Miniserver Gen. 1 or Gen. 2: what works with Alexa?
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For MFM Voice, the generation itself is not what matters. What matters is how your Miniserver can be reached from the internet. With the new generation, this works with encryption and without port forwarding. According to the manufacturer, the Miniserver Gen. 1 cannot do this: it can only be reached through port forwarding and without encryption. We do not recommend that.
Why remote access matters
A voice command travels from Amazon through our servers in Nuremberg to your Miniserver. For this, the Miniserver must be reachable from the internet. MFM Voice always tries the encrypted connection (HTTPS) first.
The new generation
For the new generation, Loxone describes its remote access service, Remote Connect. The manufacturer lists three points:
- The Miniserver can be reached at an address under
dns.loxonecloud.com. - Access is encrypted.
- No port forwarding on the router is needed.
This is the route we recommend for MFM Voice. You enter the Remote Connect address in MFM Voice, together with the user name and password of a separate user.
The Miniserver Gen. 1
According to Loxone, the Miniserver Gen. 1 is not compatible with Remote Connect. Instead, the manufacturer refers to manually configured external access. That means port forwarding on the router. The documentation does not provide for an HTTPS port on Gen. 1.
For voice control, this means a Gen. 1 can only be reached from the internet without encryption. User name, password and commands would not be protected by HTTPS on this route. We advise against connecting a Miniserver to a cloud service in this way, including ours.
How to tell what you have
You can see in Loxone Config which Miniserver you have and whether Remote Connect is active. According to the manufacturer, Remote Connect is not offered there at all for Gen. 1. If in doubt, ask your electrician.
What applies regardless of generation
- The firmware should be up to date. MFM Voice does not support very old firmware without token authentication.
- Create a separate user for MFM Voice that only sees the rooms and functions Alexa should control.
- Which Loxone blocks Alexa can control does not depend on the generation. The list is on the features page.
You will find all the requirements at a glance in the FAQ.
Sources
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