Wemo switches

[Bull at a Gate]

Desperately seeking help from people cleverer than my son and stepson.

For some time now I have used wemo switches. One allows me to turn on my outside security lights on approach to the house and the other allows me to turn of Mrs Bull's electric blanket. Installation and operation were without any problems.

But then I installed a new router. I had to reinstall the wemo switches so that they connected to the new network. At first things were fine and I was a happy lad. After a few days however the wemo switches stopped connecting to the network. So I tried reinstalling them. I could not install them when they were in their desired locations but I could install them when the switches were closer to the router. Trouble was that they would loose contact when I moved them further away from the router (despite having worked fine in those locations with the old router and, at first, with the new router).

I then tried to again reinstall them as I had heard that repeated attempts wee sometimes necessary to achieve success. But then, and this is the real puzzle, they refused to be installed even when very close to the router.

So, to summarise: worked fine with old router for many months; then worked fine for a few days with new router in desired locations; then would only work when closer to router; and now won't work no matter how close to the router they are.

Each time I reinstalled the switches I reset the wemo switches themselves and deleted and reinstalled the app on my iPhone. I have reset the router too.

It's a real puzzle because the router works very well in every other respect. I asked for help from my son (works in IT) and my stepson (PhD in engineering) but neither had any idea about what I should try next.

Does anyone here have any ideas? You can take your time thinking about it if you like as I am quite enjoying keeping Mrs Bull warm through other means.

[19downbubble]

Have you tried moving/reorienting the router? Any chance the wifi channel is congested? There are apps that will tell you the best channel for your location.

Can your router autodetect a noisy channel and move to another one? If so, maybe this trips up your devices.

Installed another network nearby?

[500N]

Bull

Have always found using the process of deduction works to identify the item that is at fault / issue.

First thing I would do is reinstall the old router and re set up the Wemo switches and see if it still works
as well as it did. Then go back to the new router and maybe do 1 switch at a time ?

I have never set up a WeMo switch but do you have to log in to your router and set up anything ?
Reason I ask is I had trouble setting up something a month ago and the router just would not accept
the settings we put in, reverting to old settings. Ended up changing the router.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

[Bull at a Gate]

Thanks Mr Bubble and Mr N for your helpful suggestions. I will try them out over the coming week. Mrs Bull will be very grateful!

[Keef]

It's not at all unusual for someone nearby to install a new WiFi router and for it to clash with existing. The simple fix is to move yours.

If you're lucky, your cellphone has a "find WiFi" feature that will tell you which channel it's on. (iPhones are blocked from doing this by Apple, unless you jailbreak them and install WiFiFoFum full version, as I have).

I had a spate of visiting locals and moving their WiFi to free channels a while ago. I suspect the same may cure your problem.

[Bull at a Gate]

IT'S FIXED!!!!

Thank you so much for your help. You have made me very happy, not only because the switches now work, but also because, with your help, I have learnt something.

This is what I did. I downloaded WifiInfoView onto my laptop and discovered that my router was using channel 2 while another network was using channel 1 (probably my next door neighbours given the strength of the signal). So I changed the channel my router using from "auto" to 11 and set up the switches from scratch. Instant gratification!

You are all very clever, and very nice to take the time to offer suggestions.

[Bull at a Gate]

And in further good news I have bought, and successfully installed, another wemo switch so that I can turn on the coffee maker without getting out of bed.

[Dushan]

I asked for help from my son (works in IT) and my stepson (PhD in engineering) but neither had any idea about what I should try next.

I am glad you fixed it. In view of the above I would have suggested engaging your 12-year old nephew if it still didn't work.