HomeKit remote access not always working

Here’s what I spent a good chunk of last weekend doing.

• Setup my new TP Link AC5400 router to replace the old and tired AirPort Extreme
• Delete all scenes and accessories from HomeKit
• Delete/unpair/unregistered all devices from their respective apps
• Deleted my home from the HomeKit app
• Factory reset all devices (when I say all I mean all, including Apple TV and iPhone)
• Sign into the newly-reset iphone and then the Apple TV
• Installed the Lutron app for lights And setup the entire Lutron system in the Lutron app
• Installed the Hue app And setup my one individual Hue bulb in the Hue app
• Installed the Ecobee app and setup the Ecobee 3 device in the app
• Opened HomeKit for the first time since deleting my home in step 3
• Added my 3 systems one by one into HomeKit making sure each device was setup before moving to the next one, this way I don’t have to go back and change a single thing once I’m done
• Configured individual scenes and tested each scene after it was created
• ** dramatic pause **
• Turned. Off. WiFi.
• ** second dramatic pause **
• IT WORKED!

I was able to tell Siri to turn on the lights for the dogs and everything happened like clockwork. I left WiFi off on my phone for the rest of the night to make sure the other Siri controlled scenes and schedules worked. The next morning I woke up and the lights I scheduled for my morning routine we’re all running properly. So I turned WiFi back on for the phone and felt my eyes welling up with tears.

When Apple says reset or factory reset, they mean EVERY. SINGLE. THING. Perhaps all of this wasn’t necessary for most people. But with the new router I changed my SSID for a couple reasons. So reconnecting everything to WiFi is really only two steps away from factory resetting it all.

Lets see what the next few days hold for me. It was a solid 5 hours of non stop resetting/downloading/configuring/testing and I’d really like it to last longer than a week this time.

3 days ago I made a few tweaks and since then I have not had any connection issues with my Homekit remotely:

> on my Netgear router 2.4: I switched the channel from auto to 11

> for good measure I also gave my apple TV a static route

It takes around 6 seconds for my Iphone to connect to my homekit remotely.

I will continue to test and see if it continues to work as it is supposed to.

I hooked my Apple TV directly to my router using an Ethernet cable and so far it’s been working fine.

I have had similar issues with outside the home connectivity as well as intermittent inside home problems.

My system includes Ecobee, Hue, Lutron, Liftmaster, Eve, Hunter and Schlage locks. Th biggest issues were with the Lutron, Liftmaster and Hunter accessories. The Ecobee was intermittently connected and usually had the wrong setpoint.

I have had a surprising, substantial improvement by simply restarting my WiFi router. Inside house on WiFi works again completely. Away from home connection works with occasional hang up with the hunter fan.

Good luck.

On December 29, I posted the following: "The jury is still out, but I am temporarily having success following the recommendations in this link. Apple TV HomeKit Disconnected

I made a channel adjustment to my router which was previously set to automatic and reflecting "severe" interference. Let's see what happens.."

I have had NO ISSUES since changing to the 5G network on my existing router (I was on 2.4 which had severe interference that I was not aware of), adjusted the channel to be fixed so that it did not change automatically. I did NOT get a new router. Just made adjustments in the settings on my existing router. This fix has worked perfectly for me.

Like others on this thread my remote HomeKit was working beautifully for about a month in December. Then something changed and has not worked since. My Apple TV 4K network is hardwired so this has nothing to do with router Wi-Fi frequencies. I read another article that said you must prevent the AppleTV from ever going to sleep. I tried this after toggling HomeKit off and on and thus far have succeeded in maintaining remote access. We’ll see how long this lasts.

Confirm same. Since moving to a single band on my Wi-fi I have had no issue since my original post

Hi had the same issue, I just tried to disconnect / connect the homekit on the Apple TV and it solved the issue right away:

go to Seetings > Accounts > iCloud > HomeKti > click to disconnect > click again to reconnect..

Now I can use HomeKit remotely via 4G again.

Update:

It has now been over a week and Homekit continues to work well remotely since I made the channel tweak.

FYI: I am using a Netgear router (R8000)

I hooked my Apple TV up to my router via an Ethernet cable. I’m hoping that will help.

This sounds exactly like what I was going through with this. I really didn't want to but a new router either, but I did because it was worth it to not have to restart my router every day or so and I need to be able to control my lights from work. I have had zero problems since getting top of the line router....

This is the best answer in my opinion. My Apple TV is listed many times in the Home app as being on standby, which doesn’t seem to work. When it says Connected, then everything is fine. So keeping it from falling asleep seems like a good idea. I just bought a HomePod, which doesn’t go to sleep and is also a home hub. It doesn’t go to sleep, so I hope it’s a better hub.

I had this issue lots. I’ve now set up three homekit homes. My biggest issue was Philips Hue, it is a rubbish system that I will never use again (I once had 34 lights) due to the poor customer service from Phillips and service agents that knew less about the system than I did. My best recommendation is remove it.

I now use a combo of; lifx, koogeek, Eve Elgato. They all have minor issues eventually but these seem to recover from toggling the power vs Phillips hue requiring a full delete and readd.

As an update, my system has been better, however not perfect. I updated my iPhone to the latest version, and it seemed to not work remotely again. So I updated the AppleTV, and rebooted and it started working again.

Sorry,

Only (temporary) solution is the long run with logging out of iCloud with each and every device - and the logging back on to iCloud for each device - with all the sync problems that gives. And if the first try does not work - try again.aa

This is simply a product in beta