turn on/off power remotely

[beerguy]

Hi -
I have a cabin that is about 4 hours away and am trying to figure out how to reboot pc's/routers from a remote location (my main residence). I have an Omni panel and a PC that is running homeseer, as well as a couple of routers and wireless access points. When all is working well I can RDP or VNC into the network and control most anything. Problem is when things stop working well.

In an ideal world I'd like some kind of relay that I could trigger with a 12 volt input from my Omni panel that would interupt and restore power to either a UPS or a surge protector. If for some reason I couldn't get to any of the network devices or the PC I could always call into the Omni and apply the 12volt output to a Normally Closed relay that would kill the power to the router and the PC. Once I removed the 12 volts the contacts would close again and restore power (thereby rebooting) the devices.

Does anything like this exist or are there better ways to do this?

Thanks,

Patrick

 

[WayneW]

relays should work. Or you could use appliance modules from X-10 or UPB.

 

[Mike]

I have no experience with these and kind of pricey, but just so you are aware of what is out there.

http://www.hometech.com/power/triggered.html#DT-IBOOT

A cheaper alternative might be the HS-500 unit from APC, which allows you to also reboot certain outlets from a web interface (it is a UPS for structured wiring). That one was around $100. Cool idea, the battery power is a little light though (depending on how you use it of course).

 

[bfisher]

I would use a UPB Appliance module as long as you can set the PC to start when power is recycled (not all PCs can). If it can't, you can probably fix that with a little wiring work on the power button.

I have a UPB Appliance module controlling my touchscreen PC... turns off at night and when no one is home.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Look at the last few posts HERE.

 

[JeffCharger]

I have a similar situation where it's a 2 hour drive to reboot - and my system runs thru dialup connection. Here's what I have done:

1) I have a hardware modem and I reboot it every hour (my phoneline is really noisy and this reboot of the modem has really help stability)

2) PCanywhere and VNC - both always running.

3) For the case where my system has completely hung I need access to reboot the computer. I have downloaded commands to my CM11a so that twice a day it sends an X10 signal to a universal module that disconnects the computer from the phone line for 15 minutes. The CM11a then turns the phone line connection to the modem back on after 15 minutes so the it can reconnect normally again. While the computer is disconnected, I can now "phone" the location and connect to a TR16a to send an "OFF" then "ON" command to the appliance module that powers the PC. This will allow a total reboot.