All smart home troubleshooting and repair guides
If your Alexa device shows “offline” in the app while your phone and laptop browse the internet just fine, the problem is almost always a local network handshake issue—not your internet plan. Your Echo or Dot can lose its connection to the Wi‑Fi router even when the router itself is working. The fixes below are…
If your Zigbee devices in Home Assistant repeatedly show as “unavailable” in ZHA or Zigbee2MQTT, the root cause is almost always one of three things: radio interference, a weak mesh, or coordinator overload. Here’s a systematic repair sequence that actually fixes it—no generic “restart everything” advice. The Key Decision That Changes Your Fix Priority The…
If your SmartThings hub won’t connect to Wi‑Fi, the most likely cause is that the hub only works on 2.4 GHz, the signal is too weak, or your router’s settings are blocking it. Start by making sure your router’s 2.4 GHz band is enabled and the hub is within 10–15 feet of the router during setup. The…
Your Nest thermostat won’t connect to Google Home because of one of five root causes: a Wi‑Fi band mismatch, insufficient power, stale network cache, an un‑migrated legacy account, or an app permission conflict. Below is the exact order to check, with safe stopping points and the one decision criterion that changes what you should try…
The most common reason a sunset routine fails is a stale device location. Alexa calculates sunset using the address stored on the specific Echo that owns the routine, not your current physical position. If that address is outdated, the calculated time can be off by 15 to 45 minutes, or the routine may not fire…
Your Kasa smart plug works fine in the Kasa app but gets a “Device is unresponsive” error from Alexa. That mismatch points to a cloud handshake problem between Amazon’s Alexa service and your TP‑Link account, not a broken plug. The fix usually takes under ten minutes and doesn’t require factory resetting every device. Why Your…
If your Philips Hue lights drop out of the app, show “unreachable,” or stop responding to automations, the culprit is almost never a dead bulb. The fix usually involves the Hue Bridge, your Wi‑Fi setup, or Zigbee interference. Below are the fastest checks, common failure modes with real‑world examples, a step‑by‑step flow, and concrete stop…
If your smart plug keeps turning itself off, the root cause is almost always one of five issues: load-triggered overcurrent protection, a hidden timer or schedule, Wi‑Fi interference, a protocol-level disconnection (Zigbee / Z‑Wave / Matter), or a defective unit. This guide walks you from the quickest checks to the point where you should stop…
Most pairing failures with Philips Hue come down to one of three causes: Zigbee radio interference from your home Wi‑Fi, a bridge that isn’t actively searching for devices, or a bulb or sensor still latched onto a previous network. Here is how to identify which problem you have and fix it in minutes. Start Here:…
The most common reason a Philips Hue firmware update appears stuck is that the bridge lost contact with individual bulbs during the update process. This usually happens because of weak Zigbee signal, too many bulbs updating at once, or a momentary network interruption. Before you factory-reset anything, run through the checkpoints below—most stuck updates recover…
