WeMo Switch Troubleshooting 

I have replaced all my WeMo switches. I don't recommend using them. But, I had them for more than 3 years. So, some of my WeMo work might help others.

I have ~30 smart switches installed to control overhead lights, fans and N-way lights.

This page describes troubleshooting steps after the switch has been up and running but then stops working (post install).

Why does a smart switch go down?

Smart switches can go off-line for a variety of reasons. The issues impacting my smart switches are:

• Rebooting or restarting my gateway, switch or Wi-Fi Access Point

• An upgrade to Alexa or Echo - this was a recent issue and I lost about 1/3 of my switches

• WeMo sends an update and the switch doesn't come back (this is my most common issue. If I except a WeMo update, then I set aside about 30 minutes after the update to restore any failed devices. I have not found a pattern to the failures.)

• A back-to-back power outage occurs and the switch does not come back. My home experiences frequent power glitches, which are momentary outages during storms. I cannot remember a long lasting power outage. I have only lost connection to a few WeMos from power glitches.

• There is a rogue DHCP server on your network

I've heard of Smart Wi-Fi switches losing connectivity because of to many devices on one Wi-Fi Access Point (AP). However, I have not experienced this issue.; it doesn't seem plausible. 

My Wi-Fi Setup

All of my smart switches (~30) are connected to one SSID using a 2.4GHz 802.11b-only AP built-in to my ISP's gateway. All other bands on the AP are disabled. The 802.11b-only SSID is unique.

I also have two other APs. One is upstairs and the other is on the ground floor. Each AP has two radios. One radio is used for 802.11n-only and the other is for 802.11ac-only (5GHz). Each AP uses an automatically selected optimal channel. The SSIDs are unique.

My Home LAN with several troubleshooting steps

How do I find my WeMo's IP Address?

Here is a script. Get the script from github:

$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dumbo25/wemosetup/main/wemosetup.py

You may have to change the address 192.168.1.255 in the script. This is the broadcast IP address on my home LAN.

Run  the script:

$ python3 wemosetup.py discover

and it will list all WeMo devices on your network with: friendly name, IP Address and port

Manual Instructions:

Yes, this annoying. The WeMo app does not show the IP address. And my router cannot show the WeMo's Friendly Name. So, to find the IP address, I must cross-correlate WeMo app data with Gateway data

On a smart phone open the WeMo app

Select More

Click Settings & About

Click Hardware Info

Click on the Device Name of interest, which will show the device's MAC Address without colons in upper case

Open a browser and go to AT&T Gateway

Select Device and then Device list tabs, which will show the device MAC Address and IP Address but not the Friendly Name

On a MacBook, find the MAC Address on the page using CMD-F. 

In general, only the last 6 digits should be needed

Also, the Gateway shows the MAC Address in lower case

The WeMo's MAC Address needs to be incremented by 1 using hexadecimal arithmetic. So, ...C7528E becomes c7:52:8f

Hub:

I use Amazon Alexa as my hub. I have an echo in each room. A Smart Phone runs the Smart Switch apps (e.g., WeMo, Kasa, Smar Life) and the Alexa app

Register WeMo Device:

If the WeMo app asks to register device, then do it.

I need to document the circumstances when this occurs

HomeKit, Home and Wemo - I would prefer not to use HomeKit

How do I get rid of "New Device" on Alexa:

After Discovery, devices may be marked as New Device un Devices.

To remove "New Device", click on the device and then go back to Devices

If asked to setup device, do that but I skip everything and then go back to Devices 

Alexa won't discover WeMo devices:

I am not sure what causes this to happen. My guess is an update by either Alexa or WeMo causes the two to become out of synch.

The only way I have found to fix this is to is in the Alexa app:

• Go to Devices

• Scroll down to Your Smart

• Enable Smart Home Skills

• Search for WeMo

• Disable WeMo

• Re-enable WeMo

• Relink Alexa and WeMo

• Run Discover 

Goals:

My goal is to get the switch working as quickly as possible. So, my troubleshooting stops when the issue is fixed.

What do WeMo Blinking Lights mean? Follow the link.

If a lot of switches are down use this table to track the issues.

Step 1. Reboot Switch

Hold power bar for 2-3 seconds (blinks white), then wait 1 minute for device to re-establish Wi-Fi connection

If this works, then you might be done.

If it doesn't work, then on a smartphone, go to Settings and try and connect to WeMo SSID.

If able to connect, then go to WeMo app and refresh the device page

If the device appears, and Alexa can control it, then stop

Step 3. Toggle circuit breaker with switch

Turn the circuit breaker off. Ensure the lights on the switch are off.

Turn the circuit breaker back on.

Ask Alexa to turn the light or fan on or off. 

If it works, then stop

Step 4. Update Alexa App

Amazon Alexa App should be using latest version

• Go to App Store, Today, Profile Icon and update Alexa App

• Check version in More, Settings, About 

• Google: latest version of Amazon Alexa App for iPhone

Step 5. Echo not responding to voice commands

Echo stopped responding to voice commands - the blue light came on, then seemed to stay on long enough to respond, but no sound

• In the Alexa App, turning whisper mode off and then on, or just turn whisper mode off, which cleared up this issue

Step 6: Alexa App shows: Communications, network error, tap retry

When setting up Echo, Amazon App error for Echo: Communications, network error, tap to retry

• Sign out of Alexa App on smart phone and sign back in

References

Belkin WeMo Troubleshooting

Yeti WeMo Troubleshooting