Connecting to AllInOne and Gateway via LAN

GivEnergy Products GivEnergy All In One
1

Can I connect to AllInOne and Gateway via LAN? This would be easier than using the WiFi apps as the signal is pathetic and I have to use my laptop in the bathroom to get a connection.

There is another problem in that I may need to reset the passwords as the notes that I scribbled during confused stress of early problems do not seem very clear now…

[[ I am hoping to write a small app to probe and/or control the tech from my desktop. I am comfortable with issuing http requests and parsing response data - though ‘web-service’ style interface would be far easier.]]

Thanks in advance for any help… even links to docs would be welcome.

Phill

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yes you can lan connect the gateway and AIO

which password are you looking to change?
the gateway and AIO have a wifi dongle which presents its own hotspot, the usual password that installers set is either your home wifi or your device serial number. If its not that then you’ll need to reset the dongle, video on youtube

but you only need to login to the dongle if you want to change what wifi it connects to

your app/portal password when your givenergy account was created is a separate password, reset via givenergy.cloud

connecting to the gateway locally is possible but it doesn’t provide a REST API or similar, only modbus so you’ll need to use one of the existing libraries such as GivLocal (or GivTCP in Home Assistant). There is an Inverter app written in BBC basic you could look at the source code which might help

I personally use Home Assistant with GivTCP and Predbat to optimise my battery plan

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Hi Geoffrey, thanks for the reply.

I think that I understand what you are saying, but I will paraphrase, and clarify my situation at the same time.

Both my dongles wifi signals are poor and it is the Wifi passwords that I will need to refresh (probably by a reset, I will check on YT).

I can ping both my units from my lan. I can also enter the address http://gateway or http://allinone in my browser and I get a security challenge (login bx with username and password). I was hoping that I could log in via this interface. But if this is modbus then I am not sure that I want to be using that… I did a little of that before I retired and found it irritating ;-)

So the ‘normal’ way of controlling the local hardware is using the web interface on givEnergy cloud? I could live with that If I had reasonable control…

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Hi Phil,

One option for controlling your battery that hasn’t been mentioned is MyEnergyOptimizer. I use it to control my AiO (with Gateway) and I find it very easy to set charge and discharge slots for my Agile Octopus and Agile Outgoing Octopus import and export tariffs. It costs a very reasonable £5 per month and the sysop, Richard, is very helpful with advice and reacts quickly if you discover a bug or need an additional feature to be implemented. I tried using some of the alternative methods of controlling my battery but found them to be too complicated and/or unintuative.

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Thanks DonHall… I might try that app, but as a retired developer part of the fun is writing something myself.

Phill

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you should only need to change the wifi password if you have changed your wifi password, or you could get a wifi repeater to improve your signal strength, and if that was on a different SSID then yes, would need to change the password

that is you connecting to the admin console on the dongle. It has a web browser on it. The username/password is usually admin/admin and if you can login then you can change the wifi password/SSID that the dongles are trying to connect to.
If the login password is something different then you are going to have to factory reset the dongles to be able to change the wifi they connect to. There’s a reset button I believe on the back, its not something I have ever had to do though

LAN connection much simpler if you have LAN cables to your AIO and gateway

Once you login, you are logged in to the dongle, not the inverter itself. All you can do is change the wifi details and hotspot that the dongle provides. Some installers leave the hotspot unsecured so check that it has a password set.

So this isn’t going to give you a route to controlling/querying your inverter, sorry

The option most people use is the givenergy app which communicates to the givenergy portal and in turn back to your AIO. This all needs a decent network connection to your AIO though so you need to get this sorted out.

Alternatively there are a couple of local control options, the BBC Basic inverter app (iOS and Android) or the Android inverter app.

Next option is to install Home Assistant which will give you local inverter control via GivTCP. HA runs on a Raspberry Pi, NUC, PC or similar. A whole load of options for control with write your own scripts to control GivTCP or things like Predbat that do it for you.

Finally there are cloud based services that will control your inverter. Wonderwatt, My Energy Optimiser and Predbat.com, all are cloud subscription services. All communicate to your inverter via the givenergy portal so need that inverter to portal link working well first

All depends how hands on you want to be and where you want to go with the journey.

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That is immensely helpful Geoffrey, thank you.

I did install a WiFi Hotspot in the kitchen which served the two dongles. The wifi listener on the dongles is weak which means talking to the server (eg to change the ssid/password) is hard. Once the password/ssid has been changed the dongles seem to manage a stable connection. I need to reset the dongles to known passwords and write them down somewhere safe.

I think that I will investigate the GivEnergy web API - that is tech that I am comfortable with. I can construct http requests with headers and bodies. JSON is easy too.

Phill

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Hi yah,

I have AIO’s and GW. These are wired (Ethernet connected). I have a switch next to my kit and it all goes to that, then to my router etc.

With regards the WiFi, instead of connecting it to your WiFi, I have left it in access mode (AC), so I can get into the AIO for emergencies and change settings.

For security I did not want to put my WiFi details into kit that can be accessed remotely by a third party.

If you set up the WiFi in AC mode follow the instructions to secure the WiFi, I also hid the SSID. Then set a PW away from the default. To get in, I use a PC or iPad to join the SSID, then type in the PW.

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Interesting. I don’t know about ‘access mode’ - where could I read more please?

I don’t want to hard-wire my units as they are outside and I would have to drill a hole through the wall - then seal it against the weather… I hear what you say about SSID/password security, though I’m not sure that I feel enough of a target to take those precautions.

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Have a watch of these.

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I have my gateway connected via lan
So much better no problems
Need to change dipswitches for lan
Not sure about all of the gateways but mine had a black ethernet lead inside to connect as the lan port didnt work
Manufacturing error I believe

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I just want to re-emphasise Toddy’s point about changing the dip switches on GW and AIO when switching to wired connection, as I didn’t notice any other replies mentioning this (sorry if I missed it) and it’s important to do!

Google for the manuals and it will tell you…it’s different between GW and the AIO if I recall

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Thanks for all the comments. I have done some extra reading too. So My plan is to reset my dongles to make sure that I have the passwords (I will wait for a fine day as my GE kit is outside), then use the cloud webServices to try some control.

What I would like to do is control the system in real time to export enough to cover the household needs but not export anything until peak earning time. Then to top up at night.

I can see that there may be some lag in this - I will be reacting to the load that just was when setting up to export. Maybe if I poll frequently enough and apply an smoothing I will achieve reasonable results.

Phill

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Use local ModBusTCP
HomeAssistant has an addon Called GivTCP for just this

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as TheDragon says, GivTCP in Home Assistant is a great way to get the heavy lifting of talking to the inverter done for you, and you can then focus on the automation logic

When thinking about import and export income don’t forget to allow for 10-20% conversion losses on the round trip. You can make money on flux by exporting in the peak but not if you then have to grid import later in the evening

Also if you are signed up to the DFS saving sessions then you want to probably export early and late in the peak because DFS sessions tend to be around 5:30-6:30pm and if you avoid regularly exporting in those periods you will keep your average export rate down which is what you’re measured on for how much grid contribution you make

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