Using TZO Dynamic DNS and the Hawking HomeRemote to remotely control your Lights, Heating/Cooling in your Home or Office!

The TZO.COM Dynamic DNS service is now integrated into the Hawking HomeRemote - a wireless Home Automation system. The tutorial below shows you how to setup the DDNS and Port detection section of the HomeRemote and how to enable/disable and edit the TZO Dynamic DNS settings once you have the HomeRemote setup.

The HomeRemote must first be setup on your network as shown in the HomeRemote manual. You do this by connecting the gateway to your router as shown in the manual and then run the HomeRemote Setup Wizard. For details on the HomeRemote setup, please see the Hawking Website at http://www.HawkingTech.com

Once you have the IP address setup and have setup your HomeRemote Layout and added your devices, you are ready to begin the TZO / Internet Setup section of the setup as shown in the screenshot below. If you wish to use your HomeRemote only from the same network and not over the Internet, or if you already have a TZO account, you can click “I ALREADY HAVE A TZO ACCOUNT” to skip this configuration. If you choose to skip the Internet setup because you already have a TZO account, you can configure the DDNS settings later once you have finished the HomeRemote setup wizard.

In order to setup the TZO DDNS trial, you first need to select a domain name. Your domain name will be part of the “HomeRemote.net” domain as shown above. In this example we selected “YourName” - causing our domain name to created as YourName.HomeRemote.net. This will be the domain name we use when we wish to reach the HomeRemote gateway over the Internet.

Your next step is to enter in your email address. This information will NOT be sold or used in any other way. We use this email to send you the account details and information about your TZO Trial and will also notify you when your trial is coming close to expiration.

Once you enter in your information, double check it for errors, and then click the NEXT button in the bottom right corner.

Once you click NEXT, you will see the Setup Continue page. This page will cause your browser to ask for the username and password again. You should now need to re-enter your username and password you selected in the beginning of the setup in order to advance into the Router configuration section of the Wizard.

This next screen shows the port forwarding configuration that must be done to access your HomeRemote gateway remotely over the Internet. In most cases, there is a router in FRONT of the gateway that acts as a firewall – blocking outside requests from the Internet.      

In order to remotely access your HomeRemote gateway, PORTS in the router must be opened up. By default the port for remote access is port 80 - the standard web server port.

If you are a novice user, select NOVICE setup and click NEXT.       If you are a more advanced user, or know if your port 80 is already in use or blocked by your ISP, you can select an alternate port. If your ISP blocks port 80, you can try port 81, 82, and so on.

If you are an expert/advanced user, select MANUAL. This requires you setup the port forwarding manually by logging into the router.       Once you have made your selection the HomeRemote wizard will attempt to open the ports and test the port forwarding from remote servers. This process could take up to 5 minutes depending on the network and ISP configuration. Please be patient while performing this step.

Once the port detection process is completed, you will see a SETUP SUMMARY as shown in the screenshot above. This summary screen will provide you with the details on your setup. The port that was used during this setup is shown circled in red. You should make a note of your LAN IP address and port. Click Next to continue.

Next you will be asked if you would like to setup the CELL LINK for controlling your HomeRemote from your cell phone. If you have HomeRemote cameras, you can also view them from you cell phone. Click the NEXT button if you wish to skip the Cell Link setup.

You will now see the option to prepay for the TZO Service. You can select the “PREPAY FOR TZO DDNS SERVICE” button if you wish to purchase your subscription to TZO now, or you can click the SKIP button to pay later after your TZO Trial ends.

You have now completed the setup of the HomeRemote gateway. Review the links provided for connecting to your HomeRemote gateway using your browser.

** Very Important: When you are at the same location as the HomeRemote, you should always use the IP ADDRESS and port as shown above, and when you are away from the location and remotely accessing via the Internet, you should use the domain name **

You will now be presented with the screen shown above. Your browser will redirect to the HomeRemote INTERNAL IP address in order for you to login to the HomeRemote gateway.

Once your browser transfers you to the HomeRemote gateway, you will be asked to login to the HomeRemote again using your username (Your email address) and your password. Once you do this, click OK. You can also select “remember my password” to avoid having to enter this in again.

Once you login to the HomeRemote, you will be presented with the main HomeRemote screen. This shows the Rooms, Scenes, Alerts and Notifications and Recent Activity. Keep in mind that your setup will look different depending on the rooms, scenes and other customized options you may have set.

You can now connect remotely from anywhere with an Internet connection and a browser to control your lights, heating and cooling, raise and lower blinds, and control just about any appliance if you have the proper module. Please see the HomeRemote Manual for details on using the HomeRemote.

Accessing the TZO DDNS Information once the HomeRemote is setup

In order to Update, Disable or change the TZO DDNS information, you will need to get into the SETUP section of the HomeRemote device. To do this, click on the SETUP button in the top menu and you will be presented with the screen shown above. In order to get into the DDNS section, you need to click the CUSTOM WEB ADDRESS & DDNS SETUP link as shown circled in red in the screenshot above.

If you need to Enable, Disable or change your TZO DDNS setup information, you can do that in the screen shown above. In order to ENABLE or DISABLE, select the appropriate radio button and then click SAVE. Disabling the TZO DDNS will no longer synch your IP address with your domain name and may eventually cause the Domain name to no longer respond if your IP changes. If you change your email address, you must first change the email address with TZO (go to https://www.tzo.com ) and then you can change it in the HomeRemote and SAVE the settings.