Current Cost Support Forum

So I sent the info below to helpme [at] currentcost .com on Tuesday evening and got a prompt response asking where I purchased the device - I replied immediately saying I bought it from an Australian online store, smartnow.com.au, and since then I've heard nothing. Perhaps devices purchased from this store aren't offically supported here, or, more likely, I'm just being impatient and should wait a little longer. Whatever the case, I figure it's better to have conversations like this out in the open so that the next person that comes along with the same problem can learn from it.

So here's my info thus far:

I've got a new Multi Channel Bridge and it's reporting a Device Status of Frozen.
My user name is Scottie
It's the only device I have registered.

The bridge is using the power unit that came with it, not the power unit that came with the envir, and that is the only power unit being used - I don't have secondary power plugged into the envir as well.
I'm using the short white cable that came with the bridge to connect it to the envir and that is the only cable connected to the envir.

The envir appears to be functioning fine, the screen works and displays data.

I use a FritzBox 7390 as my modem/router/DHCPserver. The Bridge appears in its list of network devices and is given an IP address. The FritzBox reports that the bridge has an IP address of 192.168.1.4 and that it is successfully connecting to the Internet.
I've tried giving it a permanent IP address as well as just letting it have one dynamically assigned - it doesn't seem to make any difference.
However both the green light and the amber light flash intermittently and busily - not like what is described at http://currentcost.posterous.com/tag/bridgefaq when "the bridge is not getting a network address", so I think it's getting given its IP address ok and it seems to be accepting the IP address ok.

I've power cycled both the modem and the bridge many times and I've also left it alone for 24 hours in case it was a temporary issue with the servers.

The FritzBox doesn't seem to do logging of it's DHCP requests and I certainly have no way of running a different DHCP server. I also don't have wireshark or anything similar setup to watch network traffic - I could setup wireshark if required but I'd really rather not have to.

I've also tried deleting the device from my account and re-adding it again, but it didn't make any difference.


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

Scottie,
In my experience Smartnow support is far more responsive than Current Cost appears to be. You should raise a ticket at

Edit: BTW. Smartnow have a current special: a 1 channel bridge for $10 or a 10 channel bridge (24 month) for $25.00 if purchased with an ENVIR ($139). Trick is need to be ordered by Midnight 1/12/11 (thats about 12 hours away ). Use voucher FnF-BRIDGE to get the discount.

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Seeker
"The Truth is out there!"

I have similar problem. Sent my CCBridge back to CurrentCost here in UK for upgrade (Pro24) and it was reflashed and returned to me in super-quick time

Unfortunately I cannot get it to reconnect to my router. I have changed nothing on my home network and 6 or 7 other devices quite happily connect under DHCP.

I have several times and in different order;

rebooted router (BT Homehub 2b)

connected/disconnected/reconnected Bridge power supply

changed network cable in case faulty connection (actually tested cable with ethernet tester)

on Bridge, orange led flashes a few times initially then remains off with very occasional flashes and the green led is on with occasional flashes (i.e. no DHCP address received I believe)

I have scanned the network using IPScan and the Bridge doesn't show - unsurprisingly!

my router doesn't show the bridge connected either (again not surprising). Unfortunately the BT HomeHub2 doesn't appear to have the facility to assign IP address to a given MAC addressed device (probably not important as the Bridge doesn't show up on the network!)

Rather strangely, I believe the Bridge HAS on occasion connected briefly because my.currentcost.com website shows a brief period of logged activity.

Prior to the upgrade, the Bridge connected seamlessly several times as I re-arranged the cables etc

I have now tried everything without success and am reaching the conclusion that the re-flashing process has not been completely successful.

Suggestions/recommendations please. Or should I return the Bridge for checking at Current Cost (I have a Postage Paid label as emailed to me for original upgrade).

Simon Morgan

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Simon
2.16kWp PV, 20 tube Navitron solar heating, 7kW wood burner in rural Pembrokeshire

I'm having pretty much the same problem after the "upgrade" although the Bridge is showing as "attached" in my Netgear Router. I also tried it with a Huawei router but that didn't work either.
I have raised a ticket.

I have the same problem. I have both a single and a multichannel bridge. The single channel bridge works immediately when plugged into either of my routers. The multi channel bridge just gets 'device frozen' on my.currentcost.com. I have sent it back to current cost twice and they have installed new firm ware, but to no avail. Getting frustrated!

CurrentCost have asked for the Bridge to be returned. Rather bizarrely they asked for my postal address in the email saying they would send me a post paid envelope whereas when initially upgrading they simply emailed me the Freepost label. Never mind, as long as it gets fixed.

Incidentally I was using a BT Homehub 2b which did log the presence of the Bridge on the network.

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Simon
2.16kWp PV, 20 tube Navitron solar heating, 7kW wood burner in rural Pembrokeshire

Have just gone through an 'ordeal' with my newly upgraded bridge that I thought I'd share to possibly save others some frustration. A couple of months ago the original single channel bridge worked fantastic. Installed solar PV and upgraded to multichannel soon after. That's when the trouble started.

The bridge, after must rebooting of all components, would only sometimes go live and when you turned your back would quickly freeze. Returned the bridge again after reading on the forum that the original firmware upgrade was a bit suspect. Still no joy... Purchased a new router as the old D-link 624S was getting a bit old and had heard that there was a problem with the new firmware and router compatibility. Again, no luck.

With the little bridge about to be smashed to pieces, I realised that this would end my quest to understanding and reducing power bills, so the hammer was put back in the shed. I then got serious and stripped all of the gadgets off the network and I was amaized that the frozen bridge was revived. After plugging in one gadget at a time, I found a conflict with my WD Mybook N.A.S. Now it was a simple matter of spending two days working out how to configure these two devices to run on a static IP address (not too good with this network thingy).

The two devices have been getting along famously for about 5 hours now, and apologies to SmartNow (the Current Cost distributor in Australia) for all the cursing over the last few months. That is unless I have spoken too soon....

Furthermore, if the new bridge is going to be as reliable as the single channel, I'll buy a heap of the IAM's whenever they become available!

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Glenn

Well, after returning the questionnaire to Support I was asked to return the bridge (with the prepaid label provided ) which I did.
The unit arrived back a couple of days ago and it still won't work.
It shows up in the router but is still "frozen" on the dashboard.
Hey-ho here we go again