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Network Connectivity Issues with NEEO Remtoe


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2 hours ago, dw886 said:

FWIW, I'm on a Ubiquiti setup with 5 WAPs and multiple NEEOs and don't have these issues. 

 

It's hard to dissect what's going on in your environment without having some diagnostics.  If you have multiple remotes with the same issue, I'd lean towards it being a wifi issue.  If it was a single remote, then I'd think that it was the remote and I'd start by swapping that Neeo with one in another room.  If you have a wifi mapper it may give you more information on what's on the band.  I was just looking through the logs from one of our Etherscopes to find an example - here's one where we were at a customer's home working on the network when they turned on the microwave.  The interference spanned channels 4-12 - since it was a microwave, it was short lived - we likely just caught the end of it:
image.thumb.png.ee4c6c7e17629e45d550742fd45a11df.png

 

For those on UBNT hardware, if you decide to lock it to an AP just toggle this under settings on the client - just remember that this carries some risk because if this AP goes down, this setting will keep the client offline because the client will not connect to another AP (also won't roam if you carry the NEEO to the other side of the house):
image.png.b831123f6b697f91982d3c40ae9a1348.png

 

Interestingly enough, it does look like the MAC addresses on the NEEOs changed at some point, pointing to a difference in WiFi hardware.  Here's 3 NEEOs currently connected - the middle one is significantly newer than the top and bottom ones - although the signal that they are receiving is not significantly different.  The one with the poorest signal is in the poorest location relative to the access points:
image.thumb.png.f405e0f44178adea99b2901ef8fdc324.png

It is interesting to note that the MAC on my NEEO starts with 4C:24, which is similar to the middle one in your list above. That is, the MAC in my NEEO aligns with the one in your group that doesn't work as well. This could be random coincidence, but it does support your hypothesis that there might be two pools of WiFi chips with one pool being problematic. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions, but at the very least it is an interesting coincidence.

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9 minutes ago, PumpUpVolume said:

It is interesting to note that the MAC on my NEEO starts with 4C:24, which is similar to the middle one in your list above. That is, the MAC in my NEEO aligns with the one in your group that doesn't work as well. This could be random coincidence, but it does support your hypothesis that there might be two pools of WiFi chips with one pool being problematic. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions, but at the very least it is an interesting coincidence.

We had issues with two neeos which had issues on Ubiquiti and we brought to another house w ruckus and same issue. So my mistake above — turns out it wasn’t the APs, it was the neeos and we RMA’d them both. New ones were fine. Btw we had displays die on two others (confirmed by our pinnacle dealer) and were rma’d as well. New ones fine other than the searching for network issues and some other bugs. Anyone know if neeo will continue to be supported? I’ve asked the C4 folks for swap for halo (seems reasonable given they appear to be abandoning their shiny new thing) but they’ve balked. Maybe Savant next time. 

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7 hours ago, penn65000 said:

I’ve asked the C4 folks for swap for halo (seems reasonable given they appear to be abandoning their shiny new thing) but they’ve balked. Maybe Savant next time. 

Seems like a solid business plan for C4 / SNAP to give out free remotes and a completely logical reason to go Savant if you don't get one. 

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Neeo’s use a horrible WiFi chip, I believe it’s Texas Instruments, these are lousy chips prone to disconnections and totally not stable, the worst ever chips, Sensibo used the same chip in their 1st generation of Sky, total failure, they had to swap 1000’s of units to early adopters, I was one of them, they sent me 5 new Sky units with Esperssif chips, they asked me to trash the ones I have and not send them back! The new ones never went off line for the past 7 years!

Anyways using TI chips is a big mistake that users paid for it as they won’t change the remotes obviously!

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9 hours ago, SpencerT said:

Seems like a solid business plan for C4 / SNAP to give out free remotes and a completely logical reason to go Savant if you don't get one. 

Snarky reply but if you had 10 Neeos and they each drop off the network consistently and this Neeo was positioned as a game changing shiny new thing, and they then just drop the product, I think you’d question their business sense as well. Savant’s remote is a core competency. Remotes are a focal point for most. Since I wrote the note above they already offered a discount and I expect them to offer more. 

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5 hours ago, Amr said:

Neeo’s use a horrible WiFi chip, I believe it’s Texas Instruments, these are lousy chips prone to disconnections and totally not stable, the worst ever chips, Sensibo used the same chip in their 1st generation of Sky, total failure, they had to swap 1000’s of units to early adopters, I was one of them, they sent me 5 new Sky units with Esperssif chips, they asked me to trash the ones I have and not send them back! The new ones never went off line for the past 7 years!

Anyways using TI chips is a big mistake that users paid for it as they won’t change the remotes obviously!

Will the Halo sport a better WiFi chip?

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5 minutes ago, PumpUpVolume said:

Will the Halo sport a better WiFi chip?

Good question. Concerned about upgrading because neeo was a beta product in effect. Would be nice to know which chip each halo uses. Also suspect voice control will be wonky for a bit and perhaps wait for a silent hardware upgrade. 

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9 minutes ago, PumpUpVolume said:

Will the Halo sport a better WiFi chip?

Am sure it will have much better WiFi connectivity, much better chips, kids learn from their mistakes not to mention businesses!

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40 minutes ago, PumpUpVolume said:

Does anyone know whether the WiFi chip in the Halo has a 5 GHz radio? That would be sweet.

Answering my own question here --> Yes, it does: "and Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5GHz support with an advanced antenna array with up to 5 times stronger signal."

https://www.control4.com/solutions/products/remotes/

That sounds like the answer to my woes.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am updating this thread to note that changing the WAP 2.4 GHz channel and lengthening the guard interval on the WAP did not solve the issue. The same bad behaviour has returned. I reboot all devices and then it works fine for a period of time, but then it reverts to all the same problems ("please wait", spinning wheel, "cannot connect to network", etc).

The most characteristic aspect of this problem is that it works smoothly for a period of time and then suddenly starts exhibiting issues. Once it starts exhibiting issues, the issues persist until everything is rebooted.

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7 hours ago, PumpUpVolume said:

I am updating this thread to note that changing the WAP 2.4 GHz channel and lengthening the guard interval on the WAP did not solve the issue. The same bad behaviour has returned. I reboot all devices and then it works fine for a period of time, but then it reverts to all the same problems ("please wait", spinning wheel, "cannot connect to network", etc).

The most characteristic aspect of this problem is that it works smoothly for a period of time and then suddenly starts exhibiting issues. Once it starts exhibiting issues, the issues persist until everything is rebooted.

IMO you need to rma the remote. Suspect you’ve a bad radio. We had a few. 

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10 hours ago, penn65000 said:

IMO you need to rma the remote. Suspect you’ve a bad radio. We had a few. 

Certainly there are indications that the NEEO is defective. The counterargument would be that doesn't make sense since the problem is made to go away by rebooting the WiFi access point. Rebooting the router doesn't fix the problem; rebooting the NEEO doesn't fix the problem; rebooting the WiFi access point, however, does make the problem go a way for 10 days or so. What I find so puzzling is why does only device/client stop working and no other devices are impacted but rebooting the access point fixes the issue. I can't even come up with a theory as to the root cause of the issue. It is a bit difficult to conceive how a defective radio in the NEEO manifests as a connectivity problem after ~10 days of use, rebooting the NEEO doesn't fix the issue, but rebooting the WiFi access point does.

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3 hours ago, PumpUpVolume said:

Certainly there are indications that the NEEO is defective. The counterargument would be that doesn't make sense since the problem is made to go away by rebooting the WiFi access point. Rebooting the router doesn't fix the problem; rebooting the NEEO doesn't fix the problem; rebooting the WiFi access point, however, does make the problem go a way for 10 days or so. What I find so puzzling is why does only device/client stop working and no other devices are impacted but rebooting the access point fixes the issue. I can't even come up with a theory as to the root cause of the issue. It is a bit difficult to conceive how a defective radio in the NEEO manifests as a connectivity problem after ~10 days of use, rebooting the NEEO doesn't fix the issue, but rebooting the WiFi access point does.

Good points. Just know that we had a couple of defective radios but they never stayed connected for that long. 

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15 hours ago, penn65000 said:

IMO you need to rma the remote. Suspect you’ve a bad radio. We had a few. 

What is the process to RMA? Does your dealer have to do it, or can the end-user initiate it? Once the new remote comes out, I may see if I can RMA my NEEO for the same issue. 

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1 hour ago, BY96 said:

What is the process to RMA? Does your dealer have to do it, or can the end-user initiate it? Once the new remote comes out, I may see if I can RMA my NEEO for the same issue. 

Dealer does it. They replaced mine for free — 2-3 with screen issues (froze and wouldn’t recover w reboot or factory reset) and 2 approx with bad radios. Dealer confirmed all were defective prior to rma. All replaced free but not sure if they were past 1 year old. 

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What is all these issues, they don’t have any quality control or through testing to pass before sending out to market then replace defects? It costs fortune to do that not to mention mounting frustration from users!

Oh and there is something called “World” that is outside US and RMA things can cost 5 - 6 times on end users even if they change it for free I still have to pay customs and other fees!

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3 minutes ago, Amr said:

What is all these issues, they don’t have any quality control or through testing to pass before sending out to market then replace defects? It costs fortune to do that not to mention mounting frustration from users!

Oh and there is something called “World” that is outside US and RMA things can cost 5 - 6 times on end users even if they change it for free I still have to pay customs and other fees!

I don't know the exact number but control4 has a great beta program with very active dealers and control4 employees testing everything that they release as far as i know. However its not possible to test for every possible configuration and situation so things do slip through. This is the case with every product not limited to this industry. The neeo imo was a failure and at least for me C4 has taken care all our remotes that have had issues or helped with configurations to make it as reliable as it can be. 

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On 1/24/2023 at 2:33 PM, Matt Lowe said:

I don't know the exact number but control4 has a great beta program with very active dealers and control4 employees testing everything that they release as far as i know. However its not possible to test for every possible configuration and situation so things do slip through. This is the case with every product not limited to this industry. The neeo imo was a failure and at least for me C4 has taken care all our remotes that have had issues or helped with configurations to make it as reliable as it can be. 

Do you know if C4 is still providing firmware updates to Neeo or are they abandoning? Are the firmware updates listed online?

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5 hours ago, penn65000 said:

Do you know if C4 is still providing firmware updates to Neeo or are they abandoning? Are the firmware updates listed online?

The Neeo remains fully supported and updated as needed at this point. If the firmware listing is available online I wouldn't know where to point you.

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On 1/24/2023 at 12:27 PM, Amr said:

Oh and there is something called “World” that is outside US and RMA things can cost 5 - 6 times on end users even if they change it for free I still have to pay customs and other fees!

Heh, well to be fair it's a bit more than the US for faster turnover time, but yes it'll depend on where you're at (and where the nearest distribution point is located) on how fast you'll actually get it and/or if there's extra charges.

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On 1/26/2023 at 5:06 PM, Cyknight said:

The Neeo remains fully supported and updated as needed at this point. If the firmware listing is available online I wouldn't know where to point you.

 Nope. No updates since Oct 2021 apparently:  https://www.control4.com/help/c4/software/rn/dealer-neeo/content/release_notes_neeo_remote/releases.htm

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