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HD-12 Keeps disconnecting from wi-fi

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Mark52479

April 19, 2017 12:45

Anyone else having any network issues recently?

I have had the HD-12 for almost 2 years now and has worked flawlessly. About 1 week ago I started having connectivity problems.

From the app or the web interface it says "no rain machines detected". I go to the actual unit and the screen is black, I tap to wake the machine up and it wakes up says "no-wif" then abut 5 seconds later it connects back to wi-fi on its own and everything works again. It is almost like the machine went into a deep sleep mode until I tapped on the screen to wake it up.

Nothing has changed in my house I have had the same router for years and everything works except the rain machine.

Any ideas?

Comments

45 comments

RainMachine Nicholas April 19, 2017 15:22

Can you take a picture from Settings (Wrench) > System > Network tools ? I would like to see the signal strength.

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Mark52479 April 19, 2017 15:28

I will get a picture when I get back home but when it checked this morning it was at -64dbm

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up4speed April 19, 2018 19:14

I have the SAME EXACT problem and it started just recently. I am using an Orbi WiFi, and the strength is -45 DB with full WiFi bars.

I had tried a replacement HD-12 unit, and it acted the same. Apparently there seems to be a compatibility issue. Please post the solution if you solved the problem.

Thanks

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RainMachine Nicholas April 20, 2018 06:03
So it worked before and now it doesn't without any real change in your network setup ? Are you using repeaters in your setup ?

Could you follow the instructions here to access your RainMachine console and then at the command prompt do:
```
echo "wifi.supplicant_scan_interval=60" >> /system/build.prop
sync
reboot
```
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up4speed April 20, 2018 13:30

The only change in my set up would be firmware updates on either the Rainmachine or Orbi WiFi. There are no repeaters, Orbi is a mesh system that has outstanding coverage throughout my whole house, it works with a base and 2 satellite units that communicate with each other on a dedicated channel. I have over 20 other items connected, including other 2.4ghz items. Other than the Rainmachine hookup (or intermittent lack of), I don't have any other issues with the system. After researching it the best I can, I discovered that the issue may be with the compatibility of the Rainmachine's 2.4ghz system. The wireless router may keep trying to bounce it to a 5ghz signal, and this may be locking it up. I have a few ideas that I'm trying out, and I will post if I find a viable solution.

Unfortunately the instructions above are beyond my troubleshooting at this point, but if I run out of options, I will call tech support again to take it further.

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Windycitycy April 30, 2018 01:59

I am having this same issue. Just started recently. I have a Netgear Orbi router as well (both the Orbi and the HD12 have been on my network for over a year) .. every other device on my network works fine except for the HD12. I rebooted the HD12 from the LCD screen but it keeps sending an intermittent message to my iphone that the RainMachine is Online. It keeps going offline and then coming back online multiple times per hour. I could use some help to fix this issue.

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up4speed April 30, 2018 02:47

The issues we are having are known to Rainmachine. We are not the only ones.

I may have some good news possibly. I'm not completely sure that I have found the solution, but I have not had a disconnect in well over a week now! That's the first time it went so long since I started having the problem. The "fix" that I tried right before it stopped disconnecting was to manually reload the Orbi firmware. I had the latest firmware already (automatically updated). I Downloaded the firmware manually and installed it from the file manually, thus overwriting the firmware (same version). I have not had a disconnect since. It may be luck, but I guess time will tell, and it can't hurt for you to try it, so please post the results after you try. If it solves the problem, I will call Rainmachine tech support to let them know. I have been working on it for a while rying to help out.

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RainMachine Nicholas May 07, 2018 09:53

Please let us know if overwriting firmware solved these issues for Orbi routers. We'd like to keep track of this issue.

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up4speed May 07, 2018 13:44

Hi Nicholas,

So far it remained connected since I did the software overwrite!! It's been a few weeks. Since the disconnect is completely random (I couldn't find pattern), I'll never know 100%, however, before I did this overwrite, the longest it went without a disconnect was about a week. It varied from minutes to the full week. At this point, I think it's been 2 1/2 weeks plus.

If it fails again, I will definitely update this thread.

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Jeff May 23, 2018 21:20

Hmm. I wonder if my mesh system isn't playing well. I've been having extremely long times to establish a remote connection, and my IFTTT actions won't work. Only thing new this year is Google Wifi mesh routers.

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Morgan May 31, 2018 07:26

Same problem with both of my HD-12s and an Amplifi-HD mesh wifi system. I've had this equipment for over a year but this only started happening within the last month or two.

As described here, the HD-12s will go "offline" if I reboot my router, and they randomly decide to stop performing on wifi properly. They are connecting, sort of, because I can ping them with about 88% packet loss and 6ms to 45ms latency (1.5ms is the norm). The fix is to manually tap the blinking wrench icon and then they'll regain proper connectivity.

Since we're seeing this with multiple mesh routers, I'm inclined to think the problem is related to HD-12 firmware updates and not something with the router. I say this because I also have a RainMachine Mini-8. It's 150 feet away in an enclosure that I had to rig with a 9dbi 15in wifi antenna. I've not had to touch it since I set it up year ago and it's not had this problem.

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RainMachine Nicholas May 31, 2018 07:48

The only related change that was added in recent update is the WPA KRACK vulnerability fix. It's not something we can replicate on our test environments although we are using repeaters for these cases.

That being said we are going to release a beta firmware soon that has an forceful reconnect in the case the system doesn't recover itself.

What you could try with current version:

1. Settings > System > Display > Check "Keep screen on but dim the display"

2. Forget all networks that you have previously connected. Connect to the chosen network.

Let me know if the above steps do improve things.

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Morgan May 31, 2018 19:38

Worth adding, the reason I searched for this issue and posted last night was because I was experiencing this problem with both of my HD-12s following a router reboot (had to swap out some new UPS batteries forcing a complete power cycle of all my networking gear). One of the HD-12s I was able to conveniently reach for the "touch of life" on the wrench icon. The other unit is buried in an outdoor BBQ counter and that's the one I could not easily get to and was planning to reset it today. But within a few hours of posting my report, that unit decided to "right" itself and now appears to be OK. Hope this helps with debugging and a proper fix.

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RainMachine Nicholas May 31, 2018 20:46

So:

1. Unit didn't connect until you touched the display/buttons and then connected.

2. Another unit did connect after a long while.

Is this correct ?

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Morgan May 31, 2018 21:48

Correct. Seems like you can force the fix by interacting with the unit. But if you leave it alone, it may recover on its own from what I observed.

Here's a snippet from the system log at the point where it was wedged (and 5+ hours of repeating "Refreshed WIFI Information" entries are omitted) and then recovered at about 3:30:46:

2018-05-31 03:13:39,637 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:15:39,797 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:15:41,803 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:17:41,964 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:17:49,979 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:19:50,132 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:19:52,746 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:21:52,667 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:21:58,679 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:23:58,845 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:24:04,857 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:26:05,030 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:26:19,859 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:28:20,020 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:28:22,027 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:30:22,184 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:30:46,226 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:30:56,895 - INFO  - rmParserManager:505 - ** Forcing parsers run because program 2 will start in 540 seconds
2018-05-31 03:30:56,941 - ERROR - rmParser:133 - *** Error in parser 'WUnderground Parser' while downloading data from http://api.wunderground.com/api/b0ccb2f3c2be9b8f/geolookup/conditions/forecast10day/yesterday/q/pws:KCAELCAJ108.json, error: 
2018-05-31 03:30:56,944 - ERROR - rmParserManager:167 -   * Cannot execute parser WUnderground Parser
2018-05-31 03:30:56,946 - ERROR - rmParserManager:168 - 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'read'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./RMParserFramework/rmParserManager.py", line 164, in run
  File "./RMParserFramework/rmParser.py", line 47, in timedPerform
  File "/rainmachine-app/RMParserFramework/parsers/wunderground-parser.py", line 77, in perform
    jsonContent = d.read()
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'read'
2018-05-31 03:30:56,964 - WARNING - rmParserManager:180 -   * Parser WUnderground Parser returned no values
2018-05-31 03:30:57,003 - INFO  - noaa-parser:83 - Fetching Hourly data from https://noaa.rainmachine.com/xml/sample_products/browser_interface/ndfdXMLclient.php
2018-05-31 03:30:57,010 - ERROR - rmParser:133 - *** Error in parser 'NOAA Parser' while downloading data from https://noaa.rainmachine.com/xml/sample_products/browser_interface/ndfdXMLclient.php?lat=32.7752174&lon=-116.8766236&startDate=2018-05-31&format=24+hourly&numDays=6&Unit=e, error: 
2018-05-31 03:30:57,012 - INFO  - noaa-parser:87 - Fetching Daily data from https://noaa.rainmachine.com/xml/sample_products/browser_interface/ndfdBrowserClientByDay.php

At this point, it was back online and I was able to get to the dashboard to do a manual reboot. Prior to the reboot, there were a few of these in the log:

2018-05-31 03:39:07,520 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:39:17,714 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')
2018-05-31 03:41:17,880 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: '192.168.0.30' new ip: None)
2018-05-31 03:41:24,979 - INFO  - rmThreadWatcher:301 - Refreshed WIFI Information. (old: None new ip: '192.168.0.30')

So it seems like it was still struggling even after I regain connectivity. After the reboot, I don't see any of those.

Ed111 June 01, 2018 17:23

Just cross referencing another thread in the Ideas section with the same problem described.

https://support.rainmachine.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115009228268-WiFi-wireless-issues-upon-restoring-wifi-connection

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Jeff June 04, 2018 19:14

I don't know if it's related, buy my HD-12 is incredibly slow to show up in the app in a remote, or even local connection. If I just want to connect to start a zone, it will take nearly a minute at best, or even several, sometimes it just times out completely after saying downloading data for a long time.

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Cole June 15, 2018 15:58 (Edited June 15, 2018 15:59)

Im seeing the same repeated disconnect issue that has started in the last month or so. Signal is usually around -61 db. Flashing wrench then 5 seconds after you wake the screen it reconnects. Forcing the screen to stay lit appears to make it even worse to the point I have to manually reconnect the device.

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RainMachine Nicholas June 15, 2018 17:27

Jeff, if it's also on local connection looks like an WIFI signal strength/interference issue. You could try a Reset to defaults from the device itself (Settings > System > Updates) and then restore your program/zone settings from phone backup.

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RainMachine Nicholas June 15, 2018 17:28 (Edited June 15, 2018 20:13)

Cole, issue noted, I'm waiting for your feedback on new update if it works better.

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Cole June 15, 2018 18:30

Thanks Nicholas, I will reports back with my findings after the next beta window opens on the 19th.

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Rmleemhuis June 19, 2018 16:54

If you have an Orbi, I had this issue and it was recently fixed with a beta firmware update:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/Orbi-firmware-update-v2-1-4-16-availability/td-p/1584969

Seems like the same issue that was plaguing homekit was affecting Rainmachine. Updating to this has fixed the issue for me.

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RainMachine Nicholas June 19, 2018 18:01

Thanks for letting us know, it's important for us to know of any compatibility issue with different routers.

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Mark52479 June 19, 2018 18:42

Hello all,

I was the one that started this thread and I have been following along.

I want to add that last week I changed over to Google Wifi mesh system. So far so good. I am on the beta software so I dont know if that makes a difference.

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Cbrinser September 13, 2018 20:17

I have this exact same problem, but I use Ubiquiti Unifi AC Pro access points. Things worked flawlessly for multiple years and then all of a sudden the unit loses connection in the exact manner that the original poster describes. Touch the blinking wrench and the unit "wakes up" and wifi is instantly restored. Nothing in my network changed.

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Scott A September 16, 2018 18:00

Same issue with Asus AIMESH. I just setup a guest SSID which which is on the Mesh Hub router but is not part of the mesh (also happens to be the closest to my rainmachine HD12) . So far so good but it looks like it has stopped disconnecting.

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lanbrown September 16, 2018 19:16

Some devices have issues if the SSID is hidden. I had a device that would have disconnect issues with a hidden SSID; the other IoT devices didn't have an issue. So I just created a new SSID just for that one device; locked the SSID down to a single MAC and only a single authenticated device allowed at a time. A year later it has yet to disconnect. My wireless is with enterprise network gear; so I do have multiple AP's.

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RainMachine Nicholas September 17, 2018 08:16

Hi Ian,

Yes good point most of these mesh compatibility issues can be solved by creating a separate SSID for RainMachine or in some cases a separate SSID for 2.4GHz devices.

Also in some cases for HD12/16 enabling Settings > System > Display > Always keep screen on but dim the display fixes the issue. We are still investigating why this works and in the current beta for HD12/16 we made several changes to WIFI reconnect code (instead of waiting for OS to reconnect we now detect and log the WIFI disconnect and force OS to reconnect to last known SSID)

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RKSpartan April 12, 2020 21:06

I am also having this issue but with Ubiquiti Unifi AC PRo Access Points like @Cbrinser noted. Same thing, If I touch the wrench it reconnects.

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RKSpartan April 12, 2020 21:24

RainMachine Nicholas' comment from September 17, 2018 I believe has helped me figure out how to resolve the issue. I switched my hotspots band steering settings from prefer 5g to balanced and all seems to be working for the moment. I am now able to stay connected while walking around the house and after leaving the app and coming back despite not being near the RainMachine.

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