Next Century

Troubleshooting System Offline

OVERVIEW:

The Next Century Gateway has integrated Ethernet, Wifi, and Cellular capabilities. I have broken down each connection with its own troubleshooting guide. Before that however, there is a basic checklist that can be done which is a list of common issues we see. These could cause the system to be offline:

• Surge protector of GFCI outlet - Has this been tripped and needs to be reset?

• Have you attempted to reset the device yet? Remove the power plug, wait 15 seconds and plug it back into the outlet?

• If in an Orbit enclosure, does the GFCI have a “WF” printed on the corner?

If these have been performed and confirmed are working properly, here are the guides for each type:

Next Century Gateway connected via Cellular:

Fig. A: Next Century Gateway connected via Cellular (Status: Online)

Some systems are paired with an Orbit Enclosure. The last thing to check is if the correct GFCI was installed. These containers come with a standard GFCI which is susceptible to tripping the breaker when radio waves and wifi signal is next to them. We swap these out before shipping and also send them out to electricians so they install the correct one. The indicator of this is a “WF” printed on the GFCI. If you don’t see this, you need to get one installed that won't trip while the device is on. We do sell them if needed. This is only while using cellular and this is for if the orbit GFCI keeps tripping and powering off the device.

From the picture above you can see a total of 4 LED lights. From left to right these are: Power, Setup, Wifi, and Cellular. To diagnose this you will need to verify the Cellular antenna is connected and undamaged, and that you have a yellow light on the far right LED. If this light is missing, you either do not have the SIM activated and need to call to get it connected, or it is in a bad location and cannot connect after turning on Cell. The last thing would be equipment failure but this is extremely rare. The main light that indicates the system is connected is the color of the far Left power light as well as the far right LED light showing Cell service. The Power LED has 2 colors. Green indicates the system has power but does not have internet service. When this does get connected and checks in online, it will turn to Blue.

If you have verified that the antenna cable is good, the gateway is in a high cell signal area and it still doesn’t connect, then we'd advise setting up a time on one of our technicians calendars for a service call so we can attempt to troubleshoot over the phone. The person doing this will need to have access to the Next Century Gateway itself and must be on-site at the time of the call. We will not try to coordinate through a 3rd party who is not there to diagnose as we need up to date information from someone with eyes on the problem. We will also verify the status of the cell activation during the call as well. We will also verify the status of the cell activation during the call as well.

Next Century Gateway connected via Ethernet:

Fig. B: Next Century Gateway connected via Ethernet (Status: Online)

From the picture above you can see a total of 4 LED lights. From left to right these are: Power, Setup, Wifi, and Cellular. To diagnose this you will need to verify the Power LED on the left. The Power LED has 2 colors. Green indicates the system has power but does not have internet service, while a blue light indicates the system has connected to the cloud. The things to check outside of the Gateway LEDs would be the Ethernet cable, making sure it hasn’t been damaged or has any hard creases in the line as this can cause the wire to break in the shielding. Verify that the device is on an open dynamic port. If set on a static ip, this will need to be done using the mobile app by someone with access to the system and can directly connect to it via bluetooth on their smartphone.  

If you have verified that the Ethernet cable is good, the gateway is connected to an open IP port, or if you need access to set a specific static IP to the device, then we'd advise setting up a time on one of our technicians calendars for a service call so we can attempt to troubleshoot over the phone. The person doing this will need to have access to the Next Century Gateway itself and must be on-site at the time of the call. We will not try to coordinate through a 3rd party who is not there to diagnose as we need up to date information from someone with eyes on the problem. We will also verify the status of the cell activation during the call as well.

Next Century Gateway connected via Wifi:

Like the two guides above, there are 4 LED lights. From left to right these are: Power, Setup, Wifi, and Cellular. To diagnose this you will need to verify the Wifi LED which is the third LED from the left. You need to verify this LED is active first. The Power LED has 2 colors. Green indicates the system has power but does not have internet service, while a blue light indicates the system has connected to the cloud. The Gateway connects to the Wifi using the mobile app and an active account. 

If you have these tools you will need to open the next century app / Select Direct to connect and stand next to the gateway. Yours will show up after a few seconds. Connect to it, and on the bottom right-hand side of the screen, you will see Config. Enter this menu, select Wifi and search for your network and enter the passcode. After you have done this it should take up to 5 minutes for the Gateway to connect and the LED lights to change.

If you do not have this tool, and/or have an account in the system, you will need to set up an appointment with a technician to assist you with this. I will include a guide on how to get an account after this guide. 

New Account setup - Next Century:

**See Account Creation > Next Century**

If unable to resolve:

If after you have followed these steps and haven’t gotten equipment online, the next step is to set up a time with one of our technicians to troubleshoot over the phone. It is critical that the person talking with our team is on-location with the equipment during the call. We will not be able to troubleshoot further without direct access to the equipment.