IP Monitoring (a.k.a. Ping Watchdog) allows an Alta Labs switch to monitor the availability of a network device connected to a specific switch port. When enabled, the switch periodically pings a configured IP address and can automatically power-cycle the port's PoE output if the monitored device stops responding.

This can be useful for automatically recovering devices such as access points, cameras, phones, or other PoE-powered equipment that occasionally become unresponsive.

Enabling IP Monitoring

IP Monitoring is configured individually for each switch port.

1. Open the Alta Labs management interface and select the desired switch.
2. Select the PoE port connected to the device you want to monitor.
3. Under the port settings, locate IP Monitoring.
4. Enter the IP address of the device that should be monitored. If an IP address has already been detected on the port, you can click the double arrows to load the detected IP into the field.
5. Click Save

How IP Monitoring Works

Once enabled, the switch sends a ping to the configured IP address every 15 seconds.

By default, the IP Monitor Timeout is 45 seconds. This means the monitored device must fail to respond to three consecutive pings before the timeout is reached:

• 15 seconds — First failed ping
• 30 seconds — Second failed ping
• 45 seconds — Third failed ping, this triggers the port powercycle

When the timeout is reached and the monitored device remains unreachable, the switch automatically power-cycles PoE on that port.

After power-cycling the port, IP Monitoring waits 3 minutes before beginning monitoring again. This recovery period gives devices that take longer to boot time to start up and re-establish network connectivity before they are evaluated again.

You can override the interval on a Site-by-Site basis:

1. Go to Settings

2. Expand Advanced

3. Scroll until you see the IP Monitor Timeout section

The default 45-second IP Monitor Timeout corresponds to three failed ping attempts. Because pings occur every 15 seconds, timeout values are effectively evaluated in 15-second intervals.

Choosing the Monitored IP

The IP address configured for IP Monitoring should belong to the device whose availability you want the switch to verify.

For example, if a PoE-powered access point is connected to a port, configuring the access point's management IP allows the switch to detect when that AP is no longer reachable and automatically attempt to recover it by cycling PoE.

For best results, use an IP address that is expected to remain consistent. If the monitored device receives its address through DHCP, consider using a DHCP reservation or other method of ensuring its address does not unexpectedly change.

During a firmware upgrade, a device may temporarily stop responding to network traffic even though it is operating normally. If IP Monitoring interprets this temporary loss of connectivity as a failure, it could power-cycle the device while firmware is being written.

An unexpected loss of power during a firmware upgrade can result in an incomplete upgrade or, depending on the device, leave it in an unrecoverable state.

We recommend disabling IP Monitoring before performing firmware upgrades on any downstream device monitored by the feature. Once the upgrade has completed successfully and the device has returned to normal operation, IP Monitoring can be re-enabled.

When to Use IP Monitoring

IP Monitoring is best suited for devices where automatically restoring power is an appropriate recovery action. It can reduce the need for manual intervention when remote PoE-powered equipment becomes unresponsive, while the post-reboot recovery period helps prevent repeatedly restarting devices that simply require additional time to boot.

Note that the switch will attempt to obtain DHCP on the target IP subnet if the switch is on a different subnet. This requires the VLANs and their subnets to be defined within the site that the switch belongs to. This allows for the switch to ping the device even if there's a firewall blocking the subnet the switch belongs to from communicating with the target IP. If you're using a Route10, then you should already be set.