## Help/FAQ

<hr>

### General

#### _My network seems to slow down, streaming "freezes"_

It may well be that low-performance devices reach their performance limits with the way Pi.Alert detects new devices in the network. This is further exacerbated if these devices 
communicate with the network via WLAN. Solutions here would be, if possible, to switch to a cable connection or, if the device is only to be used for a limited period of time, 
to pause the arp scan on the maintenance page.

#### _The login page does not appear, even after changing the password_

In addition to the password, the parameter PIALERT_WEB_PROTECTION must also be set to True in the configuration file `~/pialert/config/pialert.conf` or `/opt/pialert/config/pialert.conf`.

#### _Why does a password entered in the GUI with `\` sometimes appear as `\\` in `pialert.conf`?_

Pi.Alert stores the configuration file as Python syntax. Because of that, backslashes inside sensitive values such as passwords may be escaped when the file is written by the GUI. For example, a password entered as `abc\123` in the GUI may appear as `abc\\123` in `pialert.conf`. This is expected and is done to keep the configuration valid and to preserve the original password value correctly.

#### _There is an update available. How do I proceed if I want to update Pi.Alert?_

1. Check in the status box on the setup page that no scan is currently being performed
2. Further down, in the Security section, stop Pi.Alert for 15 minutes. This prevents the database from being processed during the update.
3. Now switch to the terminal of the device on which Pi.Alert is installed.
4. Execute the command: 
```
sudo bash -c "$(wget -qLO - https://github.com/leiweibau/Pi.Alert/raw/main/install/pialert_update.sh)"
```
5. Now follow the instructions
6. After the successful update, Pi.Alert should start again on its own. Alternatively, you can also restart it manually on the installation page.

<hr>

### Devices / Device Details

#### _I have devices in my list that are unknown to me or that I no longer use. After deleting them, they always appear again._

If you are using Pi-hole, please note that Pi.Alert retrieves information from Pi-hole. Pause Pi.Alert, go to the Settings page in Pi-hole and delete the relevant DHCP lease if necessary. 
Then check, also in Pi-hole, under Tools -> Network, whether the recurring hosts can be found there. If so, delete them there too. If these devices keep reappearing in Pi-hole even after 
deletion, restart the pihole-FTL service. Now you can start Pi.Alert again. Now the device(s) should no longer appear. If in doubt, a restart can also do no harm. If such a device continues 
to appear again and again, the MAC address can be added to an ignore list MAC_IGNORE_LIST in pialert.conf.


#### _What does “Random MAC” mean and why can't I select it?_

For data protection reasons, some modern devices generate random MAC addresses that can no longer be assigned to a manufacturer and which change with every new connection. Pi.Alert 
recognizes whether it is such a random MAC address and activates this “field” automatically. To stop this behavior, you must look in your end device to see how to deactivate MAC address 
generation. MAC addresses with the following scheme are marked as “random”: 									
* x2:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
* x6:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
* xA:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx
* xE:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx


#### _What is Nmap and what is it used for?_

Nmap is a network scanner with a wide range of options. When a new device appears in your list, you have the option of using the Nmap scan to obtain more detailed information about the device. 									
Pi.Alert offers 3 different preset scans: 									
- Quick scan: Checks only the most important 100 ports (a few seconds)
- Standard Scan: Nmap scans the first 1,000 ports for each requested scan protocol. (approx. 5-10 seconds)
- Detailed scan (timeout 60s): The scan is extended by some UDP ports. The range of TCP ports has also been increased.


[Back](https://github.com/leiweibau/Pi.Alert)
