I have multiple Sensi thermostats and some go offline or won't connect to my Wi-Fi network. What can I do?

If you haven’t already, please check out our router compatibility article that provides technical specifications for compatible routers, a list of known incompatible routers, and information on ports you may need to open for outbound traffic.

Here are some further suggestions:

Wireless Security

Sensi does not connect to WPA2 Enterprise security. Please make sure that your security is set to WPA2 Personal or PSK.

Sensi also cannot connect to networks that require a login with a username and password to agree to terms and services, like logging into an open, guest network and agreeing to terms and services (i.e. public Starbucks or McDonalds guest networks). You have to add Sensi to your secured network with a Wi-Fi password.

DHCP Address Pools

Sensi does not have a static IP address. The router assigns IP addresses to each thermostat. Some networks set up a DHCP Address Pool so that client devices are assigned an IP address within a range that they select. Each thermostat requires an IP address, so make sure there are enough addresses available in your pool for each thermostat.

Common Wire

If your thermostat goes offline and has no icon in the upper left-hand corner, you may need to install a common or “c-wire.” If you have an extra wire in your thermostat wiring bundle, it’s easy to do. Check out our C-wire help made simple page for more information.

Wi-Fi Quality

Test the Wi-Fi signal strength at the location of the thermostat. Often, you can download a free Wi-Fi Analyzer app to your phone to see what channel broadcasts the strongest in the area where you’re standing. If you’ve done any Wi-Fi surveys lately, check your building map to make sure the thermostat is in a location where it can reach the Wi-Fi signal.

Interference

Limit interference by making sure that any repeaters/access points are on a lower power setting. Multiple access points in a small area running at full power adds to interference, and can degrade Wi-Fi signals.

A 2.4GHz network should use channels 1, 6, or 11 to eliminate co-channel interference and 20MHz channel widths. (For some access points, the 2.4GHz speed will have to be set to 145/150/155 Mbps to turn off 40MHz channel widths.)

Attenuation

Remove obstructions that may be in between your access point and the thermostat that would reduce the signal strength like concrete, metals, microwaves, etc.

Make sure access points in range of each other are operating on separate channels.

Air-time Availability

If you don’t need to support any 802.11b or 802.11g client devices, it is recommended to turn off those modes in the access points to decrease the airtime required for wireless management traffic. Also, minimizing the number of SSIDs you have broadcasting also helps free up airtime for data traffic.

If you still need help, contact support.