HomeKit Not Working with Linksys Velop Wifi

Just a further update...

After a lengthy time dealing with some very helpful people at Linksys (John & Edward), there has been some progress.

It seems that the APs will only work on un-managed switches. Due to the layout of my house, the two Velop Nodes were connected via ethernet cables and between those ethernet cables was a managed switch.

It appears that the way in which these APs work means that some (in my case two different) managed switches cause issues with the communications between these APs.

The switches I had did not have any Vlans set up on them, however, once these were replaced with cheap, un-managed switches, the Homekit component started to work.

This has been a very frustrating and long resolution but this does go back to what several people mentioned either on here on Reddit which is that these APs are very basic in terms of what you can do with them when setting them up. The features they offer are very limited. If you have issues such as mine, the only option is to replace your expensive switches with cheap ones.

For the record, I have:

• HPE Office Connect 1810 J9902a
• NetGear GS110TP

Whilst both APs are now working (with the double NAT) and Homekit is working, I have been unable to join both APs with the ethernet backhaul as both refuse to connect and the child inevitably goes to red which means to connection.

There are still issues with this, but I am so grateful to finally, after over half a year, be able to use Apple Homekit again.

I will provide further updates if anything changes.

Thanks to everyone who helped with this and also to the two guys at Linksys who knew their stuff. Unfortunately, you have to go through a lot of not so experienced, script readers with Linksys support before you get to deal with the guys who really know their stuff and these guys did.

And another update, having spent almost three hours on this issue yet again this evening with zero result,

I finally got through to Daisy Jane P at Linksys Support. I am getting one sentence responses from her every 10-15 minutes which basically say "I am still checking things at my end". First she told me it is my EE Smart Router at fault. I pointed out that HomeKit worked faultlessly with the same EE Smart Router and Apple Airport APs before so this is certainly not a router issue. She then just keeps saying she is checking, 10-15 minutes later, I message again...still checking. This has been going on for around 40 minutes so far.

I noticed the following on the help section for the router...

Wireless Bridge Mode isn't even supported on this router. The only option available with Bridge in the name is Bridge Mode which is says: 'Select this to use Bridge Mode if your ISP requires it. You can choose to obtain an IP address automatically, or enter the information for your internet address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS entries. This information will be provided by your ISP'.

Every time I select this option, the router goes offline, I can connect to the setup SSID but I am completely unable to obtain a DHCP IP address on my client machine, if I try and enter in manual ones, I still can't locate the AP.

I have never known such a frustrating and impossible situation. Anyone reading these posts, DO NOT BUY A LINKSYS VELOP. The time that has been wasted on this trash is just unbelievable. It is quite obvious that their tech support are dealing with more than one customer at a time and expect you to wait 10-15 for a response, to which they give you a one sentence reply and then leave you waiting another 10-15 minutes.

Hi, another update from me, yet again, set it to Bridge Mode, this time using a web browser on a computer following the guide on the second link you gave me, light is purple showing ready to set up, totally unable to connect. It is giving no IP addresses at all when set to Bridge Mode and when I connect to the set up wifi SSID.

I have tried disconnecting and re-connecting, it is making no difference. Totally unable to proceed. I have tried to contact LinkSys support, I have been in a queue of 10 people now for over 30 minutes. It should not be this difficult.

Thank you very helpful!

I was already using WPA2 and a short SSID so that is fine.

Have always ensured that AP firmware is up to date, so the useful but now irrelevant info on Reddit re upgrading firmware won't help, but thanks, has been very interesting to read that. I will go through the comments on that thread next, but yes, as you sensibly suggested, I have been focussing just on the one node, rather than using both.

When I set them up, the backhaul was working via ethernet between them both, not sure if there is a way I can check that now to ensure that they are still connected to one another via ethernet. Both lights are blue on them so they are connecting. I had a lot of difficulty when setting them up and found that enabling STP on my network switches which connect between them both solved the issue.

Re your comments on Linksys being more like Cisco rejects... yes I can totally understand this now! The time wasted on this junk has been unbelievable.

Very good suggestion re maybe connecting the Airport onto a Linksys and also disabling 5ghz on the airport. I will give that a try as currently I have turned off Airport and I am seeing that Homekit randomly works, but most of the time doesn't. I have also disabled it on both Apple TVs and put my Hub iPad onto the Velop Wifi so Airport AP and respective SSID is currently not there anymore.

Currently the set up is...

EE (UK ISP) router providing DHCP > 1 ethernet cable to HP 1810 J9902a

From HP 1810 J9902a:

• 1 ethernet to downstairs
• 1 ethernet to intruder alarm
• 3 ethernet to various rooms upstairs
• 1 ethernet to Powerline Adaptor with other end in loft.
• 1 ethernet to old Apple Airport AP

Netgear GS110TP Switch in loft connects to:

1. Philips Hue Hub Box
2. Lightwave Box
3. CCTV NVR for house

• Velop AP1 in on downstairs connection
• Velop AP 2 is on one of the upstairs connections

It would appear that the Velop system has it's own DHCP server enabled whereby any devices connecting via the Velop Wifi get their own IP address starting 10.215.1.10 with a max user count set at 245.

My EE Router has DHCP enabled with a server address range of: 192.168.1.64-192.168.1.253.

The Velop APs have the following network IP addresses:

192.168.1.103 WAN Address - I can access this from devices not connected to the Velop WiFi, so ones connected on ethernet. I can also access this address from devices connected to the Velop WiFi.

10.215.1.1 - I can only access this address from a device on the Velop Wifi. This takes me to the parent AP

10.215.1.19 - I can only access this address from a device on the Velop WiFI. This takes me to the child node AP.

Note that there are no Velops in loft relying on Powerline connection, however I had to enable STP on loft switch to get the Velops to behave when first setting them up as they would not talk to each other.

@Lordothers mentions below about changing to bridge mode - I tried this, utter nightmare, couldn't connect to either APs, ended up having to factory wipe and start again so this 100% did not work for me. But thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks again for your very helpful post and further info.

I am about 75% now that this is going to have to go back as not for for use.

I had two chats with Linksys support yesterday, I got cut off of the first incredibly long one. In total, I was in a chat with them for four hours something. Just ridiculous that this would all take so long and still no positive result.

They can’t help me so have escalated it to someone else who is going to call me. Everything they suggested, I have already done and incidentally, what you suggest in your last post, I also did try.

I can’t replace the EE router totally as I have a UK copper phone line bringing in my broadband so the plug would not fit in the Velop.

If I try and do as you said and give the Velop a dynamically assigned IP, that works fine, however as soon as I go to the DHCP section to turn off DHCP (Connectivity>Local Network), Under Router Details, I notice that the “Router IP” starts with 10.something or another when it should be 192.168.1.x.

It allows me to edit this which I do. I went with 192.168.1.240 every time as I know this is clear and not leased out.

If I wait a few minutes, the 192.168 address changes back to a 10.x. Every single time. It refuses to keep the address.

Every single time I edit the address, it just changes it back. It doesn’t matter if you have DHCP on, off or you try a different address, in this area so it does not match the Velop dynamic IP address, it refuses to keep the IP you give it.

In the below photo, I have set the 'Router IP' to the address I want it to be and then within seconds, it changes back to a 10. Address again. This section is not the section you use to give the Velop a dynamic IP address, you do that in the basic tab, there is another section for that and I have ensured it had the right subnet and gateway as well as a free IP from the EE router DHCP range.

Every time I hit apply on this, within a minute, it goes back to the 10. IP range for the IP address under Router Details. It just will not accept this IP address. This is at the same time as it having a dynamically assigned IP. If I leave the Velop as DHCP, I still can change the IP address under Router Details but again, it will revert back not long after applying.

Thanks for your post.

Yes, this seems to be the case, though some connections do seem to go through. As an example, a wireless device connected to the Velop WiFi system can access my NetGear NAS drive which is connected to ethernet to the EE Router and thus gets an EE Router DHCP address, but the systems on the Velop WiFi are obtaining an IP from the Velop WiFi system and not the EE Router, so some connections seem to go through.

I had already tried twice what you suggested in terms of setting the AP to bridge mode and every time, it completely cuts out and shows a red light, as does the child node. I am then totally unable to gain any access, the WiFi is not able to be connected to and I am not able to proceed at all. The App will not open the APs and I am not able to access them via the web interface. The only option was to factory reset and re-set them up with the app which does not provide any options to set them up in Bridge Mode thus I am going round in circles.

I ordered this duo pack of APs in July 2021 and I am on the verges of returning them as "not fit for purpose" under the Sale of Goods Act. I have spent well over 2 days in my own personal time messing around with these devices and have got absolutely nowhere with them and on most occasions, actually worse off than if I had just left them alone. They clearly do not reliably support Apple Homekit, the support Linksys provide is not much better than my own technical knowledge. I made a posting on Reddit and it seems I am not the only frustrated user with several people saying they have ended up rolling back the firmware on their Velop to be able to make it work with Homekit. Surely, you should be ensuring your devices have the latest firmware, not reversing and going back to older versions.

I would never recommend these products to anyone with Smart Home devices who is planning on using Apple Homekit. Apple should remove these devices from their retail store.

Thank you for your reply. That is really useful, I had done quite a few searches online but never found these pages. So useful.

I am going to attempt this in the coming few days.

I did try last night, just logging in to the web interface and disabling the Velop DHCP just to see what that would do as I know that switching to Bridge Mode causes all kinds of issues. The DHCP disablement, caused a brief drop in WiFi connectivity as the AP rebooted, devices then joined but kept falling off of the WiFi, I am assuming it was due to the 24hr DHCP lease, but their IPs were still on the Velop range. Eventually, they would stay connected but it did not help with the Homekit issue, so I have re-enabled the DHCP on the Velop. When I have more time, I will factory wipe both APs, but only set up the one, and leave the other off. I will follow through those instructions on the two sites you found and use the web interface. I will configure to Bridge Mode and see what happens. If it works, I will configure the second one.

I am amazed, much like Mr Dong that you can't save or restore configuration changes as it would save so much time. If the above still doesn't work, I am going to send them back as I have wasted so much time on this now!

Thanks so much for your help with this 😉

Also, I forgot to put this last part to my last message...

If I give up with that and just turn off the DHCP server on the velop, when the lease time expires, my devices can’t pick up an IP address, so they are not able to communicate with my EE router which has DHCP enabled.