My hub is locked up and wont communicate to my switches. Is there any way to perform a remote reboot? Do I need to purchase Remote Admin?
You can get to the Diagnostic Tool by entering http:// [Your Hub IP] :8081
You will need your hub's MAC address. It is located on the back of the hub.
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Two options.
- First as stated above if you can get to the diagnostic page on port 8081 then do a restart from there. This is prefered as it doesn't risk messing up up the database
- If you can't get to the diagnostic page you can use something like USB Smart wifi adapter to cut power and then restore it after a time. This does risk corrupting the database though, but if the hub is fully hard locked what other choice do you have. You may want to take a backup after it comes back up and then do a soft reset and then restore the backup to clean up any corruption if that is a concern.
If you already have access to the network remotely then you shouldn't need to get the remote admin service. It also would likely not help you in this case.
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I'm away from my home until tonight. I cant seem to connect remote on my PC or my phone app. This is concerning because we leave the home for a few months in the summer. I need to be able to do these things remotely.
Subscribe to Remote Admin or setup a VPN, perhaps using TailScale.
Is this a hypothetical question or do you have a particular need now.
Remote admin is ment to give you control remotely, but if you are having problems with the hub you may not have access with the remote admin service.
My suggestion would be setup something like a VPN server at your home so when you are remote you can get back to your home network from your devices running a VPN Client. This allows your remote device to act as though it is on your home network with the Hubitat Hub and then you can just use the regular software as normal.
But if the hub is locked up and you can't access it through the normal interfaces or port 8081 then you would need a way to reset the power to it like pulling the power plug. That is where the other device i mention above comes in.
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Would that device also allow me to remotely restart my router and/or my modem? I know I would have to put one on each device.
Not an expert on all this, but it would seem to me that if your router or modem is down there is nothing you can do remotely.
Since I had 2 hubs I set up a rule on each hub that would reboot the other hub using a button on a dashboard. I went under the assumption if one hub messed up the other should be ok. But again if my modem or router was down then that wouldn't work either.
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So first thing is it is a 5v 2.4 amp output. with a USB A port so your devices would need to work with that. Then it is also wifi so that can create issues if that link is broke by your router, or modem.
Those devices may be better suited with a Zwave/Zigbee plug were the hubitat can check if those resources are working properly and then initiate a restart of those devices and not be dependent on them for connectivity.
I put kasa/tplink wifi switches on all my stuff ie my router, modem and hubitat.
I also have a backup at&t acces pt in the house. We are gone for months at a time also.
It costs an extra 20 bucks s month. Well worth it and uses little data just for switches.
The kasa switches on my router, modem and network switches are in the at&t network so i can reboot them when cable internet is down. The at&t access pt is on the cable internet wifi network. It was important to me to find an access pt that works with the battery removed just so i could force a reboot. Most don't.
On top of this all this infrastructure is also on apc ups's.
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There is also a sequencing issue. You should reboot your modem/router first, then any managed switch after the modem/router has booted, then the Hubitat after the modem/router/switch have booted. Reason: you need to get DHCP up before the Hubitat boots.
Yeah, the OP is kind of all over the map here with multiple different questions/problems to solve...
Router/modem - There are smart outlets that can ping externally and try automatically power cycling the power outlet if external connectivity is lost. They aren't cheap (as they are basically a small computer + relay), but they do exist...
Example (there are many others out there though - I'm not advocating this specific manufacturer or model):
You could also "rig your own" with smart outlets and some code/logic in hubitat or other system like node-red. But obviously the reliability of either of those solutions is only as good as the network connectivity and hubs/vm/system they are running on,
I prefer simpler, standalone solutions similar to the one above.
Hubitat - Remote admin may help - it may not. It helps/works if the hub is functional. If the hub locks up for some reason then remote admin service won't help you, as it won't be able to connect to the hub. As mentioned above in those scenarios VPN to the network, and see if you can connect to port 8081. If you can't then you have to hard power cycle it - Various options here. You could use a WiFi outlet controlled externally from Hubitat for that - many do (see above for example). You could use a managed POE switch, power the hub with a POE adapter, and then power cycle the network port from the switch. Etc.
So what would I do for a property I was going to be away from for extended periods?
- Wifi outlets on all items I may need to power cycle remotely, so I could if needed assuming internet connectivity is working
- A self monitoring outlet (see above) for the internet gateway and/or modem itself
- Way to remotely admin devices - Remote Admin for hubitat, or VPN (see #5 below)
- Optional, but nice to have - backup cellular internet connection
- Optional, but strongly recommended - VPN capability to the remote network
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Thanks for the link.
I bought one of those plugs, a ResetPlug, years ago. For some reason, I stopped using it and couldn't find it last week when I was looking for it.
Thing is, if there's an internet outage, the thing it would keep cycling power to modem/router. That can't be too good for the equipment.
We had a 12 hour internet-only outage the other day. Other times, the power takes out the internet and we run on generator.
Maybe there are settings to mitigate this behavior on the new stuff.
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Eh, I'm not worried about it. You have to think most people that get cable modems/gateways from their cable/telco aren't exactly tech gurus. Many of them power cycle their crap all the time - as I've been told many times from the techs.
These plugs probably cycle at least once every 5 minutes though, no? Maybe more?
Dunno how configurable it is on retries. Good point though.
OK, I googled the manual for the Keep Connect one above:
- Max Number of Continuous Resets – This setting prevents Keep Connect from continuing to reset if internet connection is lost for sustained period. Default setting is 3 resets. Per this setting, if Keep Connect does not see internet restored after 3 reset cycles, it will not perform any more resets until it detects healthy internet connection again at which point it will begin issuing resets again.
- Sustained Outage Retry – After max number of continuous resets has been reached, Keep Connect will try again once every period of Sustained Outage Retry. The default setting is 4 hrs but is configurable.
- Follower Mode – Allows two Keep Connects to work together to coordinate resetting a router and modem together as one device and also allows staggering the Power-On time of one device allowing better reliability. For detailed instructions on how to configure Master / Follower mode please see Master / Follower Setup - Johnson-Creative
- Power On Delay – This setting allows you to add a delay from the time Keep Connect is powered on until Keep Connect’s output receptacle becomes active therefore powering up the device plugged into Keep Connect.
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I just looked at the resetplug website, none in stock, btw.
It retries every 5 minutes.
That one sounds a lot better.
those are very expensive compared to kasa switches.. ie
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091FXLMS8
on top of that the kasa can have rules ie times and days when to turn off and on, and they run even if the network is down, and restore to last state when power is restored.
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Yeah, I wouldn't want it rebooting every 5m forever either, the more I think about it. So I would want a smarter one than that.
Yes, but they are a completely different product for a completely different purpose?
Kasa plugs don't ping external addresses and reboot routers/modems automatically if internet is lost.
I use Kasa plugs for all sorts of other things, though, and like them. They have been very useful for me.
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