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.