Only dealers can change Lutron RA2 IP address - Page 2

That is just too strange - why in the world would the manufacture want that to be a fixed value - unless they didn't know any better.

You will notice on page 6 where it says not to use DHCP because "the IP address can be changed by your router after a power outage".

This, of course, is not true when using reservations - so reservations should work.

On page 14 it says the phone app IP address must match the repeater IP address - which is as expected - still nothing the would prevent reservations from working.

It's interesting that the phone app needs a separate login for each user - not a terrible thing but an unnecessary one.

One thing I note, this document talks about a WiFi router, as if this is the only setup that you will find in a home. This, of course, is not true. Yes a "WiFi router" (terrible name if you ask me) is common but not required. For local access using WiFi you actually only need a WiFi Access Point.

Regards VPN: while it certainly is a good idea from a security point of view it should not be a necessity. Applications/devices on the ends of a VPN connection don't have to know about the type of connection.

My home and my daughters home are connected using the VPN feature of the installed firewalls (routers in residential speak). This is a firewall-to-firewall feature and once activated my home network and her home network are connected. Each network has its own subnet but other then that "remote" applications work across the network without any special considerations.

Do you accept private messages? - I have some information that you may be interested in.

DDBear: You've Got Mail!

What? Why are you (still) ranting about this? It's an entirely reasonable expectation to have a fixed addressing scheme for the lighting gear. PLAN IT AHEAD OF TIME. And do not use the 192.168.1.x/24 subnet, as you'll regret that should you dial-into the network from somewhere else that's ALSO using the 1.x subnet.

VPNs work great, use one. Or use a remote control application to connect back into a PC inside the network. DDNS is nowhere near as reliable. Yes, it "ought to be" but that rarely holds true. Best solution is to pay for a static IP and setup a VPN. Pay the money, get the reliability.

Indeed - and that's what DHCP reservations allow for but Lutron doesn't seem to know that.


No matter what private subnet you choose you may run into a conflict - there are a limited number of them.


Reliable as what? The entire Internet depends on DNS. DDNS is just a way to keep the associated IP addresses in sync. If you have sync issues then something is not setup correctly.

A typical system costs how much? A day's training is a drop in the bucket in comparison. Especially given the vanishingly small percentage of homeowners that will even KNOW what an IP address or telnet logni means.

As for network admin, if you're gonna talk the talk, then you'd know what PLANNING a network entails.

Um, no. There are THOUSANDS. 172.16.x.x, 10.x.x.x, 192.168.x.x, etc. Meanwhile there's the EXTREMELY high likelihood of another network already using 192.168.1.x/24. Pick something else... move on.

Clearly you know little of DDNS. You're at the mercy of how often your ISP changes your IP address, then how reliably your local router (or DDNS client) detects this change, then how reliably your DDNS host is at updating their records AND THEN how reliably the end clients are at purging and refreshing their DNS cache (this last issue being the most problematic). As opposed to a static DNS assignment based on a static address with a sane, long-lived timeout. But hey, feel free to stay woefully ill-informed.

Yes, it's clear Lutron's choices are going to be less than ideal for a small segment of the market. Could be the price they'll pay for making the product a lot more reliable for new customers.

Meanwhile anyone with a good relationship with their reseller knows how to solve the problem. Get the software, attend some training and get on with life.

And how many homes/business with networks?


Wrong - being doing system admin work for decades.

Which clearly shows you do not understand use of private networks. The point here is we're talking about connecting into the network from somewhere else, one at a time. Not EVERYWHERE else at the same time. Using anything other than 192.168.1.x is the point, because it's used by default on so many different pieces of equipment (and ICS; network sharing). Few (none?) of which are used by default on SOHO class gear.

The point is to plan a network ahead of time that doesn't need changes. Do it right the first time and you avoid the scenario being whinged about here.


And wrong the whole time? Duration doesn't equal quality. Plenty of people base their "expertise" on lack of understanding.

Hey you brought it up - I knew it wasn't an issue.


No actually I am very good at what I do - and I don't have an attitude either.

DDBear wasn't whining either - Lutron has seemingly made some design choices which are needlessly restrictive - if the Lutron techs are correct about what must be done.

Lutron will not allow the homeowner to change settings because the more people with access the higher number of potential problems that can be caused. The systems are not cheap to install and the last thing Lutron or dealers need are homeowners calling in because they messed with settings and cannot connect to their system. We're not talking about a cheap little router that costs $100 but systems that can cost upwards of couple thousand. If I'm a dealer, the last thing I'd want to hear is some customer tweaked some settings and now cannot connect. Now I have to spend more time trying to fix the problem they caused and the customer is pissed his or her system is not working correctly. You don't want too many hands in the pot. Like wkearny said, if you want access then take the training.

Well if memory serves me (and it might not) the OP said the Lutron dealer setup the system "wrong" (using DHCP) and then changed it to static and still the system didn't work.

So perhaps Lutron shouldn't let ANYBODY touch the system.

See the customer cannot be trusted because only our well trained installers know how to set it up.

I suppose most customers with no technical interests could care less about being locked out of their own system. Still there are other companies that have more flexible policies and better thought out systems.

Well glad you got it working.

From the perspective of a DIY tinkerer there's certainly some issues that raise concern. The most likely route to deal with those concerns is either strike up a cordial relationship with a reseller and/or take a training class. Given the amount of money being spent on this kind of gear it would seem a no-brainer to pursue either option. This likely leaves the tire-kickers and low-ball online deal hunters out in the cold, at least for now. Meanwhile Lutron grows the market and fine tunes how they handle it. They're hardly stupid people, and if there's enough interest in more versatile tools/options in homeowner hands hopefully they'll make it happen.

Meanwhile, if you're serious about the gear and have real concerns take them up with resellers and find one with the answers you want.

Sounds like you need a reseller that knows what they're doing. Hope you don't pay for their learning curve mistakes.

Have your dealer create several telnet logins for you so you're ready for future devices. Any good dealer should be at least doing this and documenting it to solve a potential issue over the phone instead of rolling a truck.

I disagree. Many people who buy stuff like this and other home automation systems aren't like us here at AVS. They don't care how it works, or any of the backed of it, they just want to to work for them, the first try every time, without having to think about it. Some are not technical at all, and wouldn't attempt something like that even if it was possible. Most don't have time to sit around and tinker with their Lutron systems or network. Some of the customers are business people, and any time they spend messing with this stuff could have huge opportunity costs associated with it.

Not that I agree with the way Lutron does things, but out of all the systems they have in the field, I bet they get very, very few calls about this from end users - most just don't care.

Edit: Knowing undocumented quirks/functionality is part of what separates the great integrators from the rest. Again, not saying that I like how it works, but pretty much every manf has stuff like this these days.

Onsie-twosie customers? No, they probably won't bother. But given that Crestron, Control4 and the like all continue to sell a lot of product, clearly there are customers that really don't care about what is or isn't proprietary or locked out. Hell, even Apple's products are notoriously locked out. So your rant really doesn't hold up to reality. I don't disagree that having things locked out from customers is a bad thing, just not the big deal you trump it up to be.

This pretty much applies to everything - this stuff tends to get static IP addresses, and it can be very time consuming to re-address everything. I suppose the "network admin" could change the address of some things, but in a lot of cases the automation integrator is the network admin also.

And, if your "techie network admin" changes ip addresses/schemes with anything approaching regularity, then you need a new network admin!

Perhaps you've gotten yourself too worked up. Clearly it's not the product for you. Move on and drop the stress you seem to cause yourself over it.

If you have such a hard-on over the whole thing why don't you buy a DIY lighting control system?

I have installed many systems over the years and this network issue has never cropped up with a single client. If you want a certain feature within a DIY system then use that system - there are no perfect solutions, even for installers.

What does your dealer do when you, the client, has too much control and breaks the system? Roll a truck for free?

You must see this is a double edge sword from the dealer, and Lutron's perspective.