Once you’ve ran a CAT5 cable from your 3.5e or 4.4e to your router, you still have some more work to do before you can control your fan through your computer, smartphone or tablet. Since not all of us are Computer Gurus like the AirScape Engineers, (I’m certainly not!), I thought I’d endeavor to figure out what had to be done and break it down into steps for you. Here is a very wordy explanation on how to get access to your router:

 

Step 1 – Find your Router’s IP Address (192.168.__.__)

***Hint – in most home systems, the router’s IP address is usually going to be something basic, like: 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, 192.168.10.10, 192.168.01.01…

How to find the IP Address:

Windows XP (7 is about the same)

1. Start
2. Control Panel
3. Network and Internet Connections
4. Network Connections
5. Local Area Connections
6. On the left of that window, notice the box labeled Details. Expand if it is minimized and in that box will be a bunch of info including an IP address. That IP address is your router.
7. Yay! You got the IP address! Now be sure to write it down.

iMac

1. Open your web browser – Firefox, Safari, etc
2. Click on the “Firefox” or “Safari” icon in the upper left corner
3. Preferences
4. Advanced
5. For Firefox – Choose Network then Settings – IP address should be listed here
6. For Safari – Choose Proxies – Change Settings, then click on TCP/IP – IP address listed – then change your default browser – Firefox is WAY better than Safari!

Apple – iPhone/iPad

1.  Open Settings
2.  Choose your Network and There it is.

 

Step 2. Access your Router

1. Type the IP address into your web browser.
2. You will need to put in the user name and password – This is where it gets hard.

The user name and password would have been assigned when the system was originally set up. It may be still set to the manufacturer’s default, but whoever set up your internet should have provided you with the info if they changed it. If you’re like me, and either got it and lost it or never knew it to begin with, you’re going to need to do some detective work to find it out. The password is not the same as your secure network password.

Before getting too involved, look at your router… Turns out my router had the default user name and password printed on it right next to the model #. You may be able to save yourself a lot of extra work by looking at your router BEFORE you do everything written below – learn from my mistakes

• If you have the router setup disk – good for you, you’re way more organized than me. Now is the time to pull it out and use it.

• If not, you can get your model # off your router and go to the manufacturer’s website and fight your way through support sections until you find the info you want, which is either:

1. The default user name and password. We’re hoping in this case that the default manufacturer’s user name and password were never changed.
Or
2. Directions for how to reset your user name and password back to factory settings. *Warning – If you reset a router, all saved information will be lost.

• If you find the manufacturer’s defaults but they don’t work, you may be able to contact the company that set up your connection. A large company such as Charter, Comcast, etc. may use standard defaults or note on your account what user name and password they gave your router. This is pretty unlikely, but may be the case if you are renting one of their routers. This is worth a try before resetting your router and possibly losing important information.

• If you have a Netgear router, go here for default info – http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/239/related/1 If you need to reset a forgotten user name and password http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9665/related/1

• If you have Linksys – http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco2/ukp.aspx?pid=80&login=1&app=search&vw=1&articleid=19584&donelr=1

• Belkin – http://en-us-support.belkin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/48

• Apple – http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3728

Ok, you get the idea…

If the manufacturer’s default doesn’t work and/or you can’t figure out how to reset your system, you could always try calling the manufacturer’s Tech Support and begging for help.They may sigh with exasperation, but they can probably help you.

Please note – However you get access to your routers user name and password, if it is still set to default or if you reset it, be sure to change it after all this is over so your network is secure!

3. Once you are “in” to your router, go ahead and follow the instructions on our blog IP Address Reservation to complete the set up.

Good luck., and give us a call at (866) 448-4187 if you have any questions.

This applies to our 2nd Generation controls (shipping with 3.5eWHF and 4.4eWHF models as of July 2012) that are connected to a home network (LAN).

Every device that communicates with an IP (internet protocol) network will have an IP address (local area network addresses will often be something like 192.168.xxx.xxx) and a MAC address. MAC addresses are the serial numbers of the internet and are registered with the IEEE (institute of electrical and electronics engineers). AirScape has a block of MAC addresses that will always be of the form 60:CB:FB:xx:xx:xx . This makes it very easy to find and identify your AirScape whole house fan when it’s on your network.

The AirScape control board gets its IP address from your router through a process called DHCP (dynamic host control protocol).  When your router senses that a new device is connected, it assigns an IP address to that device. (It know that the device is ‘new” by its MAC address – every MAC address is different).

Now, here is the whole point of the IP address reservation. A DHCP assigned IP address can and will change, but we want a fixed address.  The IP address reservation provides the best of both worlds. There is no IP address configuration at the device. The router will recognize that device by its MAC address and then assign it the same IP address each time.

The following example and screenshots are of a D-link DIR-825 router.

Note the AirScape MAC address

It’s marked on the electrical box cover and in this case, it’s 60:CB:FB:00:00:17

 

Add DHCP Reservation

We can pick any IP address within the LAN range (192.168.0.1 to 192.168.10.255) with the exception of already used addresses. In this case, we are selecting 192.168.0.13

 

Confirm DHCP Reservation

 

 Confirm Web Server Operation

Enter the IP address ( 192.168.0.13) into your browser – computer or smartphone.

 

 

 

1. Plug the remote antenna into the control board 4-pin connection

2. Program the remote transmitter by cycling the power to the WHF off and on (unplugging and plugging in the power cord) or by pressing remote reset button

- A red LED on the control board will begin to flash indicating that the control board is ready to mate with your remote transmitter

- Press any button on the hand held transmitter

- The red LED will blink off

- Your WHF is now ready to use

3. Repeat this process to program additional remote transmitters

(1) Forgetting your attic gets hot in the summer – Buy and install your unit in the fall, winter, or spring when your attic isn’t 150 degrees

(2) Wiring wall switch to auxiliary actuator terminal – Doing so will blow the AirScape circuit breaker and possibly damage the control board. Check out our blog “Correctly Wire Your Wall Switch”

(3) Switching the 110v power – So the AirScape plugs into an outlet …why not have that on a switch? First of all, doing so will not turn your unit on and off. All you will be doing is providing power to the actuator(s) and control board. By switching this power off you are eliminating the effect of having an automatic motorized damper door. This will cause you to lose the airtight seal that the closed door(s) create (one reason an AirScape is an AirScape) and allow conditioned air to escape to the attic.

(4) Installing the wall switch up side down – If the writing stamped on the metal is upside down, so is your switch.

(5) Installing the unit so the junction box is difficult to access – The more difficult it is to access your control board, the more challenging it will be to wire your wall switch.

The first challenging install in our series comes from Anker in California. We love this challenging install because of the way he overcame the low attic clearance and the collar beams you can see in the photos (Click photos to enlarge).

Anker’s challenge was to find a suitable damper box location that was free of electrical junction boxes but also did not have a collar beam above it. The next challenge was to find a location for the fan where the ductwork could be installed properly (90 degree bend and fully extended). In this attic the path of the duct and fan would have run into a collar beam. To overcome this Anker made a scale drawing of the attic and also laid out the ductwork on the ground to mock up the installation. His next step was to mount the damper box and then hang the fan. By hanging the fan before attaching the ductwork he was able to determine where it would fit best. The final step was to attach the ductwork to the damper box, feed it over a collar beam and attach it to the fan.

The advice Anker would give anyone doing this installation would be to:

Use a helper when hanging the fan (due to the weight)

Have an electrician wire the outlet

Pre-drill holes for attaching the duct to the fan collar



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