It does not watch the picture
Video content, picture quality and recording are not checked. That needs the device's login, which we do not hold.
The box checks every device every minute
It tells you when a camera, recorder or controller stops answering, and it tells a hung camera from one that has been unplugged.
What it does
Working, not answering, or gone
Any device on a site's network list can be monitored. The box checks it every minute and reports when it stops answering.
Each check gives one of three results. The device is working; it is on the network but not answering, as a hung camera is; or it is down. A hung camera and an unplugged one need different people, so the box tells them apart.
The box holds no device logins and does not sign in. Video content, picture quality and recording are therefore not checked, and the portal says so plainly.
The checks, from weakest to strongest
The box learns the strongest check that works for each device. Each proves something specific, and the portal shows which one is in use.
| Check | What it proves | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| ARP | The device is powered and on the network. ARP is the network's own "who has this address?" question. | The network check for anything on the same subnet as the box. |
| Ping | The device's network stack answers. | A printer or a controller that offers nothing else. |
| TCP port | Something is listening on the port. | A door controller's own port, or any service that has no check of its own. |
| HTTP | The device's web server is alive. | Any device with a web page. |
| ONVIF | The camera's management service is alive. | Cameras and recorders that speak ONVIF. |
| RTSP | The video service is alive. The check opens no stream. | Cameras and recorders. The strongest check for a video device. |
How you use it
Switch it on, and the box learns the rest
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Switch Monitor on
On the site's network list, switch Monitor on for a device, or for every connected device at once. Any device on the list can be monitored.
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The box learns the check
The box tries every check it can and keeps the strongest that works. You can override the check and port, and Re-learn runs the learning again.
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Alerts go where you choose
The portal shows each device's state, response time and seven days of availability. When a device stops answering, an alert goes where you chose.
The details
Some devices answer ping while failing. Ask them how they are.
A printer out of toner, a UPS on battery and a building controller waiting for a download all answer ping. A protocol check asks the device how it is, in its own terms. Every check is read-only; the box does not write.
| Protocol | For | What the device reports |
|---|---|---|
| SNMP (v1, v2c, v3) | Printers, UPSes, switches, NAS | Low toner, a UPS on battery, a switch port down, and how long the device has been up. |
| Modbus TCP | Inverters, batteries, EV chargers | An inverter fault, through SunSpec or one register you choose. |
| BACnet/IP | Building controllers | Operational, waiting for a download, or non-operational. |
- Every minute, adjustable
- The box checks each monitored device every minute. You can set the interval from 30 seconds to 10 minutes per device.
- Steady, not twitchy
- A device is marked faulty or down only after three results in a row and at least two and a half minutes, whatever the interval. A single missed check does not raise an alert. A device that keeps dropping and returning is marked unstable.
- Warnings and faults
- A warning, such as low toner, keeps the device online and raises no alarm. A fault, such as a UPS on battery, is a service-fault alert and, if forwarded, an alarm signal.
- If the protocol stops answering
- A device whose SNMP, Modbus or BACnet goes quiet is treated like any other that stopped answering: retried, then network-checked. The last thing it reported is kept.
- It follows the device
- The box follows a device by its hardware (MAC) address when its IP changes. It tells a device that has moved apart from one that has gone.
- One site alert, not fifty
- When most of a site's devices drop at once, you get one site alert, not one per device. When the box's own network link is down, no device is blamed.
- Gentle on devices
- One probe at a time per device, and no login attempt. RTSP checks use OPTIONS only, so no recorder stream slot is consumed.
- Read-only credentials, chosen for this
- SNMP communities and SNMPv3 passwords are read-only credentials you choose for this one purpose. They are stored encrypted, kept in memory on the box, not logged, and used only to read. Discovery does not try the community "public".
- What the portal shows
- For every monitored device: its state, response time, when it went offline, and seven days of availability by hour. Mute a device for planned work; switch monitoring, email and forwarding on or off per device or in bulk.
- Test now
- Test now runs a protocol check once from the box and shows the device's answer in the portal, before you depend on it.
- What the box needs
- Monitoring needs box software 1.3.0 or later, and protocol checks 1.6.0 or later. A site whose box needs an update says so in the portal.
What it does not do
It checks that devices answer, and nothing more
It does not log in to a device
We hold no device logins and do not sign in. The one exception is the read-only SNMP, Modbus or BACnet settings you choose for a protocol check.
It does not write to a device
Every protocol check reads a fixed handful of values. The box's software has no write command, so a check cannot change a setting on a UPS, an inverter or a controller.
See a device is down from the portal
Tell us what is at your sites and what monitoring software you use. We reply by email.