Forum Discussion

jfs1969's avatar
jfs1969
On our wavelength
2 years ago

Some devices not connecting to Hub 4

Recently one of the devices I have connected to wifi dropped out and would not let me reconnect it to wifi.  It's a datalogger for my PV inverter and had worked fine since it was installed 3 months ago.  

While investigating I found that my phone wouldn't connect to the 2.4GHz wifi that the datalogger and many other devices are on although it's fine on the 5Ghz band (I have both running with different names).  Then when trying to resolve that I found that the phone would connect to 2.4 wifi if I set it to use phone MAC instead of random MAC.

Anyway this option isn't available to me for the datalogger but I'm thinking this might not be connecting for the same reason.  And then when I was talking to the datalogger tech support guy he said he was with VM and had heard of hub DHCP issues with multiple devices connected.

I'm hoping someone clever on here has a suggestion.  I tried calling VM to see if I could upgrade to Hub 5 but didn't manage to talk to a human.

(This problem seems similar to the one reported here for Hub 3 that is marked as solved, although I'm not sure it really was.  Anyway I have a Hub 4).

Hub 4
mac address
WIFI
  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 years ago

    When you login to the Hub 4 menu at http://192.168.0.1/  are your phone and / or data logger listed as devices that are paused / blocked from Wi-Fi access or blocked by MAC address ?

    I would not check this with the VM Connect app - it is notorious for failing to list all blocked / paused devices.

  • jfs1969's avatar
    jfs1969
    On our wavelength
    2 years ago

    Looking in Advanced, Security area I can't see any devices as blocked.  Wireless MAC filtering is Disabled. About 16 devices are connected to 2.4GHz and 2 to the 5Ghz band including my phone.

    In the DHCP section there are no reserved rules or anything on the reserved list, if that's relevant.

    Also, I tried connecting data logger to a mobile hotspot and it worked fine.  So seems like it's just the VM wifi it won't connect to.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 years ago

    What else could one check on the Hub. Wi-Fi options ..

    1) the mode is g/n mixed ( like a mobile hot spot ) or n only if that is suitable mode for the data logger
    2) 20MHz channel width is more compatible that 20/40MHz or 40MHz only
    3) Security is WPA2-PSK.   Some devices fail to connect when WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK are both present.
    4) Try with Smart Wi-Fi aka Wireless Channel Optimization Disabled
    5) Try with a fixed channel number : Channel 1 or 6 or 11 are preferred.
    6) Try to connect with with 5GHz Wi-Fi disabled. 

    • jfs1969's avatar
      jfs1969
      On our wavelength
      2 years ago

      Answers in caps below (I'm not shouting!)

      1) the mode is g/n mixed ( like a mobile hot spot ) or n only if that is suitable mode for the data logger - ALREADY ON G/N MIXED
      2) 20MHz channel width is more compatible that 20/40MHz or 40MHz only - ALREADY SET TO 20MHz
      3) Security is WPA2-PSK.   Some devices fail to connect when WPA-PSK / WPA2-PSK are both present. - ALREADY SET TO WPA2-PERSONAL
      4) Try with Smart Wi-Fi aka Wireless Channel Optimization Disabled - ALREADY IS DISABLED
      5) Try with a fixed channel number : Channel 1 or 6 or 11 are preferred. JUST TRIED THIS AND STILL WOULDN'T CONNECT
      6) Try to connect with with 5GHz Wi-Fi disabled. - TRIED, BUT IT'S ON A SEPARATE THING WITH DIFFERENT NAME ALREADY

      Given datalogger had worked fine for 3 months until last Monday and my phone will only connect to the 2.4GHz network if I disable random MAC, doesn't this all indicate a problem with the Hub?

    • jfs1969's avatar
      jfs1969
      On our wavelength
      2 years ago

      Thanks for the suggestion but I think I'll see if VM can resolve before spending £50 on a new router.  I'm not trying to anything complicated.

      • Adduxi's avatar
        Adduxi
        Very Insightful Person
        2 years ago

        I wouldn't worry about getting a Hub 5 either, as it's wifi 6 ax protocol can cause even more problems with IoT devices.