R72 - a year with no router

[thebaldgeek]

Trying very hard not to rant.......

Just read the release notes for R72 and am getting really really really frustrated that its been about a year now and I still can't use the router as a router.
No hosting a web server at your house, can't port forward port 80, the web gui takes over that port.
No running other servers at your house, as there is a hit and miss ability to portforward a given port number.
From other user posts on this forum the Wifi is a hit and miss affair.
If Securifi cloud goes down, you are also out of luck to do a lot of basic functions.

Yes, it was a Kickstarter product, it is an experiment, it is bleeding edge.
The problem is that other bloat features seem to be taking development time over core functionality.

Starting to think its time to cut my losses, Almond + is my most expensive paperweight gadget and it's time to move on and buy a router that is a router.

[Fire69]

I'm a little frustrated too since I think the progress is going slow, but...

I run several sites on a server at home, main page runs at port 80.
Don't quite get what your problem is actually...
If you disable the wan access to connect to the WebGUI you can forward to port 80 without any problems.
I know, you still need to choose between functionality, which shouldn't be necessary, but if running your server is this important to you, you know what to do

[thebaldgeek]

The issue is summed up here in my first attempt at using the router as a router;
http://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,2405.msg9762.html#msg9762

I am really interested in how you got the GUI off port 80.
What firmware version are you running?
Securifi themselves admit that port 80 is 'taken' and nothing much can be done about it.

The promised port forward rule firmware fix has never arrived, that is my main frustration with R72, it does not offer basic router functionally.

[Fire69]

To be honest, I had already forgotten about this until now, but I did have to tinker a little with the config to make it work
Solution is in this topic: http://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,2102.0.html

[thebaldgeek]

Yep, thats the thread I followed and failed to get it to work. (After 5 hours solid work trying).

It also nicely illustrates my point of how basic functionality is missing.
We simply should not have to jump through files like that to get a basic port forward working.

It was / is a lot of money for me to have sitting on the shelf, it is close to functional, but they seem to be spending time on adding other new functions that I fail to see how they could be useful when it does not even work as a router.

[Fire69]

Yep, thats the thread I followed and failed to get it to work. (After 5 hours solid work trying).

I just had to put 1 line extra in I think.
What exactly have you tried?

It also nicely illustrates my point of how basic functionality is missing.
We simply should not have to jump through files like that to get a basic port forward working.

True 

It was / is a lot of money for me to have sitting on the shelf, it is close to functional, but they seem to be spending time on adding other new functions that I fail to see how they could be useful when it does not even work as a router.

I think you're looking too much from your point of view.
Although I do agree that some basic router functions should have been there at launch (or at least a year after launch...), the functions they are spending their time on now is what most people are waiting for (IMO!)
The number of people running their own servers will not outweigh the number of people waiting for the home automation to work correctly.

Anyways, I don't know if I will be able to help you, but if you have any questions about config-files or anything, let me know and I will try my best to help you

[thebaldgeek]

Thanks very much for your offer to get the config files sorted. I will have another attempt to get port 80 working and let you know if I need help.

You were not to know, but if you look at the image attached, you can see the status screen for my modest home automation system.
Take a second to review the pages in the navigation panels on the left and right to see the extent of the system.

Thus in fact, I am EXACTLY who the Almond + was built for. The home automation functions were exactly what I was looking for in a router.
My entire system is web based. In order to monitor and control my HA system, I need access to the web server.... On port 80...... Only after we get the Almond + to do this basic router function can I move on to its HA abilities.

[Fire69]

Impressive!  Doesn't look so modest to me

Just wondering, if you already have this nice setup running, why the Almond?
I don't think you will ever get such a nice interface with it...

[tt4me]

Just a thought, but why not throw the server on port 443 and add a certificate?  That was what I did with my Raspberry Pi when it was running as my garage door controller and front door camera.

[thebaldgeek]

@Fire69 Its a real mash up at the moment, the Almond + with its radios will streamline a lot of the gaks that I have currently running the show.
Its also very 'custom', to add new rules or tweak any settings almost always means I have to touch code, the Almond + should make it a lot more wife friendly.

@tt4me The HA is https on 443, but there is some necessary stuff on port 80.
If you take a look at my first post (linked to in this thread), I actually need about 20 port forward rules to get everything working as it currently is. (Stuff like Node-RED and MQTT servers).
That number might shrink a little as we get some of the HA stuff moved into the Almond +, but I really need to keep things going as they are now.
They are just simple port to port mappings.
Really don't feel like I am asking that much from the Almond or the team.

Just want the router I backed.... I'm a patient guy, but when R72 came out and did not address core functions, I just about lost it.

[Ethan]

I just ditched my P.O.S. almond last week, and got an Asus RT-AC87U - haven't looked back. Wondering why I didn't do it earlier, actually.

[Fire69]

[...] Wondering why I didn't do it earlier, actually.

Because you bought it for the Home Automation functions also?
You'll have to look at another solution for that now, right?

[d.kiran]

You were not to know, but if you look at the image attached, you can see the status screen for my modest home automation system.
Take a second to review the pages in the navigation panels on the left and right to see the extent of the system.

Umm.. Modest ?? Congrats on the understatement of the year :-). That looks pretty impressive.

Sorry I had nothing more to add. I like what you have done. I am following this because I do believe that for a router, the ability to port forward any port is basic functionality. While I don't have a need for it, I am surprised that it is not possible.

[thebaldgeek]

Thanks. I say its modest because there is more monitoring than automation at the moment.
That was what the Almond + was to do, help with the automation side of things.

As you say, port forward should be a basic function and for it to be around a year, and no sign of it, and yet other features have been added...... Its just confusing and disappointing.

I don't want to give up on it as the hardware looks great. Also while I could go and buy a $50 Wink hub to get similar radios, I like the concept that the team has built.... The all in one device is very attractive in a lot of ways.

I really don't know what to do.

[rfoshee]

As you say, port forward should be a basic function and for it to be around a year, and no sign of it, and yet other features have been added...... Its just confusing and disappointing.

And this is the sad thing about the Almond+ overall, it's mature as far as hardware goes and yet, after a year of "tweaking" and "testing", all of the firmwares are still half-baked, as if we were still working in the pre-production time frame.  Everything getting added is cobbled together and doesn't ever really work, if it does, it breaks something else while doing so.  Or some things just aren't going to happen (e.g. I was told last year there was going to be a firmware update to completely turn off the LCD, well...you still can't do that a year later). 

The whole idea of the Almond+ is very good, the hardware itself is great, it's the software that's really holding the device back from being a great router, which, even then, it still has a lot of problems.  But after over a year after launch, the main selling point of the router (HA), should not still be something that doesn't work that well, it should be basically rock solid by now and it's still way behind over HA products.