I use the Rebooter app to restart my C-8 hub once a week. This morning the reboot was not successful, and the hub is not responding. It is in a location about 3 hours away, so I can’t do anything that requires physical access.
Any thoughts about something to prevent this in the future that would provide a way to power cycle the hub remotely ? In particular, I’m wondering about a WiFi switch that’s accessible over the internet.
To complicate things, I am using the Konnected USB battery backup.
I saved the idea because they are small but I'm not sure I understand how to remotely use it from 3 hours away, unless there's some sort of VPN between. I'm not daunted by VPNs since I build a new one nearly every day, but I can see they have some fear factor built in.
I have one of those (but don't use it). You just put the app on your phone and cycle the power from your phone.
Of course, you're not shutting the hub down gracefully, so you're rolling the dice to some extent.
I did have a spare C7 rigged up with a ZEN16 relay to shutdown the C8 and cycle power, but don't do that anymore either.
I just don't go anywhere.
Instead of wiring up the ZEN16 you could use one of those Zigbee USB plugs I've read about (from Ukraine?).
Hallo,
I had these Sonoff Switches ... yes via the app, using the cloud, an operation to a remote location is possible ... But, besides it uses a cloud, the switch(es) very often showed a wrong state... so if you can not visibly check the real state, what is impossible with remote operation, you "never" know what state it goes to switching it.
Thanks for these suggestions.. very helpful. Amazon has some terrible reviews (and good ones) for that Sonoff device. (I'm always suspicious about such wide variation.). There's something similar from Splennsy Tuya on Amazon that doesn't have such negative reviews. Has anyone used one of these? Thanks!
Is it a repeater (it is powered by the usb device that it's put into...right?)
Also, the description wasn't very clear on Amazon. Is it a Zigbee device (or is it a wifi device? If it's wifi, then is there a zigbee version?)
Th reason why I ask, is because I have a particular need to get a USB device on a timer, and if this is zigbee, and if it charges, then that will suffice for my use case.
I don't have one, use one, but I liked the look of it and thought I'd keep the idea handy in case a use case came up. So.. anything I say is speculation
It appears to be a USB pass-thru and so it will (straight out of the box, before config) just pass everything through. You'd config it by getting their App and connecting it to your WiFi. From then on, the app could/should control the tiny relay with that will open the power. Turn it back on and the thing you have plugged in will reboot. Power cycling can be a bad thing for Databases and Hubitat has one. But if your hub didn't come back from an upgrade, for example, then a power cycle might be the only path even if you were standing at the hub.
Or at least that's how I'd build it if they had come to me to design it
when i used them, i played with WeMo plugs to do something similar with my router. WeMo has the auto-on feature, so i just had to turn it off, and 5 seconds later it would turn it back on.
unfortunately you'd need a wifi device to achieve what you want, or a second hub dedicated to the power management of the first hub
I use eWeLink wifi plugs for this purpose. You could use Kasa or any other cloud-enabled app-controllable brands. To avoid an unfortunate mistake, this is the only purpose I assign eWeLink plugs to, so if I go into the eWeLink app, it's to power-cycle something important and I don't confuse it with something else.
I've run into this challenge for other reasons (e.g. to check a water leak alarm next to my water heater). The solution I use is one of those cheap Littlelf indoor security cameras. https://a.co/d/dTtNXvi . Lets me see what is going on. They have a sleep mode so they don't consume bandwidth until turned on, if that's a concern.
I started the weekly reboot last year when there was a bug that caused the hub to disconnect from the internet after a cloud backup. A reboot fixed that temporarily until they released a software fix. I generally assume that a periodic reboot is good hygiene and doesn't hurt. I use the the Rebooter app so perform an orderly reboot.
It could be, I’d just caution that for a hub you’re not physically close to most of the time, there is the potential risk the hub doesn’t boot properly and associated hassle of dealing with that (as you’ve encountered).
Likely a rare event, but the more often one reboots, the more likely it could happen.
Personally I’ve never had an issue that could only be solved or prevented by rebooting, so I don’t do it on a schedule.
Having an alternative means of power cycling the hub remotely is a reasonable workaround if one does determine they need to reboot the hub regularly.
Not clear if you shutdown the hub before rebooting? IMHO if you reboot without shutting down you increase your chances or having an issue significantly.
I understand in a "no communication" situation rebooting is the logical, but not under normal running circumstances.
I use the above plugs on my hubs to be able to remotely power cycle, and have found them 100% reliable. They can be a pain to initially connect to your wi-fi network (may take two or three tries) but once connected they are rock solid and have never fallen off the network. Via the app you can control them remotely as noted, via their cloud. You can set up on/off schedules in the app, and timers as well.
I have very infrequently had the issue mentioned where the plug status shown in the app (eWeLink - Smart Home) is incorrect, but a quick pull-down on the app screen to refresh provides the correct state each time. So not a significant issue for me.
They can be joined to Google Home and Alexa, which provides more control options.
Anyway, I use and recommend them. They have never caused me any issues, and have been 100% reliable. You do need to make sure you have the right connectors to hook them in-line to your hub. They require a femaile USB-A connector to plug into, and require a cable w/a male USB-A connector to connect from the plug to your hub.
Yes, I agree that I would only cycle the power through a remote switch if the hub became non-responsive. I use the Rebooter app to do the weekly restart, and I assume it shuts down the hub in an orderly way.
In my recent experience, my hub came back on the cloud after several days with no intervention! I know it wasn’t an internet problem because my cameras and WiFi thermostat were accessible the whole time. So that’s a mystery.
I will probably get the remote USB switch to use as a last resort.
