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Forum Discussion
Orbi and WEMO don't work
Installed the Orbi whole home wifi. Upgraded manually to latest BIOS. Everything is working OK (need to reboot one satellite every now and again) except the WEMO gear. Sometimes it works, most of the time it doesn't. I've gone through setup on a number of devices...when they show available networks my home network is listed three times with the same SSID. Seeing three exactly named networks in my house seems like a bug in either Orbi or WEMO. Netgear folks...do you have WEMO hardware in your test lab? If not, please get some immediately and make sure it works.
This is a deal breaker for me since my house is loaded with WEMO hardware. I've already returned one Orbi set to Costco because it was overly flakey, had problems updating BIOS manually, etc. I'm ready to try another system but wanted to know if you're aware of the problem and a fix is available.
9 Replies
I have two WeMo light switches, four power plugs. a humidifier and a crock pot...all work without issue with my Orbi in AP mode.
The issue of showing the same AP multiple times is because the WeMo app doesn't consolidate by SSID and instead separates by MAC - one of a great many flaws in the WeMo app.
Rodney
One thing I would suggest is that if you haven't checked for new firmware for your WeMo devices in a while, do so - there have been a number of important updates over the past six months or so.
Rodney
- I also have a WeMo switch and Air Purifer and it all works flawlessly! I also have dropcam, Wink Relay Switch all tied together using IFTTT and Amazon Echo, I occasionally get random disconnects from just my dropcam pro but everything else is pretty solid including my wemo switch which struggled with my previous setup cause of the range.
FWIW... I don't think WeMo hardware is super reliable to begin with.
My WeMo Switch never worked right with my Orbi, so I ultimately replaced it with an iDevices switch instead. Of course, this may not be an option for you since you have so many WeMo devices.
But, going forward, you might want to think about slowly swapping out your WeMo hardware for other products that work better and last longer.
Based on the quality of software, reliability, number of available devices, etc., I'm not convinced that Belkin is investing enough in the WeMo platform and I suspect on some timeline Belkin will eventually stop supporting WeMo.
In any event, good luck with your situation. Replacing the Orbi is probably your best bet (if you don't want to give up your WeMo stuff).
Not sure if you have done this, but I had to delete the Wemo app (iOS) and then reinstall, then redo the setup. Before that, it was hit or miss with the app connecting to the Wemo switch and/or link/bulb. Also had issue with firmware updates never finishing. All has been good since reinstalling the app and redoing the setup.
Turns out the WEMO gear doesn't respond well to ip range changers. I initially setup the device on a dlink router which defaults to 192.168.0.xxx. After installing Orbi I reprogrammed but switches were flakey and eventually went offline. Changed the default IP on Orbi from 192.168.1.xxx to 192.168.0.xxx and all switches, including reprogrammed ones starting working immediately. My guess is this wasn't a tested scenario by the folks at Belkin.
also tried uninstall/reinstall app...did not help.
during WeMo setup the app shows three networks...another WEMO bug
Thanks all!
Hope this helps someone else!
