Device Conflict, won’t Connect to WIFI

[Gymbow]

I have an RT-AC88U Router than has been working fine with 20 devices regularly connected via WIFI. I recently installed a smart Orbit sprinkler controller, which connects via 2.4GHz to the Router. My issue is that whenever there is a power outage or cable outage, my Honeywell Smart Thermostat won’t connect via 2.4GHz to the Router. I’ve traced the problem to a conflict between the Orbit and the Thermostat. If I unplug power to the Orbit, the Thermostat will connect to the Router. I can then plug in the power to the Orbit and it will connect, so both devices then work correctly. I’ve been able to duplicate the problem & the fix. Note, both devices only work on 2.4GHz.

Is it possible to make changes in the Router so I no longer have to unplug the Orbit to get the Thermostat to connect? I’m no Router expert, but my guess is if I assign a fixed IP Address to one or both devices in the Router, this may work? Appreciate any help here.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Go to Network Map. Click on the round "Clients" button and a "Client status" tab appears on the right. Find each device in the list, click on it and set "MAC and IP Address Binding" to on. You can also give them a specific (more memorable) IP address here but that requires that you then power off/on the device to pick up the new address.

Note that you cannot bind IP addresses for devices connected to the first (leftmost) Guest WiFi network of each band.

 

[Gymbow]

Wow, didn’t know about that feature! I made the changes, will monitor to see if this resolves the issues I’m having. Thank You for your assistance, greatly appreciated.

 

[Gymbow]

Colin, I made the changes you suggested and had a power outage later in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the changes didn’t fix the problem. I had to unpower the Orbit before I could link the Thermostat to the Router. Note, after they both linked, I confirmed the MAC and IP Address Binding assigned the expected IP Addresses.

So I’m at a loss as to what is causing this issue with the Thermostat, or how to fix it. The only potential reason I can think of as to what is causing the problem is some kind of electrical interference created by the Orbit on the power line that messes up the Thermostat. I can’t think of any reason that the Router is to blame after making the change you suggested, but I’m no Router expert. Any ideas?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with these sorts of devices.

I was wondering, given the timing, whether the Orbit is creating it's own WiFi access point and the Thermostat is connecting to that instead of the router's WiFi.

A quick Google suggests that the Orbit does create an access point (at least when first connected and powered on) with an SSID of Orbit_SmartHome_XXXX. I don't know whether that's actually the problem. If it is then the next question is why is the Thermostat connecting to it? Is it because it's closer and has a stronger signal? Can you see the WiFi settings on the Thermostat? Does it know about Orbit_SmartHome_XXXX, if so can you delete/forget that SSID from it?

 

[Gymbow]

After a power outage where the Orbit connects & the Thermostat doesn’t, I can go into the Thermostat and tell it to forget my Router, then try to sign in again to the Router’s 2.4G SSID, but it fails to log in. Note, by this time, the Thermostat does not see any other SSID’s. The only way I can get it to log in is by disconnecting the Orbit power. So I think this would rule of the temporary Orbit access point.

I really appreciate your ideas. This is baffling me.