Monthly Archives: April 2014

Control4 driver for Cisco SBS series switches and network monitoring tools

This driver set is the Swiss army knife, it combines network monitoring tools with the ability to automatic reset power lines and/or ports of a switch. So first we need to make sure to have s Cisco Small Business Series switch in the project, a SG300-28 or whatever, 500 series also should work. It does not matter in which configuration the switches are running.

So for simple port control of the switch we just need the switch driver, setup as follows:

  1. Setup the Switch to allow Telnet access
    Login with your credentials and find the point to activate telnet. Usually Security->TCP/UDP Services
    CropperCapture[485]
  2. Setup the driver in Control4
    Find the driver by tipping “cisco” into the search field
    CropperCapture[476]
    And insert the properties
    CropperCapture[479]
    If the driver starts correctly under Programming all ports are listed
    CropperCapture[486]
    Each port can be switched on/off/toggled using this variables.

But wait, what about my ADSL that hangs every 2 days? No need for expensive power relays (that hang by itself…), we use C4 combined with the Cisco switch to do the job!

How to restart my ADSL modem if its not responding anymore

  1. Add the ping check driver
    CropperCapture[477]
    Insert the IP of the router or in case of a modem a IP from the internet/from your provider
    CropperCapture[480]
    Careful set the properties, in the drivers Documentation tab is explained what they do.
  2. Set the actions to take on ping loss
    To get something happen if the ping is lost, we have a variable named device_power_control, it goes to false if the ping times out, true if it the device answers correct. Furthermore a direct relay connection can be done
    CropperCapture[482]
    The relay connection can be connected to a low voltage relay (to break 12V or such) like the  one from the Controller, also possible to connect to a high voltage relay from a DIN-8REL module to break the power. The down time is 10 seconds, after that the relay closes again
  3. Switch a POE port of the switch on ping  loss
    Jump to programming and set the ports variable to the device_power_control variable
    CropperCapture[484]

Ping is ok but can I test also a telnet port, like the one from Director? Hang on!

Restart devices that should be checked on a telnet/TCP port

  1. Add the telnet check driver
    CropperCapture[481]
    And set the properties, again read the Documentation tab of the driver..
  2. Set the actions to take if port is not available
    The telnet driver has the same variables and relay outputs as the telnet driver, see above how to set up

The drivers for all this you find here (login needed)
ping_check_network_diagnostic_driverworks
telnet_check_network_diagnostic_driverworks

Latest switch driver version 1.00.005. Does expose a relay binding for each port
Download here (login needed)
switch_300-500_Series_Managed_IP_driverworks_cisco

Latest version switch driver 1.00.009

  • For each POE port and each link port a separate Relay connections is available in Connections
  • Only ports that are physically available are listed
  • Divers improvements

Download here (login needed) switch_300-500_Series_Managed_IP_driverworks_cisco_1_00_009

 

Control4 multi dwelling intercom with Koch

Control4’s doorstation solution has a big lack, it does not support multi dwelling houses which are very regular in Europe.
Koch provides the multi dwelling door intercom system TC-Bus which can support up to 115 members.

For each to TC-Bus connected C4 system a SIP gateway is needed, if the TC-Bus has less than 10 members the FBI6101 module should be used. Above the FBI6100 is suitable. To open the door a BRE2/SG module needs to be purchased, it connects from a C4 relay to the TC-Bus and sends the DTMF 7 when the relay is closed, the door opens. (Mention on order that is should send DTMF 7)

Limitations:

  • There is no way to call out, from panel to the doorstation
  • Only audio is supported, video can be inserted via webcam (which is mounted in the TC_Bus doorstation anyway) and a pageflip on the C4 touchpanel

Setup:
Login to the Koch SIP gateway default ip 192.168.1.200, password 1234
Setup the phone-book that  it rings to the intercom group 123:
CropperCapture[464]

Save it!

On C4, create a intercom group 123, assign all panels to the group.
Insert a “3rd party SIP phone” driver and set username and password (numbers only), insert the same credentials in the SIP gateway:
CropperCapture[467]
Save everything and try!
Opening the door can be done via “Custom Button”.

The driver for the dorstation webcam can be found in my other post about Koch:
https://technet.genesis-technologies.ch/koch-doorstation-compatible-with-control4/
Create a bookmark on your touchpanel for the webcam and have it called when the intercom session is accepted. Then you can speak and see the person outside.

International dealers may please contact Koch for sales directly:
http://www.kochag.ch/de/home.html