Smart air filter``

[mikeprice]

Mrs mikeprice has bought a phillips air filter - which is apparently 'smart'

 

Seems to work fine in default and basic setting so that is all we need

 

but you are supposed to be able to connect to it via an app but I can;t get it to work so I though some of you may be able to give me a pointer and clear up some possible points of problems

 

OK - so to connect you download and install the app and start it up

then it asks if you want to add a new device - answer yes obviously

 

then you press 2 buttons on the filter for 3 seconds and it beeps and the wi-fi lights starts flashing

 

all seems to work except that it does not connect - times out saying no device found

 

now - the app says it finds SSiD XXXXXX - which is fine

BUT there is also an SSID of YYYYYY which is broadcast by the solar panel equipment and is always on the same channel as the main home SSID (Yes - I know!!!)

 

and the air filter can only use 2.4 GHz but my phone was on that anyway

 

Now - my phone is connected to the network - as usual

 

but the air filter is no and cannot be as there is no keyboard/pad to type anything in or display - so I have not idea what it thinks it can see

 

so a question - how does the air filter connect to the app on the phone when it is not on the network????

 

and how does it know which SSID to use - if there is more than one in range??

 

is there a way a device can connect to an app if it is not on the network??

 

Clearly one step is to power down the whole solar system to take the YYYYYY SSID out of the game

but any other ideas before I try that??

 

 

Thanks

[robyholmes]

Try turning 5Ghz off on your wireless system. Then try connect it.

 

With any luck, that will work and it'll continue to work if you turn 5Ghz back on.

[ZeroHour]

Basically when your device is in wifi pairing mode it can get you to connect using its {BLAHBLAH} ssid and the app talks directly to the device, the device scans the wifi in the area and you pick your SSID you use normally and give it the password and it then signs on to that.

 

My fitbit scales do that, to get them on the wifi I have to disconnect from my network and connect directly to the scales ssid and then go through the setup wizard to tell them the details of the ssid to use.

[MrEprise]

One of our Admin staff has a similar Philips Air Filtering unit which also apparently has 'smart' features.

 

When it's in an error state, it frequently shows 'FO' on the display. Think it might be trying to tell us something...

[mikeprice]

Thanks all

 

I have read somewhere that some 'smart' devices require you to disable the 5GHz band before trtying to connect

(as suggested above)

 

so I will try that first

 

however, it is not as easy as expected - I sort fo thought that I would just have to go onto the router and untick a box or change a entry in a drop down list

 

but no

 

Seems like I have to disable synchronising between 2.4 and 5 and then I can change the SSID for the 5GZ

After that I am hoping that I can disable the 5GHz without the 2.4 being affected - at the moment I can either do both (i.e. everything) or neither

 

help system on Sky is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard for anything less usual or more complicated than plugging it into the mains!

 

 

will try it tomorrow - can;t risk Mrs mikeprice loosing access to her puzzle games!!!

 

I will post back if I have more problems - or if I solve it so it is recorded - in which case I will also post it on any other relevant forums I can find

[mikeprice]

Hi all

 

Right - fixed the app problem

 

I spent quite a while ploughing through the Sky Router looking at how to disable the 5GHz part - and through everything on the WWW about it and found nothing

 

This morning I decided to just try it one step at a time and unclicked the "synchronise 2.4 and 5 GHz settings

then changed the SSID for the 5Ghz part so it was on a different SSID

 

Then applied the settings

 

Once it was settled I restarted the connection settings on the device and tried the connection again

It worked on the second go

 

so now it all works - not as useful as I hoped but that is apps for you - but it does allow remote control and shows some information that can;t all be displayed at the same time on the device

so OK

 

anyway - for anyone with a Sky Router who is having trouble connecting a 'smart' device that is worth a go

[jmak]

And now ventilation in your home is controlled by ne'er-do-wells on the interwebs [emoji16]

[mikeprice]

And now ventilation in your home is controlled by ne'er-do-wells on the interwebs [emoji16]

 

Probably - I do keep looking at it wondering if it just changed the fan setting because it is on auto and the environment changed

or if some spotty oik in a basement is playing

[southhamster]

Probably - I do keep looking at it wondering if it just changed the fan setting because it is on auto and the environment changed

or if some spotty oik in a basement is playing

It was me in my hamster cage!

Seriously, I do worry a bit about all the chatty IOT kit out there. My kettle doesn't need to talk to my toothbrush, or more importantly send whatever data it likes insecurely back to who knows where.