Why is my Rachio "off line"?

[alfredoj]

Just got on the web app (to check why my rain sensor didn’t activate today, since it rained cats and dogs). My sprinklers came on this morning, and I got notified on my iPhone. But tonight it says off-line

I went out to the garage and only the bottom two lights are on. What should I do?

Thanks

[DLane]

@alfredoj - is the second light from the bottom solid or blinking?

See -> http://support.rachio.com/article/425-offline-troubleshooting-tips

out to the garage

So what is the WiFi signal strength in the garage by the Rachio unit?

Worst case, restart the internet modem, WiFi router (if separate from modem) and then the Rachio unit (I hate recommending this, but sometimes things get out of sync an this is the quickest way to get them all talking again).

[alfredoj]

Both bottom lights are on solid. I just walked out to the garage with my iPhone. The signal looks perfect. I ran a speed test and got 14Mbs down / 3.4Mbs up. That seems like a pretty good signal. I unplugged the Rachio for a few seconds, then plugged it back in. Will report back if that works.

[alfredoj]

I think the power cycle worked. It is not showing Online.

[mckynzee]

@alfredoj Did you mean “now showing online” or “not showing online”?

[alfredoj]

Sorry, it is now “Online”.

Funny thing though, today I was heading out and noticed the lights on the Rachio were blinking again. Not sure what is going on, but it is Online at the moment. I’ll keep an eye on it. It could be our crappy power. I may need to find a UPS. I have a spare laying around here somewhere

[mckynzee]

That is strange @alfredoj-

Keep an eye on it, and let me know if you get stuck on any lights flashing again, and we can get you sorted out! Hopefully it just reconnects on it’s own. It does sounds like a power issue, your connection has been fine up until recently and it doesn’t sound like anything has changed…

[alfredoj]

It seems like every time I go to the web page (https://app.rach.io/), which I leave up in a Chrome tab, it has been showing my Rachio is Offline. I reload the page, and it is back Online. I’m wondering why this seems to be happening so much lately. I never had this happen until recently. Is it getting updates or something? Thanks

[mckynzee]

Hey @alfredoj-

There have been no changes I know of… that’s very strange. And your controller is showing all four lights solid?

McKynzee

[shagon13]

Hello,

I have the same issue. However, my light shows as one solid light. Any idea how to address the Offline issue?

Thanks,
taylor

[cfperna]

I’m have a similar problem, I have be using by gen 1 16 station controller for years with out issue, but recently it goes offline suddenly, checking the controller the wifi light is dark, no blinking at all. A power rest brings the system back and thing begin to work again, but after hour or so the system goes again offline with the the same symptoms ( on wifi liight blinking).

Any have this same problem with gen1 controllers. Rachio support team any trouble shooting recommendations are welcomed

[CoolBreez]

This is a problem. I recently had a 5 minute power outage. Not uncommon where I live. All IP stuff came back up nicely except Rachio. Lights said it was IP connected but app said offline. Tried power reset multiple times to no avail. Puzzling through I decided the most timely solution might be to reset the router. That worked. Now I have the conundrum of not being able to leave home during irrigation season due possible random power outages. I see that I can setup a CRON job to reset my router daily but not sure this would solve the problem. Would also require time consuming testing. Glad I kept my Rainbird controller…

[DLane]

@CoolBreez - wouldn’t it be better to put the router on a small UPS so that it can bridge the power outage? I’m wondering if there is a race condition when power is restored and the Rachio is getting default information instead of the actual connection values? Out of curiosity, how long is the DHCP lease for? How long after the power outage was it when the router was reset? Is there an address reservation created for the Rachio or does it just grab the next available address in the DHCP range?

[mitchell]

Hey @CoolBreez,

In the event that your controller gets knocked off your WiFi, fear not, as the onboard persistent memory on your Rachio will continue to run your current active schedules! You can learn more about what will happen if your controller goes offline from our Support article here.

If you call into our Support Line (1-844-4-RACHIO) or schedule a call here one of our representatives would be happy to troubleshoot why your Rachio is not automatically reconnecting to the WiFi.

@cfperna, @shagon13 are you both still having issues with your controller? I also recommend that you call into our Support Line so one of our senior representatives can walk you through troubleshooting your controller directly.

[Linn]

Just FYI, @CoolBreez, but I have frequent power outages where I live, sometimes just a blip, other times minutes, and sometimes hours. So far, I have yet had a problem with my Rachio reconnecting (it’s been 2 years now). So hopefully your problem where you had to reset the router was just a one time thing.

[CoolBreez]

Router and cable modem are on the same UPS. I’m not certain how long the power was out but in any case the IP provider’s nearby fibre node would have been out too. No backup power there. We’re in a semi rural area.

Race condition…pretty sure that’s what was going on.

DHCP lease length. Don’t have a definitive answer there but in the past they have been pretty persistent. I’d wager the oiutage got me a new lease when things came back up though.

The outage was while we slept. Guessing my reset occurred 3-5 hours later.

No fixed DHCP address for Rachio. Do you think that would help?

[CoolBreez]

Vacation time coming up imminently. Will connect with support on return. Thanks for assurance of persitent schedules in Rachio memory. I didn’t know.

[DLane]

@CoolBreez - I prefer address reservations as I’ve found that has eliminated some problems. In other posts DHCP reservations has solved networking issues for others. At half the lease time, many SOHO routers use 24 hours for a lease, the device should ask if it can extend the address lease and it might update addressing information then.