Unable to add home automation devices to network
Dizzy0ny2
Enthusiast - Level 2

Hello,

This just started happening or perhaps i only recently noticed it.   I've had a few devices that have been connected to my network for the last year that worked fine.  These include wifi switches, bulbs and garage opener.  Recently, i needed to re-add a 1 of the switches, a lightbulb and the garage opener, but could not.  The setup process for each is the same...the app basically connects first to the internal wifi receiver of the devices, then attempts to join the network.   Again, that worked fine for all my devices before.  However, this time, at the point after you select your home network (2.4ghz) and enter your password...it eventually fails, unable to connect.

If it happened to one device, i might have blamed it on the device, but i have since tried removing 5 devices from the network and attempted to re-add them back, none successful except the Garage opener.   With the garage opener, i found an old entry in the firewall settings for my router.  I basically port forwarded the port recommended by the manufacturer using that IP, and i was able to connect.

The problem is, i don't know what the ip or port is for the switches or bulbs...and there are manny.  Furthermore, i never had to do such things before.

I also disabled the SON on my router to ensure that the 5ghz network was not being connected.

Anyone else run into this?   Verizon is claiming there wasn't any firmware updates or anything that could have caused this.  But clearly that doesn't seem to be true...as something is blocking these devices from being able to connect to my network.

Any advice would be appreciated.

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Re: Unable to add home automation devices to network
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

I just want to ask two kind of moot question: is your router's firmware recently updated? And, does the issue emerge after the firmware update? There is a known firmware upgrade for both G3100 and G1100 last month.

You may need port forwarding when accessing the smart devices from the WAN, which is not the case for you. Even if the devices use P2P for remote access, they should connect to the LAN any way.

Do you know how to check the smart device's wireless connection logs? Can you check the wireless connection logs at the router as well?

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Re: Unable to add home automation devices to network
Dizzy0ny2
Enthusiast - Level 2

Verizon claims no updates, but i'm sure there was..if i didn't need port forwarding before to be able to connect my garage opener, why would i suddenly unless something changed?

I do not know how to check the logs of the smart devices..they are simple wifi switches and bulbs, some are LIFX bulbs.

I see a variety of logs when i log into the router..but can't really make heads or tails of them.  The time zone seems off as well..for example latest entry in some is listed as the 24th, today the is the 23rd.  

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Re: Unable to add home automation devices to network
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

@Dizzy0ny wrote:

Verizon claims no updates, but i'm sure there was..


I don't think disputing over whether there is an update or not is meaningful.

What router do you have? G1100 or G3100?

Can you check the supported WiFi specs of your "smart" devices against your router's WiFi settings? I would suggest you to backup your router's configuration to a USB drive next time if an update changes some default settings.

I just realized the log on the router is not useful unless they interacted with the DHCP server.

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