My Home app refuses to work

Tech Support
22

A minor update: I have rebooted the modem and gone deep into its settings to confirm that there are multiple bands set up with different SSID names and identifiers. The Homepod should only know what my iPhone knows.

I double checked the Macs in the house that are connected to our network, and it looks like the always-on Mac Mini that’s plugged in via ethernet was also on wifi, for some reason. (Perhaps it auto-connected using iCloud credentials after a power failure a few months ago.) It knows both the 2.4ghz network and the 5/6ghz network. I told it to forget the 2.4 network and turned off wifi.

I’ll let you know if this works!

23

Just out of curiosity, why do you separate the bands? For me, it so much easier to just let everything sort itself out. Of course, that causes issues with HomePods (and in my experience only HomePods) with some routers.

24

Just be aware that if you turn off WiFi, Handoff won’t work e.g. AirDrop with other devices. Even though it has a wired connection, it needs to negotiate it’s own wireless connection (alongside Bluetooth) to work.

25

Our smart doorbell and our Kobos only see 2.4ghz bands.

Yeah, this is basically a Mac Mini server, so it’s no biggie. But good point for anybody else stumbling onto this thread.

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26

Some routers allow you to have different SSIDs for different wavebands. This makes it easier to isolate different devices onto different wavelengths.

Some devices only use one wavelength, but some devices prefer one wavelength over another, or dynamically swap between them.

27

Right, but if you just give them all the same name, it sorts it out for you. And then you put your cheap IOT devices on the separate guest/IOT Network.

Years ago I used to micro-mange it so everything is on it’s own band and kept things separate, but it would cause it’s own set of issues when trying to share. So I get why people do, just don’t think it’s worth the effort with modern routers. To each their own though.

28

I have never seen the value in a guest network, so perhaps that’s where we differ. Not a lot of folks use our wifi, and for those who do, it’s a unique password and it has no monthly limit.

29

I will shut up, because I know I am not adding anything useful to the conversation, just want to clear this up. I don’t use the guest network for guests, I use it for my cheap IOT things I don’t want on my real network (my router’s manufacturer actually calls it the “IOT Network” in their advertising, but it’s just a separate network). It gives the added benefit if something is using a lot of data on the guest network, I will see it in the data usage for the network.

Good look fixing this, let us know if you solved it.

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30

(I’m not expecting a response, not offended if you do or don’t)

I admire your security stance and have tried this out myself, but with Apple Home (at the time) some devices on a separate SSID/subnet wouldn’t join the Home, others would join but go missing later, and yet others would seem to be there but wouldn’t respond to commands.

I don’t think Home is built with this kind of segmentation in mind, I think they expect the Home Hub to be on the same subnet as the devices.

31

Since you asked me a question :wink: :

I only put my really shady stuff on the IOT/guest network. My cats water fountain (it tells me when its low on water and reminds me to clean it), my smart toaster oven, etc. Things from large companies, such as Philips and Kasa (TP-Link) I trust on my main network. Everything in Home, is on my main network.

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32

I think you’ve added lots to the conversation, for what it’s worth! You got me to start thinking about my wifi setup and second guessing myself. (Honestly, your original post could be The Solution, so thank you!)

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33

I’ve marked @RunningBoris’ first suggestion as The Solution, because so far things are working better than they have in months.

A couple things I’ve learned from this thread:

  1. Some routers apparently “forget” your preferences (like mine!), so if you ever have issues, start there and see if your settings are preserved.
  2. The HomePod says it uses your iPhone’s wifi credentials. This might be true, but I think it would be more honest to say it uses the saved wifi credentials in iCloud associated with the owner of the homepod’s primary iPhone. Which is a mouthful. Basically, the HomePod knows about your Mac’s wifi too. Discovering that wifi had become enabled on the server Mac and that it was on the 2.4ghz network was the breakthrough. After forgetting that network and disabling wifi on that machine, my homepod’s performance is better than it’s been in months.

Thanks everybody for all your help!

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34

I have wasted so much time troubleshooting HomePods with routers, so I understand what you were going through. It’s one of the reasons I don’t think i will go back to them.

Glad you got it fixed!

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