Advanced Network Settings

The 'Advanced' tab contains more advanced options:

Net & Wi-Fi

Vera is unique in that she automatically configures her network settings. Most users do not need to touch the network settings. If you do, you can change them on Vera's 'Net & Wi-Fi' tab. See Networking Setup for an explanation of how Vera's automatic network settings work and under what circumstances you may want to change them.

Internet: Here you specify how Vera should connect to the internet using the WAN port. The default is DHCP, but you can also choose Static IP or PPPoE.

Firewall: Your options are:

Firewall active: Vera will not accept any incoming connections from outside the home (i.e. through the WAN port)

Firewall disabled: Vera will accept incoming connections from any of the LAN ports or the WAN port

No firewall: This means all 5 ports (the WAN port + 4 LAN ports) are all bridged like a switch. Vera will still have the IP address listed in the LAN section, but the WAN and LAN networks are not separated.

LAN: You can turn Vera's internal DHCP server on or off, and specify Vera's internal IP address. If the DHCP server is on, the range of IP addresses Vera will give out is automatically set to x.x.x.2 to x.x.x.255.

Wireless: By default Vera comes with wireless turned on, and using the strongest encryption, WPA2. The SSID is automatically set to vera_ followed by Vera's serial number. The default password for the network is printed on the bottom of Vera and on the Getting Started Guide. Your default SSID and password are unique to your Vera and not available to the public. Mi Casa Verde implements security measures to ensure that the only staff who have access to your SSID and password are in the shipping department. We do this so that any wireless devices you order from us, like security cameras, come pre-configured with your SSID and password so that they work out of the box without any further configuration. If you press the 'ezsetup' button on the back of Vera, Vera will temporarily shut off the security/encryption on the Wi-Fi so that you can connect to Vera from a web browser on a computer that does not support WPA2 encryption. This is temporary, so you should go into the "Net & Wi-Fi" tab and change the Wi-Fi settings to what you want. Note that if you change Vera's Wi-Fi settings and then do a 'Factory Reset' of Vera by pressing the 'Reset' button, or on the 'Advanced', 'Download' tab, the password will revert to the factory default that is printed on the bottom of Vera.

Backup/Restore

If you check the "Backup my configuration at FindVera.com" option, Vera will automatically backup your configuration online each night so that if Vera breaks and we send you another one, you can go to FindVera.com, download the last backup file, and restore it so you don't need to setup Vera again. FindVera.com keeps 5 daily backups, so if you somehow mess up Vera's setup, you can also restore Vera to a prior backup.

To manually backup Vera, click 'Create Backup'. Vera will give you a backup file to save to your PC.

To restore a backup file, either one that you created manually with 'Create Backup', or an automatic backup at FindVera.com, click 'Browse' to find the backup file, select it, and click 'Restore'.

You can also click 'Restore to Factory Default' to reset Vera's configuration just like it was when Vera first arrived.

The 'Enable IT' button for tech support access tells Vera to create a temporary back door to the Mi Casa Verde support team. Vera will give you a security code which you can then give your Mi Casa Verde support representative. With this security code, the support rep can access your Vera box using that temporary back door. This is used for helping you troubleshoot problems and providing other assistance. When you are done with the support rep, click 'Disable IT' to get rid of the back door. Once you click 'Disable IT', there is no longer a back door nor any way for anybody at Mi Casa Verde to get into your Vera.

Logs

Here you can view Vera's system logs. Mi Casa Verde's tech support staff may ask you a question about your logs.

Downloads

This tab shows you what version software is currently installed in Vera, and what is the latest released version. If there is a newer version of the software available, you will be able to upgrade Vera, and when you do, you can preserve Vera's current settings, so you don't have to change anything after the upgrade, or you can simultaneously reset Vera to a default state so she is running the newest software, but with the same factory setup Vera originally shipped with.

Sections

Users with large homes can divide the home into sections, like First Floor, Second Floor, Outside areas, etc. You then tell Vera which rooms are in which sections with the 'Rooms' tab. For each section you can upload a floorplan and graphically position the devices on the floorplan.