Just got a Z21, and been looking on youtube for set up videos, as it's always good to have confirmation that I've understood the instructions properly (some of the translation from German is a bit odd in the instructions - shame on Roco for not getting a native English speaker to proofread it). Got to say that your is the best and clearest guide I've come across so far.
GREAT JOB!! I switched to DCC and jumped in head first! Your video was a huge help after reading the confusing set up manual. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Hi Timothy, really glad the video helped you out, took me a while to get my head around it as well but then something clicked and it all came together :0)
Mark, Great presentation ideal for those people that have not seen the Z21 before. I’m building a small N Gauge folding layout so acquired the starter, z21 White. It works exactly the same as yours (same App) but it has fewer external connections than the Z21 Black. I use an iPad and iPhone to control the z21, but it bugged me every time, having to change from the “Home Network” to the TP-Link z21 network, when I wanted to set-up a loco (track not fully down yet). So I did away with the TP-Link router and connected the z21 directly to my “Home Network” using a power line ethernet extender. You can set up your Z21 / z21 controller with an IP address that is on your existing “Home Network”. It’s easier to do than it sounds :-)
Brilliant Steve, I'll be giving that a go in the week then, but I'm using home networking plugs down in the garage but should be able to pop the lan cable in to one of those, fingers crossed :0) Have a great weekend mate
Great Mark good instructions starting my set up this weekend bought mine on thursday with a view to linking it with my Ecos when it comes back from Germany Thanks Alan M.
Hi Alan and you're welcome, hope to make another video this weekend but Debbie is now up and my diary is rapidly being filled up with other things lol.
Thank you Alasdair, so pleased that the video came out nice and clear, I was a little nervous as I'd only done it once before so the video was only the second time I'd put it together but it really is that easy. You wont have long to wait for part 2, I'm doing that this morning :0)
Very well explained Mark. All my skills are in IT and I thought you did a brilliant job of explaining things. You will find, probably, your Z21 Router and your Home Router will be on different SUB-Nets, and IP addresses. There is a way to securely Root your Z21 Router through your Home Router for updates etc…Simon
Simon -Liverton Central and Mark. Found this very interesting and am wondering if either of you know if the TPLink can be removed and the Z21 box connected directly to my home router? Your thoughts would be very welcome. Thank you.
As long as the SUB-Nets match and there are no conflicting IP addresses you can access the Z21, just like any device with an IP Address. I will have Z21 in about a week, once I look at the App I can do a video on connecting to the Z21 via a home network. If you use an Iphone or Android phone etc on you Home Network you will be able to access the Internet, if you connected to the TPLink via your device you will not be able to to, because you will be on a different SUB-Net to your ISP's setup. I would need to know more about the Z21 before I can confirm that, which I will know in a week or two...Simon
Simon -Liverton Central Brilliant Simon. Thanks for this. I am using BT broadband although I use a Netgear Hub so always seems sensible to remove unneeded devices. Thank you again. Just subscribed to your channel so I don’t miss it.
Simon, I have already replied to Mark and said I have connected my z21 to my home network and it is working fine. You have to use the Z21 maintenance App and give the device a fixed IP address on your home network. My provider is BT and the network Class C network address 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254 as the router address is 192.168.1.254 and as I knew it was free I gave the Z21 a fixed IP address of 192.168.1.50 Cheers Steve
wowsers, I'm lost already so will leave that side of things well alone till you make your video Simon of which I'm really looking forward to, I've always kept well away from IP addresses but the one think I have noticed that they tend to always start with the first 6 digits so it's only the last few that change.
Hi. JUst got the Z21 and got a question. I have connected the TP link to my tablet but it only gives me a connection between the tablet and the Z21 so I can control the trains, it does not give me access to my home wifi as well. Any suggestions as to what's went wrong? Iset it up exactly the same as you have. Thanks, John.
The Z21 looks to be a nice system but I think it should come with a throttle. If anything would happen to the tablet or phone you would be out in the cold. I figure most people buy it knowing there is no throttle but I personally would like one from the get go.
Hi Scott, it is a nice system but the new app and user interface isn't that wonderful, it's a nightmare of a job to create a track plan where you can actually operate the points without the adjoining points actuating. For extra you can buy a throttle so you're right, it's very expensive for something without a throttle.
Hi just thinking of buying the Z21 ,my layout is about 40 feet away in a garage from my in house router,the signal in the garage is very poor I have down loaded the app how will this affect the running of the app ?
Hi Robert, the app if it's on your smart phone or tablet will connect directly to the Z21. The Z21 comes with it's own router and it's this that your app connects to. Hope that helps, keep safe. Mark
Hi I just bought the Roco Z21 The z21 has blue light Router has power light , wi fi light and socket one light The app just will not connect to router do you have any suggestions please
Hi Peter, sorry for not replying sooner, me bad. I moved away from Railmaster and e-Link because I was having too many glitches, like the trains not stopping when I hit the panic button, also programming issues with certain decoders and also point switching was a bit hit and miss.. The last straw [after I got the Z21] was when my hard drive crashed and needed replacing which meant I couldn't deactivate railmaster, the support was ok but after 3 months I still didn't have Railmaster running, and I still don't, I gave up on them in the end.
Has anyone ever received on of these units and none of the green connectors were present to connect the Main Track, Prog Track, or Sniff Bus to the unit?
But on the other hand, ( besides having different fingers) if the rats are out in the open, carrying out their demise is a lot easier. Unfortunately a lot of pipers don't sound very good no matter how many drams are involved.
Hi Thomas, I don't have the elite, it's the e-Link that I was using which can only be used and controlled with RailMaster, I won't be selling it just yet, always handy to have something as a back up
Hi Mark , excuse my ignorance but when you buy this system do you mean you still have to buy an iPad . I have a MacBook laptop and only use pay as you go phone , looks a bit complicated to me . Great video to watch and follow but it is the use of setting up that would have me phoning my son as usually happens , Cheers......Neolithic Peter
Hi Peter, I'm afraid you're right, the Z21 is designed to be used with tablets and smart phones, but the good news is it doesn't use up your pay as you go data, and , this is a really big and, one of my subscribers explained to me how to load the Z21 app on to my computer which I have done and so far initial results are outstanding, this would mean that you could do the same and run the layout from your MacBook laptop, I'll make a video of that very soon ok. Todays video will be on setting up a loco functions on the tablet, have a fab Sunday Peter
Thanks Mark for your reply , that's good to know and I will be following this series as it is very enjoyable to see how the latest technology works . Cheers......Peter
Just about to upload the video now Peter, should be ready in an hour or so, and in this you'll see the Z21 app running on my Windows 10 computer, quite exciting development to say the least.
Hi Dave, it's like an epidemic isn't it, I've been looking at this bit of equipment for over a year and during then never heard a tinkle about it, then when I decide to buy it 'BANG' the whole of YT explodes with videos of them lol..... But you have the Ecos dont you? now that is a fabulous controller and one I was also looking at
Western Centurion the ecos seems to be giving trouble to a few , it has with me , had to have it repaired .. so maybe the new system could be the answer
It could be Dave, another expense though but one I think is well worth it as with help from previous posts I've now been able to load the Z21 app on to my computer with all functions available, absolutely awesome it is, like having a 42 inch iPad stuck on the wall lol
I've literally just connected everything up and I've got a RED flashing light not BLUE like yours. Press reset for 5 secs it turns blue then back to flashing red.
@@WesternCenturion That does sound logical but alas no. I connected an NCE and ran a loco no issues.After disconnecting all wires except power and switching off then on the red light still flashed. I pressed the stop button and up came the blue light. I still wouldn't have thought i'd have to press the button to change colour..... Thank you anyway. Your video was very precise and I'm watching part 2 again today :)
@@commonsenseprevails Hi Simon, is it doing this to other locos as well? It’s been a few years now since I last used it but I do remember the flashing red being a short. Mark
Terence Smith Hi Terence, I suppose the first question I need to ask is have you connected your hand held device to the TP Link router? If the hand held device is still connected to your home network it won't work
Hi Thanks for the reply , Yes I'm connected to the Roco TP link router. I think the problem is that the router is not speaking to the z21 start. and may need a higher inteligence to tinker with it! I can use the new z21 with my old roco handset the Multimaus if its plugged into the z21. But something else I notice is that I'm using a Hornbyy reverse loop module over 4x return loops and rarely if ever did I get a short circuit with my old Roco System but with the new z21 it shorts almost every time a loco goeas over the gap! which iis going to be very costly! I'm begining I should have stuck with what I had!
You’re welcome Terence, just hope I can actually help you. I’m now wondering if the LAN cable might be faulty, do you have another that you can try?I know nothing about reverse loops I’m afraid so can’t help you there, though I am surprised that if it worked with one system why it’s not with the Z21.
Hi yes I tried LAN cables that I know work no good still not talking to it, I think the z21 must be super sensitive to the reverse loops, if I send the locos through at high speed it's ok but at realistic speed it stops every time. Thank for your help.
I can connect with my iPhone and my iPad to the TP link router and use the system with my old but reliable Multimaus so my system works but the main problem is that when I try to use my iPhone or iPad with Z21 app the app will not connect to the z21. the wifi symbol in the app has a red cross! see the screen shot attached. We have tried everything different LAN cables etc. I have also downloaded the TP-Link Tether app wich gives me access to the router and it tells me I am connected to the iPhone but the router will not connect to the z21 I will try an android phone! when my son is available to come round. Problem #2 my old roco 10764 and multimaus work fine with my ho layout even though I am using a Hornby reverse loop module, The problem with the z21 is that it will not work with the reverse loop ! every time a loco goes over the isolation gap it short circuits the z21 unless the loco is traveling at full throttle. also two of my locos will not respond to the z 21 reliably, they stop and start at random. so I went back to my old 10764 and it works beautifully with no problems at all. The reason I bought the z21 is that I cannot read decoders with the 10764 and the Multimaus. I thought this was going to be easy and seamless. I will let you know what happens with the android. I have written to Roco support as well.
Whatever you do, Do not connect this unit to your internet via the Lan port if you do nothing will work. This is due to the way the router works and the weird part in the German manual it tells you exactly as above yet the English manual says you can but take my word you cannot.
Hi Rob, thank you for the warning mate, and I had another comment saying that they connected the Z21 unit directly to their home router and it works fine, do it's just not to connect TP-Link router to the home network?
Hi you can connect to your home router and it should work fine just depends you may have to mess with the settings, The problem is the z21 has a fixed IP address so what happens if you connect your TP-Link router to your main router it assigns an IP address to the router changing the settings unfortunately this takes the range out of the Z21 fixed IP-address, There is a complete post on the web about it and luckily a real internet geek saw it and explained everything in great detail.
Thank you Rob, I've just read another post explaining about the IP addresses, Simon Liverton says he'll be receiving his Z21 in a couple of weeks and will be looking at connecting it to the home network and make a video on how it's done. Your help and advice though Rob has been fantastic and is very much appreciated :0) Cheers, Mark
Nice choice there mate, was my recommendation/video a few years back helpful in picking this awesome controller? Let me know if you need any help as I am one of those weird "IT people" ;-)
How did I miss your comment, must be my age lol. Just checked and yes your video is one of the ones I watched before deciding to go with the Z21, I just love the functionality of it, not so much the track plans though,but everything else is perfect :0)
Just got a Z21, and been looking on youtube for set up videos, as it's always good to have confirmation that I've understood the instructions properly (some of the translation from German is a bit odd in the instructions - shame on Roco for not getting a native English speaker to proofread it). Got to say that your is the best and clearest guide I've come across so far.
GREAT JOB!! I switched to DCC and jumped in head first! Your video was a huge help after reading the confusing set up manual. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Hi Timothy, really glad the video helped you out, took me a while to get my head around it as well but then something clicked and it all came together :0)
Mark, Great presentation ideal for those people that have not seen the Z21 before. I’m building a small N Gauge folding layout so acquired the starter, z21 White. It works exactly the same as yours (same App) but it has fewer external connections than the Z21 Black. I use an iPad and iPhone to control the z21, but it bugged me every time, having to change from the “Home Network” to the TP-Link z21 network, when I wanted to set-up a loco (track not fully down yet). So I did away with the TP-Link router and connected the z21 directly to my “Home Network” using a power line ethernet extender. You can set up your Z21 / z21 controller with an IP address that is on your existing “Home Network”. It’s easier to do than it sounds :-)
Brilliant Steve, I'll be giving that a go in the week then, but I'm using home networking plugs down in the garage but should be able to pop the lan cable in to one of those, fingers crossed :0)
Have a great weekend mate
you made it so clear how this unit works and how to set up thankyou
Great Mark good instructions starting my set up this weekend bought mine on thursday with a view to linking it with my Ecos when it comes back from Germany Thanks Alan M.
Hi Alan and you're welcome, hope to make another video this weekend but Debbie is now up and my diary is rapidly being filled up with other things lol.
Terrific stuff Mark - very watchable and clear. Many thanks for posting. No pressure, but looking forward to Part II! Regards, Alasdair
Thank you Alasdair, so pleased that the video came out nice and clear, I was a little nervous as I'd only done it once before so the video was only the second time I'd put it together but it really is that easy.
You wont have long to wait for part 2, I'm doing that this morning :0)
Very well explained Mark. All my skills are in IT and I thought you did a brilliant job of explaining things. You will find, probably, your Z21 Router and your Home Router will be on different SUB-Nets, and IP addresses. There is a way to securely Root your Z21 Router through your Home Router for updates etc…Simon
Simon -Liverton Central and Mark. Found this very interesting and am wondering if either of you know if the TPLink can be removed and the Z21 box connected directly to my home router? Your thoughts would be very welcome. Thank you.
As long as the SUB-Nets match and there are no conflicting IP addresses you can access the Z21, just like any device with an IP Address. I will have Z21 in about a week, once I look at the App I can do a video on connecting to the Z21 via a home network. If you use an Iphone or Android phone etc on you Home Network you will be able to access the Internet, if you connected to the TPLink via your device you will not be able to to, because you will be on a different SUB-Net to your ISP's setup. I would need to know more about the Z21 before I can confirm that, which I will know in a week or two...Simon
Simon -Liverton Central Brilliant Simon. Thanks for this. I am using BT broadband although I use a Netgear Hub so always seems sensible to remove unneeded devices. Thank you again. Just subscribed to your channel so I don’t miss it.
Simon, I have already replied to Mark and said I have connected my z21 to my home network and it is working fine. You have to use the Z21 maintenance App and give the device a fixed IP address on your home network. My provider is BT and the network Class C network address 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.1.254 as the router address is 192.168.1.254 and as I knew it was free I gave the Z21 a fixed IP address of 192.168.1.50 Cheers Steve
wowsers, I'm lost already so will leave that side of things well alone till you make your video Simon of which I'm really looking forward to, I've always kept well away from IP addresses but the one think I have noticed that they tend to always start with the first 6 digits so it's only the last few that change.
Fantastic video Mark, Clear and to the point, catch you in part 2.....John.
Thank you John, and part 2 today I hope, unless Debbie has other plans lol
Thanks chum I followed you instructions for the Z21 oh boy great tutorial
Fabulous that the video of help Lyndon, it's been so long now that I'll have to watch it myself to remind me how to use the Z21 again lol...
Hi. JUst got the Z21 and got a question. I have connected the TP link to my tablet but it only gives me a connection between the tablet and the Z21 so I can control the trains, it does not give me access to my home wifi as well. Any suggestions as to what's went wrong? Iset it up exactly the same as you have.
Thanks, John.
Thank you for the explanation video!! Very clearly!
You're welcome Onno
Mark, well presented, thank you :)
The Z21 looks to be a nice system but I think it should come with a throttle. If anything would happen to the tablet or phone you would be out in the cold. I figure most people buy it knowing there is no throttle but I personally would like one from the get go.
Hi Scott, it is a nice system but the new app and user interface isn't that wonderful, it's a nightmare of a job to create a track plan where you can actually operate the points without the adjoining points actuating.
For extra you can buy a throttle so you're right, it's very expensive for something without a throttle.
Hi just thinking of buying the Z21 ,my layout is about 40 feet away in a garage from my in house router,the signal in the garage is very poor I have down loaded the app how will this affect the running of the app ?
Hi Robert, the app if it's on your smart phone or tablet will connect directly to the Z21. The Z21 comes with it's own router and it's this that your app connects to. Hope that helps, keep safe. Mark
Western Centurion ,yes thanks silly me just realised what you need too do ,thanks again for your response
@@roberttyler403 No problems Robert, enjoy as it really is a good controller.
Hi I just bought the Roco Z21
The z21 has blue light
Router has power light , wi fi light and socket one light
The app just will not connect to router do you have any suggestions please
Hi Mark, Do you still use the Z21? Thanks Mark
Hi Mark, I haven't touched the Z21 in over 4 years, hope to again though at some point, I'll have to learn how to use it all over again.
Just a question but why did you change from rail master and e-link
Hi Peter, sorry for not replying sooner, me bad.
I moved away from Railmaster and e-Link because I was having too many glitches, like the trains not stopping when I hit the panic button, also programming issues with certain decoders and also point switching was a bit hit and miss.. The last straw [after I got the Z21] was when my hard drive crashed and needed replacing which meant I couldn't deactivate railmaster, the support was ok but after 3 months I still didn't have Railmaster running, and I still don't, I gave up on them in the end.
Has anyone ever received on of these units and none of the green connectors were present to connect the Main Track, Prog Track, or Sniff Bus to the unit?
Hi Daniel, hope you managed to get the missing connectors
@@WesternCenturion Thanks - no luck unfortunately though. Just having to jerry-rig things.
Ahhh! There's nothing like a good piper and a wee dram to set the mood. I did say a GOOD piper, right?
You did say good piper Bill, as long as it's not the type of piper with a trail of rats behind them ;0)
But on the other hand, ( besides having different fingers) if the rats are out in the open, carrying out their demise is a lot easier. Unfortunately a lot of pipers don't sound very good no matter how many drams are involved.
Good video.
Thank you Nigel, and have a fab Sunay mate.
Mark will you be selling your elite in the future ? Tom. Great video on Z21 can't wait until next update. :)
Hi Thomas, I don't have the elite, it's the e-Link that I was using which can only be used and controlled with RailMaster, I won't be selling it just yet, always handy to have something as a back up
Hi Mark , excuse my ignorance but when you buy this system do you mean you still have to buy an iPad . I have a MacBook laptop and only use pay as you go phone , looks a bit complicated to me . Great video to watch and follow but it is the use of setting up that would have me phoning my son as usually happens , Cheers......Neolithic Peter
Hi Peter, I'm afraid you're right, the Z21 is designed to be used with tablets and smart phones, but the good news is it doesn't use up your pay as you go data, and , this is a really big and, one of my subscribers explained to me how to load the Z21 app on to my computer which I have done and so far initial results are outstanding, this would mean that you could do the same and run the layout from your MacBook laptop, I'll make a video of that very soon ok. Todays video will be on setting up a loco functions on the tablet, have a fab Sunday Peter
Thanks Mark for your reply , that's good to know and I will be following this series as it is very enjoyable to see how the latest technology works .
Cheers......Peter
Just about to upload the video now Peter, should be ready in an hour or so, and in this you'll see the Z21 app running on my Windows 10 computer, quite exciting development to say the least.
You all seem to be going on to this system
Hi Dave, it's like an epidemic isn't it, I've been looking at this bit of equipment for over a year and during then never heard a tinkle about it, then when I decide to buy it 'BANG' the whole of YT explodes with videos of them lol.....
But you have the Ecos dont you? now that is a fabulous controller and one I was also looking at
Western Centurion the ecos seems to be giving trouble to a few , it has with me , had to have it repaired .. so maybe the new system could be the answer
It could be Dave, another expense though but one I think is well worth it as with help from previous posts I've now been able to load the Z21 app on to my computer with all functions available, absolutely awesome it is, like having a 42 inch iPad stuck on the wall lol
Western Centurion it’s space for me , if I had a table in the centre it would be ideal , but as it is I struggle to turn round in there
So I suppose being able to just move around with you iPad would be the perfect solution then Dave?
I've literally just connected everything up and I've got a RED flashing light not BLUE like yours. Press reset for 5 secs it turns blue then back to flashing red.
This sounds like a short on the track, if you haven’t already try the programming on separate piece of track.
@@WesternCenturion That does sound logical but alas no. I connected an NCE and ran a loco no issues.After disconnecting all wires except power and switching off then on the red light still flashed. I pressed the stop button and up came the blue light. I still wouldn't have thought i'd have to press the button to change colour..... Thank you anyway. Your video was very precise and I'm watching part 2 again today :)
@@commonsenseprevails Hi Simon, is it doing this to other locos as well? It’s been a few years now since I last used it but I do remember the flashing red being a short. Mark
@@WesternCenturion turned out to be a faulty unit. I drove it back to exchange and all up and running now. What a fantastic system.
@@Thereallyniceguy fantastic news, glad you got it resolved. It really is a great bit of kit.
Brilliant But My app will not connect to the z21 I get a red cross on the wifi symbol Any clues please?
Terence Smith Hi Terence, I suppose the first question I need to ask is have you connected your hand held device to the TP Link router? If the hand held device is still connected to your home network it won't work
Hi Thanks for the reply , Yes I'm connected to the Roco TP link router. I think the problem is that the router is not speaking to the z21 start. and may need a higher inteligence to tinker with it!
I can use the new z21 with my old roco handset the Multimaus if its plugged into the z21. But something else I notice is that I'm using a Hornbyy reverse loop module over 4x return loops and rarely if ever did I get a short circuit with my old Roco System but with the new z21 it shorts almost every time a loco goeas over the gap! which iis going to be very costly! I'm begining I should have stuck with what I had!
You’re welcome Terence, just hope I can actually
help you. I’m now wondering if the LAN cable might be faulty, do you have
another that you can try?I know nothing about reverse loops I’m afraid so
can’t help you there, though I am surprised that if it worked with one system
why it’s not with the Z21.
Hi yes I tried LAN cables that I know work no good still not talking to it, I think the z21 must be super sensitive to the reverse loops, if I send the locos through at high speed it's ok but at realistic speed it stops every time.
Thank for your help.
I can connect with my iPhone and my iPad to the TP link router and use the system with my old but reliable Multimaus so my system works but the main problem is that when I try to use my iPhone or iPad with Z21 app the app will not connect to the z21. the wifi symbol in the app has a red cross! see the screen shot attached.
We have tried everything different LAN cables etc. I have also downloaded the TP-Link Tether app wich gives me access to the router and it tells me I am connected to the iPhone but the router will not connect to the z21 I will try an android phone! when my son is available to come round.
Problem #2 my old roco 10764 and multimaus work fine with my ho layout even though I am using a Hornby reverse loop module, The problem with the z21 is that it will not work with the reverse loop ! every time a loco goes over the isolation gap it short circuits the z21 unless the loco is traveling at full throttle. also two of my locos will not respond to the z 21 reliably, they stop and start at random. so I went back to my old 10764 and it works beautifully with no problems at all.
The reason I bought the z21 is that I cannot read decoders with the 10764 and the Multimaus. I thought this was going to be easy and seamless.
I will let you know what happens with the android. I have written to Roco support as well.
Whatever you do, Do not connect this unit to your internet via the Lan port if you do nothing will work. This is due to the way the router works and the weird part in the German manual it tells you exactly as above yet the English manual says you can but take my word you cannot.
Hi Rob, thank you for the warning mate, and I had another comment saying that they connected the Z21 unit directly to their home router and it works fine, do it's just not to connect TP-Link router to the home network?
Hi you can connect to your home router and it should work fine just depends you may have to mess with the settings, The problem is the z21 has a fixed IP address so what happens if you connect your TP-Link router to your main router it assigns an IP address to the router changing the settings unfortunately this takes the range out of the Z21 fixed IP-address, There is a complete post on the web about it and luckily a real internet geek saw it and explained everything in great detail.
Thank you Rob, I've just read another post explaining about the IP addresses, Simon Liverton says he'll be receiving his Z21 in a couple of weeks and will be looking at connecting it to the home network and make a video on how it's done.
Your help and advice though Rob has been fantastic and is very much appreciated :0) Cheers, Mark
Well I watched it Mark. lol. David.
Well done David, shall I send a nurse over with a hot mug of tea and toast to help you through your recovery process lol.....
Nice choice there mate, was my recommendation/video a few years back helpful in picking this awesome controller?
Let me know if you need any help as I am one of those weird "IT people" ;-)
How did I miss your comment, must be my age lol. Just checked and yes your video is one of the ones I watched before deciding to go with the Z21, I just love the functionality of it, not so much the track plans though,but everything else is perfect :0)
Mark excuse my ignorance this is dcc I presume ? .......non technical fred ....
No ignorance there Fred, but yes it is dcc and a whole bunch better than the e-link
My ex wife was a rooter, that's why she's my ex wife!