So, this "smart" floodlight ... :(

[Jethro_uk]

I cannot seem to get it to pair. Either by "Smart" mode or AP mode.I have disabled the 5GHz function on my router and tested the 2.4G signal strength at the floodlight itself -57dBm (strongest signal in the list).

When trying Smart pairing, the LED inside the PIR flashes and then stops (as if something has happened) but the app just spins and fails.

Trying the AP setup route, I get to see the device AP and connect to it. But then still no dice.

Are there any hidden gotchas I'm missing ? My thermostat, plug and robovac are all happy on the Wifi, so it's looking more like the floodlight.

Big tip for anyone thinking of getting one of these is to set it up

*before* you mount it 8ft off the ground :)

[R D S]

I'm having similar with a wildlife camera, very frustrating.

[Jethro_uk]

My guess is they used the cheapest chipset (hence the 2.4G restriction) and that is probably being incredibly literal in it's enforcing of standards. There are also some subtle notes in the AP setup method - needing to disable mobile data for one.

The thing is without the app I can't set sensitivity or time-on settings.

At least I have a few tools - I can try an old 2Wire router if needs be to eliminate that.

Just think, a few years ago people were hysterical about North Korea hacking all our "smart" gear. Be a miracle if I can get it working. And I have it here next to me !

[Paul]

Connects via "fastcon 2 protocol" over Wifi. Notice you must have facial growth "similar to a young sheep" to participate.

It claims to use a mesh network, outside of the router itself.

This might be the squarish box in the picture. Sold separately. The squarish box converts between Wifi and "Fastcon". And it's mesh connected from the squarish box, anywhere to the right. And of course, it does not say "Fastcon" or "Fastcon 2", I guess for a few more dubloons a coverall-clad individual will come to your door and fix it.

I bet money can make it work. Money is the molybdenum grease of society.

I sure hope someone has written a review for this product, as the odds of these clowns explaining anything is just about zero.

Paul

[Brian Gaff]

Don't worry, if you live in London all the cameras will be available with no permissions to the Met, Maybe the floodlights should be as well! Its a strange world indeed. All the tech and its still buggered. Brian

[Jethro_uk]

Well the final resort is consumer law and the onus on the retailer to show it works or refund.

The thing is without the app, it's useless even as a regular PIR floodlight as you can't adjust sensitivity, ambient threshold and length of light-on. So they can't even knock £25 off.

[Jethro_uk]

So digging out an old BT 2Wire router (who hasn't got one or ten from previous jobs ?) which is only 2.4G - proper 2.4G - and putting it next to my phone and the floodlight still doesn't work.

Clearly something is "catching" as the floodlights LED goes off when the phone starts it's pairing process. Every time.

I'd be interested to know if anyone ever got one of these working. This would be the first time I contact a distributor with a problem only to discover that I'm the only person actually using that feature.

[Brian]

Is there a ‘reset’ function?

I’ve had the odd ‘difficult’ Smart device, which wouldn’t connect even in AP mode ( usually after some other problem). But, after a reset ( typically a very long press of the single button at power on) they would connect just fine.

[Theo]

That's true - possible somebody bought the thing, paired it with their phone, and then returned it. Result is the item is now paired with a phone it can no longer see and doesn't respond.

I had that yesterday with a 'new' widget from ebay, which told me the widget wasn't in fact new. (but was otherwise fine)

Theo

[Brian]

Or possibly, it hasn’t completed the pairing / registration process and is in ‘limbo’.

I don’t pretend to fully understand the details of the pairing / registration process but it has always seemed vulnerable due to the time taken to communicate with the Tuya (or other system) server. There must be countless registrations going on, plus all the responses to commands etc. at any given time. If your registration process times out, is there a recovery process, or does the your device assume all is well once it connects to your Wi-Fi but then can’t communicate with the server as it isn’t actually registered. It is the kind of typical fault you see in a registration system- especially if corners are cut in the coding.

[Jethro_uk]

No reset button. You have to use a series of off/on (from "on") to trigger the pairing. Which a red LED indicates from inside the PIR cover. And I can get it into setup mode (and "AP connect" mode) this way.

Seeing the comment below makes me wonder if it insists on internet access to pair (without it being explicitly mentioned) ???? As the 2Wire router I put in place isn't connected to the internet.

Hmmm.

[Theo]

That was the case for my widget yesterday. I connected it to my 'local' WLAN, to which I attach widgets that I don't want to talk to the internet. It found it, but wouldn't complete pairing. So I did the reset process and connected it to my 'internet-but-nothing-else' WLAN, and it paired successfully.

I'd expect your light needs internet to function, if the phone app is supposed to work if it's not on the same WLAN as the light. (a very common situation with IoT stuff)

Theo

[Robin]

gosh, that'd be a surprise given Screwfix have up front and clearly on the on the page to which you linked:

"Hub Not Required, Internet Connection Required"

'cos everyone knows real techies never RTF ad :)

[Rob Morley]

You beat me to it.

[Jethro_uk]

All fixed. The trick was (as some posters noted) that the 2.4G network I had dedicated to this beast *needed* the internet. (You can't just hang a router off my network to the outside world).

Floodlight connected and available to adjust mode, sensitivity, background light, duration *and* output.

I wonder what it "needed" from t'internet. In days gone by I'd have wiresharked it.

I wonder if we get too uppity with China, all our "smart" stops working ?

[Theo]

The light talks to a cloud server somewhere, the app talks to the same cloud server, messages are passed back and forth. Since the phone may not be on the same wifi as the light, everything goes via the cloud server. And of course you probably need to 'register' (hand over personal data) to operate your light switch.

(some of the Tuya stuff does have a local connection for on/off events, but everything is established via the cloud. There's no webserver/etc on the device. This one is Broadlink so I'm not sure what it does)

Or starts doing 'other things'.

Theo

[Rob Morley]

The server for our smart cat flap was down for a day a few weeks back, it continued to work properly but I couldn't change the settings, which is a substantial part of the usefulness of a smart device. I needed to stop one cat from going outside, so I put a bin in front of the too f****ng smart for its own good cat flap.

It does anyway, without any political encouragement.

[Paul]

Even if you'd Wiresharked it, you might get details in the form of an IP address, but it probably uses TLS for comms. It would be unlikely for modern kit to talk in plaintext.

Paul

[Dai]

I have the same problem the light isn't seen by the app, so how exactly did you get around this.

[Jethro_uk]

You need a real 2.4 GHz WiFi hub - that can access the internet. That's what I setup (have a few 2Wire BT routers knocking about) .