Wireless RS232

So can you access an ACII from across the country if you buy the the parts that have been dicussed in this thread?

I understand you can access it within your own house over your network, but how about over the internet.

I'm not as computer savy as some others.

So if I bought and ACII and wanted to go wireless and access the ACII over the web or home network I would need:

Ethernet Adapter
Do I need that bridge with the Linksys Wireless G 2.4?
Not sure what else I need

My current home network is Linksys Wireless G 2.4
Comcast High Speed
Laptop has a built in wireless device

What else do I need?
 
Go back up and read this whole thread where I discuss the differences in the AC III and the ACIIIPro as to accessibility. In a nutshell, you must use Aquanotes software to make the ACII accessible, you don't need the software for the AQIIIPro, however, the software will provide more features like graphing etc. than the imbedded webserver in the ACIIIPro. If you already have an ACII, then just get the Aquanotes software. The ACIIIPro has additional features like the ethernet interface which helps in networking the device so you don't need a computer running aquanotes to access the device. All this is explained above. Let me know if I missed some explanation you need.
 
Got it.

I have the AQI but wanted to upgrade and wasnt sure which way to go. I dont need the Dissolved Oxygen probe or conductivity probe. They cost too much money.

What I want with my Aquacontroller is the ability to access it from a remote site outside of my own home.

I already have Aquanotes 3.0. The feature I liked most about the AQIII Pro was the ethernet/webserver but if you can make an AQII internet accessible, why not save yourself $500?
 
Well you can do it very simply with the ACII and Aquanotes.

Just hook up your ACII with the serial interface to the computer running Aquanotes and then hook that computer into your home network (either wirelessly or with a wired ethernet cable into your hub or router).

The computer running aquanotes will need to have WIN2000 or XP (Pro I believe) in order to activate the IIS server software that comes with windows. This IIS software is a miniature webserver that works with aquanotes to serve up the webpages from the ACII.

The whole point of the discussion about the ethernet adapters and bridges etc, was just to have the aquacontroller near the fish tank (without the computer having to be located right by the tank). Normally the two must be together because 1) the pH and ORP probes go into your tank and are connected to the ACII, and 2) the ACII is connected via the serial cable to the computer. Some people have had some success using a longer serial cable to reach their computer located further away from the tank.

Not sure what your tank configuration is, but the above is a very simple (and expensive since you have all the parts) way to do it.

BTW, I think there is a version 3.1 of aquanotes out.
 
Kattner

So I dont need to have a seperate computer besides my laptop to make this work?

I dont want a laptop directly connected to the AQII. I want to connect to the AQII through my wireless laptop.

Simply buy the ethernet adapter and connect that to the Wireless bridge and have it communicate with my Wirless G system that is already in place in my house, correct?
 
I have been following this thread pretty closely as I am also in a similar situation with deciding which controller to buy. The biggest deciding factor that I can see is that I can assign an IP address directly to the AC3pro and configure my DSL router to allow access to the controller directly from the Internet. I would not need to hook it up to another computer with aquanotes.

I do not own aquanotes and if I purchased the AC3pro I do not plan on purchasing it. If I really wanted to graph the data, I would just copy n paste the logs into excel and graph it (since I am on a computer checking the controller anyways.)

The only question I have for AC3pro owners is if you are able to edit the seasonal tables from the web interface. Though it's not a deal breaker (can program offsets to do what I want), but it would be nice.

In my situation, I dont own any previous AC or X10 stuff so I would be starting fresh. I am still working on pricing out the AC2 vs the AC3, but so far from an ease of use the AC3 as the edge.
 
Exactly, you got it. But...

You will obviously have to keep the laptop up and running to be able to get back to it over the internet while you are away from home. Not sure if you take your laptop with you when traveling. So, if you want to just set the thing up and forget it, you need a cheapo PC turned on all the time that is running aquanotes. Then you can take the laptop with you while traveling and access your tank. I have done this from Europe, Asia and South America over the internet back to my tank using aquanotes and an ACII. I upgraded to the ACIIIPro just to get the ethernet. I don't use the Dissolved O2 and Conductivity either.
 
kbecker:

Thats the idea...

When you price it out: ACII + aquanotes + serial to ethernet adapter VS ACIIIPro, you may be getting close in price. I do believe you can edit the season table with the webserver interface on the ACIII Pro. I will check it when I get home tonite to make sure.

There are other threads that discuss doing exactly what you want as it relates to having a dynamic IP address and getting a web address that constantly points to your dynamic IP. You will need to configure this too, unless you have static IPs.
 
When you price it out: ACII + aquanotes + serial to ethernet adapter VS ACIIIPro, you may be getting close in price.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I am figuring out. I dont need a wireless bridge (I have a cat5 dataport in the wall) so that brings the price much closer together.

I plan on using one of those no-ip or dynip type services. I heard (rumored from a friend) that you can ftp into the AC3 and edit the web pages. If so, can you find out how much memory is on the device? I could just make a simple summary index page and then access the "hidden" system pages when needed.
 
wfgworks:

Different concept. The aquanotes software on the ACIIIPro is not more limited than on the ACII. It is exactly the same program with the same functionality for both controllers. The distinction I am making is the web pages in the ACIIIPro are more limited in functionality than all of the features in Aquanotes. One difference I mention above is that the imbedded webserver in the ACIIIPro does not do graphs. Aquanotes does nice graphing. But the imbedded web server in the ACIIIPro has a lot of nice features too - like changing the program, real time status display etc. The way to think about it is the imbedded web server is a subset of what Aquanotes can do.

So, if you want even more features you can combine the ACIIIPro along with Aquanotes. The point I'm making above is that if you just want a basic way to check your tank stats and to program the controller over the internet and get email alerts, you can just use the imbedded webserver in the ACIIIPro without buying Aquanotes. Hope this helps.
 
Kattner

You have cleared things up for me. Sorry for all the questions I just wanted to make sure I understood everything before I made a purchase.

Thanks for all your input.

Now....decision time.................
 
KBecker:

You indeed can ftp into the ACIIIPro (but Curt doesn't recommend it, so do so at your own risk). There is another thread about it somewhere. If you want you can change the web pages too. I haven't gotten around to that but I did take a peek at the files stored on the ACIIIPro using ftp. The ACIIIPro has 128K bytes of flash memory storage for web pages. It has other memory for the program but I can't remember how much. There is another thread in this forum where Curt tells someone how many program statements and timers you can have on the ACIIIPro. It is a lot more than the ACII.
 
wgfworks:

your welcome, just for the record, I got the ACIIIPro because of the ethernet interface and imbedded webserver. It works very slick. I had the ACII, but ran into all kinds of configuration issues with the serial to ethernet adapter. It worked most of the time but not always. Someone mentioned a different brand above as well as port redirector software so maybe those work better than the one I purchased. Just realize that with the serial to ethernte adpater, you will have more initial effort getting the adpater configured and working. Good luck.
 
Kattner,

Thanks for all the information. I would still appreciate it if you could find out if your AC3pro can edit the season tables via it's internal web pages.

I just did a search for the ftp information (like you suggested) and I think it would be interesting to take a peek.

Also one more thing, is there a way to clear all it's memory in the event of a forgotten password? (Like pulling a jumper, special key code, etc). The user manual just dosn't answer some of these specific technical questions.

Thanks again for your detailed user experiance.
 
Kbecker:

no prob. I will check the season table tonite. As to the password, I believe hitting the Init Memory menu item will clear out the password. It will also, clear your program and load the default program. Probably will clear your log file too. I think the time settings remain in place unless you lose power.
 
Kbecker:

Yep, you can edit the full season table over the imbedded web server in the ACIIIPro. Sunrise, Sunset, Moonrise, Moonset, and temps.

The options are (1) Status (view real time stats and turn things on and off manually); (2) Datalog (about 30 days of logged data points every hour each day); (3) Clock Setup (set the time for the unit); (4) Season Table (as mentioned above); and (5) Program Editor (full editing capabilities of stored program running in the controller)

I would send you a screenshot, but not sure how in this text box.
 
kattner,

Ohh now thats the detailed information I wanted to know. If they would only publish that in their manuals it would have made the decision between controllers very easy. Time to start saving my pennies and looking around for deals.

If you want to have pictures you can upload them to RC via this link from the home page: http://www.reefcentral.com/gallery/?s=&menu=5

Then you go to the upload photo's link and follow the instructions. Once the pic is uploaded, copy the url and then use the IMG button in the post reply page.
 
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