Verifying Connect bridge over complex network

We have a very complex customer network that we are trying to work around. Tripple Natt'ng with one being provided by Google mesh and complex firewalls. We think we have sorted it out but before we go through the relationship destroying exercise of having the customer resetting, trying again, reloading app etc etc is there any way to confirm if the Connect Bridge has registered to the outside world ? I did see a post about contacting Lutron technical support. Not ideal but where best to direct the query to ? Is there any other way - where we can run a test app or logon to a site to determine its connectivity status? Once we have that confirmed we can then embark on the fun and games of getting Google Home to work with it.

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Originally Posted by rossyduck

We have a very complex customer network that we are trying to work around. Tripple Natt'ng with one being provided by Google mesh and complex firewalls. We think we have sorted it out but before we go through the relationship destroying exercise of having the customer resetting, trying again, reloading app etc etc is there any way to confirm if the Connect Bridge has registered to the outside world ? I did see a post about contacting Lutron technical support. Not ideal but where best to direct the query to ? Is there any other way - where we can run a test app or logon to a site to determine its connectivity status? Once we have that confirmed we can then embark on the fun and games of getting Google Home to work with it.

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If you turn wifi off on your phone you are essentially "outside the house."

I believe Lutron is pinging the last know IP address of the Bridge. I don't believe there is any way for people in the real world to obtain this address.

Thank you for your post rossyduck.

We do have a Network document that outlines our recommendations of the network for our Residential systems. Please see the link here at https://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocu...king_Guide.pdf. We would recommend following that document. If you would need more information please feel to reach out to hwsupport@lutron.com for HomeWorks Systems and systemsupport@lutron.com for RadioRa2 systems. Hope this helps!

Unfortunately we don't always have control over the network. We can at best amend it. Right now we have a secure local network with Lutron HWQS and Connect bridge all happily discovered, and configured. This network has no Wifi but an onsite network external to it does - so we can connect a phone with Lutron connect App. It is obviously not discovering the connect bridge due to firewall/ natting. Can someone confirm please if:1) Connect bridge registers to an external server in the Lutron cloud ?2) If yes is there any way of discovering that registration and manually entering it into our Lutron App so it does not have to look at the local network?3) If not - we need to establish some sort of routed passthrough the firewall. Any idea of the absolutely necessary port numbers ?

Thank you for your post rossyduck. Hopefully the information below would be able to assist further.

The Connect Bridge will make outbound connections to various servers for things like application remote access and firmware updates. Most networks will not require special configuration for these connections to be established. When dealing with a restricted network (normally found in a corporate environment) it is possible that some changes will need to be made by the network administrator.

Routers between different manufacturers and even different model routers from the same router manufacturer can potentially impact communication to the Lutron Connect Bridges. Below is a short list of settings which may impact system connectivity from the mobile app and what they should be set to. Note that these settings will not be available on every router.

Enable: Bonjour, mDNS, multicast

Disable: QoS, IGMP Snooping

Port settings are not always adjustable, and the ISP may need to involved to confirm that these ports are not blocked.

Important Note: Port forwarding and port triggering will not help get communication working with the Bridge. While port forwarding UDP port 23 from the internet to the network may help for the LHC+ mobile app, port forwarding port 23 for the Lutron Connect app will not help communication with the Connect app. Port Forwarding port 23 can cause Telnet lockout to go into effect which will cause the Connect mobile app to be unable to connect to the system. Port forwarding can also cause the Bridge to lock up on itself from unsolicited request from the Internet.

Outbound: These port connections are initiated by the Bridge out to the Internet. Unless there is managed network equipment on the network, there are no network settings to enable/disable regarding these ports. On unmanaged networks (very common residentially), this port information is purely information. On managed networks (uncommon residentially), the managed switches and routers may require configuration to allow these ports through.

Ports: 80 (TCP), 123 (UDP), 443 (TCP), 8883 (TCP), 7443 (TCP)

Inbound: Remote connections from the mobile app to a system go through Lutron servers. The communication between Lutron servers and the Bridge is initiated and maintained by the Bridge. Because the Bridge is establishing connections from the network out, there are no inbound port which need to be forwarded.

Local Network: These port connections are used when the mobile app attempts to discover the Bridge locally on the network, or when the Bridge communicates with system processors in HomeWorks QS and RadioRA2 systems. Unless there is managed network equipment on the network, there are no typically network settings to enable/disable regarding these ports. On unmanaged networks (very common residentially), this port information is purely information. On managed networks (uncommon residentially), the managed switches and routers may require configuration to allow these ports through.

Ports: 22 (SFTP), 23 (TCP), 1900 (UDP multicast), 4548 (TCP), 5353 (UDP multicast), 8081 (TCP), 8083 (TCP)

Thanks for the detailed response. Can I push for a bit more ?1) I am not too concerned about the Connect bridge outbound. I believe that is probably happening - but would love a server IP to at least ping from inside the network to verify. What would be really good is if you are aware of any way of determining if the Connect Bridge has registered on the Lutron servers. That would be absolutely invaluable as then allows us to focus on other aspects of the hookup.2) I also believed that inbound would just follow normal networking rules and allow the inbound if initiated as outbound and hope that is working - but not sure if the outbound connection is initiated on the right ports ?3) The process is falling over when the mobile phone tries to discover the bridge locally. Is this the only way - as it is not happening - network too complex. Is there any way of pointing the mobile app directly to the Lutron servers ? Why the heck do we have to go through this miserable process of pissing around on the local network ?

Thank you for your post rossyduck.

We would recommend emailing into systemsupport@lutron.com to start a case so that we can get the more specifics of the issue escalated to our internal team.

One feature that I didn't realize was there and helped me a lot is remote access. If your customer has the app set up (and it's working in the house at least), they can grant you temporary access for 24 hours and you get to see what they see even if outside the house. You can turn off the wifi and see how things work. In my case, I had full access from the outside so we determined it was the app on the customer's phone that had messed up somehow and a reinstall did the trick. Not super technical but it's a nice feature and gives you more power than pushing the button in the back of the connect bridge