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Mega System Technologies ezOutlet2 review
December 21st, 2019
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I received a new toy yesterday, it's the ezOutlet2 by Mega System
Technologies, a Taiwanese company.. They describe it as ``a single-outlet
device designed to automatically power-cycle when internet timeout is
detected.''
I am using this box to allow me to remotely reboot a device in an elderly
person's home which requires a periodic (once a day is good) power cycle,
but the occupant refuses to do it herself, no biggie.
The version I ordered is the EZ-22b, it has a NEMA 5-15 receptacle built-
in, and the internal bits have a switching power supply that accepts 110-
250 VAC (I suspect it would work fine with Japan's bizarre 100VAC too).
The input side has a standard IEC power connector like you see on desktop
computers, so it ought to work anywhere. It even has a 10 amp fuse.
As for control, it has a microswitch on the outside (which I don't use,
and never will) and a metal 100BASE-TX ethernet port...
It runs a tiny built in webserver (HTTP 1.1, no SSL or TLS) that serves
some tagsoup HTML that resembles HTML 4.01, with javascript and ajax
fluff. It works well in every browser I tested though.
The networking stack of the device seems simple, it uses IPv4 and
retrieves its subnet mask, router/NAT gateway, and DNS server via DHCPv4.
The device itself has no realtime clock, but it retreives its time via
NTPv3, it uses DNS to grab the IP of pool.ntp.org for that purpose.
In the default configuration, it pings the router or NAT gateway every
180 seconds, but does nothing if the reply fails.
Main options on the built-in web server after login include:
Status
Network
Settings
Schedule
Ping Address
Save/Restore [settings]
The Status page is simple and shows all networking settings, time status
and settings, the status of the power outlet and a button to manually
control the power outlet, and finally the serial number and firmware
version (my unit is running EZT.8824 (04)).
The Network page is also simple and allows setting the hostname, and
gives options to set static IP or retreive from DHCP (the default).
It allows retreiving DNS from DHCP or ignoring DNS from DHCP and using
your own setting (if you set to ignore DHCP, one of the default static
entries is Google DNS primary).
The Settings page is the most complicated page on the unit, and it ought
to be better documented... The very first setting determines if the unit
automatically power cycles the outlet based on ICMP or HTTP response
received by whatever address is set on the Ping Address page...
It defaults to manual control. The power-on delay of the outlet is
controlled on this page as well, it defaults to 3 seconds, which is the
minimum accepted value.
Cloud control (seems to be provided by AmazonWebServices) is disabled on
this page as well, it is enabled by default. I disabled it.
If you'd like the displayed time and schedule to go by your own time zone
instead of UTC, it can be set on this page as well, it supports DST.
Finally the username and password (default admin:admin) is set on this
page as well. ***it's transmitted and stored as plain text***
The Schedule page is fairly simple, it allows setting up to 6 recurring
schedule events. You can set schedules to operate on any or all days of
the week. The actions allowed on schedule events are Off (turn power
outlet off), On (turn power outlet on), and Reset (cycle the outlet using
the power-on delay supplied on the setting page).
For my purposes, I set a schedule to turn the outlet off daily at 02:00
and then a 2nd schedule to turn the outlet back on at 02:05.
The Ping Address page is used to set the IP or hostname that the device
periodically ICMP pings (default) or does an HTTP request to... The
default on my device was the NAT gateway obtained from DHCP.
If the address set here fails to respond AND the box is set on the
Settings page to automatically reset, then the box will do just that.
Finally the Save/Restore page is used to save (or restore) a plain text
configuration file... Please note that the password is saved in plain
text. Please do not reuse whatever password you set, you're asking for
trouble if you do so. This page is also used to set the language, my box
seems to support English, Taiwanese (i.e. Traditional Chinese), and main-
land Chinese.
All in all I approve of the device, I give it 4.5/5 stars. :)
Pros:
* It does what it is designed to do, and seems to do it well.
* English used in the web server is damn good. They even got "Daylight
Saving Time" correct. Even most native English speakers superflously
change "Saving" to "Savings".
* Setup very simple for technical minded people.
* Low cost (makes up for all the cons!)
Cons:
* Web server has no encryption whatsoever.
* HTML on webserver is tagsoup
* Webserver javascript should be reduced or a telnet/SSH option should
be added so console users (lynx or telnet/ssh) can use it.
* Configuration file undocumented. (what does state, wakeup, pod, nor,
rst0, tbp, pm, and list options do?)
Neutral:
* Cloud option turned on by default... Is it secure?
* No clock built into device, so NTP connectivity is required if you will
use the scheduler option.
* Purpose of pinging when automatic reset feature is off is unclear.
Manufacturer's site: http://www.megatec.com.tw/info.htm#ezOutlet
It's available on amazon under multiple sellers and ASINs.
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