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Internet Outage and Network Troubleshooting

Trevor Bernhard
Updated

Topics included in this article:

Rhombus Device Activity During Network Disconnection 

Cameras

During an internet outage, Rhombus cameras will continue to record footage as long as they remain powered. Once the internet connection has been restored, all alerts and timeline events will populate in the timeline.

If there is a power outage and internet outage at the same time, and power comes back first, the cameras will remain in a non-recording state until the internet comes back.

Note: A workaround to this situation is to have an onsite NTP server. This provides the necessary time-stamp information so cameras can continue recording footage.

Access Control

During an internet outage, Rhombus Door Controllers and Door Readers will still accept badge in credentials as long as they remain powered.

Credentials cannot be updated or changed until the internet comes back online.

Network Troubleshooting 

Network outages can occur for multiple reasons. Below are some common troubleshooting steps to address a network outage.

  • Check the hardware - We recommend checking all cabling to see if they are plugged in across the network and ensuring all the switches are connected to the correct ports. Next, we recommend power cycling the modem, router, switch, and other devices through the network.
  • Check network address - Using either a terminal (macOS) or Command prompt (Windows) you can check your network address. Using the command ipconfig in Windows or ipconfig getifaddr en0 in macOS will pull up the current IP address for your computer. If your computer’s IP address starts with 169, the computer is not receiving a valid IP address. If it starts with anything other than 169, your computer is being allocated a valid IP address from your router. If your IP address starts with a 169 we recommend contacting your ISP (Internet Service Provider). 
  • Ping a website - If you are getting a network IP with an address other than 169, and your router is working fine, the problem could be between the router and the internet. The next step would be to run a ping test on a Google DNS server (8.8.8.8) in the terminal (macOS), or command prompt (Windows), type "ping 8.8.8.8." This will provide you with either the time it takes to reach the server or more troubleshooting on the issue.
  • Perform a DNS check - Use the command nslookup to determine whether there’s a problem with the server you’re trying to connect to. If you perform a DNS check on, for example, google.com and receive results such as "Timed Out," "Server Failure," "Refused," "No Response from Server," or "Network Is Unreachable," it may indicate the problem originates in the DNS server for your destination. (You can also use nslookup to check your own DNS server.)
  • Contact the ISP - If issues are still happening with your network we recommend reaching out to your Internet Service Provider. There could be a possible outage in the area, and your ISP should be able to troubleshoot your network for you. 
  • Check on virus and malware protection - Ensure your virus and malware tools are running correctly. Verify that they haven’t flagged anything that could be affecting and stopping part of your network from functioning.

The Network is Up, but the Rhombus Device is Down

If your network is running without issues and your Rhombus device relays a "Disconnected" reading we recommend performing the steps below. 

  • Check the Hardware - We recommend checking all the wires to see if they are plugged in across the network and ensuring all the switches are connected to the correct ports. Next, we recommend power cycling the modem, router, switch, and other devices through the network.
  • Check the port configurations - If the camera still shows a disconnection error, we recommend checking the port configurations on your firewalls and also making sure you have the proper URLs whitelisted. Here is a link to a KBA with more information.
  • Reach out to Rhombus Support - If the camera is still having issues connecting to the network or is now showing a 'Contact Support' option, we recommend reaching out to our support team at , , or click here.

Helpful Links

Contact Support or Sales

Have more questions? Contact Rhombus Support at +1 (877) 746-6797 option 2 or support@rhombus.com.

Interested in learning more? Contact Rhombus Sales at +1 (877) 746-6797 option 1 or sales@rhombus.com.

 

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