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User profile for user: jaybos
jaybos Author
User level: Level 1
13 points

Home hub hardwired to network makes devices stop responding

I have 2 Apple TVs that could be my home hub. Both are hardwired to the network with Ethernet, but that makes our Aqara g4 doorbell stop working (no response 70% of the time and if it responds no notifications). The doorbell did work well for about 6 weeks before those symptoms started.

I have a tri band router (two 5 ghz bands and one 2.4ghz) Putting both Apple TVs on the same WiFi network as the doorbell (2.4 ghz) makes the doorbell work flawlessly. But then many other of my devices stop working, and my 2.4 WiFi is much slower on the Apple TVs than hardwiring.


I have talked to Aqara support and tried MANY things to resolve this issue but nothing ha worked. They (aqara support) have said that the hub and the doorbell “has to be on the same 2.4 ghz connection” for it to work.


I find this odd since most of what I have read recommends that home hubs be hardwired for better speed and reliability and this “solution” they gave would never allow it to be hardwired. Also,

it did work for a while then suddenly stopped.


So I guess my question boils down to: How do people have hardwired home hubs and smart home devices that only work on 2.4 GHZ connections?


some further details:

Both Apple TVs are on the latest tvOS.

My Apple home is on the “new architecture”

Firmware on the doorbell is up to date

My SSIDs are slightly different so I know which band is which.

The router is a Netgear nighthawk R8000

I have factory reset the doorbell.

I have removed doorbell from Apple home and re-added it.

I have restarted my router.


Posted on Dec 27, 2023 9:20 PM

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3 replies
User profile for user: Vancouver22
Vancouver22
User level: Level 8
36,794 points

Dec 28, 2023 1:10 AM in response to jaybos

HomeKit does function better when connected to the same home Wi-Fi network that everything else is on. Mine are all using my 5G wifi except my ecobee thermostat which needs to be on 2.4 GHZ. It’s still on my network so it doesn’t seem to matter it’s not on 5G like everything else is. I use the 5G on the Apple TVs. I’m sorry I can’t anewer regarding the hardwired Ethernet with HomeKit because I don’t use Ethernet. I also have HomePods that act as Hubs and they can’t be hardwired. Perhaps that’s my saving grace, I don’t know.


I’d suggest trying the 5G for everything except the Aqara to see if this works. Or you can see if someone else chimes in with their hardwired experience.


Set up your HomePod, HomePod mini, Apple TV, or iPad as a home hub - Apple Support


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User profile for user: jaybos
jaybos Author
User level: Level 1
13 points

Jan 24, 2024 2:34 PM in response to jaybos

I finally got this working. Here's some details for anyone else with a similar issue.


TL;DR

Your Home Hub can and will switch between any AppleTVs you have. AppleTVs can and will use wifi for HomeKit tasks that require wifi, even when they are connected to ethernet. If your active Home Hub happens to be an Apple TV that is hard wired to the network and doesn't know about your 2.4 Ghz wifi connection, it will cause some apple home features to stop working for devices that are only compatible with 2.4 ghz connection. So make sure all your possible home hubs are connected to your 2.4 ghz bands of wifi, that they don't even know the password to the 5 ghz bands, and then ethernet connection shouldn't matter either way.


Here is the detailed explanation of how I discovered and tested this:


There are 3 important details that helped me solve the puzzle:

  1. As I mentioned I have 2 Apple TVs, but remember that the home hub will switch between the two of them as it sees fit.
  2. While both AppleTvs were hard wired, one of them has never been connected to our wifi at all and the other had been connected to both our 5 ghz bands and our 2.4 band as well.
  3. I found in another forum that AppleTVs can use ethernet and wifi at the same time, using the ethernet for most functions but wifi for some HomeKit tasks that require 2.4 ghz connections.


To troubleshoot, I unplugged one Apple TV from power so it wouldn't be used as our home hub. Then I unplugged the ethernet on the other and put it on the 2.4 band; doorbell recordings and notifications started working flawlessly. After a few days, I plugged the ethernet back in and it kept working. Next I added the other Apple TV back into the mix, plugged it in and connected it to the 2.4 ghz network and then plugged in the ethernet (to match what I did with the 1st Apple TV). Doorbell notifications and recordings worked for about 2 days then stopped.


This is when I found a forum that discussed detail #3 I listed above. Soon I had a new theory as to what was happening: If my home hub could be set to either AppleTV at any moment, and one of them could be connected to the either 5GHZ bands, or the 2.4 ghz band since it knew about all of them, that would explain why it would work for a while, then stop working. It was completely dependent on which AppleTV was the home hub and what wifi it was attempting to use.


To test the theory I set the 2nd Apple TV forget both the 5 ghz wifi bands, so it ONLY had access to ethernet and the 2.4 ghz band. (The other AppleTV was already setup this way since it had never connected to the 5 ghz bands)


It has been working flawlessly for over 3 weeks now, so I feel comfortable saying this is resolved.

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Home hub hardwired to network makes devices stop responding

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