Video Doorbell can't connect to internet

[woodward98]

Unfortunately, there are some older devices that just won't work efficiently or at least reliably with newer WiFi routers. If you have an older router available, try setting it up as an AP connected to a lan port on your node. Set the AP to use WPA and AES/TKIP. I had to do this for an older device, and I used an old travel router which uses less than one watt of power. Not elegant but problem solved after all else failed.

I currently have a AX-GT11000, two XT-8s, and an outdoor BD5 (all hard wired) all running updated stock ASUS firmware. I bought this BD5 outdoor AP node at the hope of adding some front yard cameras. The outdoor BD5 is only an AP under my porch with two LAN inputs. It's not a switch, so it doesn't have any LAN ports. Just two inputs. Maybe I can find an old router and make it a wireless AP.

That's a thought. I haven't taken the charged doorbell to the back of my house or upstairs and seen if it will connect to my XT-8s. Maybe I can find a travel router for the Doorbell. Alternatively, I could move one of the XT-8s very close to the doorbell and see if it likes those. They're on the second floor and back of the house, far away from the Doorbell.

The whole SS system has static IPs and is on my primary network SSID. I had previously tried it on the Guest network 2. (The first Guest network with 2.4, 5-1, 5-2 has not intranet access and is for guests.) It didn't work, so I moved everything back to the main network.

I've MAC address rejected the SS devices from the 5Ghz networks, so they only work on 2.4Ghz.

It's so odd that the other cameras happily bounce around the mesh, but the doorbell, if it connects to the under-porch BD5 gets booted from the system.

 

[woodward98]

Unfortunately, there are some older devices that just won't work efficiently or at least reliably with newer WiFi routers. If you have an older router available, try setting it up as an AP connected to a lan port on your node. Set the AP to use WPA and AES/TKIP. I had to do this for an older device, and I used an old travel router which uses less than one watt of power. Not elegant but problem solved after all else failed.

It's currently WPA2/WPA3 and AES. I've tried WPA2 only and it was the same, so I switched it back to WPA2/WPA3. The other indoor cameras seem to work fine.
A SS rep told me over the phone that they'd implemented the doorbell with their older camera technology..... The same tech that they use in the camera that they now give away free with their system. I'm guessing it's junk.

 

[CaptainSTX]

It's currently WPA2/WPA3 and AES. I've tried WPA2 only and it was the same, so I switched it back to WPA2/WPA3. The other indoor cameras seem to work fine.
A SS rep told me over the phone that they'd implemented the doorbell with their older camera technology..... The same tech that they use in the camera that they now give away free with their system. I'm guessing it's junk.

I tried all flavors and settings with my Honeywell Thermostat and it was unreliable with my AX86 and impossible with my AX88 Pro which is why I went to an older travel router which works perfectly and is reliable for this one device. On my AX88 Pro I currently run WPA/WPA2 Personal on the 2.4 Ghz radio and WPA2/WPA3 Personal on the 5 Ghz radio.

 

[Ozymandyus]

For what it's worth Woodward, my issues with a SS doorbell stemmed from two things. First, it could not connect to a 5Ghz radio, and secondly, on the router, you cannot have 'Smart Connect' (auto-switching between 2.4 and 5Ghz radios) enabled. My solution was to disable Smart Connect and have the SS system connect to a 2.4Ghz only radio. Eventually, as some have noted, it was easiest to just dedicate a single, older router or AP to the sole purpose of supporting the SS system, so that the main system could benefit from the newer technologies.

Also, although I figure it's obvious but might bear mentioning...SS does not support WPA3. Stick to WPA2 for authentication.

 

[woodward98]

For what it's worth Woodward, my issues with a SS doorbell stemmed from two things. First, it could not connect to a 5Ghz radio, and secondly, on the router, you cannot have 'Smart Connect' (auto-switching between 2.4 and 5Ghz radios) enabled. My solution was to disable Smart Connect and have the SS system connect to a 2.4Ghz only radio. Eventually, as some have noted, it was easiest to just dedicate a single, older router or AP to the sole purpose of supporting the SS system, so that the main system could benefit from the newer technologies.

Also, although I figure it's obvious but might bear mentioning...SS does not support WPA3. Stick to WPA2 for authentication.

So tell me if this is basically the same:
I used the GT-AX11000's MAC filtering to block all of the SS devices from being able to access the 5-1 and 5-1Ghz channels. According to the router, they only access the 2.4Ghz. For what it's worth, I did turn off the ASUS "Smart Connect," which appears to be their fancy name for band steering. This didn't solve the issue.

I opened a dialogue with the SS help line that started with: "...and yes, 2.4Ghz only. Band steering is off. I rebooted all of the nodes. I reconnected the system. I did soft and hard resets. I removed and re-added the Doorbell. I moved it closer to the primary router (-50db) where it worked, but I get -78db when installed at my front door. The AP node gets -35db and is 7' just below it, under the porch. Yes, I have power. Yes, the doorbell rings...." and so on. That got me through the initial AI-generated troubleshooting. They could remotely see my devices but couldn't figure anything out.

They sent me a new doorbell. I haven't installed it yet. I rebooted, reinstalled, and reset the old one so many times that it stopped talking to me with its digital voice. There are still things to try.

A buddy of mine is a Level 3 network supervisor for 10k corporate computers nationwide. If I truly call No Joy, he said he'd be willing to run wifi active scans, network analyzers, and debug programs, but it'll cost me dinner and a 6-pack regardless if he solves it or not. That is way outside my paygrade.

 

[Ozymandyus]

So tell me if this is basically the same:
I used the GT-AX11000's MAC filtering to block all of the SS devices from being able to access the 5-1 and 5-1Ghz channels. According to the router, they only access the 2.4Ghz. For what it's worth, I did turn off the ASUS "Smart Connect," which appears to be their fancy name for band steering. This didn't solve the issue.

I opened a dialogue with the SS help line that started with: "...and yes, 2.4Ghz only. Band steering is off. I rebooted all of the nodes. I reconnected the system. I did soft and hard resets. I removed and re-added the Doorbell. I moved it closer to the primary router (-50db) where it worked, but I get -78db when installed at my front door. The AP node gets -35db and is 7' just below it, under the porch. Yes, I have power. Yes, the doorbell rings...." and so on. That got me through the initial AI-generated troubleshooting. They could remotely see my devices but couldn't figure anything out.

They sent me a new doorbell. I haven't installed it yet. I rebooted, reinstalled, and reset the old one so many times that it stopped talking to me with its digital voice. There are still things to try.

A buddy of mine is a Level 3 network supervisor for 10k corporate computers nationwide. If I truly call No Joy, he said he'd be willing to run wifi active scans, network analyzers, and debug programs, but it'll cost me dinner and a 6-pack regardless if he solves it or not. That is way outside my paygrade.

It sounds like you went a more complicated route than I did, but ended up in the same place. They sent me a new doorbell too, and the new one functioned better than the first, for whatever that's worth. No problems for a year and a half since I put all the SS on a discrete router and SSID.

 

[woodward98]

I'll let you know. I'd really like to not have to get another piece of equipment just to set up a separate network & SSID. I mean... That is what the GT-AX11000 router's Guest network is supposed to be for... To set up an IOT network with access to the intranet to allow for devices to communicate with each other on the different AP nodes. I do have an available ethernet jack on the 1st floor. I already spent $180 on this stupid outdoor BD5 that now does nothing. Such a bummer.

I even set up port forwarding rules for the cameras and the basestation, pointing the 8890 (I think) and 8899 ports to the cameras and basestation. That seemed to help, but not with the Doorbell.

I keep dreaming that I'm gonna figure this out and get to post a "Eureka" detailed solution on this forum and Reddit. Alas....

 

[degrub]

It is the IOT device that has the issue, not the ASUS. They don't/can't keep up and buy the cheapest network interface for the device.

 

[woodward98]

It is the IOT device that has the issue, not the ASUS. They don't/can't keep up and buy the cheapest network interface for the device.

I honestly believe that you're correct. The SS rep I spoke with even said that they used their old technology camera to put out a doorbell. I guess they were losing customers to Ring or Nest, which people seem to have had less trouble with.

I'm not in any way a network expert. I'll keep trying various workarounds until I get bored and give up. As a simpleton, I just can't fathom why switching AP nodes (from the router to the closest AP node) would kick it from the system. Every other SS device roams around the AImesh as needed. I just assumed that someone much smarter than me would have figured it out by now.

I've also been learning a little about networking, so it hasn't been a total loss.

 

[degrub]

You can try increasing the logging level in the router and see if anything shows up for that device MAC address. i don't know if the node will allow you to do the same or if the main router will catch the issue from the node.