Enertex Router - configuration

[Perry]

Hello KNX friends,

I have a question regarding the proper installation of the Enertex Router.
I have had the Enertex KNXnet IP router for a while now. It was installed by our electrical contractor last year and has been operating relatively OK using a wireless connection for both EIBStudio and ETS4.
Sometimes the connection is a bit shaky, but I always blamed my internal wireless LAN connection for this.

However, the other day I noticed that it appears that the router has not been properly installed within ETS4. There is no address.
When I looked this up in the router manual, it says that "Für die Routingfunktion muss die Adresse die Form „x.y.0“
oder „x.0.0“ haben (x,y: Zahl zwischen 0 und 15)".
In my configuration, the addresses are however, 0.x.y.

My question is, should I change my settings and, if so, how?
The strange thing to me is that the system has been working for a considerable time now.
Is this possible, if the address is incorrect and not properly programmed?

I have added some pictures of this to explain.
The first picture is from the Enertex KNXnet IP router manual.
The other two pictures show how the router is 'configured' (or rather, not configured) within my ETS4 program.

Thanks in advance for any help,
best regards,
Perry

[salixer]

Hi Perry,

your address is OK. It is 0.1.0 and therefore it is a x.y.0 address. Just your x is also 0, which is no problem.
Also you are right that there may be some packet loss over WLAN connections. KNXnet/IP is not the most robust protocol regarding packet loss because it is based on UDP. So a wired connection always should be preferred.

[Perry]

Thank you for the reassurance, Salixer!

However, I still have some concerns.

If you look at picture 3, it looks like the router has not been programmed like the other KNX components. Is that not needed for the router?

I have identified an issue where I lose contact with the EIBPC and does not come back until I reboot my 'main router' (this is the one that connects me to the internet).
To explain: I have made a Visualisation (with the help of the Visualisation Assistand) which receives windspeed from our ABB weather station. This sends every 5 minutes windspeed values, which shows in the graphics of the Visu webpage. This will go OK for many hours and shows nice graphics on the Visu, but then at some points the graphic line 'goes flat', which indicates that values from the KNX bus are no longer received.
Some other functions that I programmed, such as sending a http command to my always on PC when I press a physical light switch button, also stop working, so they suffer from the same issue.

AFter I reboot the main router, the graphic on the Visu comes 'back to life', indicating the values are received from the bus again, and I can use the other program functions as described also again.

The Enertex router and EIBPC are set to receive IP via DHCP from the main router, so this appears to be working OK.

Hope you can give me some thoughts on how to trouble shoot this.

[salixer]

If you look at picture 3, it looks like the router has not been programmed like the other KNX components. Is that not needed for the router?

That is not needed, because the KNXnet/IP Router does not have any group addresses.

I have identified an issue where I lose contact with the EIBPC and does not come back until I reboot my 'main router' (this is the one that connects me to the internet).

I already had various problems with internet routers, e.g. last week I had a cheap model here for a small test enviroment. With this modell I could connect once to the KNXnet/IP interface. After disconnect I could not reconnect until a power cycle of the internet router. I had to exchange it for another model.
So my advice is: try another internet router.

Which internet router are you using?

[Perry]

It is the standard modem-and-router-in-one-with-wifi that is supplied by our internet provider Ziggo.
Now that you mentioned this and when looking it up on the internet, I see huge amounts of complaints about it and especially about dropping connections.
It looks like the modem/router is the problem. Many people suggest the only solution is to to ask the provider to put the current router in bridge mode, purchase a good router myself en use that instead.

For years I have been thinking about implementing a good and easy VPN solution, so I can connect to my home network safely from abroad. I understand there is a significant learning curve to VPN, which is why I never really followed up on it. Now is a good time to turn a bad situation into something good and to look for a router product with a VPN feature.

Sooo, if you have suggestions for a good type/brand of router, I would be happy to hear it!

[salixer]

The router I was talking about is a standard model from a German internet provider. Another one that made serious problem IIRC was a very cheap TP-Link. I cannot recommend a specific model that works for sure. I'd try a mid priced model from standard manufacturers like AVM, Netgear or D-Link.
Probably connecting all your devices to a simple Gigabit switch already is enough. Just connect that switch with a single ethernet cable to your router.

If you are looking for a very simple VPN solution you should have a look at our new product ENA: http://enertex.de/e-produkt.html
It has some special features like starting/stopping VPN via KNX group addresses or VPN on demand with iOS devices.

[Perry]

I would like to report back that, after bridging my internet-provider-supplied Ubee modem-router (which means it becomes a 'dumb' internet modem only and the router function is switched off; this change was done remotely by my internet provider upon my request), and installing a DrayTek Vigor 2925n router (with VPN features) to take care of the routing function, everything now works smoothly.