💬 Building an Ethernet Gateway

[jopebe]

Here thr output of the seriel monitor:
0;255;3;0;9;MCO:BGN:INIT GW,CP=R-NGA--,VER=2.1.1
IP: 192.168.178.134
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: connect
0;255;3;0;9;MCO:BGN:STP
0;255;3;0;9;MCO:REG:NOT NEEDED
0;255;3;0;9;MCO:BGN:INIT OK,TSP=NA
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;1
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;0
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;1
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;0
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;1
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;0
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;1
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;0
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;0
0;255;3;0;9;Eth: 0;101;1;0;2;1
When I push the button in IoBroker-Vis, it takes often a lot of time until the LED is on; sometimes I have to push the button twice or more times; sometimes nothing happens at all.
When I define and connect the radio with the same sketch, it runs as expected.

[korttoma]

@jopebe are the relays and switches locally attached to the GW? Please post your sketch

[Ed1500]

@scalz A very late reply, but someone else might be helped with it.
Hardware SPI is working.
The onnly thing is that on W5100 shield it will work without any problem but with most 5100 modules you need a small modification fixing w5100 problems

[Ed1500]

@fifo Most W5100 modules have a 5-3.3V regulator so if you connect the Vcc to 3V3 the chip just doesnt get enough juice

[jopebe]

I dont know, how to send my sketch as a file. Copy and past doesnt run.
I use an ethernet-shield and as I mentioned, when I connect and switch on the radio, everything is alrigth.

[jopebe]

Thank You to all, who tried to help.
I think, I found the solution:
There was this line in the sketch: "const unsigned long tUpdate=60000; //update interval"
When I changed the time to 6000, it runs as when as the radio was connected.
So it was probably missing some kind of "interrupt", which usually comes from the radio , when it listens to the nodes or so?

[Newzwaver]

hi everyone,

has the pin setup changed? it looks like it has from the sketch. I used a0, a1 and a2 for the radio.

[mfalkvidd]

@Newzwaver Which sketch do you mean? The build page is still using a0, a1, a2 for W5100.

[Newzwaver]

Ok, I screwed up and downloaded the latest arduino software 1.8.3 and can't get my libraries to work correctly. I am trying to upgrade my sensors to 2.1.1 and rebuild my gateway using a new nano I put together. I am using the5100 connection with the radio wired to a0..... It the 1.8.3 not to be used for the overseas board?

[itbeyond]

I have just built a W5100 based Ethernet gateway using a pro mini, NRF24LR and I enabled Soft Signinig - using the latest mysensors github development version 2.2.0-beta I am getting Low on memory messages when I compile and load this - if I disable Signing it does not complain. I have noticed several random crashes with signing enabled however i have secure nodes so need singing support. Is there something I am doing wrong or is the latest dev image causing this to occur. I have Debugging all disabled and burning to a stock 5V 16Mhz device.

Sketch uses 25476 bytes (82%) of program storage space. Maximum is 30720 bytes.
Global variables use 1648 bytes (80%) of dynamic memory, leaving 400 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2048 bytes.
Low memory available, stability problems may occur.

[mfalkvidd]

@itbeyond you'll need to find a way to save flash and ram, or use a microcontroller that has more flash and ram.

[gohan]

@itbeyond you could use a Mega 2560 or use a raspberry pi as gateway (if you already have one)

[itbeyond]

@mfalkvidd I this just how it is going to be on W5100 if we enable signing support - we must use a different chip? The Ethernet Gateway has nothing but the basic sketch with LED's enabled and soft signing.

[mfalkvidd]

@itbeyond probably. I guess the w5100 library uses a lot of ram and flash. The crypto for software signing uses a lot as well.

[Anticimex]

Atmga328p is not suitable as a gateway if you want ethernet and security. It simply does not have enough storage.

[Ed1500]

@Anticimex I do agree. It CAN be used, but it is just a bad choice as the ethernet libraries do not leave much space for much else.
ENC28J60 in that aspect is worse than the W5100.
I tried it more like a proof of concept and it does work pretty well just passing data, but I put everything on an ESP8266. OK, WiFi rather than Ethernet but thats OK for me

[Anticimex]

@Ed1500 I run a gateway on a nano with all security features. But it runs as a serial gateway.

[itbeyond]

@mfalkvidd, @Anticimex & @Ed1500,

Thanks I have ordered a Mega 2560 to use as the gateway. I think it would be super helpful to have the specs better identified in the main topic of the Building and Ethernet Gateway (and other Gateway pages) page - maybe a table with suitable controllers for the most common configurations. It would have saved me the hassle and I am sue I will not be the first to run into this. I too was using a 328p with security via serial and did not even think I would have a problem with memory when converting the Ethernet.

[gohan]

In principle it is the same everywhere: the more libraries you add, the more memory you use as it is like you are writing a longer code. It's the basic of programming and arduino ide is reporting how much memory a sketch uses, so you can see yourself how much more memory is used when you add extra libraries.

[itbeyond]

@gohan yes I understand perfectly I am a developer and have over 30 years coding experience in about 20 languages. What I find difficult is that there is no detail or documentation on library resource usage so one cannot predetermine the resource requirements when a library or piece of hardware is used. In this great site we have a statement at the top (first sentance) of the Ethernet Gateway page that states "You can build an Ethernet gateway using almost any Arduino model." Well this is not exactly true because if you want to enable some of the library features (ie: signing, and lets face it you should have this enabled if you have any locks or garage doors etc) you will run out of memory in the general models. I am not complaining I just think something so simple should be documented to help other uses look at the right equipment from the outset. In fact all that needs to be written in the first sentence is something as simple as "You can build and Ethernet gateway using almost any Ardunio model however as the Ethernet library uses more resources it would be best to look at a micro controller with greater than 2kb or ram so we recommend a Mega 2560 or similar if you intend to enabled signing or whitelist support."