Coverstar WiFi touchpad registration problem

[tron]

@wgipe - happy to be of help. My touchpad's MAC ID is not recognized by the coverstar connect server - same issue that @nopain00 reported at the top of this thread. I'm chasing after Latham to get it resolved now.

I contacted my installer's distributor's tech support person and gave the MAC ID, who in turn contacted Latham and got my MAC ID added to their server. I then registered my device successfully on the CoverStar - Sign In website. Now I get notifications on my email and text message.

There's a glaring security issue though - CoverStar - Sign In is insecure - it uses http. It does not work over https. This will expose the user's login and password and is vulnerable to security attacks. Latham needs to implement https on the server - both for user logins and for touchpad's server queries.

 

[gingrbredman]

Finally got my cover and keypad all wired up and wanted to share my experience.

First, the strangest part of this for me, and from what I have read, is the MAC address that is assigned to the unit MUST be entered into the Coverstar database before it can be configured to send notifications. For me, the easiest way was to send a message to Coverstar through their webpage, give them the MAC address, and ask them to add it. I heard back in less than 24 hours. My PB also gave me instructions, which came from a sales rep inside Coverstar. This is a different number than is listed on the webpage, so it may work for some, but I just got a voicemail.

Also, for my experience, I can not connect with WPS like someone else mentioned. Unifi devices do not use this function, so I couldn't have even tried that. I also tried the "Mobile Connect", but this never worked for me. I could connect to the device, but the settings would never save.

So #1, get the pad wired up, find the MAC address, and get it to Coverstar tech support to get the device added to their database.

Coverstar Central

coverstarcentral.com

or (from my PB's Coverstar contact)


I asked for the MAC to be added yesterday and had an email this morning. Then, go to....
Connect.Coverstar.com

Create an account. Go to add device. Enter a description at the top, for an example, mine is "My Pool". Enter your Device ID (MAC Address), for this example, mine is blocked out. Enter the names of the users in the numbers you want them. Add an email address you want the notifications sent to. Enter a phone number where the text message will be sent. I added two of them, and both phones get the message, so I can confirm it is not just one phone number that will work. Click what events you want to be notified about, and click "save device settings".



Went to the keypad, and this is what worked for me.
Enter the pin for the service code, press the service button, press 5 for menu.
Scroll down to WiFi enable and make sure it is on.
Scroll down to WiFi Connect, and select SCAN NETWORKS
Select the WiFi network you want to connect the pad to. I have a seperate VLAN for my IOT network, so used this one, but just select the one you want to use.
Enter the passphrase.

This is where I stumbled a couple times because its not so intuitive, and if you enter a letter or digit incorrectly, you have to start over.
But here is what I found, enter your passphrase for your WIFI network, then use the Uncover button to scroll all the way to the right, down the second line, until the cursor goes past the last place a digit would go. In this example, its not the passphrase here, but just wanted to highlight just how far you need to scroll to the right.


Once you get all the way to the right, the keypad will ask you to enter 5 to save. Mine showed it connected successfully.

I went back in to the settings to look at the "IP Settings" and got a "Not Connected Message". I then went to my Unifi Portal and saw that there was a new device added called "Latham WiFi


I then went back and checked the IP address on the keypad and it did show up as connected.

I then went and changed the pin codes for the users. User 1 is me, User 2 is my wife and so on. After I changed the pins, I opened and closed the cover a few times.

when I used my PIN, the text message said "Device has been closed by Gus", or opened, but it identified a name based on the numbers on the website. It even sent a message to mine and my wife's phone if I entered a pin incorrectly.

This thing is a bit finicky, had to try it a couple different ways, but figured I'd share a process that worked for me and hopefully others can have it easier down the road.

 

[nopain00]

@nopain00 - what security options did you use on your wifi network? Did you connect this device to your wifi network manually or using WPS?
[/QUOTE]

Sorry for the late reply. I connected to a regular router with WPA2-PSK [AES]. Did you ever get this to work?

 

[tron]

@nopain00 - what security options did you use on your wifi network? Did you connect this device to your wifi network manually or using WPS?

Sorry for the late reply. I connected to a regular router with WPA2-PSK [AES]. Did you ever get this to work?

Mine only worked with WPS, it would not work if I entered the WPA key manually.

 

[wgipe]

I have a seperate VLAN for my IOT network,

@gingrbredman - out of curiosity, did you disable 5Ghz on your IoT SSID? I wonder if that is at the root of the issue here? I also have a full UniFi system here, and have an IoT SSID/VLAN that is 2.4Ghz only. Prior to doing that, I had all kinds of issues with intermittent connectivity with my smart devices (WYZE cams, mostly, but also some Sonos issues). I’ve not had a single issue since forcing it to 2.4. Our pool now gets installed in April (dang COVID), so I haven’t tested the Coverstar pad, but haven’t had a single issue getting the IntelliCenter connected. Thoughts?

 

[gingrbredman]

I did not disable the 5ghz on my IOT SSID. You can see at the bottom, I have it clicked for Both.


While I do not have the 5 disabled, almost all of my IOT devices connect to the 2.4 anyway. I think I have a wall mounted iPad on the IOT network that may connect to the 5, and once in a while my phone if I switch to that network, but almost none of my smart devices that would connect to WiFi could even connect to the 5ghz.

Not sure if the issue is with the 2.4, the 5, or the Unifi system. I like mine, don't get me wrong, but it can sometimes be finicky. Sonos is one area I've read a lot up on in their support forums. It sometimes doesn't play nice with the network, or the network doesn't play nice with Sonos. Has an issue myself with Apple Airport Express not playing nice in the neighborhood and had to bounce that in the end.

 

[Georgetv]

Thanks for taking the time to go through all of this, especially for those of us who are about to install the same thing, and get prepared for frustration. I also have an outdoor Unifi access point installed so I wouldn't have any WiFi issues. When my PB was out a few weeks back, they insisted on trying to connect the Intellicenter through WiFi and could not get that to work. Despite full coverage out there, there wasn't any way to connect it to my WiFi. For the Intellicenter, I wanted it hard wired anyway, actually ran ethernet cables out by the pad just so they could use it, but insisted on trying the WiFi first. So we did hardwire the Intellicenter, but the keypad for the Coverstar is WiFi only, so we will see how this goes in the next day or two. I'll report back here as well the results.

hi jumping in here. new to the site. i have coverstar toggle located inside cover box. i want to use the wifi remote and set up in my kitchen that has window to pool 10 feet away. i like the alert features, etc. can the switch be located indoors? but how will pool maintenance open and close cover -- can i keep the toggle at the box and set up a relay? I am home automation guy so I could figure out. or is there another way to have access from inside and at the box?

 

[nopain00]

hi jumping in here. new to the site. i have coverstar toggle located inside cover box. i want to use the wifi remote and set up in my kitchen that has window to pool 10 feet away. i like the alert features, etc. can the switch be located indoors? but how will pool maintenance open and close cover -- can i keep the toggle at the box and set up a relay? I am home automation guy so I could figure out. or is there another way to have access from inside and at the box?

Hi. Coverstar only supports one controller per cover as far as I know. Another manufacturer (Controls - Cover-Pools) allows multiple and even wireless controllers to open and close the same cover. That, though, only works with the same manufacturer, CoverPools, not CoverStar.

For Coverstar pools, all of the switches, from the manual toggle to the digital keypad, work the same way: depending on whether the open or close function is requested, line power is sent to one or another wire. I believe this energizes one or the other winding on the motor to toggle the direction. While you would be free to develop your own relay that does this, that would circumvent certain safety controls, not to mention that you'd have to set up multiple relays to isolate one switch when operating another to prevent backfeeding the switch that's not being used.

I'm not exactly sure what would happen if you just hooked up two switches to the same cover. The problem would come in if two people tried to used the switches simultaneously. There would be the potential to energize both the "forward" and "reverse" windings simultaneously, which could damage the motor. In theory, you could set up a complicated set of relays so that when you use one switch, it not only energizes one of the wires, but simultaneously opens the circuit for wires to the second switch. Of course, this would all be at your own risk. There's no out-of-the-box solution for control from two separate locations for the same cover.

 

[gingrbredman]

i want to use the wifi remote and set up in my kitchen that has window to pool 10 feet away. i like the alert features, etc. can the switch be located indoors? but how will pool maintenance open and close cover -- can i keep the toggle at the box and set up a relay?

When you say you want to use the WiFi remote in the kitchen, what remote are you talking about? It sounds like you have a standard toggle switch to open and close the cover. If that is the case, you do not have the WiFi enabled keypad. According to Coverstar, there are five options for controlling the cover.

View attachment 315763
Only one of them is "WiFi" and that is the "touch pad with safety alerts". The touch pad opens and closes the cover with a code entered, while physically standing at the pad, and then sends notifications, through WiFi, to a mobile device which you assign in the Web based interface. You can not control the open or close through a mobile device, you are only notified of events. At least this is the way it is setup from the factory.

Could you modify some things to allow opening or closing of the cover remotely? Anything is possible with wiring and technology, but as nopain00 mentions above, you are bypassing the safety features.

 

[Georgetv]

thanks for the info... helpful... will keep thinking...

 

[aba]

Spent several hours on this and finally got it to connect. The documentation said the touchpad supports open, WPA-PSK (TKIP) and WPA2-PSK for wireless security. But only 'open' (no security) worked on my UniFi wireless network. I tried all different security options via both the touchpad itself and using my laptop by connecting to the latham_wifi network by enabling the 'mobile' option in the touchpad. I tried both the web UI and the (pseudo) command line interface through the web browser. Nothing worked. My UniFi access points do not have WPS of course. After trying both TKIP and AES for both WPA and WPA2, I only ended up getting frustrated.

So, instead of the UniFi access points, I dusted an old TP-Link access point and plugged it into my home network. Manual set up of WPA and WPA2 (with both TKIP and AES) did not work. So I enabled WPS on the TP-Link access point and then chose the 'Connect using WPS' option and it connected successfully regardless of whatever security option I had chosen - WPA or WPA2 (or auto) with TKIP or AES (or auto).

So, WPS is the only security mechanism that worked. No manual set up would work on either UniFi or TP-Link. I'm disappointed at this finicky product. Wish they had tested and made sure it worked on manual set up.Because of these issues, now I need to have an extra access point on my network just so this buggy wifi touchpad can connect.

@nopain00 - what security options did you use on your wifi network? Did you connect this device to your wifi network manually or using WPS?

I was experiencing the same issues as you with a UniFi network. It seems the CoverStar WiFi keypad uses only 802.11b (not g or n), which is disabled by default on UniFi. I was able to get it to finally connect by enabling "Legacy Support" in UniFi's settings. You can find the option at Settings, WiFi, click your SSID, Advanced, Legacy Support.