Networking Problem

[aesculus]

This one is for the networking Guru's in the house.

My PW Gateway is connected via wifi to a Pharos CPE210 as an extender which is hard wired to my ASUS router. I have assigned a fixed IP address in the Pharos and it shows connected with SNR around -80 dDm amd CCQ at 100.

I have an ASUS router and when I do a network map the PW gateway is there sometimes and others not. Seems to kind of disappear randomly. If I ping the GW from within the router it always responds with a latency of a few ms or less.

On my Win 10 PC I can rarely get the GW to load in Chrome. It also rarely acknowledges a ping either.

On my Samsung Galaxy S10 it also has difficulty loading the GW browser. Also random. Same with other devices on my network both wired and wifi.

If I go into the Pharos console and open the Tesla App connected to the GW via wifi, I can see throughput. So somehow Tesla is able to reach it via the wifi connection. I assume they are going outbound to open a session that they must keep alive or reconnect constantly.

So somehow my local lan access to the GW is very flaky but Tesla has no trouble accessing it via the wifi connection.

Any thoughts on what I should look for to make this connection more stable?

 

[aesculus]

EDIT: Looking a bit deeper my SNR is actually 33 which is not great. But when I am connected to the GW I see I am getting 4-5 bars of strength inside the GW wireless selector.

 

[gpez]

IMO the TEG wifi is GARBAGE. Either the physical adapter sucks or they messed up the antennas. Either way it's terrible.

I did all the same stuff you did: repositioned the router, got an extender, measured the signal strength, had my Tesla certified installer come out and physically move the antenna nub (they installed it touching one of the other panel boxes). Nothing worked. Doesn't help that when you connect to it over it's own wifi it drops to connect to your home network and if that fails there's nothing to tell you it didn't work until you try to connect locally again. PITA.

I finally gave up and just ran indoor/outdoor cat6 under the crawlspace and out to it. Haven't had a problem since.

 

[aesculus]

I finally gave up and just ran indoor/outdoor cat6 under the crawlspace and out to it. Haven't had a problem since.

I was kind of afraid that this may be the case. I unfortunately cannot run a wire to it unless I add another extender (ie bridge it) and then ethernet from that.

I might pass on all of that since I really don't have a need for the API right at the moment and the app works just fine since they are obviously doing an outbound communcations to their server and/or fall back on the cell connection.

 

[gpez]

I was kind of afraid that this may be the case. I unfortunately cannot run a wire to it unless I add another extender (ie bridge it) and then ethernet from that.

I might pass on all of that since I really don't have a need for the API right at the moment and the app works just fine since they are obviously doing an outbound communcations to their server and/or fall back on the cell connection.

You're going to cry - I had to use Ethernet Over Powerline adapters to do it. I have 4 PoE IP cameras that I used the switch under the crawlspace to connect to. It's on my summer "to do" list to get a proper hardware up through the floor.

 

[jboy210]

I was kind of afraid that this may be the case. I unfortunately cannot run a wire to it unless I add another extender (ie bridge it) and then ethernet from that.

I might pass on all of that since I really don't have a need for the API right at the moment and the app works just fine since they are obviously doing an outbound communcations to their server and/or fall back on the cell connection.

I have never used one, but it looks like the device you listed, the CPE210, was designed for exactly that sort of wireless bridging of segments. You might have to add a POE injector to power the CPE210 on the gateway end.

I was lucky and was able to run ethernet to mine and it works well. I think other people have had issues with the Gateway's Wifi connectivity.

 

[boaterva]

I often have to login to the TEG local wifi and reconnect the TEG to the real wifi. It doesn’t seem to be too stable. Been better on more recent firmwares but if you are not aware, something to check periodically using the doc in the help pages.

 

[aesculus]

I have never used one, but it looks like the device you listed, the CPE210, was designed for exactly that sort of wireless bridging of segments.

I'll have to look and see if it can be both a bridge and access point at the same time. I use it to get to the car and one of my solar inverters, both work well, so I cannot give up the access point feature.

 

[bmah]

The gateway wireless is really finicky. It doesn't seem to want to roam over to another access point with the same SSID even if one's in range (I've been power-cycling access points and switches a lot at my house, network upgrades). Also, if there's a blip in the WiFi, it might be hours before it successfully connects again. I'm seriously considering running some CAT5e out to where my gateway is (there are a few ways to do this, but none of them are super-easy).

(Has anyone actually done this, post-install? You have to open up the gateway to plug in an Ethernet cable right?)

Bruce.

 

[aesculus]

(Has anyone actually done this, post-install? You have to open up the gateway to plug in an Ethernet cable right?)

My neighbor has no cell coverage and has been suffering complete wifi issues too so even his App does not work.

He pulled the cover off the gateway and stated there is an ethernet plug in there. So I guess you need to pick one of the knockouts and come in from there. Probably get some sort of grommet that holds the cat 5e in place and protects it from rubbing while keeping the roaches out.

 

[gpez]

My neighbor has no cell coverage and has been suffering complete wifi issues too so even his App does not work.

He pulled the cover off the gateway and stated there is an ethernet plug in there. So I guess you need to pick one of the knockouts and come in from there. Probably get some sort of grommet that holds the cat 5e in place and protects it from rubbing while keeping the roaches out.

This is what I did. The ethernet jack may be slightly obscured by some of the interior cabling but is otherwise fairly accessible.

 

[jboy210]

The gateway wireless is really finicky. It doesn't seem to want to roam over to another access point with the same SSID even if one's in range (I've been power-cycling access points and switches a lot at my house, network upgrades). Also, if there's a blip in the WiFi, it might be hours before it successfully connects again. I'm seriously considering running some CAT5e out to where my gateway is (there are a few ways to do this, but none of them are super-easy).

(Has anyone actually done this, post-install? You have to open up the gateway to plug in an Ethernet cable right?)

Bruce.

There is a RJ45 jack under the removable panel in the gateway. This picture shows the location in the upper left. I have an Ethernet cable plugged into this port.

 

[bob_p]

Inside our garage, we have two Tesla vehicles, smart sprinkler and our solar microinverter monitoring panel - all connecting reliably with WiFi.

On the other side of the exterior wall, the Tesla Gateway is not able to reliably connect to WiFi. Fortunately when our house was built, a CAT6 cable was run to the exterior wall below the outside electrical panels, so it was easy to make a hardwired ethernet connection.

There is likely a lot of interference between the inside of the garage and the Gateway. Inside the garage, we have 3 house breaker panels. On the outside, we have all of the grid, solar panel, and PowerWall cabling. This could cause issues with the WiFi signal for the TEG.

If you're having problems with WiFi and can't easily get a wired connection, then try adding a WiFi extender to an outlet as close as possible to the TEG and see if that solves the problem.

And if that doesn't solve the problem, see if a wired connection can be brought inside the garage or house and then connect that to a WiFi extender that has a wired ethernet port.

 

[jboy210]

Inside our garage, we have two Tesla vehicles, smart sprinkler and our solar microinverter monitoring panel - all connecting reliably with WiFi.

On the other side of the exterior wall, the Tesla Gateway is not able to reliably connect to WiFi. Fortunately when our house was built, a CAT6 cable was run to the exterior wall below the outside electrical panels, so it was easy to make a hardwired ethernet connection.

There is likely a lot of interference between the inside of the garage and the Gateway. Inside the garage, we have 3 house breaker panels. On the outside, we have all of the grid, solar panel, and PowerWall cabling. This could cause issues with the WiFi signal for the TEG.

If you're having problems with WiFi and can't easily get a wired connection, then try adding a WiFi extender to an outlet as close as possible to the TEG and see if that solves the problem.

And if that doesn't solve the problem, see if a wired connection can be brought inside the garage or house and then connect that to a WiFi extender that has a wired ethernet port.

Your house sounds like mine. Mine has stucco walls. Stucco a cement like mixture is placed on a wire mesh screwed into the house. And this mesh that is often grounded. This makes a pretty effect Faraday cage which kills the Wifi signal. I can get -30dB inside my garage and walks 6 feet to the outside of the garage and see -60dB.

 

[gpez]

Your house sounds like mine. Mine has stucco walls. Stucco a cement like mixture is placed on a wire mesh screwed into the house. And this mesh that is often grounded. This makes a pretty effect Faraday cage which kills the Wifi signal. I can get -30dB inside my garage and walks 6 feet to the outside of the garage and see -60dB.

Even with a wifi extender on the other side of the garage wall my TEG couldn't maintain a reliable connection.

My Enlighten gateway, which is literally physically next to the TEG on the same exterior wall, has no problem connecting and staying connected without a wifi extender.

The TEG wifi is garbage

 

[Shygar]

I ran an ethernet to the spot before they installed mine 3 years ago, so I don't have any of these issues. But I recommend a mesh network router like the original Google Wifi 3 pack. I have really good coverage with it.

 

[aesculus]

I have a Netgear EX6120 range extender that has an ethernet port on it. I took it out because as a range extender its garbage.

I am going to try to use it as a simple device to pick up the wireless signal inside the garage and connect it's ethernet port to the TEG. Hopefully this should solve my problem with using the TEG WiFi. There is no physical way I can drag a ethernet cable to the TEG directly.

 

[gpez]

I have a Netgear EX6120 range extender that has an ethernet port on it. I took it out because as a range extender its garbage.

I am going to try to use it as a simple device to pick up the wireless signal inside the garage and connect it's ethernet port to the TEG. Hopefully this should solve my problem with using the TEG WiFi. There is no physical way I can drag a ethernet cable to the TEG directly.

This is effectively what I did but with an Ethernet over Powerline adapter.

 

[Bueno]

I would suggest either a mesh system like stated above or UniFi AC LR AP ( Ubiquiti - UniFi® AP AC LR) this is a long range access point that I use to connect my MS thats about 150' feet away through multiple interior walls.

 

[gpez]

I would suggest either a mesh system like stated above or UniFi AC LR AP ( Ubiquiti - UniFi® AP AC LR) this is a long range access point that I use to connect my MS thats about 150' feet away through multiple interior walls.

I have exactly this AP, two of them in fact, and didn't work for my TEG.

Here is the screencap from my Envoy, showing -68dBm for signal. Again the Envoy is physically next to the TEG and while -68dBm isn't great it should be more than sufficient to maintain a connection.

Remember that wifi communication is a two way street - you could have the best access point with a really strong signal but if your client device has a crummy antenna or low power your connection will still suck.