I have a customer with a system that consists of Elan G1 controlling a Speaker craft MRA 664 zone controller, an Ovation OMS-1 music server, an Elan Hweb network to RS485 adapter for connection to Aprilaire 8800 thermostat. I have the DHCP range set for 100-200. All of my equipment are set as following MRA - .40, G1 - .50, HR200 .47, OMS-1 - .60, Hweb - .70

I have not been able to duplicate the problem on site but the client claims when he turns Elan system on, within 15 minutes his WIFI crashes and the only way he can get the WIFI back is to turn off the power conditioner that supplies power to all of the Elan Pieces. I was there yesterday updated any firmware, software I could and used the system for 2 hours turning it on off, switching sources etc with no incident. Pulled off to another job to receive a text later on that system is still malfunctioning in the same fashion.

Has anyone else run into any kind of glitch that would crash wifi like this? The router is a Linksys nighthawk not sure of model number.

Isn't the nighthawk a netgear?
Anyway have you ran an ip scan to look for any duplicates?

What is crashing? The wifi or his gear connecting? 1 piece or multiple items?

Are you able to connect via gMobile when this happens? 'Nighthawk' seems to be the badging all the pedestrian mfgs are jumping on... As for the HR's- I was told by TS to only broadcast g (no n or ac) for integrity ('system controller not found').

May want to check your DNS settings on each and every device.

as to what is exactly crashing I have not yet determined. I was there and double checked all the ip addresses to make sure of no conflict and ran the system for 2 hours with no issue. I did turn on the log function on the router so maybe that will shed some light on the situation

The customer claims 15 min into running the system the system becomes unresponsive. This could be either the controller crashing or the wifi. I believe it's the wifi because he then follows with the only way to get the wifi to come back on is to cut the power to the rack of elan equipment. I am heading back there Tuesday with a longer time allowance so the customer can walk me through what is exactly happening.

sorry I know I'm missing some pertinent info but was hoping maybe someone had run into any kind of problem like this before to give me a nudge in the right direction. I'll follow up after checking the logs on the router and the controller.
thanks for the replies

Wouldn't it be a hoot if the power conditioner* were outputting RF interference and causing this? And you're thinking "they're solving the problem by turning off the Elan" when they're solving the problem by turning off the power conditioner!

I've seen weirder things. A URC system would not adjust volume on a Sony receiver when the cable box was on channel 52. This stuff really happens, but so rarely that we're not likely to recognize it.



*If "power conditioner" is not just a passive device. We've seen people call UPSs power conditioners. You know what would help here? Brand and model!

Is the Elan G hard wired to the network? or WiFi connected?

When he says the network is crashing, is he testing from multiple devices? I had one client complain of slow network issues, but every time I tested, everything was fine. Finally when I made a trip while he was home, I determined that he was testing only from his ipad. Forgot the network on iPad, rebooted, re logged into wifi and it's been fine since. Just wondering if something similar is happening with just one device being affected.

goldenz,
this kind of analysis is VERY important to hear about because it's so unexpected.

A client once complained that DirecTV HD channels did not work in the bedroom. After a lot of headbanging I found that it didn't work in any room. But only in the morning. They only used the bedroom TV in the morning and they never looked at TVs other than in the bedroom to see if HD was working anywhere else.

Turned out the LNB didn't work until the sun hit it. Apparently a southern California morning at 65 degrees was too cold for that one. Replaced -- fixed.

An unexpected combination of details.

Sounds like a Spanning Tree issue/crash typically seen in Sonos systems when you have more than one network connection to the Sonos equipment. Network will run fine when first fired up and then slowly degrade over time until about 10-15 minutes later everything comes to a complete halt.

Sorry the power unit is a Panamax mr4300 and yes I know its hard to diagnose without more info. Hopefully Tuesday I'll be on site and will be able to gather more info or find the problem. Everything in the system is hardwired. 40' cat 6 run from router to arakanis 8 port switch. The only things connected to the system Wi-fi are the hr200, 2 direct TV genies, and their 2 i phones.

Lately, I've been seeing router power supply crashes, particularly Linksys. This results in intermittent issues that don't make any sense. A quick power supply check can save a LOT of dead end diagnostic time.

Hmmm... (2) DirecTV Genies have ethernet connections?

Only 1 internet connection for the entire DirecTV system should ever be used. This 'could' be your source of the problem as well.

One or both of the DirecTV Genies wouldn't happen to be on that surge protector, that when cycled temporarily fixes the problem, are they?
"Turning on the ELAN system" as he says, is waking up one or both DirecTV Genies? Especially since the ELAN system is always on, when power is plugged in.

No the HR-44 is plugged into the router I Believe but the genies are definitely wireless and hid behind the tv so not powered from the rack. Also the router and modem are about 40 feet away from the rack so I doubt rf interference from the panamax.

Went there today met the customer and asked him to turn his wifi off on his iphone. I got the system up and running flawlessly on my phone and hr200 and then after about 20 minutes i said ok connect your phone to the wifi. He connected his phone and about 5 minutes later he said it's crashed. I checked my phone and wifi still working so I think the whole issue might just be his phone. I'll follow up with any new info

Please, please, please,
Do NOT call the client boxes Genies. That is NOT what they are, they are client boxes (C31, C41, C61, etc.). Only the Genie is a Genie (HR34,HR44, HR54, etc.).
I'm fussing about this because you are like the 4th or 5th installer in the last few months that has done this on the forum boards. It creates a huge confusion about the system and how it is hooked up.