IT Technical Info

DicksonOne Technical Notes

Given that DicksonOne is a network connected system, depending on your organizations requirements you may need to collaborate with your IT team to either ensure the system will work with your environment or to configure the units on your network. The IT infrastructure and environment varies drastically from one organization to the next. As such, if you have any additional questions please feel free to reach out to us for more information. Below are some answers to the most common questions and concerns from an IT perspective.

Quick Notes on DicksonOne Devices

• The devices communicate on either Port 80 (HTTP) or Port 443 (HTTPS)
• The default communication is Port 443 (HTTPS)
• All communication is generated by the device - no opening of ports is necessary as there are no incoming commands/control/access for these devices
• The devices have a proprietary OS/firmware (NOT Windows CE, Linux, Android, etc)
• Devices support both WiFi and ethernet
• 2.4Ghz B/G/N network types
• Support WEP, WPA Personal, WPA Enterprise, WPA2 Personal, and WPA2 Enterprise (with some certificates)
• TWEs are proxy aware while DWEs are not (coming soon!)
• Devices are not compatible with a captive portal without additional network configuration (whitelisting MAC addresses)

IP Addresses

Devices can be configured in either DHCP or via a static IP address. If using DHCP, ensure the devices are allowed to receive their own IP addresses via your DHCP server.

MAC address filtering

If your organization utilizes MAC address filtering, the MAC address for each logger (both ethernet and WiFi devices) can be found via the WiFi Connection Widget on the Advanced page.

Communication Ports

If your company utilizes firewalls, web filtering, or proxies ensure they are not blocking packets to or from DicksonOne.com

Backup the Data on your own servers

You can leverage the available REST API to integrate a backup of your data onto your own servers or with a third-party system such as a Building Management System. If you have developers and other IT staff who are familiar with and capable of working with REST APIs, you can utilize the documentation found here at https://www.dicksonone.com/developers

Second-generation loggers (DWE, TWE, TWP)

Can communicate securely via HTTPs port 443 as well as the standard HTTP port 80. The devices are shipped with port 443 opened by default.

• All communication is generated by the device - no opening of ports is necessary as there are no incoming commands/control/access for these devices.

The first generation can only communicate via HTTP port 80 and even though port 80 may be open and allow traffic out, DicksonOne.com responds with xml packets that are often blocked regardless of port 80 being open. The loggers must be able to send and receive information to/from the DicksonOne site in order to function properly.

Access Points (WiFi)

If your facility uses multiple access points with the same SSID and security key to cover a large area, ensure the following: the device's encryption type set to Auto Select and the security keys are identical. We highly recommend that any two access points within range of one another are configured to use channels that do not overlap one another. Most access points have a limit to how many devices can concurrently be connected. This varies, but is often as few as 25. Consider laptops, cell phones, equipment, loggers, and any other devices that may be connected to an access point. First generation (black cases) DicksonOne loggers are compatible with wireless B networks. Your access points must be configured to Wireless B or utilize a compatibility mode. DicksonOne enabled touchscreens and generation 2 DicksonOne loggers (late 2015) are compatible with B/G/N wireless networks.