Using ZTE MF275R for remote monitoring

[drh]

Yes, it sure takes some patience when each session of troubleshooting takes 8-10 days.    The Rocket Hub has great potential for remote monitoring for only $10 per month.   I am also able to turn the furnace up and down remotely when it is working.  

After posting yesterday, I spent a very long time on hold for Rogers support but I eventually talked to Dominic and he didn't just want to move on to the next caller.   He spent a good amount of time discussing the situation and suggested a 12 second reboot.    Hold the power button down for 12 seconds to power off and reboot the ZTE.   It seems to be an undocumented procedure and it appears to force the ZTE to get a new IP address.     So now I am running the arduino and it is doing a 12 second (actually 12.5 second) reboot of the ZTE every 12 hours.   So - wait 10 days and I will let you know how it works out.  

As for changing the Network Selection to 4G only, it is set to auto and the selections are greyed out, so I assume a user can't change that.    I would also doubt that is a factor as it is very reliable for those 8-10 days and then totally disconnects.    Thanks. 

[Airell]

Thanks for all your hard work and dedication on this issue. I’m experiencing the same issue with my ZTE router. I’m using it for monitoring a cabin as well. Did you find a solution to the issue? Mine will stay connected and require a reboot every 10-15 days so slightly longer however still an issue when using for remote monitoring.

I hope you have found a solution to this problem.

Thanks,
-Airell

[drh]

I haven't completely figured the problem out.    I experienced some losses of communication that were not occurring on a "regular" basis.   My earlier experience was with a loss after 8-10 days and I wasn't experiencing that with the arduino hooked up to the internet at home (without the ZTE).   Later I started to experience the odd loss of communication at irregular intervals, sometimes after only a day.    As fall approached I took the crude route.   I have a good old fashioned timer on the power supply for the Arduino.   It is on 11.5 hours then off for 0.5 hours.   Additionally, when the arduino is running, every 6 hours it does a 12.5 second reboot of the ZTE as previously discussed.   So occasionally I have a disconnect and miss data for a few hours, but I don't have to drive to the cabin.   This setup means that I couldn't use the continuous power supply and monitor the power line as I had planned.     There may be a more refined solution, and I will work on that next summer,  but during the heating season I won't be messing with it.   There may be some problems with String commands causing memory overload on the arduino, however, I haven't found a difference using a Uno or a Mega.   

Are you using an Arduino and Thingspeak?    Or are you using a different microprocessor?  

Here is a screenshot of the cabin temperature. 

 

[drh]

I should also ask, have you already set up so your ZTE doess the 12 second reboot every so often?     If not, one thing to check when you experience a loss of communication it to connect your laptop to the ZTE and log in and see if it has an IP address or not.