Geofence

General discussion about Blue Iris
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TimG
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Re: Geofence

Post by TimG »

Hi boomer,

Thanks for the info. I tried increasing my radius from 50m, and that broke geofencing for me :lol:

I set it back to 50m, and after a couple of days it still won't work. OK, maybe that didn't break it then ! I do have DDNS set up on my Asus router, but that's not the address used in the server WAN setting in the BI android app. Hmm... Android app address updated to my DDNS address:81 Maybe my home IP address had changed, and I didn't know. This could be a major part of my problem with geofencing.

Plongson: how about that one ? At a minimum, if you go to the android app and "GET IPS", does your BI5 server then show you as "Inside" ?
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plongson
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Re: Geofence

Post by plongson »

Hey guys, sorry it took so long to get back...Geofence is still giving be grief. I've attached a couple of screen shots and BI does recognize the Samsung Note8 being inside the geofence but does not change any BI Schedule or profile. What is equally weird is it will not change to OUTSIDE the geofence. BI does work in every fashion outside when I remote in both on the app and the UI3 from an offsite PC.

What's frustrating is this function USE TO WORK so simply and flawlessly...then something changed...what a PITA to lose such a useful function...

THANKS for your help...here are some screens shots

https://imgur.com/9UoUEIl

https://imgur.com/7xeEntM
plongson
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Re: Geofence

Post by plongson »

Well guess what...The geofence actually worked today for the first time...same settings same everything. i'm always checking it when I'm away and for some unknown reason it showed me being out of the 'fence and inside the 'fence upon my return. Dis Ken change something in the latest release? Did the gods that control these things relent? I'm just hoping it was not a odd alignment of the stars because it is the first time in about a year that it's worked...Film at eleven and I'll keep y'all posted...
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TimG
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Re: Geofence

Post by TimG »

We'll call that progress then :lol:
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boomer
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Re: Geofence

Post by boomer »

One other thing I will ask just to make sure something is not getting overlooked. Most everyone uses wifi at home on their phones. However, in cases where you do not have that turned on I have seen BI geo-fencing not behave as normally. It usually will work, but does not follow the fence s accurately and sometimes does not work. If you are using wifi at home, read on. Mine has been working fine for quite some time, although I did have a blip for about 3 weeks or so back in February. If you can access your BI server from outside on cellular and toggle profiles or look at cameras that would tell me that you have communication and probably have your DDNS or rmote connection setup correctly. The next thing to check is in the app. Open the app and tap on the status screen, which is the one with the 3 red bars. Scroll thru the messages and see if it shows your phone going from inside to outside and if it sets your mode to away. This will tell you if it recognizes your phone leaving the geofence, and if BI is setting the profile to away. Also pay special attention to the time in these settings as sometimes they are not getting set until you open the app. If that is the case, then the app may not be running in the background. In general, if you leave the house (geofence) and drive for 10 minutes and stop somewhere, check it. The geofence "away" mode would be 10 minutes or so back. If it is current timestamp, then it set it when you opened the app and the app was not running in the background.
boomer
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Re: Geofence

Post by boomer »

One additional thought. Do you have something running that checks your Home IP and updates your DDNS. Something needs to keep track of when that IP hcanges periodically and update it. For example, you can have a couple of your cameras perodically contact your ddns and update the IP address.
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TimG
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Re: Geofence

Post by TimG »

I think this is the best place to keep geofencing info, and I am hoping for some feedback from Ken on exactly what is required.

In the meantime, here's todays efforts after reading the help file again:

1. Lat/Long needs to be set correctly in BI5 settings/ schedule.
2. Android app asks if you want server position or present phone position when you originally set it up. You can use server position if you have set Lat/Long. It asks for this setting if you change the radius as well.
3. Of course it uses GPS on your phone. It needs to be on, and not in a low power mode.
4. The android app needs to be able to communicate with the BI5 server when you are away from home. I don't understand how mine ever worked then, as I use OpenVpn for remote logging in.

Still not working on my wifes Galaxy S5, so lets see what Ken says.
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TimG
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Re: Geofence

Post by TimG »

This morning I set my Lat/ long to somewhere else to see if BI5 would show me as "Outside". It didn't work. Then I started looking through the BI5 settings, and noted that Web server/ LAN access had my BI5 pc's static IP LAN address, but there was an unticked box to "Listen/bind to one selected LAN IP only".

When I ticked that, my S7 was shown as "Outside". Result !

Now to correct my Lat/ Long - Still outside. Reboot BI5 ? Same. Re-start android app ? Same. Oh b@##r :cry:
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TimG
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Re: Geofence

Post by TimG »

OK, here's one,

The android app geofence options only appear in android settings for an administrator level user. I've just set my wife's account to admin, and back to user (BI5 pc settings/ edit user) numerous times, and stopped and re-started the android app each time to see what happens.

Her phone still doesn't show as inside or outside though :?
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TimG
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Re: Geofence

Post by TimG »

Right, here is Ken's response:
Hello Tim

First, the geofence is only updated in Blue Iris by:

Starting the phone app, or moving in/out of the fence. The OS must wake the app, and use the WAN address to notify the server. Restarting the phone or PC software alone will not affect the geofence.

If the WAN address does not work on your LAN, this may be part of the problem. An update to the app at some point may help. You can try with WIFI disabled to see if that makes a difference.

Set the fence relative to the server position when you are standing near the server. In the past we have run into issues with "power savings" modes in Android phone making this unreliable. Please be sure the app is exempt from this.

You don't specifically need anything in the action lists for this to continue to update the status on Settings/Mobile and in Status/Messages.

Thanks

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