Connecting Rinnai Wifi controller to my network

[Habspensfan]

I have an Ayla-brand Wifi controller for my Rinnai tankless water heater.  I cannot get it to connect to the network.  It is a 2.4 GHz device.

I am using the phone app to complete the pairing process, similar to how you would with an Alexa or similar device.  The handshake never completes, signal strength is fine.  

When I enable the guest network and try to connect the wifi controller, I can get the device to talk to the network, but the pairing will never complete.  I have tried to input the MAC address into the router configuration hoping it would recognize the device.  No dice.  What can I try to get this controller, something for which I have little to no ability to configure, to connect to my network so that I can control the settings for my water heater?

[plemans]

Some smart devices struggle to connect to devices with smart connect. Here's what I'd try. 

1.  go into your settings on the router and turn down your 5ghz signal strength. this will force the orbi and device to both connect to the 2.4ghz. 

2. Make sure your by the device when you're doing the setup so your phone is connected to same router/satellite.

3. If it still doesn't connect. Try shutting down extra satellites to make sure the phone and heater are both on same router. 

Once you have it connected, you can turn your signal strength back up on the 5ghz. It'll stay connected fine. Its just to get it going the first time. 

If this doesn't work, there's other methods you can try I can go over more at length

[Habspensfan]

Thanks.  I tried those steps in order as you provided them.  No luck with those.

I'm happy to learn of some more tips to try if you have the time.   Thank you for your help.

[plemans]

You can either take an old router or your phone (hotspot) and setup the wifi with the same ssid and password that your current setup has. Shut down your current setup so it doesn't get confused. Try setting it up this way. If it connects and you can go through the setup, once its setup, shut it down and reboot the orbi setup. If you used the same ssid and password, it should connect and associate with it. 

If it doesn't with the other router/hotspot it might be an issue of the smart device and not the smart connect feature.