MSGO3A FAQ

When the batteries are inserted into the sensor it tries all of the available channels looking for a gateway this is called “Link Mode”. It starts on the first channel and sends a message “I’m number 12345 can I talk to you”. If it doesn’t hear anything back it assumes there is not a gateway on that channel and tries the second channel. After it has tried all of the channels and determines that there is no available gateway it stops sending messages for two hours. Each scan cycle takes about 30 seconds but uses over a day’s worth of battery, so if it just continued to scan continually when the gateway wasn’t powered on it would burn out its battery very quickly. After two hours it starts the process over again starting at the first channel. Similarly if for instance the sensor was talking to the gateway on channel 15, but has multiple failed transmissions, (2 heartbeats that each have a report plus two retries, 6 missed communications in a row) it assumes the gateway it was communicating with is no longer available and enters the same “Link Mode”.

The reason this is important is because if the battery is put in the sensor before the gateway is active and ready to listen for the sensor than the sensor will miss the gateway and not scan again for it for two hours. In order to get the sensor to scan again more quickly you must remove the batteries for 60 seconds allowing the processor to completely un-power, then put the batteries back in allowing it to start scanning right away. If the batteries are only out for a few seconds the processor is still running off of capacitance on the board and doesn’t “re-boot” when the batteries are put back in.

In order to have the best start up experience make sure the gateway is powered on and active, then put the batteries in you sensors so they can boot up and scan to find the gateway. If the batteries are in the sensors before the gateway has gone active then it will take two hours for them to join the network and start reporting temperature.

The online wireless sensor monitoring system notifies the designated contacts(s) via SMS (text message) or e-mail.

During the set-up process through your online portal, the administrator can program in cell phone numbers and e-mails of the individuals requiring notification, establishing the contact criteria for each of the above methods of communication.

Having a delay in notifications is not typical however there are some things that can cause this. Both Email notifications and SMS (text) notifications are sent over SMTP. Our SMTP relay server is configured to ensure timely delivery of your notifications.

If the receiving server (your mobile phone company in the case or your SMS (text) notifications) is too busy or down for maintenance, etc. The SMTP Relay will try to re-send the message again, several times within the first hour. Then it will attempt to deliver every 4 hours until the receiving server is ready to receive for up to two days. After two days it is assumed the notification must have a bad address and it is discarded.

Wireless sensors transmit their data using wireless radios, and as such are subject to the same environmental limitations found in all wireless communications.  Elements that effect radio transmission are severe inclement weather, trees, heavily constructed walls (cement, cinder block), sheet metal, wall board, wood, tile, buildings, vehicles, etc.  Unless you have direct line of sight, every obstruction impedes wireless transmissions, even the human body.

In short, there are four factors to keep in mind for the health of your wireless sensor network and maintaining its peak performance:

• distance from sensor-to-sensor and the wireless gateway
• power output of the radio
• data rate transmission
• frequency of the radio link

In order to return your product for an exchange or refund, you must first contact your sales representative and request a return merchandise authorization (RMA) number.  You can reach your sales representative at 703-239-2864

No packages will be accepted without the RMA number clearly marked on the outside of the package. After inspecting and testing, we will return your product, or its replacement using the same shipping method used to ship the product to MSG within 30 days. In your package, please include a daytime telephone number and a brief explanation of the problem.

Distance from sensor-to-sensor and the wireless gateway

Our sensors can generally transmit over 1,000 feet through sheetrock walls. Although distances greater than this or other obstructions such as metal or concrete will impede the wireless signal. To ensure adequate distance from the gateway is achieved, be sure the sensor is within 1,000 feet of the gateway and not transmitting through metal or concrete.

The wireless gateways can support up to 100 sensors. To expand a network beyond 100 sensors, simply add another wireless gateway to the network.

Can I add additional sensors to the wireless sensor network at a later time?

The wireless sensor networks currently operate on the ISM 900MHz (902-928MHz) band as well as 868MHz, 433MHz and 920 MHz radio bands.

The wireless products use a new Encrypt-RF bank level security, featuring a 256-bit exchange to establish a global unique key, and an AES-128 CTR for all data messages. So security is maintained at all communication points from sensor to gateway, gateway to software, and back again.

The standard wireless products use several features to help protect sensor data in transit. The proprietary sensor protocol uses very low transmit power and requires specialized radio equipment to operate. Typical wireless devices that operate on non-proprietary communication protocols (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee) operate using different frequency bands so they can't be used to eavesdrop on the radio communications. In addition it uses a robust packet tampering evaluation routine to ensure that traffic wasn't altered between the sensors and the gateways. This enables the system to check for well-formed data packets that only originated from authorized enabled devices. To further protect data, algorithms are in place to protect against spoofing and re-transmission of wireless data packets. This is included with the best in class range and power consumption protocol developed for wireless sensor systems.

The life span of the battery is dependent on a number of factors: how frequently the sensor transmits data (heartbeat), how far the sensor is from the wireless gateway and obstructions that could cause difficulty in sending data (farther distance and obstructions require that the radio to operate at longer intervals to send and receive data).

In sleep mode the sensor consumes .5µ Amps and during transmit the sensor consumes 35 mA.

To deploy a standard wireless sensor network, you will need a wireless gateway and the appropriate wireless sensor(s) that are needed for your application.

The application data is 18 bytes in length and the total TX packet size is 40 bytes.

Each wireless sensor comes ready to connect to the Wireless Gateway upon power up with the exception of Wi-Fi sensors which connect directly to your internet router.

Each time the sensor transmits data to the online sensor monitoring system it reports the battery power as well. Notifications can be set to alert you by email or text message, when a sensor's battery is about to expire.

The Ethernet Gateways won’t be affected by many of the HTTP proxies, but if they are affected, they will need to be whitelisted. If a proxy works at the socket level, it will have to be whitelisted.

Sensor Availability
Because MSG sensors are battery powered it is critical that customers leave the radio inactive between transmissions to conserve power. A CR2032 battery that can last for a multiple of years transmits a signal every hour or two, thereby conserving power and in return preserves battery life. (MSG recommended heartbeat is not more than once every hour.)

If transmissions from the sensor are increased and left listening for continual communication, the battery life is impacted harshly. This forces the ViewMySensors Software to pass sensor updates to the sensor only after the sensor has turned on its radio and listens for an acknowledgment. During the acknowledgment, ViewMySensors  can notify the sensor that the database (DB) has a configuration update and from there the network can communicate the update to the sensor. At this point the sensor acknowledges the configuration update and ViewMySensors marks the transaction complete (removing the pending transaction flag).

Gateway Lag:
Similar to the sensors, ViewMySensors can't instantly initiate communication to the gateway. The reason is many firewalls and security measures keep intruders from accessing the customer's network. Out of the box the gateway is configured to communicate with ViewMySensors once every five minutes. (It uses the same communication protocol as your web browser does while communicating to your bank.)

Because of the five minute heartbeat of the gateway there is a lag (delay time) between the time the user saves the configuration settings on ViewMySensors server and the time the gateway checks in to receive the updates. Only after the gateway has acknowledged the updates the sensor checks in and receives them.

Network Stability:
During pending transactions it is impossible for ViewMySensors to know which stage of the process the configuration is in. For example, if a user has set a configuration change to set the sensor's new heartbeat to 30 minutes, the gateway received the request while the sensor still hasn't.

There are certainly other network stability cases such as if ViewMySensors modified the configuration to a 3 hour heartbeat to conserve battery life, the following could occur to cause network instability.

The 3 hour change is observed in ViewMySensors, from here the gateway is ready to talk to the sensor and inform it that the heartbeat should be 30 minutes now. When the sensor checks in and receives the configuration change it will receive the 30 minute heartbeat rather than the 3 hour heartbeat. If the sensor was to communicate up to the server that it has successfully updated its configuration, ViewMySensors must assume it has been updated to 3 hours and marks the transaction as complete. This is the reason ViewMySensors marks transactions that require communication with the sensor as "Pending".

To be able to update sensor configurations the user needs to make sure the sensor is communicating well to ViewMySensors and wait until the pending configuration completes.

ViewMySensors has a global feature so you can stop notifications from sending emails and text messages to your devices. To turn this feature on and off, do the following:

1. Login to your account.
2. Once logged in, from the top pull-down menu, find and select "My Account".
3. On the left hand side, find "Sensor Networks" and select the edit pencil next to the network for which you would like to the notifications turned off.
4. The second feature down is titled "Send notifications for this Network".
5. If notifications are being sent, deselect the check box. If notifications are NOT being sent, select the check box.
6. Click "Save".

To deactivate a single notification, log into your ViewMySensors account and do the following:

1. Click on "Notifications" from the main menu.
2. Find the Notification you would like to deactivate click the green on/off switch to "No".
3. To reactivate a notification, slide the same indicator so that it says "Yes".

To deactivate notifications for entire sensor network, do the following:

1. Click on "Manage" from the main menu.
2. Click on "Edit Network Details" under the sensor networks information section.
3. Uncheck the box for "Send notifications for this network".
(Check the box to reactivate all notifications for the network.)
4. Click "Save".

If you have additional questions regarding this feature, please email us at support@mirandasolutionsgroup.com

While the gateway is off, no data is being collected and no notifications can be transmitted by the sensor. In short, the data is being discarded by the sensor.

If the wireless gateway is unable to connect to the Internet, a limited amount of sensor data is stored on the gateway, and transmitted when Internet communications is reestablished.

When you are logged into the ViewMySensors online monitoring system, you can make changes to a wireless sensor's configuration settings by clicking on the sensor information bar on the overview page. The row will expand to show the sensor's detailed information. Click on the "Edit" tab to access the sensor's configuration information.

If you think you do not have the right access level, please contact support at support@mirandasolutionsgroup.com

Pressing the "Reset or Reform Network" button in the Gateway application will release the USB Gateway's wireless channel and re-scan for the clearest available wireless channel. On each sensor's next heartbeat, it will enter link mode and rescan to find the Gateway. It is recommended to reset your network if any of your sensors are have problems checking in regularly.

The systems uses the same encryption methods used by websites to transmit financial data.  Secure socket layer (SSL) protocol is employed with 256-bit data encryption making data hosted on your network secure.