Establishing Communications with ControlByWeb Products

This video shows two different methods for establishing communications with a ControlByWeb product’s web setup pages. In order to configure a ControlByWeb device for your specific application, you need to first access its web setup pages using either the basic method which temporarily changes the IP address of a configuration computer, or by using the advanced method which temporarily changes the IP address of a ControlByWeb product to work on an existing network.

Video Transcript

In order to configure a ControlByWeb product using its web interface, the product must be connected to an Ethernet network via an Ethernet port, hub, switch, or router. You may also temporarily connect the products to the Ethernet port on a computer using a crossover Ethernet cable.

This tutorial is designed to assist in first connecting to the ControlByWeb module and then changing the ControlByWeb module’s IP address to function on another network. This can be done by using one of two methods:

The first method is the Basic Method which will temporarily change the IP address of a connected computer to the match the default IP address used by the ControlByWeb product. The second method is the Advanced Method which will assign a temporary IP address to the ControlByWeb product to work on an existing network. Be sure to note that if multiple ControlByWeb products are used on the same network, install one at a time, and set the IP address of each unit before connecting the next one to the network. To demonstrate these two methods, we will be using the WebRelay module; however, the same steps will apply for all ControlByWeb products.

Basic Method: Assign a Temporary IP Address to a Configuration Computer

By default, the WebRelay comes with an IP address of 192.168.1.2. Communication with the WebRelay may be established by assigning an IP address to a configuration computer so that it is on the same network as the WebRelay. For example, to communicate with the WebRelay module, we will assign the configuration computer an IP address of 192.168.1.50

We will be using Windows-8 to do this; however the same concepts apply regardless of which operating system you are using:

1. First, apply power to the ControlByWeb device, wait 15 seconds for it to become operational, then connect the device to the configuration computer with an Ethernet cable.
2. Open the Windows 8 startup screen.
3. Type “Control Panel” and press enter.
4. Select View network status and tasks.
5. Then select Change adapter settings.
6. Your machine may have more than one Internet connection shown. Right-click on the adapter for your internet connection that the WebRelay is connected to. A drop-down box will appear, choose Properties to view or edit the settings for this internet connection.
7. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 and then click the Properties button.
8. Select “Use the following IP address.” If this is already selected, the computer has already been setup with a static IP address. Record these values so that the current IP address of the computer can be restored once the IP address of the WebRelay has been successfully changed.
9. Type in the IP address: 192.168.1.50. Type in the subnet mask: 255.255.255.0. No need to change the default gateway field. Click OK to accept the new settings.
10. To open the ControlByWeb device’s setup pages, open a web browser and in the address bar, type http://192.168.1.2/setup.html
11. A login prompt will appear. Enter the username and password. The default username is admin and the default password is webrelay all lower case. You may then proceed with setting up the device, which will be explained after the next section.

Advanced Method: Assign a temporary IP address to a ControlByWeb product

This option is used to TEMPORARILY assign an IP address to the WebRelay without the need to change the IP address of a configuration computer.

The WebRelay will use this IP address as long as power is maintained. Once power is lost, the WebRelay will use the IP address assigned in the setup page and not the temporary address assigned here. Make sure that the WebRelay and the configuration computer are connected to the same local network because this initial setup will not work through routers or gateways.

The following instructions will be using Windows 8; however, instructions for Linux and Apple operating systems may be found in each of our products’ users manuals which are available on our website.

1. Go to the Startup page and type Command Prompt and press Enter. For most versions of windows, you will need to right-click on Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”
2. In the command prompt, type: arp -s followed by a new IP address and the serial number of the ControlByWeb product, which can be located on the side or back of each product. For example, to give a WebRelay an IP address of 10.10.10.40 the following command would be used: arp -s 10.10.10.40 followed by its serial number 00-0c-c8-01-00-01
3. Next, we need to ping the device. To do this type: ping -l 102 followed by the new IP address we just assigned: 10.10.10.40
4. Once you have successfully pinged the device, you can then proceed with accessing the setup pages by entering the IP address of the device followed by /setup.html. Login using the default username “admin,” and password, “webrelay,” all lower case. Once you have logged into the setup pages, you can then proceed with setting up the ControlByWeb product.

If you are setting up multiple ControlByWeb products, it may be necessary to clear the ‘arp’ cache to configure additional products. This is necessary because each device has the same default IP address, but a different unit serial number. Clearing the arp table can be done by typing arp -d in the command prompt window.

Basic Setup

Once logged into the setup pages, we need to assign a new IP address to the device. Click on the Network tab. The IP address will be specific to the network where the ControlByWeb device will be installed, and must be obtained from the network administrator. Enter in an IP address that is available on your network.

Remember, if you are setting up multiple ControlByWeb devices, be sure to plug them in one at a time and assign a unique IP address to each device.This avoids having multiple devices being installed on the network with the same factory default IP address at the same time.

Once you have typed in the IP address and any other relevant network information, press Submit. The device will then need to be power cycled in order for the new IP address to take effect.

Once you have assigned a new IP address to the ControlByWeb device, you are ready to begin configuring the ControlByWeb unit for your specific application.

For more information about how to establish communication with ControlByWeb products, please see one of our product’s users manuals located on our website.