Securifi Community Forum
Securifi Products => Almond+ => Topic started by: verdantrouter on March 22, 2015, 01:56:07 pm
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I see on OpenWRT there is this page with general pointers towards enabling an OpenWRT router to do routing via USB modem.
http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/howtobuild/wireless-router-with-a-3g-dongle
I was really hoping this might be something of a feature which could come soon to Almond+ because there are places in the world where 4G is way better than wired WAN and having the ability to have diverse network connections would be great for failover reliability.
Any idea if this might be on the radar? In absence of a repo/recipe for roll-your-own Almond+ firmware I guess this sort of thing has to wait for securfi work to be done to make it happen and I know you guys are awfully busy with lots of stuff.
Best wishes,
Martin
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It's not something that's being worked on currently.
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I'd like to throw my hat in the ring, that this would be a great feature to bring to the Almond+.
I have used the Piper home security system for over a year now, and just purchased a Canary as I'm thinking of switching to that platform. Just recently, my ISP had hours-long outages in the middle of the day, 2 days in a row. This was while I was at work, and both of the security systems were essentially useless during the outages, as you'd expect. These are critical services for the home these days, so if you want to take advantage of these new home security products, you need dual WAN.
Just a simple fallback/backup using a WLAN USB dongle would be perfect. Here in the US, mobile broadband prices are still relatively very expensive. With a simple fallback, you'd only be using very little bandwidth until the primary connection comes back up, and only very rarely. Something like T-Mobile's data plans that accumulate what you don't use for the past year would really work well with this situation. If there is an outage with your primary and you're home, and maybe were just about to stream a movie, you could still do that on your backup WLAN connection as you've accumulated many GBs on your plan.
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High speed USP ports does keeps the path open for a possible 3G/4G dongle fallback/support. But as mentioned earlier, its not something being worked on currently and we don't have any time line for the same, unless most of the major feature request/bugs are addressed.
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Hello @Amritendu and @Lars!
If you are soliciting votes on this functionality "enhancement", i would like to add my +1. Actually, as i recall, In one of your videos, during your kickstarter campaign you advertised it as a feature. On my list of proposed priorities, i'd place this higher than HA, right after basic routing. I would consider WAN backup as an essential part of advanced routing and something i would expect from a modern top-tier router.
Thanks,
Andy
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Seeing that 4G broadband availability is spreading like wildfire even where I live, I have to agree that this would be a pretty
big feature for Almond+. So I'd like to put in my +1 for this to be implemented :)
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Thank you all. Yes every vote counts here and to add to Andy, the hardware which was featured in the KS video was a different one all together and has undergone major updates to reach where it is today. Will surely pass on these requests to the concerned.
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Hello @Amritendu and @Lars!
If you are soliciting votes on this functionality "enhancement", i would like to add my +1. Actually, as i recall, In one of your videos, during your kickstarter campaign you advertised it as a feature. On my list of proposed priorities, i'd place this higher than HA, right after basic routing. I would consider WAN backup as an essential part of advanced routing and something i would expect from a modern top-tier router.
Thanks,
Andy
This was indeed listed as a feature in the original KS campaign. I can understand it being given a lower priority than the other items being worked on, but it seems appropriate to expect this as a feature to be added (without "special" request, as if it hadn't been listed), at some point.
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+1 for this feature, I was hoping this would be something that would be implemented by now as this was the main reason I backed your product on KS. It was listed with all the other features so I thought that it would be included in the first months. Now my Almond+ is just laying on my desk, working as a paper weight...
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+1 as well. In fact I was looking for a router with fallback WAN feature.
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+1
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+1 for this feature.
I sort of hoped it would already have been established since it was mentioned in update 8.
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+1
Agree with the comments this is needed.
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Add me to the list - this promised feature was one of my main reasons for going with the Almond +
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@aemergin, it wasn't really a promised feature and if you are referring to the CES 2013 video where our CEO was giving a demo, it was a different hardware (with much lower specs than the current one you own). What's worth mentioning is that it would be added, but not immediately, however, every input counts.
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Dual Wan via a 3G/4G/Wimax dongle with load balancing and/or fallback would be great but even Asus hasnt gotten it quite right and theve been trying on their routers to do it reliably for awhile... (RT AC66U/RT AC68) as well as others.... So completely understand if this isnt on the top of the list.. but id like to see an attempt at it...
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Sure seemed like it was promised by demoing it as a feature. Either way, I would really like to see 3G/4G dongle capability. I use my Almond + in an RV and are often on 3G/4G data. Pulling straight from a dongle would let me use the router AS a router, instead of as a repeater.. I lose a lot of functionality the way things are by using it as a repeater with a 3G/4G hotspot. Of course I understand I am probably the only one using it like this but it was very exciting to see a complete package with all of the H-A stuff that I would be able to use on the road. Maybe one day it will float to the top of your list.
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Dual Wan via a 3G/4G/Wimax dongle with load balancing and/or fallback would be great but even Asus hasnt gotten it quite right and theve been trying on their routers to do it reliably for awhile... (RT AC66U/RT AC68) as well as others.... So completely understand if this isnt on the top of the list.. but id like to see an attempt at it...
Agreed. But I believe implementing preliminary "fallback in case primary WAN goes down, go back to primary WAN if it comes back" feature should satisfy 90% of users' needs (IMHO). Most of us want to keep our VOIP (well, OOMA for a lot of US users) running and make sure that the Alarm panel is still connected to the outside world even if the Cable is cut. Load balancing is probably nice-to-have for most of the home/home office users.
I am still hopeful that someday A+ will support DSC/Ademco alarm panel integration given the fact that Envisalink provides such a nice TPI. It would be a great and unique selling feature as I mentioned elsewhere. The reason I mention it here is that the 3G/LTE modem support will come naturally when A+ supports Alarm panel integration. I know I am dreaming:)
Anyway, if A+ lets us install opkg, we the users can dabble in implementing the feature ourselves as mentioned in this url:
http://wiki.openwrt.org/doc/recipes/3gdongle
Thanks.
NB: @Lars, @Ashok, @Amritendu - Could you please lobby for us so that these two features at least get into the "TO DO" list.
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Could any of the Securifi stuffs please let us know whether 1)DSC Alarm Integration and 2) Fallback WAN Support features will EVER be implemented in A+? I guess I want to know whether they are in the TO DO list even as the lowest priority tasks.
TIA.
NB: Sorry for repeating as I really need to know.
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@ Neel737,
I have sent the request to our Software team to update us with their to do list and priority of this, would post the update once I receive it.
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@ Neel737,
I have sent the request to our Software team to update us with their to do list and priority of this, would post the update once I receive it.
Dear @Ashok:
Thanks for your efforts. Hope that your SW team responds sooner rather than later:-) Looking forward to the update.
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@Neel, I am going to bring it up in our next internal meeting :)
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Hello @Amritendu and @Lars!
If you are soliciting votes on this functionality "enhancement", i would like to add my +1. Actually, as i recall, In one of your videos, during your kickstarter campaign you advertised it as a feature. On my list of proposed priorities, i'd place this higher than HA, right after basic routing. I would consider WAN backup as an essential part of advanced routing and something i would expect from a modern top-tier router.
Thanks,
Andy
Perhaps a dev kit could released to help the community created add-ons for the Almond+ I know Open-WRT supports various packages and for some reason we can't use there versions but if you could release a Dev Kit or perhaps the source for the none UI (Securifi created parts) portion of the routers OS since it's supposed to be Open Source anyway. We get your resources are limited fortunately that's why people with hobbies exist. Immagine all the free features you could offer your customers without even having to take on any form of implied liability for them. Also just curious but would you be willing to say how many full time programmers are on payroll? I imagine you'd need quiet a few so wouldn't it be pretty cool if a few bored people that are just looking to ad a few features and share them did so? I'm not asking for some nonsensical app store just a simple repo where people who want to share open source code for you series of devices. It works wonders for sales just look at Linksys and there WRT line. I get company's like to think they maintain control over the device once it sold, but you don't; the laws are clear on who owns what parts of what. So why not just help us help you make your products better instead of forcing people to wait for a possible update or feature release? Since we own the router, we might as well be allowed to add a few features that everyone can enjoy. Because if you release a DevKit that's actually usable or the source at least and let us build our own Roms I will try to get DNScrypt on the ALmond+ for all of us to enjoy. Plus the 3G/4G modem is an awesome idea that I really want now. Like seriously I have Ting Mobile and for $6 a month I can give my house a secondary wireless line? Yes please.
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@ Neel737,
I have sent the request to our Software team to update us with their to do list and priority of this, would post the update once I receive it.
Dear @Ashok:
Sorry for bringing this long 'forgotten' thread back to life. I also apologize in advance if this was updated elsewhere. As promised by both you and @Amritendu, we can expect an update on this topic (please see reply #20 and #21 in this thread). Personally all I want to know is whether these two features (alarm integration, wan fallback) are in the 'to do' list.
Thanks in advance.
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I already have basic functionality working using TCP. I just need a way of updating the device on almond. If there was a way to create devices on almond that could be controlled by a REST API, I could get this done.
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I already have basic functionality working using TCP. I just need a way of updating the device on almond. If there was a way to create devices on almond that could be controlled by a REST API, I could get this done.
That's wonderful, d.kiran. The key phrase here is "the way" though:-)
At the risk of being ignored again - @Ashok, is there any update (as promised) on these 2 features?
My bias for A+ is strong as STv2 solution still needs AlarmServer running 24/7 in a separate machine. I am a big proponent of integrated solution.
Since d.kiran has worked on TPI, I am sure he will be more than willing to coordinate with your developers.
TIA.
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@ Neel737,
I am sorry but as of now we are not working on this.
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@ Neel737,
I am sorry but as of now we are not working on this.
I was/am 100% sure about that part. Just wanted to know whether EITHER of the features will EVER be implemented (understandably these 2 could be the least priority ones). I understand that Securifi is pretty reluctant to discuss "road map" with customers but from our perspective choice of HA Controller plays a pivotal role in ongoing planning/implementation.
BTW, congratulations for making R83 a lot more stable. Looking forward to more complete Z-wave device support.
Thanks.
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@ Neel737,
I am sorry but as of now we are not working on this.
@Ashok - which part did you say you're not working on?
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@ d.kiran,
Support for 3G/4G modem WAN connection through USB port of Almond+.
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Neel and I were talking about different things. maybe a separate topic would help.