Geofence

[plongson]

Well...that was clear as mud. I know what Ken is saying, and I've got all those ducks in a row...and geofence still does not work. On top of that., the frigg'n app will lose contact with the server VERY often where I have to wipe the settings, plunk in the 10 xxx code and start the app over again.

Essentially the app and the geofence feature kind'a suck, with no functionality or low reliability. After YEARS of using BI, I'm not impressed...

[plongson]

....

[MikeBwca]

So my use of the VPN to log in remotely, and closing of all ports ensures that BI5 geofencing will never work here.

Does your VPN also change your gps location? Probably. In goggle type: What's my location

So, selecting server or current location would set the phones geofence correctly. But, when entering/leaving geofence, the VPN location would be miles away, and not match?
I would have thought that BI would be written to verify this by the long/lat settings on the BI server, rather than the public IP address!

You could test this by temporarily setting your vpn location to your location.

[TimG]

Hi MikeBwca,

OpenVpn just gives me a secure connection from wherever I am back to my BI5 pc. I don't think it will affect the mobile phones GPS location at all.

For me to view BI on my mobile phone when away from home, I have to start OpenVpn, then start the BI app. OpenVpn will only connect me to my home modem/router (Which is running OpenVpn). The BI android app will then connect as if I am on my home LAN, so it won't use the BI android apps WAN IP setting. If I attempt to connect the BI app without starting OpenVpn, then it will fail due to the deliberately blocked WAN ports.

So, I think that to make geofencing work for me, I would have to re-open the WAN ports to allow the android BI app to communicate with the BI5 server - but of course I closed the ports for security reasons (Foreign addresses were appearing in the BI connection logs) - or leave OpenVpn running all the time.

My understanding of Ken's response is that a lot of the problems with Geofencing are due to the OS on our mobile phones not doing what was expected, probably due to a myriad of power saving techniques.

[plongson]

OK...I set up a text notice to alert me when BI and the app saw me go in or out of the geofence...and low and behold, it registered both in and out...but it DID NOT make a change to the schedule or profile. I've attached my settings and it sure looks correct to me although another set of eyes might see different. What's going on here?? Have I got it set wrong?...or???

[MikeBwca]

Hi MikeBwca,

OpenVpn just gives me a secure connection from wherever I am back to my BI5 pc. I don't think it will affect the mobile phones GPS location at all.

For me to view BI on my mobile phone when away from home, I have to start OpenVpn, then start the BI app. OpenVpn will only connect me to my home modem/router (Which is running OpenVpn). The BI android app will then connect as if I am on my home LAN, so it won't use the BI android apps WAN IP setting. If I attempt to connect the BI app without starting OpenVpn, then it will fail due to the deliberately blocked WAN ports.

So, I think that to make geofencing work for me, I would have to re-open the WAN ports to allow the android BI app to communicate with the BI5 server - but of course I closed the ports for security reasons (Foreign addresses were appearing in the BI connection logs) - or leave OpenVpn running all the time.

My understanding of Ken's response is that a lot of the problems with Geofencing are due to the OS on our mobile phones not doing what was expected, probably due to a myriad of power saving techniques.

I was referring to the phone communicating to the BI server to get the long/lat to compare for it's gps positioning.

I would think that a solution to this issue, especially when VPN's are concerned, would be to have the phone app set the 'Home' position on the phone, and not have to connect to the server! Or, is that what the phone app does now? I'm confused.

[MikeBwca]

Due to this thread, I enabled Geofence to test it out. Had a few issues which I posted in an earlier reply.

It's working as it's suppose too, for me. For testing, I just have it push a notification to my phone - I guess so that I know when I'm leaving and arriving at my home!

I don't have any practical use for it at this time... like changing profiles, enabling/disabling cameras...

[LOOPYLOOP]

I guess so that I know when I'm leaving and arriving at my home!

i tried that, i left home and it seems i naver came back!

[MikeBwca]

I guess so that I know when I'm leaving and arriving at my home!

i tried that, i left home and it seems i naver came back!

Same here! Apparently, a few nights back, I left. An out of body experience maybe!

[Thixotropic]

So my use of the VPN to log in remotely, and closing of all ports ensures that BI5 geofencing will never work here.

Sounds like an airtight solution.