Orbi RBR20 is blocking HomeKit

Bada-bing Bada-boom, all the accessories are showing up. Maybe it just took time like the bridge shifting over. I'm not sure how it all happened, but I'm really happy. Thanks for you help

Sadly, in the two weeks I've had HomeKit integration, it's rarely worked. I get "No Response" for every Home Assistant device almost all the time. Every now and then it works, but it's very sporadic.

Strangely enough, I installed Hoobs for Homebridge and it is extreemly reliant in the Home.app, so I'm not sure what that says about the situation.

Any ideas? I’d appreciate the help. I’m pretty beat down with all of this and thinking of abandoning HA or getting a different router.

Thanks,
Chris

Do you have UPnP enabled in Orbi, or are you using port forwarding in Orbi?

If you use port forwarding, what port forwarding do you have configured now in Orbi?

ekhalil UPnP is on, but it also looks like there's some port forwarding going on. Attached are 2 screenshots

If you have any PF configurations enabled, uPnP should be disabled...

---

chrisbrummel wrote:

UPnP is on, but it also looks like there's some port forwarding going on. Attached are 2 screenshots

---

FURRYe38 I turned off uPnP, restarted Home Assistant, and started up the Home.app, but still get "No Response" from the Home Assistant devices in the Home.app. It doesn't seem to have changed anything.

Did you restart the RBR as well after uPnP was disabled? 

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?

FURRYe38 — When you apply the change, the router restarts, but I didn't unplug it and plug it back in. The ISP modem is a Technicolor c2000t.

ekhalil — To the Pi, I am forwarding 8123 and 51829

Here's all that I'm forwarding:

• 192.168.1.253
  • 8123
  • 51829
• 192.168.1.254
  • 32400
  • 5900
  • 9091
  • 8989
  • 7878
  • 8181
  • 3000

---

chrisbrummel wrote:

.....

Here's all that I'm forwarding:

• 192.168.1.253
  • 8123
  • 51829

---

chrisbrummel Is the 51829 is the configured default port number in configuration.yaml in the Pi?

ekhalil Yes, it's 51829 in the config.

Talking to an IT friend of mine, he was confused as to why people are recommending port-forwarding, since this is all within the network and not dealing with outside inputs.

---

chrisbrummel wrote:

...........

....... why people are recommending port-forwarding, since this is all within the network and not dealing with outside inputs.

---

Because Homekit -like most Apple or Google services- is a cloud-based service and devices need to be connected to internet to be able to make those features/services work. That's why a port needs to be opened on the router's FW to allow access of the devices to the cloud.

1. Please try to change port 51829 to 51827 (tcp)
2. You also need ports 8123 (tcp) and also 5353 (udp) for Home Assistant interface and mDNS respectively. I see that you have 8123 forwarded, but not 5353? Please try this.

ekhalil — On the Orbi, I changed it to 51827 (tcp), and opened up 5353(udp). On Home Assistant, I updated the config for HomeKit to call out "port: 51827". I made sure that the Home.app was "opening fresh" and checked out the devices — "No Response" :/

1. After making changes in the Home Assitant, I don't think that changes will take effect "dynamically", I believe that you might need to restart the Home Assitant service and may be the HomeKit devices need to be restarted as well.
2. Do you have Armor (Bitdefender) enabled in Orbi?

1. I restarted Home Assistant to have the config enact the changes. Is there something more to do on that end? Should I also restart the Apple TV hub?

2. I do not use their "Armor" service.

Yes please, restart the Apple TV hub.

Restarted the Apple TV — "No Response" :smileyfrustrated:

Progress!! I updated the firmware to 2.3.5.36 - Hot Fix and I now have gone from 0% reliability to 66%! About 1/3 of the time, I get "no response", but this is a huge improvement. It also tells me that it's likely specific to the Orbi.

Thanks!

-Chris

Did you ever find the solution?  I am having the exact same issue. I had a working setup but, I had poor wifi signal so, I picked up an RBR50. Now I have the no response issue like you. I have tried all the same fixes you did to no avail. I am running newest firmware 2.5.1.8 and can't get it working. I think I'm going to have to dump the Orbi if I can't get this working. 

No solution. It's only gotten worse since my last message. It's not just Home Assistant that seems to have issues. My network, in general, seems to have better range, but create more issues in general.