Did I wait too long to install?

Support
1

Hello,
I’ve finally gotten around to installing my IoTaWatt after it’s sat in its box for 3 years :confused:
I’ve replaced the RTC battery assuming it would be dead & have been able to get it on the wi-fi but i am getting a dull red led pulse every 10 sec. i didn’t see anything in the Troubleshooting section about a red pattern like that so figured i’d share my logs & see if anyone had any suggestions. i’m also noticing that i’m receiving an invalid response from the update server: HTTPcode: -4. i’m pretty sure my firmware is out of date as i do follow the weekly digests & see that the project is still quite active. is there a way to manually update the firmware? i have not hooked up any of the CTs yet as i don’t have the green all’s well led light & figured i’d check here first.
thanks for any help or suggestions :slight_smile:

here are my logs:

ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 0
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
Real Time Clock not initialized.
Version 02_03_18
Reset reason: External System
Trace: 101:155[102], 129:139[174], 6:60[152], 24:68[170], 41:215[119], 233:106[203], 3:144[1], 79:167[105], 16:140[60], 42:70[33], 94:227[38], 63:16[107], 250:185, 224:184[214], 75:215[144], 67:122[224], 70:165[52], 166:153[196], 99:149[38], 95:8[104], 246:227[213], 91:175[87], 3:137[153], 149:196[74], 191:141[71], 127:240[143], 4:89[108], 241:92[185], 236:73[83], 124:2[187], 138:79[168], 86:230[99]
ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 0
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
Real Time Clock not initialized.
Version 02_03_18
Reset reason: Power on
Trace: 101:159[103], 145:139[110], 6:60[155], 24:64[234], 41:159[247], 233:106[195], 3:144[5], 111:167[233], 16:140[60], 38:68[33], 30:227[38], 63:16[106], 250:185[1], 224:184[214], 203:211[146], 35:90[96], 70:173[54], 134:137[128], 99:145[38], 95:8[200], 246:227[213], 83:167[87], 9:137[153], 213:196[72], 223:141[87], 127:240[135], 12:89[109], 241:124[144], 236:73[83], 124:2[186], 138:79[168], 22:178[99]
ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 0
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
Real Time Clock not initialized.
Version 02_03_18
Reset reason: External System
Trace: 101:157[103], 145:139[46], 6:60[184], 24:64[239], 41:223[119], 232:106[195], 3:128[1], 77:167[235], 16:140[60], 46:70[33], 30:227[38], 63:20[235], 250:185[1], 96:184[150], 75:215[144], 3:88[96], 70:165[116], 134:137[228], 99:145[34], 95:8[236], 246:227[213], 51:183[95], 11:137[153], 209:196[72], 255:141[67], 127:240[133], 12:89[77], 241:92[185], 238:73[83], 60:2[187], 138:79[168], 22:166[99]
ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 0
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
Real Time Clock not initialized.
Version 02_03_18
Reset reason: External System
Trace: 101:153[103], 145:139[46], 7:60[184], 24:68[175], 41:215[119], 233:106[195], 19:144[1], 45:167[233], 16:140[60], 46:68[33], 94:235[38], 47:16[107], 250:185, 224:184[214], 203:223[146], 3:90[96], 70:165[54], 134:137[164], 99:145[34], 95:8[108], 246:227[213], 19:167[87], 11:137[153], 213:196[72], 223:141[87], 123:248[135], 12:89[104], 241:88[152], 238:73[83], 60:2[186], 138:79[168], 22:166[99]
ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 0
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.
MDNS responder started for hostname IotaWatt
LLMNR responder started for hostname IotaWatt
HTTP server started
timeSync: service started.
statService: started.
WiFi connected. SSID=IoT, IP=10.10.5.206, channel=3, RSSI -45db
Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
Updater: Invalid response from server. HTTPcode: -4

** Restart **

SD initialized.
Real Time Clock not initialized.
Version 02_03_18
Reset reason: External System
Trace: 101:153[103], 129:143[110], 7:60[154], 24:64[239], 41:219[119], 233:42[195], 3:128[5], 77:167[249], 16:140[60], 42:70[33], 94:235[38], 31:16[234], 250:185[8], 224:184[150], 203:215[154], 3:88[96], 70:173[116], 134:137[128], 99:145[38], 95:8[232], 246:227[213], 19:167[87], 11:137[153], 213:196[74], 87:141[71], 127:248[143], 12:89[76], 241:88[177], 238:73[83], 124:2[186], 139:79[168], 22:230[99]
ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 0
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.
MDNS responder started for hostname IotaWatt
LLMNR responder started for hostname IotaWatt
HTTP server started
timeSync: service started.
statService: started.
WiFi connected. SSID=IoT, IP=10.10.5.206, channel=2, RSSI -49db
Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
Restart command received.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
Real Time Clock not initialized.
Version 02_03_18
Reset reason: Software/System restart
Trace: 1:3, 1:4, 1:5[21], 1:6, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5[5], 1:6, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5[20], 20:0, 20:1, 20:2, 20:3, 20:31, 20:32, 20:4, 20:42, 1:6, 1:1, 1:2, 9:0, 9:0, 8:4, 8:6, 8:8, 8:9, 1:2, 1:3, 10:2, 10:3
ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 6
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.
MDNS responder started for hostname IotaWatt
LLMNR responder started for hostname IotaWatt
HTTP server started
timeSync: service started.
statService: started.
WiFi connected. SSID=IoT, IP=10.10.5.206, channel=7, RSSI -48db
Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
Updater: Invalid response from server. HTTPcode: -4
Restart command received.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
Real Time Clock not initialized.
Version 02_03_18
Reset reason: Software/System restart
Trace: 1:3, 1:4, 1:5[21], 1:6, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5[5], 1:6, 1:3, 1:4, 1:5[20], 20:0, 20:1, 20:2, 20:3, 20:31, 20:32, 20:4, 20:42, 1:6, 1:1, 1:2, 9:0, 9:0, 8:4, 8:6, 8:8, 8:9, 1:2, 1:3, 10:2, 10:3
ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 6
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.
MDNS responder started for hostname IotaWatt
LLMNR responder started for hostname IotaWatt
HTTP server started
timeSync: service started.
statService: started.
WiFi connected. SSID=IoT, IP=10.10.5.206, channel=2, RSSI -49db
Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
Updater: Invalid response from server. HTTPcode: -4
timeSync: No time update in last 24 hours.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
Real Time Clock not initialized.
Version 02_03_18
Reset reason: Power on
Trace: 101:159[119], 149:139[46], 6:60[185], 152:100[238], 43:223[119], 233:106[203], 3:128[5], 45:167[235], 16:140[60], 38:68[33], 30:227[38], 59:16[235], 250:185[12], 224:184[150], 203:215[154], 3:90[64], 70:173[54], 134:137[196], 99:145[38], 127:8[200], 230:227[213], 26:167[87], 11:137[153], 213:196[72], 247:141[87], 127:240[135], 13:89[76], 241:124[185], 236:201[83], 60:2[187], 138:79[168], 22:226[99]
ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 6
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.
RTC not running, waiting for WiFi.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
Real Time Clock not initialized.
Version 02_03_18
Reset reason: Software/System restart
Trace: 15:1, 15:0, 15:1, 15:1, 15:0, 15:1, 15:1, 15:0, 15:1, 15:1, 15:0, 15:1, 15:1, 15:0, 15:1, 15:1, 15:0, 15:1, 15:1, 15:0, 15:1, 15:1, 15:0, 15:1, 15:1, 15:0, 15:1, 11:7, 11:8, 16:0, 11:8, 11:9
ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
SPIFFS mounted.
Local time zone: 6
device name: IotaWatt, version: 3
Connecting with WiFiManager.
MDNS responder started for hostname IotaWatt
LLMNR responder started for hostname IotaWatt
HTTP server started
timeSync: service started.
statService: started.
WiFi connected. SSID=IoT, IP=10.10.5.206, channel=1, RSSI -48db
Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
Updater: Invalid response from server. HTTPcode: -4
timeSync: No time update in last 24 hours.

2

Firmware is definitely out of date, but the device should work. Replacing the battery was a good idea. It would be helpful to know what country you are in.

Your present status is that the IoTaWatt has been successfully connected to your WiFi network, but it cannot find a time server and cannot access the update server at iotawatt.com. The device will never start logging until it can timestamp the measurements.

I don’t recall if an AC adapter was preconfigured back then, so if you don’t have an AC adapter connected, or the adapter wasn’t preconfigured, you could see the red LED pattern that you describe.

Resolving the timeserver and internet access issues should be first priority. If it can get the time and download a new release, you’ll be off and running. That’s the easiest, quickest way to move forward.

If you cannot achieve that, depending where you are, it may make more sense to send the unit for testing and reflashing (no charge), or for you to reflash it yourself if you have that skill.

3

Bob,

Thanks for the quick reply. i’ll try connecting the IoTaWatt to another network & see if that helps to resolve the NTP & update issue. it’s currently on its own network but should have full access to the internet. my computer is currently on that network to configure it & am able to access iotawatt.com without issue. I’m in the USA, near Chicago. sorry, i should have mentioned that.
i did end up connecting the CTs just to see if it would register & it does appear to be monitoring them:

2021-02-20_14-11-10
2021-02-20_14-11-10603×569 45.3 KB

i don’t have any webservers or logging capabilities set up yet.

4

Bob,

you were correct, it was my network. my computer was actually on wi-fi & wired so had internet access.
i corrected the network issue & was able to get the IoTaWatt to rejoin & now it has a pulsing green led. not a constant, dull green but a bright, dull, bright green that appears to be rapidly flashing. i’ve been unable to access it via iotawatt/local or IP/local. my router is reporting the IoTaWatt on my network. i initially thought that it was updating RTC & firmware so let it do its thing overnight. this AM it still had the same green led pattern so i restarted it by unplugging the power, not the VT though. i gave it 30 seconds, powered it back up & attempted to access it again via browser. it does appear on the correct network & is not in AP mode. i did not find the pulsing green led code in the Troubleshooting section of the docs so figured i’d report back. is there something on the SD card that i could delete & try to start over again in AP mode?
thank you for your time & patience

5

the proper url is iotawatt.local not iotawatt/local.

so:

http://iotawatt.local
or something like
http://192.168.1.95
or whatever your IP is.

Also, be sure your browser device is on the same network as the IoTaWatt, it’s a local IP and not visible from outside the network.

6

my mistake. i was attempting to access both via http://iotawatt.local & http://192.168.1.5. my tablet is on the same network as the IoTaWatt.
i am able to see it on the network but am unable to ping it…

7

It appears to have set the RTC because the LED is green. Updating firmware takes about 20 seconds and should initiate right after startup and then retry every hour.

If you cannot ping the IoTaWatt after a few tries, you probably are not routing to it on your LAN, or you have a firewall interacting. If it hasn’t gotten to the internet yet, then you are still running the old firmware. It may have updated, there is no way to tell from what you are reporting.

Don’t know how much you want/can tinker, but if you connect the IoTaWatt to a computer with a USB cable to where the USB power connects, then run a terminal emulator like Putty (115,200 baud), you will see what goes into the message log at startup. You would need to open up the IoTaWatt and after connecting the USB cable and starting Putty, press the restart button to the left of the USB connector.

Capture that serial output and I can tell you more.

8

Bob,

I was able to find a USB cable & think I was able to get a serial terminal working to log the IoTaWatt from startup. It took a couple tries to get the output on the terminal working & I’ve restarted once or twice. Here’s the output I have so far:

r$l$|

 db|c
     cNnlonbp#$`r$pN
                    l

                     bn|$$cNol$`2No
                                   l`or
                                       l`⎼┼
                                           ␍◆π⎻
                                               ┌⎼`n

SPI started.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
2/23/21 03:06:31z Real Time Clock is running. Unix time 1614049591
2/23/21 03:06:31z Reset reason: External System
2/23/21 03:06:31z Trace: 8:2, 9:2, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:1[5], 1:2[6], 9:0[6], 9:0, 9:1, 8:2[6], 8:2, 9:2, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:1[6], 1:2[7], 9:0[7], 9:0, 9:1, 8:2[7], 8:2, 9:2, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:1[7], 1:2[8], 9:0[8], 9:0, 9:1
2/23/21 03:06:31z ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
2/23/21 03:06:31z IoTaWatt 4.x, Firmware version 02_05_12
2/23/21 03:06:31z SPIFFS mounted.
2/23/21 09:06:31 Local time zone: +6:00
2/23/21 09:06:31 device name: IotaWatt
2/23/21 09:06:31 HTTP server started
2/23/21 09:06:31 timeSync: service started.
2/23/21 09:06:31 statService: started.
2/23/21 09:06:31 dataLog: service started.
2/23/21 09:06:31 dataLog: Last log entry 02/23/21 09:06:20
Low sample count 24
Low sample count 23
Low sample count 23
Low sample count 32
Low sample count 23
2/23/21 09:07:31 historyLog: service started.
2/23/21 09:07:31 historyLog: Last log entry 02/23/21 09:04:00
Low sample count 28
Low sample count 23
[Disconnected]
[Connected]
2/23/21 09:14:28 HTTP server started
2/23/21 09:14:28 WiFi connected. SSID=IDIoT, IP=10.10.3.30, channel=3, RSSI -49db
2/23/21 09:14:28 MDNS responder started for hostname IotaWatt
2/23/21 09:14:28 LLMNR responder started for hostname IotaWatt
2/23/21 09:14:28 timeSync: service started.
2/23/21 09:14:28 statService: started.
2/23/21 09:14:28 Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
2/23/21 09:14:28 dataLog: service started.
2/23/21 09:14:28 dataLog: Last log entry 02/23/21 09:08:00
2/23/21 09:14:30 Updater: Auto-update is current for class MINOR.
Low sample count 24
Low sample count 30
Low sample count 23
Low sample count 27
Low sample count 25
Low sample count 25
{llܞ|$|

   d#|c
       bnnlnN
             #plr$rlpo
                      $
                       bo|$lb|~n$$ on$`oro

                                          l πÒ⎺

                                               ┌◆⎼
                                                  ⎻┌⎽◆⎺

SPI ⎽├▒⎼├␊␍.

** R␊⎽├▒⎼├ **

SD ␋┼␋├␋▒┌␋≥␊␍.
2/23/21 03:15:13≥ R␊▒┌ T␋└␊ C┌⎺␌┐ ␋⎽ ⎼┤┼┼␋┼±. U┼␋│ ├␋└␊ 1614050113
2/23/21 03:15:13≥ R␊⎽␊├ ⎼␊▒⎽⎺┼: E│├␊⎼┼▒┌ S≤⎽├␊└
2/23/21 03:15:13≥ T⎼▒␌␊: 8:2, 9:2, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:1[6], 1:2[7], 9:0[7], 9:0, 9:1, 8:2[7], 8:2, 9:2, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:1[7], 1:2[8], 9:0[8], 9:0, 9:1, 8:2[8], 8:2, 9:2, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:1[8], 1:2[9], 9:0[9], 9:0, 9:1
2/23/21 03:15:13≥ ESP8266 C␤␋⎻ID: 191534
2/23/21 03:15:13≥ I⎺T▒W▒├├ 4.│, F␋⎼└┬▒⎼␊ ┴␊⎼⎽␋⎺┼ 02_05_12
2/23/21 03:15:13≥ SPIFFS └⎺┤┼├␊␍.
2/23/21 09:15:13 L⎺␌▒┌ ├␋└␊ ≥⎺┼␊: +6:00
2/23/21 09:15:13 ␍␊┴␋␌␊ ┼▒└␊: I⎺├▒W▒├├
2/23/21 09:15:13 HTTP ⎽␊⎼┴␊⎼ ⎽├▒⎼├␊␍
2/23/21 09:15:13 ├␋└␊S≤┼␌: ⎽␊⎼┴␋␌␊ ⎽├▒⎼├␊␍.
2/23/21 09:15:13 ⎽├▒├S␊⎼┴␋␌␊: ⎽├▒⎼├␊␍.
2/23/21 09:15:13 ␍▒├▒L⎺±: ⎽␊⎼┴␋␌␊ ⎽├▒⎼├␊␍.
2/23/21 09:15:13 ␍▒├▒L⎺±: L▒⎽├ ┌⎺± ␊┼├⎼≤ 02/23/21 09:15:05
2/23/21 09:15:19 W␋F␋ ␌⎺┼┼␊␌├␊␍. SSID=IDI⎺T, IP=10.10.3.30, ␌␤▒┼┼␊┌=3, RSSI -61␍␉
2/23/21 09:15:19 MDNS ⎼␊⎽⎻⎺┼␍␊⎼ ⎽├▒⎼├␊␍ °⎺⎼ ␤⎺⎽├┼▒└␊ I⎺├▒W▒├├
2/23/21 09:15:19 LLMNR ⎼␊⎽⎻⎺┼␍␊⎼ ⎽├▒⎼├␊␍ °⎺⎼ ␤⎺⎽├┼▒└␊ I⎺├▒W▒├├
2/23/21 09:15:19 U⎻␍▒├␊⎼: ⎽␊⎼┴␋␌␊ ⎽├▒⎼├␊␍. A┤├⎺-┤⎻␍▒├␊ ␌┌▒⎽⎽ ␋⎽ MINOR
2/23/21 09:15:20 U⎻␍▒├␊⎼: A┤├⎺-┤⎻␍▒├␊ ␋⎽ ␌┤⎼⎼␊┼├ °⎺⎼ ␌┌▒⎽⎽ MINOR.
π┌┌┌≠

 ┌␉≠⎼>
      ␉┼⎺┌⎺┼
            #⎻┌π┌⎼$⎻⎺
                     ┌

                      #
                       N≠$┌
                           ␉N⎺$$◆o
                                  $ orN
                                       l r

                                          l rp
                                              lr o

SPI started.

** Restart **

SD initialized.
2/23/21 03:15:30z Real Time Clock is running. Unix time 1614050130
2/23/21 03:15:30z Reset reason: External System
2/23/21 03:15:30z Trace: 8:2, 9:2, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:1[6], 1:2[7], 9:0[7], 9:0, 9:1, 8:2[7], 8:2, 9:2, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:1[7], 1:2[8], 9:0[8], 9:0, 9:1, 8:2[8], 8:2, 9:2, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, 1:1[8], 1:2[9], 9:0[9], 9:0, 9:1
2/23/21 03:15:30z ESP8266 ChipID: 191534
2/23/21 03:15:30z IoTaWatt 4.x, Firmware version 02_05_12
2/23/21 03:15:30z SPIFFS mounted.
2/23/21 09:15:30 Local time zone: +6:00
2/23/21 09:15:30 device name: IotaWatt
2/23/21 09:15:30 HTTP server started
2/23/21 09:15:30 timeSync: service started.
2/23/21 09:15:30 statService: started.
2/23/21 09:15:30 dataLog: service started.
2/23/21 09:15:30 dataLog: Last log entry 02/23/21 09:15:25
2/23/21 09:15:36 WiFi connected. SSID=IDIoT, IP=10.10.3.30, channel=3, RSSI -57db
2/23/21 09:15:36 MDNS responder started for hostname IotaWatt
2/23/21 09:15:36 LLMNR responder started for hostname IotaWatt
2/23/21 09:15:36 Updater: service started. Auto-update class is MINOR
2/23/21 09:15:37 Updater: Auto-update is current for class MINOR.
Low sample count 30
Low sample count 27
Low sample count 22
Low sample count 25
Low sample count 22
Low sample count 29
Low sample count 25
Low sample count 23
2/23/21 09:16:30 historyLog: service started.
2/23/21 09:16:30 historyLog: Last log entry 02/23/21 09:08:00
Low sample count 26
Low sample count 28
Low sample count 23
Low sample count 23
Low sample count 24
Low sample count 24
Low sample count 57

I’ll let it run tonight to see if anything else pops up like that HTTP -4 error I saw in the logs.
It does appear to be getting on the wi-fi & has a valid IP address but I am not able to access http://10.10.3.30 or http://iotawatt.local with Safari, Chrome, Opera or Firefox. I’m also still unable to ping it.

9

OK, couple of other things:

Your timezone is set to +6 instead of -6 for Chicago, so make a note to change that.

Your system has successfully communicated with an NTP server and has also downloaded and installed the latest release and it successfully checks for the latest release after each restart. so I don’t believe there is a problem with the WiFi hardware, everything appears to be working normally.

My money is on you not being on the same WiFi network. The IoTaWatt is connected to IDIoT. You should verify that your computer is on that network as well.

10

You have a VLAN set up and probably don’t have the routing set correctly to get to your normal LAN that the PC is on.

11

:+1:

ahh, i didn’t realize that it had actually downloaded the latest firmware. that’s great.

i am able to get my phone & tablet on IDIoT as their only network & am still unable to ping or access the IoTaWatt via browser. as @frogmore mentioned, IDIoT is a Guest network on my router. i was previously trying to set all IoT devices up on their own network but that seemed to be causing other problems so i thought i’d try using a Guest network. i’ll have to look into that. otherwise i guess i’ll just move it to my primary network.

thank you for your assistance & this great product. i’ve been wanting to tinker with this for quite some time.

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I don’t know much about how the various routers implement guest networks, but it would make sense to me if they inhibited intra-network communications, and particularly the UDP broadcast that underlies the .local protocols.

Update: and sure onough, quick search turns up this:

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well, i guess that takes me back to figuring out how to set up a separate network on another router for my IoT things. :smiley:
at least i now know the IoTaWatt is working as expected & i just need to get it configured correctly.

Thanks again!

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The learning curve for separate LANs is steep. Doing it with a normal router is probably not possible, definitely not easy.

Think about what your goal is and be clear about what you want to allow and prevent. If you want to access your IotaWatt from your PC, you need to open holes in the “firewall”. Look up VLAN configuration and that will get you started. There are quite a few tutorials on it, especially with using pfSense. I use pfSense, not so much for VLANs, but for its ability to support my 1Gbps internet connection. It took me way more time than I would like to admit to set it up. I decided I could wait on moving my IOT devices to their own VLAN. Most of my devices are running code I trust. The others have not been a big enough of a concern to take the time to update the infrastructure to support VLANs and different SSIDs (the easy part) and routing rules (the more complicated part).

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@frogmore, thanks for the follow up. i’ve heard great things about pfSense but have yet to take the leap & dig into that. i have two Asus routers that i was hoping to use to set up a primary network & secondary network but did not have the routing set up correctly to allow my computer on #1 to talk directly to devices on #2, which is why i switched to a Guest network. but now i’m seeing that doesn’t quite work as expected either :smiley:
i’m less worried about IoT devices like the IoTaWatt that are actively developed than things like my thermostat & other appliances that are nice to have internet access with but are commercially developed & not kept up to date.

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Search VLAN for iot and you will find some decent guides to what you need to think about to do what you say you want.

Ubiquity (Unifi) makes products that can help/provide the level of control necessary. They also have decent UI. But, they tend to ship things before they are quite ready. There are a lot of people who use them, so decent support for when you run into issues.

There are also some open source replacement FW solutions for normal routers that have support for VLANs. You also need APs that support tagged VLANs. They can be expensive. Or, you can get a switch that supports tagged VLANs. Or, you can use a router that has multiple NICs and multiple APs. It gets complex pretty quickly, so be clear about the threats you want to mitigate, or you can spend a lot of time/money/effort and still have a system that can be compromised.

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IDIoT is a great WiFi name, btw.

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i can’t take credit for that. i think i saw it in a tutorial, video or article on trying to separate out IoT devices from your normal network :smiley: