Network Troubleshooting and Firewalls

If data from your Ethernet or WiFi based stacks isn’t reaching your MyStacks dashboard, a network configuration issue is usually the cause. Your local network must allow the stack to join the network and communicate with the internet before data can reach your dashboard.

Checking your local network’s firewall settings and the stack’s network settings is the quickest and most common path to resolving issues.

Checking your firewall

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Your local network administrator may need to configure your network’s security firewall to permit your stacks to send data. Stacks communicate with the MyStacks cloud dashboard through a specific URL, served via AWS API Gateway through AWS Cloudfront:

Note that this URL can have a wide range of IP addresses. This is because communication to and from servers hosted through AWS Cloudfront is routed dynamically for load balancing and redundancy. For this reason, we recommend that our devices be allowed to either filter based on the above specified URL, or be allowed to access ALL IP addresses to the Internet.

Configuring network settings

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There are two ways to configure network settings for an ethernet or wifi based stack:

• Use the online stack configuration tool and a USB-A to mini USB cable from a laptop direct to the stack. Step-by-step guidance is available for both Ethernet and WiFi.

• Connect to the configuration console inside of the stack directly from a laptop using an ethernet cable or static wifi IP address. Your laptop’s network adapter settings will need to be configured to use a direct connection. Detailed instructions are included at the end of this document.

If your network administrator needs the MAC address of the stack, it is displayed in the configuration console.

Troubleshooting network settings

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Confirm with your network administrator whether your network is using DHCP from your router to assign IP addresses to connected devices, or using static IP addresses manually assigned to each device. Please ensure that any manually assigned IP addresses are unique for each device.

If your network is using DHCP, check that the DHCP field in the stack’s network settings is set to 1. Your router will automatically fill in the rest of the network settings fields each time the stack connects to your network. If you are using WiFi, you must also enter the local network’s name (SSID) and password.

If your network is using static IP address assignment, the DHCP field must be set to 0 (zero), and all of the network settings fields must be completed manually. This includes IP address, Subnet Mask, Gateway/Router IP address, and DNS IP address. If using WiFi, you must also enter the local network’s name (SSID) and password.

Connecting to the AP over WiFi

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If your stack includes a WiFi module, you may access the stack’s internal configuration console via WiFi. This method requires you to connect to your stack’s built-in web server.

1. Connect your stack’s power supply.
2. Using a computer or phone, go to WiFi settings and connect to the stack’s WiFi server. It will typically be called ‘StackAP-’ followed by your company’s initials, with password ‘uu77xcv343’.
3. After connecting to the stack, open a web browser and point the browser to http://192.168.4.1/webapp/
4.  When prompted, log in using the following credentials:

You now have edit access to your stack’s configuration panel, shown below. Scroll down until you see the ‘WiFi Network SSID’ and ‘WiFi Password’ fields.

Enter the network name and password of the WiFi network you want your stack to use. When you are sure the information has been entered correctly, click ‘Save’. Your stack will restart, and connect to the entered WiFi network.

Connecting to the AP over Ethernet

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If your stack includes an Ethernet module, you may access the stack’s internal configuration console via Ethernet cable. This method requires you to configure your computer’s network settings to connect directly to your stack.

1. Connect your stack’s power supply.
2. Connect your stack Ethernet to your PC using the Ethernet cord.
3. Open ‘Control Panel’ on your PC or laptop.
4. Click ‘Network and Internet’, then ‘Network and Share Center’.

5. Click ‘Change adaptor settings’ in the left navigation pane as shown below.
   

6. Right-click the unidentified network called ‘Ethernet1’ and select ‘Properties’ from the menu as shown below.
   

7. Select ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ from the list and click the ‘Properties’ button, as shown below.
   

8. Select ‘Use the following IP address’, and fill out the following fields as shown:

9. Click OK to confirm these changes.
10.  Navigate to http://192.168.4.1/webapp/eth using Microsoft Edge or Chrome. 
11.  When prompted, log in using the following credentials:

You now have edit access to your stack’s configuration panel, shown below.

On this form, change the settings as needed based on your local network. Talk to your local IT network administrator to ensure you have the correct settings for your network, as outlined earlier in this article.

This is a good time to take a quick screenshot to document the current settings, in the event you need to make changes later. When you are done, click Save. The stack will reboot with these settings.