Ping (ICMP) automation

[hh93 (Howie Davison)]

I haven’t updated my RPi4 running hassOS 12.4, Core 2023.11.3 since the new Ping(ICMP) appeared as a major automation I have doesn’t work any more. So I have left the set up as is and skipped all updated.

I now have a spare RPi5 running hassOS 12.3 and core 2024.6.4
The screenshot in the Ping(ICMP) isn’t particularly helpful to me and I have no idea how to get it to work as there’s so many variables to choose from in the edit screen.

So

Can anyone just write me an automation to convert this screenshot (of my RPi4 config.ymal) to an automation in the RPi5 12.4 setup please.

[fleskefjes]

You haven’t posted an automation, you have posted a binary sensor. The sensor it self you can set up through the GUI with a few clicks. Ping (ICMP) - Home Assistant

Just install the integration and add the sensor names to your existing automation. If you need help with it, post the automation as code, not as a screenshot.

[hh93 (Howie Davison)]

Correct - I have posted a screenshot of the code that I wrote into the Config.yaml that works on my Rpi4 as an illustration of what I need the Ping Automation to do.

[fleskefjes]

It doesn’t illustrate anything. You haven’t said what you want the automation to do. Post your current automation?

[hh93 (Howie Davison)]

Ahh - you are right - my mistake.

I want a 10 second ping and the documentation says you have to create an automation to do that.

Let me explain why - my wife works from home and has lots of conference calls and video calls to people all day. My ISP cuts out often for 8 seconds and reconnects - this can be several times an hour.

Now it also cuts completely and requires a reboot of the Modem to reconnect. So there is an automation to ping every 10 seconds and if there is no connection after 20 seconds the Smart plug powering the Modem goes off for 30 seconds then on again and sends a message to my phone that the automation is triggered.

So the new Ping(ICMP) integration doesn’t check often enough and the documentation says create an Automation, but this example doesn’t help much:

And if I write the code in the first post into Config.yaml the function is over-ridden by the Ping(ICMP) Integration and doesn’t work.

regards
H

[fleskefjes]

You first define your trigger. If you want it to run at certain intervals you can use time interval. Then you select your conditions (if any) and then finally you want it to call the reload service for the integration.

All though I would say that a much better alternative is to solve the problem - can you not complain to your ISP and get them to fix it (new modem perhaps?) I would never accept such an unstable connection.

[CO_4X4 (Colorado Four Wheeler)]

@fleskefjes

can you not complain to your ISP and get them to fix it

This. I’ve had similar problems with Comcast and I barked all the way to corporate until an entire army of techs and supervisors and the district VP was at my house fixing it. In the end I got new cables, new modem, new splitters and a dedicated signal test to make sure it stays up.

I still do what you do, I ping it every few minutes and if it’s down then I have a complex reboot cycle on the modem that has worked every single time.

Automatically cable reboot modem when Internet is down

I have the same setup and the same problem. It’s quite fresh for me because the past two days Comcast has been a total piece of crap, going in and out all day. My setup works like this: Created a Ping sensor to check the internet When it goes down for more than 5 minutes (indicating an outage) then it enables a “restart” automation that will turn off the smart plug the modem is connected to for 30 seconds and then power it back on again The automation restarts the modem up to 6 times, with a…

[hh93 (Howie Davison)]

@fleskefjes

All though I would say that a much better alternative is to solve the problem - can you not complain to your ISP and get them to fix it (new modem perhaps?) I would never accept such an unstable connection.

This is Virgin Media in the UK and I like the solution to Ping every 10S and reboot the router if the connection is lost. Also Virgin hand out free speed upgrades quite often, and they come into effect on a reboot. So I don’t have to wait for a message to tell me about a cheeky little speed increase.

After all what else is HA for if not carry out automations around the home.

I tried your create automation solution and no success as the Ping (ICMP) doesn’t show up in any drop down

[CO_4X4 (Colorado Four Wheeler)]

@hh93

I tried your create automation solution and no success as the Ping (ICMP) doesn’t show up in any drop down

Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration → Ping. That will create a sensor that will be connected or disconnected.

[hh93 (Howie Davison)]

TY - but this is the very integration that I’m trying to change the Polling frequency

[CO_4X4 (Colorado Four Wheeler)]

What don’t you see? Obviously I’m not understanding what the issue is. Are you not seeing the binary sensor indicating the internet is up (i.e., a Ping sensor to Google)? Are you not understanding how to trigger from that in automation?

[fleskefjes]

What good is a speed upgrade if your connection drops several times an hour? A stable connection is what you pay for in my opinion

I don’t use the integration myself and haven’t read the docs but since you state that the docs tells you to reload I assume it pings on reload. So in your case a reload every ten seconds? Doesn’t sound like the greatest approach though.

[hh93 (Howie Davison)]

No it’s not - the whole Ping integration is a backward step IMHO.

2023.12 Ping integration changes & scan_interval

The ping change is a step back imo From a simple config.yaml like below to having to disable polling on the integration, then create an automation to define the custom scan interval! device_tracker: - platform: ping hosts: conor: 192.168.0.37 count: 5 scan_interval: 120

Anyway I can’t get the answer I need so I’ll just stick with Core 2023.11.3

Thanks for your help

H

[fleskefjes]

You can check this thread for clues 2023.12 Ping integration changes & scan_interval - #10 by TryingHA

[uracolix]

Even if this an old post, I just join the opinion that I miss a straight forward YAML option to configure a bunch of hosts with ping intervall of 300s and a count maybe with 2. To create an automation for each of the hosts is not an option i.m.h.o. The argument of devs in some other posts “we needed to hide ping intervall because some idiots slammed down public hosts” I can not follow directly. Make a tool foolproof and only fools will use it. Anyway this feature makes me think if HA is really the right platform for more then 5 light bulbs. After upgrade from 2023.xyz to 2024.11.3 the whole thing does not startup, I don’t find relevant log messages, that point me to the problem … all in all it looks like giant waste of time. sorry that my first post is that negative, I really liked HA a lot in 2023 but now it is a burden because it consumes none existing time ressources.

Regards, Axel