From Frustration to Innovation: Sunshine Labs’ Success Story with Remote.It SOCKS Proxy

Problem

Sunshine Labs, specializing in innovative horticultural and indoor growing sensors, faced a unique connectivity challenge with its latest product: the VPD Sensor. This cutting-edge system, currently being tested at the University of Wageningen in The Netherlands, consists of a sensor that hangs within plant canopies and a server running OpenWRT. The sensor and server communicate over Wi-Fi, and the system’s dashboard relies on HTTP and WebSocket (WS) connections.

The primary problem arose when attempting to access the system’s dashboard remotely. A remote HTTP channel failed to establish a working connection, as the WebSocket link could not initiate alongside it. Similarly, using a SOCKS connection initially proved unsuccessful, as the WebSocket link couldn’t establish itself, resulting in error messages.

Adding to the challenge, connecting to the sensor’s embedded web server remotely was often more convenient than accessing it locally. In the lab, reaching the sensor required an additional Wi-Fi connection from the same system—a cumbersome process, mainly when using a laptop. Sunshine Labs needed a simple, reliable remote access solution to resolve these issues and enhance the user experience for testing and deployment.

Solution

Remote.It provided the perfect solution to Sunshine Labs’ connectivity issues. By utilizing Remote.It’s SOCKS proxy feature, Sunshine Labs discovered a simple yet powerful workaround to support both HTTP and WebSocket connections simultaneously.

After analyzing the problem with the initial setup, Sunshine Labs implemented two separate SOCKS connections: one for the HTTP port and another for the WebSocket port. This approach enabled the local browser to initiate the dashboard over HTTP and establish the WebSocket link successfully.

In addition, Remote.It allowed seamless access to the sensor’s embedded web server over the remote Wi-Fi connection. Eliminating the need for Sunshine Labs to establish additional Wi-Fi connections in the lab, making remote troubleshooting and monitoring far more efficient. The intuitive setup and flexibility of Remote.It’s features transformed how Sunshine Labs managed its system, providing functionality that exceeded the capabilities available during local development.

Outcome

Remote.It enabled Sunshine Labs to overcome complex connectivity challenges, improving both the development and testing processes for its VPD Sensor system. Key results included:

• Seamless Remote Access: The dual SOCKS connection setup allowed HTTP and WebSocket links to work smoothly, resolving the dashboard connectivity issue entirely.
• Enhanced Efficiency: Remote access to the sensor’s embedded web server was more convenient and functional than local access, reducing development friction.
• Future Integration Plans: The success of Remote.It convinced Sunshine Labs to include it as a standard offering for all future customer deployments of its products.

Nick Ray, founder of Sunshine Labs, expressed appreciation for Remote.It’s intuitive design and effectiveness:

“This is exactly how remote access should work. The solution is amazing, and I am incredibly thankful I could test it for free. Moving forward, I’ve decided to offer this as a paid service to all my customers.”

With Remote.It, Sunshine Labs resolved its immediate challenges and unlocked new possibilities for product deployment, offering its customers an enhanced, reliable remote access experience.

‍