Because there is a lack of IP and Bluetooth integrations, I’m trying to set the R2 up from scratch in the hope I can make it my everyday remote using IR.
I had the dock connected via ethernet originally but the position of my LAN sockets means the hub is underneath the wall mounted TV and on top of the cabinet that contains all the other media gear so IR is not line of sight. Trailing wires and extenders is not an option, my wife informs me.
So, I moved it to the rear of the room hoping that the IR might be able to bounce around like the hub of my Sofabaton X1 can. This means relying on a WiFi connection for the dock as there is no ethernet socket there. I deleted the old dock and rediscovered it. I can connect it to my WiFi network, but after the setup process is done, the dock keeps disconnecting and reconnecting. It never has a stable connection. I’ve tried other WiFi SSIDs (I have 3 on my network) to no avail.
I can’t tell if the IR will work for me until I can get the dock connected. I see other users have reported similar issues over the last 18 months. Is there a solution, or perhaps I have a faulty dock?
Hi,
in UC settings are Preview Features and there you can activate the test to send IR also through the Remote and not only the Hub. For each device you must configure how should send IR.
I have my main ISP’s router, a WIFi extender and a Tenda router in bridge mode all on the same network.
I also have a Tenda mesh, but on a different network.
All WIFi channels are as separated as can be.
The R2 dock won’t stay connected to any if them. Adding the dock from scratch, I can connect it to WiFi, but as soon as I try to create a remote, the dock starts cycling between ‘reconnecting’ and ‘connecting’.
I will give this a try. It can’t be a permanent solution as the layout of my room and the media components make line of sight from the remote IR difficult at best.
Also, my family will never get used to pointing the remote at the kit as they are used to using a Harmony Elite.
But it would a least let me test Remotes and Activities on the R2.
Ideally, I’d prefer IP or Bluetooth integrations for each device I need to control. Until then, I’d like IR to work as a stopgap, preferably from the dock.
Hello,
this could be an IR solution: How to improve the Dock-IR-range
The IR-range of the remote itself will be shorter than that of the dock, I “guess”…
Cheers, tiki
Does the dock need to be connected to the network?
As I understand it, the brains of the R2 live in the remote.
Is the dock just a charging station and an IR blaster? If so, does it respond to commands from the remote via Bluetooth, or does it need connection to a network as well?
I can’t get the dock to connect to my network at all now. It’s Active with an ethernet connection, but it refuses to connect to WiFi.
Bluetooth is used to configure wifi credentials + pair the dock with the remote, then it is not used anymore. When connected to LAN, you can pair it without using bluetooth at all.
But if you paired it with wifi, it should have stored the wifi credentials, even if after you connect it to LAN (and then it uses LAN). In that case if you unplug LAN cable it should fall back to wifi again (after replug power cable to cycle init).
This is for the theory. I don’t know for sure about docks but Tenda is a wifi mesh system right ? there are issues with some mesh systems but on the remote side, not on the dock AFAIK.
Otherwise this may be a range issue (dock too far)
Didn’t realise it needed a power cycle after removing the LAN cable. Got it connected.
The configurator still randomly has short bursts of disconnection, which is really annoying. I’m guessing the WiFi antennas in the dock and/or the remote are not the greatest. All my other kit connects to WiFi from the same area without problems.
Try to access the configurator via the ip address and not the .local domain. Some routers have problems with mDNS domains. You can also change the dock configuration to use the ip instead of the mDNS address.