent address for your port forwarding. One, in the HeterMeter network configuration, you can assign a static IP address. This isn't trivial if you aren't experienced with networking protocols as you have to set multiple attributes and avoid generating a conflict with other devices on your home network.

I think that the better option is to find out if your router supports DHCP Reservations. If it does, in your router's admin settings, you can provide the Ethernet Hardware address of the HM (the one that corresponds to your Wifi adapter if that's how your connect to your network) and ask the router to always assign a specific address when this device I'd asks for one. From then on, your HeterMeter will always have that IP address and you don't have to mess with networking details on the HM, keeping it in its default setup.
 
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Without digging in to the TP-Link management on that router, I'd be surprised if you can't set up a port forward (or a DMZ,) on it. That's practically required functionality these days.

Modem <-> Router <-> HouseNetwork

That's how the vast majority of homes are set up. Your equipment might be slightly different, but the general concept is identical.
 
Bringing this back from the dead... I'm trying to SSH locally, and I'm able to connect, but can't see file structure. What am I missing?

screenshot.png
 
JW Evans said:
Gotcha... I was thinking /root was the main/top level... Glad it's a newbie misunderstanding! :D
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Yeah it is a bit confusing because you get dropped in the user "root"'s home directory /root, which is the same word as the base filesystem, the root filesystem. You got it now though!
 
Bryan Mayland said:
Yeah it is a bit confusing because you get dropped in the user "root"'s home directory /root, which is the same word as the base filesystem, the root filesystem. You got it now though!
Click to expand...

Thanks again! Having a blast with this. Ran it pretty much all weekend and I obviously have a lot to learn, but totally hooked.
 
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