Smart socket lost contact

[RickH]

Set up a SMART socket .... tested it. (Powered off a temporary lead)
Took it to the desired location in the garden.
App (SmartLife) worked and could turn socket on & off, so confirmed WiFi range.

Today physically fixed & wired in the final position.
The manual buttons working ..... but on App it shows 'Device Offline'

Do I have to go right through the pairing procedure again ?

Will this happen every time power goes off ?

All of the device information is still there under details .... main device icon stated 'offline'



My first try with SMART devices - not going well.

It's one of these - https://tinyurl.com/54pm7dnc

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Since it's designed to be hardwired it wouldn't be a surprise if it lost settings when powered down. Try it again and see what happens, then decide if you can live with it.
Better setup might be to have the on/off gubbins at the start of the cable rather than at the end of it....

 

[RickH]

I did have it powered off for a couple of days, made a temp connection to an extension lead to test and it powered up and it worked, then I walked it out to fitting location. Tried it several times over an Hr and was stable and worked with the App. Having a socket at the end is ideal as that is where there is an external power supply (and under cover) .... and means I don't have to have an aerial cable feed to get over the paths & patio and drill holes through wall into house.

I will try making a connection again ...... but as all configuration details show in App I was hoping there was a way to kick start the connection.

 

[RickH]

OK ,,,, 2 steps
I added a BT WiFi disc pointing it towards socket (25m away) still nothing.
Checked ... good Wifi strength at location.
Did add socket again in the App and its working ...... I'll leave it set up for a couple of days and monitor if it stays connected in the App.

Maybe it can only hold its pairing details for a short while and its not in proper non-volatile memory.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Will this happen every time power goes off ?

Generally, no - powering off then back on, should get it to reconnect. What you need to understand is that wifi range is very variable and subject to disturbance from other local devices. The only way to improve coverage, is to use range extenders, if what you have is not satisfactory.

 

[RickH]

The issue was I put the Range extender in place ... and let it run for about 3 Hrs ,,, still showed 'offline'
The WiFi signal there is now good.

I went through 'Add device' procedure and it worked ...... all I can do now is monitor and see if its stable.
Working on iPad and Phone.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I went through 'Add device' procedure and it worked ...... all I can do now is monitor and see if its stable.
Working on iPad and Phone.

My Smart Plugs do sometimes go offline, stopping responding, but unknown to me unless I regularly check they are still there. This rather concerned me, as it was essential that some did what they were programmed to do. As a way to know when one stopped working, I now run a utility which pings each one, every 30 minutes - then notifies me of any failures to respond and logs it. I don't quite understand why, but my impression is that the regular pinging, seems to help prevent contact with the Smart Plugs from being lost. I posted an how to on here a month or two back.

 

[RickH]

do you have a process for this, sounds a good idea.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

do you have a process for this, sounds a good idea.

I'll see if I can find the thread..

Smart devices - advising lost LAN contact

I have looked a few times, to see if there was any sort of built in way for Alexa to advise me if contact was lost with one of the devices it controlled, because some of them I use it to automatically control could become quite critical, like the Smart Plug which keeps my car's battery topped up...

www.diynot.com

Update on pinging Smart Plugs

A bit of a follow up on an earlier thread, where I discussed regularly pinging each Smart Plug, to confirm it was still doing what it was supposed to... This thread ---- https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/smart-devices-advising-lost-lan-contact.594075/page-3 Since running the software, at...

www.diynot.com

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

It does not entirely cure the loss of contact, it seems to help - but the main thing is you know when contact it lost.

 

[ericmark]

My devices seem to retain the pairing for a few days, but after a few weeks lose it, and only time disconnected for long enough to lose pairing was when testing before fitting.

The bluetooth TRV heads seem to lose pairing but nothing else.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

My devices seem to retain the pairing for a few days, but after a few weeks lose it, and only time disconnected for long enough to lose pairing was when testing before fitting.

The bluetooth TRV heads seem to lose pairing but nothing else.

I haven't once had the pairing fail, or at least all the plugs have needed is rebooting/power cycling.

Not quite the same thing, but ---- I have rather busy on the mobile over recent months, so I bought myself a bluetooth headset for a more comfortable session on the phone, except the headset would quite often drop the connection mid-call. Deleting the pairing completely, and repairing has fixed that.

 

[ericmark]

I have two generations of Nest Mini's and the earlier version with USB charging ports have stopped working from time to time, the latter versions have stopped working as a pair with stereo output, but they seem to have sorted themselves out without my intervention.

The early Energenie Mihome sockets and lights switches often needed a re-boot, and I took some out of service, so down to two light switches now did have five, and now there seems to be no problem, not sure if too many items for one hub?

The hub also from time to time stops working, removing and replacing power (reboot) seems to cure it. Not had any problems with zigbee however.

It does what I want, living in the house, but if I were not here to be able to re-boot things, then it would be a problem.

The relay for my landing lights does seem to stop working on the light switch's every so often, but still works with app, and has up to now re-started working with light switch without doing anything. Tend not to use switches as not really in best location, voice commands is normal method.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

The hub also from time to time stops working, removing and replacing power (reboot) seems to cure it. Not had any problems with zigbee however.

It does what I want, living in the house, but if I were not here to be able to re-boot things, then it would be a problem.

Yep, it can be a problem. A device I designed, which just had to work reliably - I was carefull to include a watchdog timer in it, to self reboot it every so often. You would think they would include such a thing in these devices to ensure reliability, but perhaps they tested them on a less reliable than the UK's mains supplies?

Last hiccup mine suffered, was where I loaded the Alexa App on my Iphone, and it showed two SM's to be inaccessible. Simply turning them on then off with Alexa changed them back to accessible. I have never had that happen before, they have always needed to be power cycled.

All do certainly seem less liable to need rebooting, since I began pinging the SM's, but I am struggling to understand why it might make any difference?

 

[foxhole]

Have several smart sockets and Google nest mini’s , any drop outs seem to always be related to WiFi problems, when in range all work fine .