Unable to consistently connect to C-8

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#1

I have been unable to reliably connect to my hubitat C-8.

Usually I cannot connect; when searching for the hubitat it will often show me a card with the text " Hubitat 169.254.7.95" and a connect button. But when I click the connect button, it opens a new tab that does not load anything.

I saw a thread suggesting to try this in incognito mode, but that did not help.

If I unplug the hub and plug it in again, then wait for the status light to turn green, occasionally I am able to connect to the hub.

I have tried to set up a DHCP IP reservation, for 192.168.86.165. On the last occasion that I did connect to the hub and went to the hub details page, it did list that IP address.

One thing that may be confusing things is that when I first tried to set it up, I tried to do the WiFi setup. When that failed (it was a while ago so I unfortunately do not remember the exact error), I did the ethernet setup. I didn't realize for a while that it might cause issues having both of them enabled. Last time I was able to connect, I went to the WiFi settings and told it to turn of WiFi.

Since then, I have been unable to reconnect. I have tried pressing the reset button on the bottom of the unit for 7 seconds and saw the light flash, etc.

Does anyone know what else I can try? Could there still be some confusion with the WiFi setup? I am a little confused about the IP showing on the "Connect" card not matching the IP for the DHCP reservation.

Thanks

#2

The 169.254.x.x IP means the hub could not reach the DHCP server to get an IP. So it will never work showing that IP.

Is the hub connected directly to the router (which I assume runs the DHCP)?
Any complex network topology setups? VLANs? Multiple switches, etc...?

I would reboot your networking equipment including router, and then reboot the hub and see if it will connect at that point.

3 Likes
#3

Thanks for the reply! Good to know about not reaching the DHCP server. That might explain why I wasn't able to even "sometimes" connect after disabling the WiFi; maybe it was never connecting through the wired ethernet at all.

The network is one of the suggested topologies suggested - I have a (Nest) router connected to the modem, a switch connected to that, and the Hubitat is connected to the switch. From the blinking on the switch, it looks like there is at least some traffic on the port connected to the Hubitat?

I rebooted the modem, then router, then Hubitat, and am still seeing the same 169.254.7.95 IP on the hubs card when I search (and it still does not load anything). Do I have to do something to make it "forget" / look again? I have some vague memory of seeing something like that on a forum post but cannot find it now.

Random other notes:

  • I did notice that after unplugging / replugging the hubitat, the status light went solid green after being blue for a while. However, checking back after a few minutes showed it blinking green and red. I tried unplugging / replugging it again and it is staying solid green, but I still cannot connect.

  • Earlier today I looked at the devices my router listed as connected to the network, and it listed the hubitat as a wired device. However, it is currently now not showing up.

#4

Blue light means the OS still booting, do not unplug things during that time.
Red/Green flashing means there is no connection.

Did you reboot the switch as well?
Something is preventing the hub from getting an IP from DHCP.
You could try plugging the hub directly into the router.

I know you said you tried the network reset, you could try that again as well. LED should flash blue a few times when you let go and then the hub will reboot (solid blue, then green).

You could use use the Advanced Discovery on the findmyhub page to see if that uncovers anything: http://findmyhub.hubitat.com/

#5

Thanks again!

I think you got it with the switch being the issue; it seemed to be working fine because a Hue bridge I had running off of it was working fine. Restarting it didn't do anything; but I tried plugging directly into the router and got connected, and then I just put it back in the switch but on a different port and it seems to have been working since.

In the past I've had it connect and then not work the next day, so here's hoping everything stays fine!

As an aside, I've always had to use the advanced discovery and provide the MAC address; the normal discovery never picked it up.

#6

This is pointing at a networking issue. The regular discovery should work instantly if the LAN is setup correctly and both devices are on the same LAN segment. You either have some sort of VLANs or segregation setup, or the switch is filtering out certain things. Or maybe you have totally different LAN segments. Maybe a factory reset of the switch is in order.

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