Web Page meters show "unavailable" on the Z/IP ONE

Updated by Bryan Jones

Scope

This document covers issues when trying to view meters on the webpage of a Z/IP ONE were it may say "meters unavailable"

Description

A customer will often report to us that the meters don't work on their Z/IP One. The issue is not specific to the Z/IP ONE but can be with any web page displaying HTML 5 meters.

HTML meters employ a technique called HTTP long-polling, where we open an HTTP socket and then leave it open for a "long" time so we can receive the real-time meter data from the node.

The Problem

Modern anti-virus and anti-malware programs often "proxy" your web browsing data to inspect it before they deliver it to you. In other words, when you click on a link, the software receives all of the data first, makes sure it's safe, and then runs it in your browser. With these HTML meters, the end of the data never comes because we want to continuously "listen" to the meter data.

Either that or the security software closes the connection outright, thinking it's a security exploit.

The Solution

The way to fix this is first to disable any security software you have running. This software might include the Windows Firewall or Windows Defender software. Disabling these programs altogether and then trying your meters again confirms that it is the issue. If your meters work, you can add rules to your software to allow specific devices or a particular range of device IP Addresses to be exempt from these rules and enable you to see your meters.

Let us know how we can help

If you have further questions on this topic or have ideas about how we can improve this document, please contact us.


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