Challenges Connecting a Dewenwils T30 "Smart Box"

[wesmc]

I have an outdoor pool timer from Dewenwils (a T30) that has worked reliably for a couple of years.

The unit has one recurring problem. Any change to the WiFi requires re-pairing the T30 to the WiFi. Usually, I can get this to work after 10 to 25 attempts. No luck this time.

The T30 is quite close to an outdoor modem with a solid 2.4GHz signal. A few other devices connect with no issue.

When attempting to pair the T30 with the Dewenwils App, the App seems to discover my T30 and prompts me for the WiFi SSID and password. Once provided, the T30 - after a few seconds - stops and restarts. Inevitably, it reports that it could not connect.

I suspect that there might be a "phone home" issue, where the device is trying and failing to reach a Dewenwils site. I don't have the right equipment to look at network packets. So, no insight into any handshake that might be failing.

I have tried power cycling the box, doing 5s resets, etc. Nothing seems to work.

I appreciate any insight and advice anyone can offer.

 

[Ahultin]

Do you by chance have a mesh network? I have found that some of the lower end 2.4ghz smart devices do not play well with mesh networks. I have some esp32 based devices which I have found shutting off my three mesh nodes when first setting up the new device makes it work much more reliably

 

[wesmc]

I do, four Cisco 140ACs. I've definitely seen some devices that don't play well in that environment. I've had cases where I have to bind something with 3 of the WAPs down. I have one SSID on the 140ACs that's 2.4GHz only for a couple of old Ring devices.

In the case of the T30, I have an outdoor modem that's only 2.4GHz and with a dedicated SSID.

I could bring the 140AC network all the way down and see if the T30 can bind to the outdoor modem with fewer competing frequencies in the mix. It might be worth a shot.

 

[wesmc]

Success.

I temporarily brought down all four of the Cisco 140ACs and was then able to connect the T30 to an Outdoor Modem.

The 140ACs squawked different SSIDs than the Outdoor Modem. I'm not clear on the specific issue with the T30. Perhaps it can't handle a congested air space.