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Offline tastewar1

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Blocking Devices
« on: February 18, 2017, 02:37:45 pm »
Occasionally, I need to keep my son's laptop from joining the network. If I set "Allow on Network" to Never, it seems that sometimes, I can't undo that. I'm pretty sure that some of the time I've been able to change it back to Always, but at least a couple of times, if I go back to that device (in the iPhone app), It simply shows up in a darker gray, and if I go to look at the details, it shows "Can be Blocked: No" but offers no means to change it back to Always. This happened once in the past, and I thought I would "reset" the device via the Reset button, but that appears to simply delete the device!

So, first question: am I doing something wrong, or is it impossible to transition back from Never allowed to Always?

Second question: the iPhone app shows activity on the device, that it connected and disconnected a couple of times while it was supposed to be blocked. What does that mean?

Offline Dudeness30

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2017, 11:32:44 am »
Mine does this as well on all types of devices wheather it is blocked or set to schedule. I just hit the reset button too. It comes right back and works after the reset. Reserve the ip for it so it doesn't change also.
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Offline tastewar1

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2017, 09:41:42 pm »
Hey Securifi, what the heck is wrong with this! This is *not* a workable solution. I'm back to having to do this again. My son has 2 devices, a laptop and a desktop. I set them both up as "scheduled" although I only allowed 1 hour in the middle of the night. This was so that when I needed to, I could simply invert the schedule, and he'd be allowed on. When I first went to make the flip, his device was **not** showing all the options! I decided to sign out of the web UI, and sign back in. Then when I went to it, it *did* have the right options, so I was able to do what I needed. Great. Also figured that I had solved the problem, and in the future, all I'd need to do is possibly log out of the web UI and log back in. But then, when he was done, and I was ready to turn off his access, I again couldn't. Tried the sign out/sign in, but that didn't do it! Tried another computer. Tried a different browser. Went to the iOS app, but that didn't work either. Thought maybe I had to wait for it to be considered inactive, but after waiting there, it's still NOT showing me the "Allow On Network" choices. Also lists "Can be blocked" as No.

Why?? Why can't it be blocked? Why am I unable to change settings I changed a couple of hours ago???

It's not workable if I now have to **delete** the device, then next time he connects I can change the setting. Problem is, I won't be home then.

This is VERY aggravating, Securifi.  >:(

Offline tastewar1

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #3 on: May 21, 2017, 02:03:31 pm »
Ashok, are you still here, or anyone else from Securifi? This "feature" is a source of continual frustration, as it simply doesn't work. I have tried numerous schemes to get this to be useful for me. I need to be able to turn ON my son's internet access when I need to, and OFF as well. An actual schedule will not work. I have tried simply moving from Always to Never (allow on network), and I have tried using a schedule that I would change on the fly, but inevitably, after one or two changes to the device configuration, it comes up as "Can be blocked" NO and either works or doesn't. Then I have to either "reset" or delete the device, depending on whether I'm using the web UI or the iOS app. BTW, it doesn't appear to matter which one I use, the device's config gets screwed up regardless.

I guess I should probably cut my losses. Your router has reasonably faithfully routed my network traffic over the years, but has not lived up to its potential. Anyone have recommendations on a good router with useful parental controls?


Offline Ashok

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #4 on: May 21, 2017, 03:26:32 pm »
@ tastewar1,
Ashok, are you still here, or anyone else from Securifi? This "feature" is a source of continual frustration, as it simply doesn't work. I have tried numerous schemes to get this to be useful for me. I need to be able to turn ON my son's internet access when I need to, and OFF as well. An actual schedule will not work. I have tried simply moving from Always to Never (allow on network), and I have tried using a schedule that I would change on the fly, but inevitably, after one or two changes to the device configuration, it comes up as "Can be blocked" NO and either works or doesn't. Then I have to either "reset" or delete the device, depending on whether I'm using the web UI or the iOS app. BTW, it doesn't appear to matter which one I use, the device's config gets screwed up regardless.

I guess I should probably cut my losses. Your router has reasonably faithfully routed my network traffic over the years, but has not lived up to its potential. Anyone have recommendations on a good router with useful parental controls?



We regret the inconvenience caused and don't have any known issues like this, however, already forwarded the information to our team to replicate this and see, what might be causing the issue. Give me some time till Monday, to get back with an update. Thank you!
« Last Edit: May 21, 2017, 03:46:13 pm by Ashok »

Offline tastewar1

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2017, 06:30:34 pm »
Thanks, Ashok. I am at my wit's end on this. Another aspect -- it's completely unclear to me how/when changes go into effect when they do work. It's certainly not immediate. Today, I had filed a change to the schedule that would have allowed him on, including the current hour + the next 3. In the UI, the changes appeared to be saved as requested. But it did not allow his computer on the network. I told him to put the computer to sleep, since when it awakens from sleep it either renews its DHCP lease or asks for a new one. But sleep/wake did not do it. Nor did a restart. At that point, he was stomping away, and understandably upset, so I did what I know works, which is to delete the device. And that's what prompted my earlier message today.

Here's one piece of information that may or may not be relevant. For some reason, this device (a desktop PC) comes up in the UI now as "tylers-laptop" which it isn't. This one is an ethernet device, and has no wifi. He has another computer which *is* a laptop, and which has the name "tylers-laptop." The desktop *used* to come up with a semi-random name; I assume it's the one Windows assigns by default on install. But in your UI, I have generally been renaming the device to "tylers-desktop." I am inclined to think this isn't important, because the problem doesn't generally occur on the first or second edit, but not long after that. I also confess that I sometimes have changed other fields in that screen -- like changing the idle timeout, or whether it's a kids device or not (though I am totally unclear where, if anywhere, that comes into play anywhere else). I do also generally have it set to always inform me when the device comes and goes from the network, so I can at least look back and see when he was on the net.

Offline Ashok

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #6 on: May 22, 2017, 08:57:32 am »
@ tastewar1,

I would say the proper solution for us right now would be to clear everything by doing "Recycle Network Devices" from the Web UI and customize them accordingly, test the functionality of block/schedule and whenever, we are facing any issues again at that time, please do hit send logs with the description "Logs for Ashok". If possible let us know the device name on which you are trying the block/schedule to debug accordingly with log files. 

Offline tastewar1

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2017, 12:13:54 pm »
I had done the Recycle recently, fearing that some memory/resource was in short supply, but will do it again.

I am just unclear on what you mean when you say, "customize them accordingly." The only customization I had done was for his two devices. Should I only change the schedule on those two? Or is it safe to also be notified when they come and go? And what about renaming?

I hadn't, and don't plan to, change settings for any other devices.

Offline tastewar1

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #8 on: May 22, 2017, 01:30:43 pm »
OK, here is where I am now. I have accomplished the "Recycle" and turned my son's PC on so it would have an entry in the list of devices. Then I turned it off. Back in the Web UI, I changed "Allow on Network" to Scheduled, then clicked the clock to setup the schedule. I set the schedule up so that the computer is allowed on the network from 3a-4a and clicked Done. Those settings have seemed to "stick" as they generally do at this point.

At this point, I would like to know how the feature is intended to work. Specifically, when I make a change to those settings, when should it go into effect? Because as I noted earlier, it's quite clearly not immediately. Is there a cron job that runs every 15 minutes, or once an hour, which would then apply those settings to the internal routing tables? I need to know how it's intended to work, so I can determine how broken it is.

Offline tastewar1

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #9 on: May 22, 2017, 10:11:42 pm »
At about 7:00 this evening, I edited the schedule so that his computer would be allowed on the network. I'm not sure how long it took to become effective because I made the change just before dinner, and after dinner it worked. But now, at 10:00, so right around 3 hours later, I am wanting to change the schedule back so that there's just one hour in the middle of the night that (hypothetically) would be allowed, but it won't let me.

"Can be blocked" now says "No" and there is no "Allow on network" setting. HOWEVER, the summary line reads, INACTIVE, SCHEDULED.

How do I generate/save/download the logs you are looking for?

Offline tastewar1

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #10 on: May 22, 2017, 10:25:18 pm »
OK, it took a little bit of searching -- didn't find anything in the support faq or in help about sending logs, but after hitting upon the right search string for the forum, I discovered that sending logs is not done through the web ui, nor the iOS app, but only through the LCD UI. So I have done this. The name of the device in question is "tylers-laptop"

Offline Ashok

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #11 on: May 23, 2017, 08:10:46 am »
@ tastewar1,

We got the issue and let us know a bit more about how the "tylers-laptop" is connected to the Almond and is that connected all the time to Almond or we keep changing the connections on it. Whenever, you are facing the issue again with "Can be blocked: No", please reboot the Almond device and then recheck.

Coming to the schedule is concerned, when we want to block the client device from 3 pm to 4 pm, it has to be done any time before 3 pm or else once it crosses starting time (3 pm), schedule won't work. Thank you!

Offline tastewar1

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #12 on: May 23, 2017, 10:15:37 am »
The device "tylers-laptop" (misnamed, because it's a desktop PC...) is connected via ethernet thru a 24 port switch, then from the switch to the Almond+ (ethernet). It is always physically connected this way, but it is often asleep or shut down. It has NO wifi.

I would point out that I have had very similar issues with his *actual* laptop, which does connect via WiFi. However, my WiFi environment is much more complex. There are a number of other devices acting as access points with the same SSID on my network. These are all connected via ethernet to the Almond+ (again, through the larger switch). But I am happy for now to focus on the hard-wired desktop, because that's bound to be simpler.

My understanding of your statement about how the rules are enforced suggests that you have a cron job that runs on the hour to make any changes. Is that correct? And if so, is the same mechanism in play for the simple "Always" vs. "Never" setting in "Allow on network" or is that accomplished more immediately?

I actually have no interest in scheduling. I only tried using the scheduling UI in the hopes that it would avoid the "Can be blocked: NO" issue. All I really want to be able to do is turn ON and OFF, reliably and basically instantly, internet access for a particular device. It *appears* that the same issue arises with both means of control -- I simply end up in the "Can be blocked: NO" state.

Can you provide a little more info on what that setting means? It's sort of curious that it's exposed in the UI because it's not a setting I can change. It's just that it sometimes changes without my intervention.

Thank you.

Offline tastewar1

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Re: Blocking Devices
« Reply #13 on: June 01, 2017, 09:19:41 am »
Hi Ashok-

I can report that the most recent time this computer came up as "Can be blocked: No" I did try rebooting the router, but that did not change things. I still had to delete the device.

Is there any progress on your end?

 

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