Issue connecting Philips Hue Bridge v2 with Hub 4

[ImWai]

Hi community members + forum teams,

I am struggling to get my Philips Hue Bridge (v2) connected and seeking help please.

Situation:

• I'm using the Virgin Hub 4 as is (not in modem mode)
• the Philips Hue Bridge is connected to power and Hub 4 via ethernet cable
• other devices connected via ethernet ports seems to function fine (for example: Hive hub)
• I can see within 192.168.0.1 that 'Philips-hue' is showing under Ethernet Connected devices
• within the Philips Hue app, I can't seem to discover the Philips Hue Bridge

I have done:

• reset the Philips Hue Bridge
• customised SSID names and passwords to split out 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wifi
• disabled 5 GHz
• disabled guest wifi
• set 2.4 GHz channel to manual, channel 1
• tried changing WPA2-Personal and WPA-WPA2-Personal settings
• tried using a different ethernet port and ethernet cable
• contacted Philips Hue support
  • who suggested disabling Access Point (AP) Isolation, or Client Isolation, or Guest Mode, on my router

Does anybody know + can someone help?
How can I disable AP?
Or what can I do to connect my Bridge to the app?

Thanks for reading !

[g0akc]

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@ImWai wrote:

Hi community members + forum teams,

I am struggling to get my Philips Hue Bridge (v2) connected and seeking help please.

Situation:

• I'm using the Virgin Hub 4 as is (not in modem mode)
• the Philips Hue Bridge is connected to power and Hub 4 via ethernet cable
• other devices connected via ethernet ports seems to function fine (for example: Hive hub)
• I can see within 192.168.0.1 that 'Philips-hue' is showing under Ethernet Connected devices
• within the Philips Hue app, I can't seem to discover the Philips Hue Bridge

I have done:

• reset the Philips Hue Bridge
• customised SSID names and passwords to split out 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz wifi
• disabled 5 GHz
• disabled guest wifi
• set 2.4 GHz channel to manual, channel 1
• tried changing WPA2-Personal and WPA-WPA2-Personal settings
• tried using a different ethernet port and ethernet cable
• contacted Philips Hue support
  • who suggested disabling Access Point (AP) Isolation, or Client Isolation, or Guest Mode, on my router

Does anybody know + can someone help?
How can I disable AP?
Or what can I do to connect my Bridge to the app?

Thanks for reading !

---

I'm not sure why you have changed any of your WiFi settings (though setting the SSID or splitting the bands is fine if that's what you want to do, for unrelated reasons).  

As far as I know the only WiFi involved in the set up should be for your phone to connect to the Virgin Hub.  Does your phone connect to the Virgin hub, and the internet, okay?

AFAIK the Philips Hue Bridge uses Zigbee (a different wireless system) to communicate with the individual bulbs.  It obtains its connection to your hub, and the internet, via the Ethernet cable.

Access Point Isolation is to separate clients (devices) on your home network from one another, usually for security reasons (so a child can't see your computer data for example).  I can't be sure but doubt it's enabled at all on the VM hub (other than if you were using your phone on the guest network, which is separated off (so visitors can use the internet but not connect to your internal network).

You don't want to 'disable your AP' as that would mean none of your devices would be able to connect to the internet via WiFi !

I'm not sure as to why your Philips app isn't picking up the bridge - but I would put your VM hub back to normal and start again.  It seems you've got confused somewhere. Go back to Philips or post again here if it still doesn't work.

[ImWai]

Hi,

Thanks for replying. Yes, landline phone connects to the Hub, my android phone connects to wifi from the hub, and internet works OK.

I thought no changes required for the Philips Bridge either. Forgot to mention, I did start off with just separate bands and SSIS names (for unrelated reasons as you said) and no other changes but the bridge did not connect.

I saw a similar VM Community Forum thread, hence tried the settings.

[g0akc]

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@ImWai wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for replying. Yes, landline phone connects to the Hub, my android phone connects to wifi from the hub, and internet works OK.

I thought no changes required for the Philips Bridge either. Forgot to mention, I did start off with just separate bands and SSIS names (for unrelated reasons as you said) and no other changes but the bridge did not connect.

I saw a similar VM Community Forum thread, hence tried the settings.

---

The landline phone is nothing to do with it.

If you check that previous thread you linked to you’ll see that Gary pointed out it was nothing to do with the WiFi (others mistakenly assumed it was used to connect the bulbs which it isn’t).

Try starting again.  Then apart from grabbing traces off the Ethernet cable (Wireshark) you’re likely stuck with help from Philips or trying your own router…..

 I hope you get it sorted but think you’ve barking up the wrong tree so far I’m afraid.

[ImWai]

Hi.

I have factory reset the Hub 4, so no subsequent settings were applied. Tried to connect Hue Bridge. Error.

I have then modified the SSID and passwords only, so my other devices can reconnect. Tried to connect Hue Bridge. Error.

For reference, error from Hue app attached below. Any other ideas?

[Paul_DN]

Hi ImWai,

Thank you for reaching out to us in our community and welcome, sorry to hear you are still facing issues connecting your Smart Bulbs, have you tried the Philip Hue Forums to see if anyone else is facing the same issue and has found a fix.

Regards

Paul.

[ImWai · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Thanks for replying, the issue has now been resolved.

If anybody else has the same issue, here's what I did:

1. disable 5GHz signal, as advised by Philips Hue support team, via the Virgin Hub 4 settings page
2. log out of Philips Hue app
3. pin hole reset Philips Hue Bridge (v2) and wait until all 3 lights on the Bridge is solid again
   NB: this will remove all existing settings and device connections withe the Bridge!
4. go back into Philips Hue App without signing in with any emails
5. connect / search and discover the Bridge
6. when prompted, press the button on the Bridge to confirm that's the one to connect
   there should be no error message now, since it was not logged in to any emails
7. after successful linking, add the Bridge to your Philips Hue account via the Hue web portal

After connecting the Bridge successfully, you can re-enable the 5 GHz wifi signal.

Happy Friday + thanks all.

[Client62]

Another Hub 4 that does not connect 2.4Ghz devices when 5Ghz is enabled.