Is there a detailed documentation/user's manual for new Apex? (1 Viewer)

[capman]

So, I recently got our new Apex (the new model).

I'm wondering whether there is detailed documentation available for the new model somewhere? I'm not finding it either in the box or on the web.

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Setting this Apex up here on campus will be a bit more complicated than setting it up at home, and I will need to have the campus IT/network folks involved.

It seemed that with our other AquaControllers we needed the default IP address to be able to do this, and this was found in the detailed user's manual.

But, unless I've missed it, there seems to be no documentation in the box (not a surprise, since I know they were trying to go paperless even before), but there also seems to be no detailed documentation online for the new model.

Online there are web pages to walk you through the setup, and these seem good, but they are written for someone setting this up on a home network. I think I'm going to need some more specific information (though maybe my IT people will be able to connect to this directly and get the information directly from the device...)

 

[acharpenter]

Hopefully here: https://www.neptunesystems.com/support/docs/

 

[David Grigor]

https://www.neptunesystems.com/getstarted/

I found the documentation to be pretty good for getting it all connected. Use an old tablet or something and connect through the wireless first then you can setup the wired to whatever network addresses you want.

 

[capman]

Thanks, but I'm only finding the really detailed manuals for the older models. Maybe a detailed user's manual (or the sort that there is for the older models) for the new Apex is there somewhere and I'm missing it though.

The information on setting up the new AquaController that I'm finding on the Neptune website is assuming a simple home network, and does not contain all the networking information the older manuals had.

I recall that when we (my IT guy at the college) and I got the previous AquaControllers set up on the campus network we needed some of the detailed networking information from those manuals.

Maybe if I give the Apex the IT folks to work with they'll be able to access the relevant information from the Apex directly (I think they maybe needed the default IP address or something?), and then they can get things set up for this to work on the campus network - I'm pretty ignorant of how things work on the college network though. We'll see. If necessary, we can contact Neptune.

 

[capman]

Indeed, it does look like the wireless connection first might be the way to go. I'm still not certain how to get it to talk to the campus network though even wirelessly (and it seems I have to set that up before I can get past that initial setup window - it looks like at present I'd need to use my own personal network login to go anywhere on the network with the Apex, and I'm not going to enter that information into the Apex). I'm actually pretty sure I can't do this without some things being setup by the campus networking people. I'm not sure exactly how this all works, but I think they have to create some sort of identity for the device on the campus network, or something along those lines.

Hopefully my IT guy will reply to my e-mails sooner rather than later, and he can clear up some of the mysteries.

Thanks.

 

[acharpenter]

I reached out to Neptune - I mean after all - our DG is MAHY winner!! We should get some sort of preferential status right lol?

This is the reply:

His issue is an IT issue with his campus. The wireless on our Apex (and most all consumer devices) is not compatible with enterprise wireless networks that require an independent username and password for every user. On the wired network, he should be able to get it to work just fine but will likely need to engage the IT department.

 

[capman]

Thanks.

It is indeed a campus-related IT issue that I will need help with from our network folks on campus.

The basic thing here though is just that they don't seem to be providing the detailed user's manuals with the detailed technical information that they used to. Again though, maybe this won't be a problem, as I suspect our IT folks will be able to extract the information they need from the device if they have it in their hands.

 

[zoolan70]

Neptunesys.com > Support > Documentation > Apex Comprehensive Reference Manual

That is as thorough as can be expected for a home-use product. I wouldn't expect there to be some sort of deep-dive technical reference about corporate IT issues because a) that isn't the market they are targeting and b) every corporate network is different.

Always setup using wired first...that way you rule out most issues related to networking right off the bat. Almost no one limits what can be hard-wired into a home network router, and I'd venture to guess more than 98% of corporate networks do not restrict their wired networks either.

 

[capman]

Neptunesys.com > Support > Documentation > Apex Comprehensive Reference Manual

That is as thorough as can be expected for a home-use product. I wouldn't expect there to be some sort of deep-dive technical reference about corporate IT issues because a) that isn't the market they are targeting and b) every corporate network is different.

Always setup using wired first...that way you rule out most issues related to networking right off the bat. Almost no one limits what can be hard-wired into a home network router, and I'd venture to guess more than 98% of corporate networks do not restrict their wired networks either.

Thanks. This reference manual is indeed very comprehensive, and exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for. But this reference manual is from 2014, and refers to what is now known as the Apex Classic.

Perhaps all the information is still relevant, but that seems unlikely since it seems like there are some fundamental changes with the newest version of the Apex (not just the dramatic changes in outward appearance, but fundamental changes in the operating system too).

We'll see what my IT person says when he gets back to me. The lack of a comprehensive, fully detailed manual for the new model might not turn out to be a big deal (and there's always the ability to contact Neptune if we have questions).

(We do have an older Apex in operation now. It was a little bit of a hassle to set up on our network (required the help of the campus network administrators - who I loaned the unit to for a few days so they could get things figured out and working - and at the time it seemed they really needed some of the information from that comprehensive reference manual, but I'm not sure). I have no doubt the new one will work out fine too, with their help.)

 

[zoolan70]

Yeah, I think the date is misleading. 95% of what is in there is still relevant, except for maybe some stuff around the new toys. That document was written by a power user and just recently was added to the Neptune webpage. Typically he would update the document quite often in the past, so it might be more up to date than I know.

 

[capman]

OK, so I realized that I could hook up the display from my older Apex to the new one, and this allowed me to access all sorts of stuff (the default IP address, etc, etc).

But my IT guy (who finally got back to me) told me that what I actually need is the device's MAC address (and I could not get that from the menus on the display module).

And, even if I had an up to date user's manual, that would not have helped, since (as I now know) the MAC address is unique to each individual copy of the device (so it would not be listed in even a really detailed user's manual).

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Neptune quickly answered a question I sent them, explaining how to find the MAC address. In their e-mail they walked me through how to get a PC to connect directly to the Apex via an Ethernet cable, and they said to download the firmware updating program, open that up, and then search for devices. They said the MAC address would then be found in the device list.

Well, I didn't have a conveniently located PC available this afternoon (and I didn't have an ethernet cable handy), but I was able to connect to the APEX directly from my Macbook Air via WiFi (the Apex came up in my list of potential networks to join). I then ran the firmware update program and had it search for Apex devices, and it found the new Apex. It displayed the Apex in its list of devices to potentially update, and it displayed the MAC address of the Apex. (I didn't update the firmware at this time - I just wanted the MAC address.)

So, now (I think) all that needs to happen is a campus network person needs to link the stable IP address that they set up previously for my old AquaController Pro to this MAC address for the new Apex (the AquaController Pro is currently in use on our 2-tank system, but this is to be replaced by the new Apex). Maybe a few settings on the Apex need to be changed too (but I think that part is probably easy).