I have installed two Halow 1 units in the Virtual Wire config to bridge a small theater network across a parking lot. Connectivity for the most part is good. The goal was to replace two internet services with one. For clarity a theater has the access point and a training center (TC) has the extender.
Apart from providing for occasional Internet service in our TC we need to switch the security camera in the TC to run over the extension. It currently runs off the soon to canceled 2nd Comcast service in the TC.
The camera is Blink mini. It only works with 2.4G which means it is compatible with the Halow1 woreless. The cameraās firmware is up to date.
Problem Statement:
The camera will not connect to the Halow Extender network. But also telling is that the Blink android app will not work while connected to the Halow extender wireless network. It works everywhere else I have tried it.
What I have done so far:
I have not changed any setting on the Extender TC end not the Access point. I have updated the firmware on the Extender.
I canāt get to the Access point (in the theater) admin screen to update the firmware while in the theater.
When I try to swap wireless networks on the camera, the attempt to change times out.
What would success look like:
I can run the blink app while connected to the Halow extender.
I can swap the Blink Mini to the Halow extender connection.
This is an error screen that happened to pop up while trying various combinations of sequence to get the camera to connect. It suggests some REST API calls are getting blocked.
Just to confirm, does this mean other devices connected to the extender 2.4 GHz wireless network are functioning fine, and have connectivity?
I canāt get to the Access point (in the theater) admin screen to update the firmware
If you followed the virtual wire guide, the AP has probably changed IP address. Check your theatre DHCP server for the lease assigned to the AP. If thatās still not working, there is a static IP assigned to the HaLowLink1s for diagnostic purposes. For your benefit, Iāve taken a screenshot of those details from the troubleshooting section of the user guide. Hopefully this can help you regain access to the AP Web UI.
It suggests some REST API calls are getting blocked
There shouldnāt be any reason for REST API calls to be blocked. In the virtual wire mode the HaLow Link1s behave as a Layer 2 bridge. However, if other devices connected to the extender 2.4 GHz are functioning correctly then this could be what is happening.
There are some logs available under Help ā Support of the HaLowLink1 Web UI. Would you be able to share these logs (in a direct message, as they do contain potentially sensitive information) after trying to connect the camera?
TBH I have only tested my phone over the link with apps like browsing, Facebook and YouTube. I will see if I can confirm with some more devices plus check an equivalent app like ring works as well.
The DHCP server is just the Comcast router but I can access it without a problem and check the info.
I will also see if I can first update the access point firmware using the IP and then see if I can focus getting the logs.
I looked in the logs of the extender and found nothing after the message of me logging into the extender.
I tried a selection of other apps and found similar behavior. The Ring app time out saying it was waiting for the network while more common apps (YouTube, Facebook, Gmail) worked fine. Some others hung when trying to get new content.
Iām suspicious that there is some selective filtering of classes of traffic.
As of these set of tests I have not had access to the access point to update the firmware.
Thereās nothing Iām aware of which would be causing certain classes of traffic to be completely blocked. There is some default configuration of WMM (WiFi Multimedia) in the AP to prioritise traffic requiring lower latency, but this shouldnāt be causing your issue. We have run Wyze cameras over a bridge configuration and they have functioned as expected.
I canāt give you anything immediate and concrete to try right now, as we will have to attempt to reproduce the problem to debug further. Which apps hung searching for content?
Anything you can provide such as logs, or wireshark traces would be appreciated! Iām a bit suspicious about your lack of access to the AP as well. Was it getting an IP address from the Comcast router?
Yes it looks like Iāll need to install and learn wireshark.
Some example app that didnāt work:
Ring app: I was trying to get to my home cameras assuming it is probably implemented similar to blink. It failed saying my phone was offline.
Libby App: a digital library app for US libraries that pulls text and images. It fires up but spins on pulling content related to digital library assets.
Since none of these are particularly sophisticated Iām also wondering about the access point also. I have an engineering background so Iāll figure out the apps like wireshark needed to debug.
The access point and extender are getting IPs from the Comcast router/modem. There wasnāt any details about leases. Itās a business grade router but still pretty simplistic and locked down.
Could you maybe suggest a series of tests? No need for too much detail e.g. āRun wireshark on the AP side of the network and see what some through. Compare to running the app on the AP point side.ā Just enough so Iām not floundering to collect targeted data.
And since it may be private info, how do I get that to you, if needed, outside of this forum?
James,
Thanks for the DM info.
I can see IPs allocated. Some apps work flawlessly like facebook and YouTube.
I have to schedule some time to get into the environment and run more tests.
First goal is to do a SW upgrade to the access point. Then Iāll see if I can find more apps that are working or not working to isolate one not needing an account.
You mentioned an IP6 problem possibility. Might you be able to expand on that? The IPs allocated were IP4 10. matching the expected subnet. I could see all the IPs and each device on the Comcast modem/router.
I was just wondering if the discrepancy between your browser/some apps vs other apps is that your phone is getting both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, but the IPv6 address isnāt routing properly and some apps are not properly falling back to IPv4. Iām not familiar enough with the libs used on Android to understand if this is a plausible failure mode.
I donāt think so but only because the additional info on the phone only shows IP4 info. Iām still not able to connect the access point to upgrade. Iām going to disassemble the set up and debug in my home environment.
I wasnāt able to to find apps that didnāt require an account. However apps you may have, particularly common seller sites in the US showed the problem. E.g. Walmart failed to load content as did Amazon. But Temu worked.
I think once I set it up in a controlled environment where I have more time all be able to get useful traffic analysis.
I set up the access point and extender on my home network. I was able to access the home page on the access point and upgrade the software. I tested the apps and had no problems. I think this means the problem is at the site because I had no problem getting to the homepage before upgrading. The only other difference is the home network is a 192.168 .x.x and the site is 10.1.x.x.
Other observations: I had the wifi enabled on the access point. People were complaining the normal wifi wasnāt working. After I removed the access point it went back to normal. Iām going to disable the WiFi radio on the access point since itās not needed and may be competing on the same channel.
Iāll reinstall the setup at the site and see if there is any change. I think I will also disable the remote Internet that the extender is replacing just in case they happen to be interfering with each other.
Good news. I reinstalled at the site and was able to connect the Blink camera as well as run the app, the two critical things I could not do before.
Things I changed
I upgraded the SW
Turned off the wireless radio on the access point. This was more to address complaints about the regular wifi not working. The channel diagnostic showed all the shops and Halowlink1 were all in the same channel. Handy diagnostic as the Comcast router doesnāt have that so I move the Comcast router to another channel while I was at it.
Everything else was at factory default settings. Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions! Case closed.
