GeoFence inconsistency

[AdminWes]

Hi BlackSheep,

Are you using our MobiLinc Connect service, a direct IP, or ISY Portal to connect to your ISY? MobiLinc Connect is the best option and recommended way to connect. ISY Portal is not supported.

For the iBeacon detection, if iOS isn't informing MobiLinc about the iBeacon status (INSIDE/OUTSIDE) then the UUID and/or the major minor numbers don't match the beacon's settings. Can you send me screenshots to: support@mobilinc.com of the following:

- Screenshot of the iBeacon setup in MobiLinc showing the UUID and the major/minor numbers.
- Screenshot of the iBeacon's manufacturer's app that show the actual iBeacon's UUID and major/minor numbers.

The best way to test iBeacons is once the UUID/Major/Minor numbers are confimred and saved in MobiLinc, with BlueTooth ON in your iPhone, turn off power to the iBeacon for 5 minutes. Then, after 5 minutes, power on the iBeacon next to your iPhone running MobiLinc looking at your iBeacon screen. Within about 60 seconds (can be and usually is faster), you should see MobiLinc respond to iOS telling it that your iPhone is now INSIDE of your iBeacon.

Wes

[BlackSheep]

Hi Wes,

Sorry for the slow reply, I have been away from home for the past few weeks. I will send you an email with the screenshots you asked for here in a few minutes.

To answer your question, I use the ISY Portal to connect to my ISY. If I could be more confident in the geofencing working, I would happily subscribe to the Connect service. I can see in the Mobilinc app that the boundary crossing have not registered in the app itself (I'm sure due to the iOS not informing the app of the change), so I don't understand how changing the link from the app to the ISY would change anything if the problem is with the app itself.

I have tested the beacon as you suggested, and it works fine each time it is tested. The problem I am experiencing is inconsistent. It will sometimes report correctly, then other times it will not. I left home and went out of town for a few weeks, and it took the app three days before it finally showed that I was OUTSIDE. The problem occurs more when I return home, where mobilinc will still show me OUTSIDE, even though the beacon app shows correctly that I am within range.

Thanks for all your help trying to figure these problems out.

[AdminWes]

Thanks BlackSheep,

I received your email with the screenshots. OK, first off, ISY Portal does not support all MobiLinc features. We do not recommend ISY Portal and MobiLinc is definitely not compatible with their portal product. Especially when it comes to working with ISY variables. Their portal does not support variable changes that MobiLinc makes to the ISY.

So, first change is to change your MobiLinc configuration to use MobiLinc Connect instead. It's free for 30 days, no commitment to try just to prove to yourself that the iBeacon and geo-fence changes will indeed update a variable on your ISY. Plus, you'll gain all sorts of new features the ISY Portal can't provide like push notifications, Today View, etc.

For the other issue with the iBeacon sometimes not showing INSIDE or OUTSIDE in a timely mannor, this is an iOS issue. iOS 10 has had major issues with Bluetooth. So, first off, make sure you are running the very latest of iOS 10. If you are, then reboot your iPhone. Test the iBeacon by keeping MobiLinc open on your iBeacon screen and remove power from the iBeacon. After 30-60 seconds you should see the status change to OUTSIDE. Then apply power to the iBeacon. In most cases you should see INSIDE in about 20 seconds. Sometimes it can take a few minutes. By leaving the iPhone's screen on, you'll get the best chance at a quicker response from iOS here.

Hopefully this helps,
Wes

[BlackSheep]

Thanks Wes! I will signup for the Connect service demo and keep my fingers crossed for some improvement.

[npsit2]

Although my iPhone's location setting works quite well, consistently triggering a notification every time I cross the ~100m geo fence from my house, my ISY99i doesn't respond promptly, if at all. There seems to be a significant delay between the notification showing up on my phone (immediately after getting within 100m from my home) and when ISY responds to the following program to open the garage door. If I wait long enough, it eventually works but the response is quite slow.

Is there an iPhone setting, Mobilinc Pro setting or an ISY setting that will give me a better (more rapid) response to crossing the 100m boundary?

_____________________________________________
Program: 'Arrived Home'
If
$iPhone_Home is 1
Then
Run Program 'G.Door Open' (if)
Else
- No Actions

_____________________________________________
Program: 'G.Door Open'
If
Status 'Garage Door Sensor' is On
Then
Set 'Garage Door' Fast On
Else
- No Actions
_____________________________________________

[AdminWes]

Hi npsit2,

The best case scenario is if you use MobiLinc Connect.

If you use a direct IP connection or the ISY Portal, then there may be other reasons for the delay. Especially if you are using ISY Portal. The ISY Portal isn't our product and isn't compatible with all features of MobiLinc including geo-fencing and variables.

If using just a direct IP, then the HTTPS handshake couldn't be causing a delay of around 20 seconds as MobiLinc waits for the ISY to handshake with it. To solve this, you'll need to install a HTTPS cert in the ISY with a key strength of 1024 or lower to speed up the HTTPS connection. By default the HTTPS cert is 512 or 1024, so out of the box it's reasonable unless it's been changed it to 2048.

Wes

[npsit2]

Wes,

I am currently using direct IP and can access my ISY via Mobilic anywhere but I don't see anything in the ISY setup or Mobilinc setup for "HTTPS cert" or where you can change the "key strength". Where is this?

[AdminWes]

If you haven't changed this, then I wouldn't touch it and leave it as the default.

When the geo-fence trips, the alert is shown and then MobiLinc tries both the HTTP and HTTPS paths at the same time to reach the ISY. Which ever one responds first is the path MobiLinc uses to update the variable.

Wes

[npsit2]

Wes,

I still don't understand why Mobilinc waits so long to respond to a geo fence notification when I can select any Program in Mobilinc and get an immediate response (with WiFi turned off and only working via cellular). It doesn't seem to be a ISY polling delay but instead a delay in Mobilinc. Is there some special iOS setting that "helps" Mobilinc recognize and respond to the geo fence notification sooner?

[AdminWes]

Keep in mind that once you are on the program page, MobiLinc is reusing an active connection back to your ISY. No handshake here required. And yes, it is instant.

For geo-fencing, MobiLinc needs to startup from background, reconnect to the ISY on either HTTP and HTTPS. If HTTPS, then there's the handshake delay. Once connected, MobiLinc can issue the variable update.

Once you see the notification fire, MobiLinc has already kicked off the network requests to connect to your ISY. The response speed depends on the network conditions and HTTPS handshake at that moment.

Wes