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[easymoney]

I have X10 camera system using Vanguard Control Center.  I had all camera's and Internet access working last week for 3 days, but now suddenly I cannot connect for 3 days in a row.

 The Connect button turns green for about 20 seconds, then it goes back to red, then about 20 seconds later it will go back to green again.  This process repeats, it connects and disconnects, but I cannot access the video.

I check the status, it siimply says Server Online.... then Server Offline, Server Online, Server Offline.

I have rebooted the PC, I have restarted the router, and I have tested usiing the x10 Internet connection and it says it is ready.  All seems to be working fine onsite, but not remotely.  When I connect using Internet Explorer, it doesn't read "Acquiring Image" like it should when connecting.

The latest version is installled, 3.199.... Why can't I connect anymore?

[Tuicemen]

Connecting to the X10gate server is hit and miss at best of times!
Others have suggested using the sentinel site, if it works better for you,    you be the judge!

[easymoney]

Is this an installation issue or a server issue.... I have tried disabling AV and Firewall as well.  Still cannot connect to camera's online.  

Why did it just stop working.  I guess re-install is next....idk.  For 3 days it worked, then not working for 3 days.  I have tried multiple times each day, only got connected once in that time period.

Are others able to connect online.  Can someone confirm that the server is operational... Thanks.

[easymoney]

Connecting to the X10gate server is hit and miss at best of times!
Others have suggested using the sentinel site, if it works better for you,    you be the judge!

Results are the same with either site posted... no luck yet...

[Tuicemen]

Todays the first day in many that I've been able to connect!
I consider your three day conection as lucky!
I just checked and it is working but for how long is anyones guess!

[easymoney]

Is the server really that bad....  I have installed remote access, but that creates more issues. 

With logmein.com, more than one person cannot view cameras at the same time.  Also, the quality and refresh rate of the video with remote access is even worse than the x10.com server.

The whole point of this installation was to stream the video.  If the server is down as often as some claim, what good is the x10 system?
I understand the home automation part, but the system was advertised for keeping an eye on the home when not at home. 


Is there not some other software that can stream the video from the x10 camera's to the internet?

[easymoney]

Here is what is happening currently.

I moved the PC and camera's to from the home to the office since we use ATT high speed at that location and that is where the setup was tested and configured before being moved to the home.  Remember, that once it has at the home it worked fine for several days.

At the home, the connecting "animation" would play, but Vanguard would go offline after exactly 20 seconds.  The text "Accessing Image" would never display like it did when it was working.  So I guessed that maybe the Internet provider for the home service had done something to block access, may they considered it file sharing... who knows.  The at home provider is SuddenLink.  I did a netstat command window to see connections that were open.

On SuddenLink cable modem, I only got something like SYN_SEND, but no established connections.  On ATT dsl I get the following:

  TCP    HOME:1114              gate1.x10.com:8001     ESTABLISHED
  TCP    HOME:1117              gate1.x10.com:8001     TIME_WAIT
  TCP    HOME:1128              gate1.x10.com:8001     ESTABLISHED

I still cannot connect on AT&T dsl, but it does show the "Accessing Image" I have not seen that since the cameras went down.  Is the server down now or is it still up?

This is getting useless.  I have been working on this for over a week.... sad

[easymoney]

On the connection status, I get the follwoing info:

12/01/08 14.09.02.062 Server Offline
12/01/08 14.09.02.062 Server Online
12/01/08 14.08.01.093 Server Client Connecting
12/01/08 14.08.00.123 Server online


You can see that the client tries to connect to the server, then the server goes offline.... What is going on.  If I can cannot get this resolved, should just throw my $$$ in trash.  I have even tried different PC, still no change.

Is there even a test feed for the server to see if it is online.... I can't see why x10 cannot stream the video from the PC, why use x10 servers unless you have too.  Is there an alternative software that works with x10 to stream video?

[Tuicemen]

There are lots of webcam style programs out there that will stream your video from X10 Cams the tricky part is the switching or Pan N Tilt options. Do a google search it may turn up something that will work for you!

[easymoney]

Ok.  I have contacted x10 support again, they assure me tier 2 will look into this problem.  They couldn't even decide what the problem maybe.  They could connect to my cameras, they could see the ports on their server, but they couldn't get any video.

In the meantime, I downloaded Active Webcam, and it works with the x10 camera.  It has three methods for viewing video including its own http server and a subscription based server, so best of both worlds.  Too bad x10 doesn't allow its own http server. 

I am not sure if it can switch cameras using the x10 switching system like vanguard does. I am tired of messing with x10 tech support.  If it can, awesome... can anyone confirm if Active WebCam or another app can control Firecracker to switch camera's, etc...

So far, it detects the video capture as X10 video capture VA11A 2.55 but I only see PTZ for control options???

[easymoney]

I gave tier 2 support not only my Vanguard access id but the logmein account access as well.  They accessed the PC remotely over 3 days ago for over 30 mins and no response from them since.  Seems that even tier 2 support cannot resolve issue even with the PC literally sitting in their office.

Who is going to fix it now....

Could it be the gate.x10.com server is blocking my access id?  Has anyone ever had to have their Vanguard registration id revoked and a new one issued?

[billf8004]

I have the same problem and this is a new installation and new account.  I also have activehome and don't recall having any connectivity issues with it.  Any idea what port it tries to communicate on?  I know my provider does block ports 25 and 80.  Otherwise, I've set DMZ for the host box and when using a browser on the same computer, cannot connect.

Also, something strange.  I don't have a "Username" field in the remote user setup of Vanguard in Options.

[billf8004]

Anyone getting any traction on this?  If this info helps, I have yet to see a single byte received on the web browser end.  The site comes up, but the buttons on the left are truncated.  Once I hit connect, the log shows bytes sent, but haven't seen any bytes received.  I see a connection established on the host, but nothing consistent on the client.  Server port is open (telnet gate.x10.com 8001), but still can't establish a connection.

[Tuicemen]

billf8004   you state you also have Active home (Pro )
If it is installed on the same PC they don't play nice together!
Make sure AHP isn't running in the background!

[billf8004]

Yep, I noticed that.  Doesn't look like AHP likes the VA12A at all.  I'm running Vanguard by itself....I actually had a successful test from an office net, but inside my network, it doesn't seem to connect.  Probably has something to do with using a single NATted IP for the server and client.  Any information in that regard?