Smart home devices won't connect to Hub

[SteelyJohn]

I have recently joined EE and everything seemed okay, until I started to connect my smart home items.

Firstly, here is a list of the items I have:

5 BG home double Smart Sockets

A Broadlink RM4 Pro+ Universal Remote

3 Status Smart Plugs

3 Shelly Smart Wi-Fi operated Bulbs

An eMotion Wi-Fi Radar Motion Sensor

I have two related problems:

1. I cannot connect the BG Home sockets or the RM4 Pro+ to the new EE Smart Hub 7 Plus
2. I cannot connect the Status Plugs, Shelly bulbs or the Motion Sensor to my Amazon Alexa

All devices were easily set up and worked flawlessly with my old router.

I have tried the following for the BG Home sockets and the RM4 Pro+ (both have a similar User Interface):

1. I ensured that Compatible wi-fi was switched off and that 5 GHz switched off in Main wi-fi (the procedure I used with my previous router).  Setup ran okay until the device tried to connect to wi-fi, setup failed at "Device is connecting to wi-fi".  Both devices have two setup procedures, a smart setup and an AP setup. I tried both, but neither worked.  I tried with all five of the sockets, none would connect.
2. I then switched off Main wi-fi and ensured that only 2.4 GHz was switched on in Compatible wi-fi.  Again, I tried with the RM4 and all of the sockets, again all failed to connect to wi-fi.
3. I then tried all of the above with each of the security types (WPA3-Personal-Transitio, WPA3-Personal-Compatibilty and WPA3-Personal for Main wi-fi and WPA-WPA2-Personal and WPA2-Personal for Compatible wi-fi). I only used one of the sockets for these.

For the Shelly bulbs and the eMotion sensor, they work fine using their own app but cannot be discovered by the Alexa.

Having exhausted things that I can try, I’ve come to the conclusion that it may be a faulty router. Where do I go from here?

[Northerner]

Hi @SteelyJohn 

Have you tried changing your WiFi password and SSID on your new router to the same as your old router to see if they connect. (After restarting).

Thanks 

[XRaySpeX]

You should be using the Main WiFi & Compatible WiFi in conjunction. 

Try setting up Compatible WiFi on the router under Advanced > Wireless Settings (it defaults to 2.4 GHz) & connect your problematic 2.4 GHz devices to that.

[SteelyJohn]

Thanks for the reply. I have tried that and it doesn't work.

[SteelyJohn]

Hi @Northerner , that's a no go I'm afraid. My old password had only eight characters and the new one insists on 16.

[XRaySpeX]

It doesn't insist on 16. It just recommends it. Put what you will, ignore the "insecure" msgs & Save & Accept.

[bobpullen]

Have you completely factory reset all of the smart devices and started from scratch?

Fiddling with security modes is going to cause you problems and you should steer well clear of strict WPA3 as you'll almost certainly find devices that won't connect to it. Devices that do support WPA3 will also not like having previously connected to a WPA3 network and then be expected to connect to a network with the same name that is using WPA2 or WPA3-Personal-Compatibility.

I would factory reset everything and start from a clean slate.

[SteelyJohn]

@XRaySpeX Good tip re passwords. Unfortunately it's a bit late to try the old SSID/password as when I was having trouble connecting devices, I did factory resets (I tried it anyway - didn't work). It's a pity the caution isn't on the same page as password entry.

@bobpullen Thanks Bob, I did factory reset all devices. When I had finished messing about with securities, I pressed the "Reset recommended" button.

I tried another couple of things last night:

I configured my old router as an AP and tried connecting through that.  Unfortunately, the same problems occurred.

I then tried to add a Mercusys Halo H30. I couldn't connect it.

It appears that the same point is reached in all situations when using AP mode. I can connect my tablet to the device temporary Wi-Fi, but when the SSID and password of the Wi-Fi I want to connect to is entered, the tablet connects to it but the process hangs when the device (Smart Socket, Universal Remote or Halo) is trying to connect and eventually fails. Hopefully this can help with a solution.

[SteelyJohn]

Quick update.

Firstly, thanks for the help.

I managed to connect the RM Pro and most of the BG sockets. If I'm honest, I'm not sure what I did differently, it just worked. All I can think of was that 2.4 GHz was was enabled on both Main and Compatible wi-fi, although I can't see that being different to just one of them being enabled. (I also switched the LED indicator back on, wonder if it was that  🙂.)

The other BG sockets are in the room furthest from the router. I was hoping to set up the Halo as an AP but, as said before, I'm having a bit of bother. I'm currently in email contact with Mercusys on that.