U2SockMonkey

Q: HomeKit accessories not responding in home, but do work outside.

Hello,

I just recently got a new Hunter Signal Ceiling fan which is one of the first HomeKit enabled fans. I have gone through the setup on my iPhone 7 Plus for the fan about 20 times. Each time, the setup works and the fan is controllable for about 1 - 5 minutes each time. Then both the buttons for the Fan and the Light start to show "No Response" on them. Clicking the buttons, surprise, has no effect on the fan or the light.

 

I have my Apple TV (4th Generation) setup as a hub. I also tried setting up my iPad as a hub. Neither helped with getting my fan to work. However... today we were out shopping and I happened to pull up the control center. I noticed that both the light and the fan buttons no longer said "No Response" and I tapped one. After a few seconds, the fan button said it was now on. Then I tried the light. Same positive response. I played with them a few moments and everything seemed to work... except I couldn't be sure because, you know, I wasn't at home.

 

So, when I got home, I tried again... back to "No Response" on the buttons. What the heck? So I then turned off the wifi on my phone and guess what? The "No Response" disappeared and both the fan and the light work.

 

So there's something about when my iphone is on my own wifi network, it can not talk to the HomeKit accessories. That makes no sense. Why would that be? Is there something on my router that I need to unblock (although I looked and could not find anything that is blocked).

 

I have contacted the support team for the fan as well. But I am starting to think that this is something with the iPhone, not the fan. Oh, and opening up HomeKit on the iPad will not work internally either.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Bob

iPhone 7 Plus, iOS 10.0.2

Posted on Oct 2, 2016 5:36 PM

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Q: HomeKit accessories not responding in home, but do work outside.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by SnickZ.,Helpful

    SnickZ. SnickZ. Oct 4, 2016 7:10 AM in response to U2SockMonkey
    Community Specialists
    Oct 4, 2016 7:10 AM in response to U2SockMonkey

    Greetings, U2SockMonkey!

    From reviewing your post, you've set up your Hunter Signal Ceiling Fan in your HomeKit and are using your AppleTV and iPad as hubs. Your iPhone 7 Plus on iOS 10.0.2 is intermittently getting a message of "no response" when you try to control your ceiling fan with it but it worked fine while you were away from home. This is apparently only happening at home and I'll be glad to help you get that working correctly.

    If your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch won’t connect to a Wi-Fi network -- I've found that iOS devices and a home network can stop talking to each other. Follow the steps in this article to make sure your home's Wi-Fi signal is strong and consistent.

     

    Take care and thanks for using Apple Support Communities!

  • by U2SockMonkey,

    U2SockMonkey U2SockMonkey Oct 4, 2016 7:15 AM in response to SnickZ.
    Level 1 (18 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 4, 2016 7:15 AM in response to SnickZ.

    Um, yeah... that's not the problem. My WiFi signal is very strong and everything is connected just fine. I'm not a novice at this stuff. I also happen to be an iOS developer. This is a bigger issue.

     

    Since my initial post, the connection to the light/fan have also stopped working when not connected to wifi.

     

    Bob

  • by napereirajr,Helpful

    napereirajr napereirajr Oct 4, 2016 12:45 PM in response to U2SockMonkey
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Oct 4, 2016 12:45 PM in response to U2SockMonkey

    I also have a new Hunter fan with HomeKit and have experienced the same thing.  However, the fans do not work outside the home either.  They seem to come online randomly inside the Home app and then quickly drop off.  I'm not sure what's going on.  All my other HomeKit devices work fine.

  • by U2SockMonkey,

    U2SockMonkey U2SockMonkey Oct 4, 2016 12:46 PM in response to napereirajr
    Level 1 (18 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 4, 2016 12:46 PM in response to napereirajr

    napereirajr,

    I am sorry you are experiencing the same issue, but I am glad to know it's not just me. Gives me hope that there's a firmware update for the fan or something that might correct this. Thanks for your reply.


    Bob


  • by napereirajr,

    napereirajr napereirajr Oct 4, 2016 12:57 PM in response to U2SockMonkey
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Oct 4, 2016 12:57 PM in response to U2SockMonkey

    Something I've been testing that seems (at least for now) a workaround is to remove the light/fan from HomeKit.  Then re-add them, but do NOT include them in your favorites list.  Just keep them in the room you want them to be in.  They seem to work better this way at least for now.

  • by U2SockMonkey,

    U2SockMonkey U2SockMonkey Oct 5, 2016 6:04 AM in response to napereirajr
    Level 1 (18 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 5, 2016 6:04 AM in response to napereirajr

    I was hopeful that this would fix my issue. Unfortunately, it did not. I did as you say and by the time I was done setting up the light (fan comes first in the setup) both items were showing up as "No Response." So immediately I was unable to use them.

     

    This is so frustrating considering how expensive this fan is from Hunter. It should not be this difficult in the Apple Ecosystem. Remember when stuff just worked?

    Bob

  • by napereirajr,

    napereirajr napereirajr Oct 6, 2016 12:00 PM in response to U2SockMonkey
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Oct 6, 2016 12:00 PM in response to U2SockMonkey

    Yeah my fix didn't last long.. only for about 10 minutes and then the devices went offline!