Hunter Hydrawise HPC sprinkler controller not connecting to 2.4ghz band on xFi

Last summer, I installed the Hunter Hydrawise HPC wifi sprinkler controller faceplate on our non-wifi hunter controller. This connects to the home wifi via the 2.4ghz band. Our cable modem / router is a the xfinity xFi gateway. Once installed and connected to wifi, you can do setup / programming, etc through phone app. They system worked perfect until this spring. Since starting the system for the season, the controller will not stay connected to the wifi. The xFi gateway combines the two bands (2.4 and 5ghz), such that there is only one wifi signal listed. Some devices I have that use the 2.4ghz have connected and stay connected without issue. So for the only time that the hunter controller connects is if I restart the wifi. I have tried two separate the bands, such that the 5ghz band has the original home wifi name, and then a new unique name for the 2.4ghz band. Still, this controller will not stay connected. I have rebooted the controller and get same results. I can restart the gateway and there is a 50/50 chance that the controller will connect. If does connect, it does not stay connected. Yesterday I went through the factory reset for the connection. I did this after putting the xFi back to same one name/password for both bands. The controller did connect almost immediately, then a few hours later, it is disconnected.

Responses

AmingtonLN

Contributor

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48 Messages

3 years ago

Again last night, I tried to connect this. First I did a factory config reset on the controller, and connected to the xFi with no issue, said signal was high and strong. about 5 minutes later, it disconnected and would not reconnect. I then went back to xFi and separated the 2.4 from the 5ghz channels, keeping original username/psswd for the 5ghz. I did the factory config reset on the controller, connecting to the 2.4ghz sig. It said the wifi sig was very low, even though my phone said 4 bars. The xFi is on opposite side of wall from controller, about 4 ft away. It would not connect at all.

I have read other accounts of people having issues with their home wifi dropping signal frequently, now curious if the problem is truly the controller or xFi...

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flatlander3

Problem Solver

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1.5K Messages

@AmingtonLN Could try a couple things. Full DHCP pool on your gateway (no addresses left), you can try to increase the size of the pool. Full pool happens if you have devices that cycle through mac addresses for security and limited IP addresses available.

You can try setting a static IP address outside of the DHCP pool on the device and see if it works better without trying to get an address from the gateway -- remove the gateway's server out of it.

3 years ago

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MNtundraRET

Gold Problem Solver

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5.9K Messages

3 years ago

You are getting RF interference from something inside the wall, or nearby. Will the controller except an Ethernet cable?

If so, can you feed it through the wall?

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AmingtonLN

Contributor

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48 Messages

@MNtundraRET Actually, that was something I was thinking of as well. I have not looked closer yet. You make a great point though. Now I am curious what was added in recent months that might be doing that. Since the Irrigation controller upgrade was basically a wifi enabled faceplate that simply snaps onto the existing non-wifi controller, I never had to look at any of the wiring, etc. But the RF issues might have some true merit.

(edited)

3 years ago

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CCAshley1

Official Employee

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746 Messages

Hi, thank you for reaching out to Xfinity Forums. I understand you are having internet connection issues. Are you having issues with the Xfinity equipment? Or is the issue other equipment not from Xfinity?

I no longer work for Comcast.

I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
We ask that you post publicly so people with similar questions may benefit from the conversation.
Was your question answered? Please, mark a reply as the Accepted Answer. tick

I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
We ask that you post publicly so people with similar questions may benefit from the conversation.
Was your question answered? Please, mark a reply as the Accepted Answer. tick

3 years ago

0

AmingtonLN

Contributor

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48 Messages

Honestly think it is other equipment. It will not properly connect to my xFi gateway on the 2.4ghz channel. It will try but never holds. It does not even show up in the list of devices "not connected". I am wanting to try to set up a static IP address for it, but reading up that I will not be able to do this. Note that the equipment connected fine for months, now for about 3 weeks, it will not.

3 years ago

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CCAshley1

Official Employee

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746 Messages

Click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon

The "To:" line prompts you to "Type the name of a person". Instead, type "Xfinity Support" there.

- As you are typing a drop-down list appears. Select "Xfinity Support" from that list.

- An "Xfinity Support" graphic replaces the "To:" line.

Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window

Press Enter to send it.

I no longer work for Comcast.

I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
We ask that you post publicly so people with similar questions may benefit from the conversation.
Was your question answered? Please, mark a reply as the Accepted Answer. tick

3 years ago

0

AmingtonLN

Contributor

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48 Messages

Sent an entire summary of the problem. More I think of it, I doubt it is an xfinity problem. That being said, is there any way to get a listing of any / all updates that were done to my xFi gateway since late August '21?

3 years ago

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R

RichBellvue

Visitor

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1 Message

3 years ago

Guys the Hydrawise online help has an article on this

The Comcast-Xfinity router by default has the Wi-Fi channels set to Auto. This may cause problems with connection to your Hydrawise
controller. This can be easily fixed by changing the channel of your 2.4Ghz signal to channel 6. It is also recommended to change
the bandwidth to 20/40. <

https://www.hydrawise.com/printpdf/api/printsupport/en-us/article/4401815026459

Xfinity is set to auto - it will cycle around to channels above 10 - the Hydrawise cannot see channels above 10 - this is why you can reboot the Xfinity Gateway and Hydrawise works - then for some unknown reason it drops off (when the Gateway Auto shifts to a channel above 10 )

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GB3GB3

New Poster

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4 Messages

@RichBellvue

You found the solution. However, Xfinity seems to have recently locked the ability to change the parameters. I could Log into the Admin Tool and navigate to Gateway/Connection/Wi-Fi, allowing me to see the parameters to change, except they were locked with a note from Xfinity stating:

"Wi-Fi Mode, Security Mode, Channel Selection, Channel Mode, and Channel Bandwidth are being managed automatically to help optimize your home Wi-Fi network and improve Wi-Fi coverage. To edit your Wi-Fi Network Name & Network password, please download the Xfinity xFi app or visit xfinity.com/myxfi."

(edited)

3 years ago

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GB3GB3

New Poster

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4 Messages

3 years ago

I have the exact same issue! I installed the Hunter Hydrawise HPC WIFI controller face-plate to a older hunter controller in July 2020 and it had worked flawlessly ever since, until recently when it just stopped connecting to the internet and would not connect no matter how many times, and I tried everything by the book. It showed the exact symptoms you explained in other posts. Full wifi bars but would not connect to internet.

I am convinced this issue was caused by a software/firmware update initiated by Xfinity in the past 60-90 days.

Unfortunately, our Xfi gateway does not allow you to adjust its parameters (changing channel #'s to 6, etc.).

So my "fix" was to re-use an older 2.5 GHz wireless router and connecting it directly to an Xfi pod (wifi extender) via an Ethernet cable. I already had the Xfi pod near the same side of the house closest to Hydrawise controller. I then did the factory reset of the Hyrdawise and used its wizard to link to the older 2.5 GHz router that I had previously named differently and used its unique PW. Its Hydrawise WiFi connected immediately to the old router but it took some time linking to the internet. I did this after 6pm so left it all up thinking I'd tackle it again in the morning. Overnight, the Hyrdawise linked to the internet, resync'd itself to the app on my phone, downloading all the zone names, etc. and has remained connected for over 12 hours without disconnecting, so far. This morning, I tested it by shutting down the older router, then restarted it to see if the Hydrawise would connect to internet quicker. It did immediately and stayed up.

I realize this isn't the cleanest fix but it works until either Xfinity makes their update backwards compatible, or Hunter updates their controller to be compatible. You can purchase a 2.5 Ghz wifi router on Amazon for about $25 (see: ASUS WiFi Router (RT-N300B1).

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AmingtonLN

Hunter Hydrawise HPC sprinkler controller not connecting to 2.4ghz band on xFi

AmingtonLN

flatlander3

MNtundraRET

AmingtonLN

CCAshley1

AmingtonLN

CCAshley1

AmingtonLN

RichBellvue

GB3GB3

You found the solution. However, Xfinity seems to have recently locked the ability to change the parameters. I could Log into the Admin Tool and navigate to Gateway/Connection/Wi-Fi, allowing me to see the parameters to change, except they were locked with a note from Xfinity stating:

"Wi-Fi Mode, Security Mode, Channel Selection, Channel Mode, and Channel Bandwidth are being managed automatically to help optimize your home Wi-Fi network and improve Wi-Fi coverage. To edit your Wi-Fi Network Name & Network password, please download the Xfinity xFi app or visit xfinity.com/myxfi."

GB3GB3

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