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Rachio keeps disconnecting from new modem/router

Troubleshooting
#1

Hello,

I have a Rachio 3 and it worked perfect with my old ATT Modem. I have recently switched to xfinity and purchased a ARRIS 7600AC2 modem and router combo. Unfortunately, my rachio 3, which is in the garage keeps getting disconnected every now and then. Sometimes it will stay disconnected for a long time and other times it will eventually connect back. When this problem occurs, the Rachio 3 will have the 2nd blue bar blinking. I’ve also checked signal strength in my garage and even though it drops some it still looks strong.

Can anyone help me troubleshoot what is going on?

Details on Router:
ARRIS 7600AC2
Contains 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks each with a different SSID but the same password

#2

This morning i decided to disable 5ghz on the router and reconnected the rachio 3 to the network to help rule out anything related to 5ghz band.

As a side note, sometimes when i re-connect rachio to my network ( due to blinking 2nd bar ) it tells me that an unexpected error occured but it still connects back up to my wifi network fine.

#3

Assuming that the ATT device was a ‘dumb’ modem connected to a separate router:

Were you satisfied with your old router (and additional access points, if any)? If so, you should be able to put the ARRIS in bridge mode, connect the old router and everything should work as before. See

Otherwise,

Confirm that the ARRIS is using the same 2.4 GHz channel as the old router. Assuming that your high bandwidth devices are normally all on 5 GHz, turn off any extension channel enabled on 2.4 GHz.

Why did you even run the app? Did you first confirm that merely rebooting the Rachio (remove power, wait a few seconds, plug it back in) does not result in it reconnecting?

#4

Hey Stewart,

I had to return the att modem + router combo since it was leased/rented.

Can you explain more what you a referring to about the extension channel on 2.4ghz? It also sounds like your suggesting all high bandwidth devices live on the 5 ghz channel?

Why did you even run the app? Did you first confirm that merely rebooting the Rachio (remove power, wait a few seconds, plug it back in) does not result in it reconnecting?

I can try and unplug and plug it back in next time. Not sure how they helps though

#5

It is unfortunately quite common for device firmware to not recover properly from various error conditions. Usually, rebooting the device will get it connected again.

IMO, you can minimize the chance of this happening by checking what Wi-Fi signals (other than yours) are seen at the controller location, and setting your router to use channel 1, 6, or 11, whichever has the least interference. Don’t choose ‘automatic’, as I suspect that if the channel changes out from under it, Rachio doesn’t always recover.

OTOH, if Rachio loses the stored SSID and password, that’s a much more serious matter. I believe that the controller is very stable in this regard. Unless you push buttons or go into the app’s settings, the SSID and password remain intact.

#6

@Stewart,

My Rachio Controller is again offline this morning. After unplugging and then pluggin back in the power adapter the controller finally reconnected.

Is there somehow i can see more details in some sort of rachio logs?

#7

Hey @Stewart,

Looks like my modem is set to auto. I went to the garage and check this tool and it looks like 6 is indeed the channel that is letter cluttered from the the location in which my rachio is installed

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image3805×1486 1.3 MB

I turned off auto for the channel selection and hardcoded it to 6 so lets see if it makes a difference.

#8

Rachio 3 is a very good product, the design, UI, functionality…etc. second to onone! But the communication (connectivity) is a pain in the neck.

#9

I have a similar problem. My wifi router is about 4 car width away and it disconnects quite frequently. I would guess that I have to unplug and plug in the controller about 3 or 4 times a month. My guess is there a 3 car with ignition systems in between the controller and wifi router. I’d would have to rewire the whole system to remove the engine interference noises.

#10

Ignition noise is pretty weak in the GHz range, especially with the hood down. Possibly, your router is changing to another channel and the controller can’t follow. Check what channel it’s on now and see whether it’s different after a disconnect. Or, if it’s on automatic, set it manually to the least crowded of 1, 6 and 11.

Also, check the signal strength (RSSI) at the controller. It’s possible that your garage construction results in a weak signal even at a short distance. (The direct path is blocked by cars, but one would expect that the signal could bounce off the garage ceiling and arrive at the controller plenty strong. However, sometimes construction details result in poor propagation.)

#11

Hey @Stewart,

So far after turning off the 5ghz network along with disabling the 2.4ghz “auto” channel configuration and manually setting it to 6 ( the least crowded at the time i checked ) i have not had a disconnect happen yet. Going to give it a full month but i hope the channel switching was indeed the issue.

#12

Another issue can be more than one access point with the same ssid. Not that you have that but many iot devices struggle roaming like that and often lock out. Sometimes multiple ip addresses get assigned and traffic doesn’t follow.