In this article I discuss how to fix an issue whereby your WiFi IR Hub all of a sudden starts to continually disconnect from your Smart Life account (and therefore stops your ability to manage these devices in your Alexa or Google Home apps/devices) regardless of the stability of your wireless network.
WiFi Hubs Being Tested
MOES Smart WiFi Hub - Model: UFO-R2
Issue
Recently many folks have complained that their Wifi IR Hub continues to disconnect from their accounts/networks. The Smart Life error message states that the device was "removed due to a device reset"? This also affects your ability to mange devices in your Google Home or Alexa apps/devices if you connect your Smart Life account to your Google or Alexa accounts to allow them to also manage your devices. In my case, I was using 3 of these Moes WiFi Hub devices and 2 of them started to demonstrate this behaviour of randomly disconnecting.
Troubleshooting Theories
Device is Faulty (see Conclusion below)
Is it possible that the Hub(s) in question is just faulty? However, given the number of folks that started to experience very similar issues, I have to believe that it not a hardware / firmware (i.e. Moes device) issue but more likely a configuration or networking issue that warrants further investigations. To discount this, I ordered another device to try, but in the meantime, I will continue to investigate other potential theories.
Smart Life versus Tuya App
There are two comparable apps that control Moes WiFi Hub devices - Smart Life and Tuya. To check this, I installed the Tuya app and had exactly the same issues. So it appears that it is not the Smart Life app however, I used the same email address and the Tuya app served up the same configuration data (i.e. the Tuya app knew about all my Hub "managed" devices or remotes). So all further testing will be with the Smart Life app.
Networking - WiFi Signal Strength
I attempted to reconnect the Hub to my WiFi network using the Smart Life app. Note: the version of the Hubs that I am using must be connected to a 2.4MHz SSID (wifi access point). When connected, the Smart Life app remembers all my "managed" device configurations that were previously added to my Hubs and the app will automatically add back any previous "managed" devices for each Hub. After reconnecting the Hub (and associated "managed" devices) things work fine for a short while but within a day or two the Hub suddenly gets removed again with the error stating that the device was "removed due to device reset". I repeated this several times including trying to use a new Hub power supply, changed WiFi networks but nothing obvious seemed to resolve the root cause for the issue.
In general, it appears that the Moes Wifi Hubs have an issue when connecting to networks and being managed by Apple (IPhone) devices. I was using 3 Moes Hub devices with one Moes device being stable but when I add 2 more Hub devices (with "managed" devices) they randomly disconnect. At the time of testing all devices (currently 3) are the same model: UFO-R2 running the same and latest firmware version (v.2.2.3). I decided to test on mutiple WiFi networks (devices) a DLink router and a Fortigate 60D router. The same behaviour exisits on either router - meaning that it has nothig to do with the router and more likely has to do with something in the device networking that the routers (possibly the security settings) do not like. Bottom line, it has nothing to do with the stability of the WiFi access point since I tested on two comlpetely diferent devices.
As for the strength of the the WiFi connection it is excellent at -42 dBm:
In fact, the reliable (i.e. working) Hub is at -67 dBm (i.e. good bordering on fair).
I am going to see if it is possibly related to the network settings.
Since I have more control and a "stable" Moes device already working on the Fortigate 60D, I decided to do a "deep dive" using the Fortigate to see if the security scanners/settings in the router may be the cause. Here is what I did:
- Configureed the devices to use assigned or static IP address (assigned using DHCP) on the Fortigate.
- Striped out many of the security checks (under the security profile). Turned off many features (including):
- FortiGuard category based filter
- Redirect botnet C&C requests to Block Portal
- Enforce 'Safe search' on Google, Bing, YouTube
- FortiGuard category based filter
The secondary benefit of removing the security features is to imrve on the connection "latency" between the router and the device as this is anther theory as to what is causing the random disconnections.
I then added a second device (1 more device) and things appear to be stable with the 2 devices each having “managed” devices. So far so good... This 2nd device is located in the same room as the router so the connection should be strong. I then added the 3rd IR Hub (and it remembered its “managed” devices / Remotes and automatically addded them) but this IR Hub only lasted a few minutes before being removed. Note: this device is located further away from the router being on a floor above the router.
In my case, I needed to connect the Hubs to an older Foritgate Wifi SSID (Fortigate 60D Wifi). Once connected, I then could jump to a faster network (SSID) in order to add the "managed" devices (or Remotes) to the Hub. I also, needed to strip down the Security Profile as Apple (Iphone) devices do some "wonky" things when using Wifi - this was an attempt to ensure that the device (especially older IPhones) remain connected. but it was not stable for the 3rd device. Therefore, it is time to investigate the possiblility of weak signals or network congestion and/or latency as the root cause of the issue.
Network Congestion / Latency
The theory is that these devices require a strong / relatively "stable" connection in order stay connected realibly. While the amount of data is small - the devices may require a strong / "stable" or constant connection in order to stay connected. To test this theory, I moved the 3rd Hub to the location of the router and reconnected it. While the Hub connected fine, it ony took a few minutes for it to disconnect once again. This implies that signal streth and/or network congestion is NOT the root cause for the disconnects. Time to add just the 3rd Hub to the network (without data - testing corrupt configuratin data) to see if I can keep it connected. I will do this with the Hub left in the location of the router.
Corrupt "Managed" Device Configuration
This theory focuses on the configuration data (storeed in your Smat Life account related to a Hub) and that maybe the issue has something to do with the way the Moes Hub device configures the "managed" devices or remotes (I.e. "configuration data") associated with the Moes devices in the Smart Life account. To test this theory, I did the following:
Reconnect your Hub using the manual connection steps.
- Place the Hub into connection mode by holding the reset button under the device untili the LED blinks - releae the button. The hub LED will blink quickly.
- With the LED blinking quickly, press the reset button again until the LED blinks again and the LED starts to blink slowly.
- Your device is now in maunal connection mode.
- Hint: when connecting directly to the device (i.e. "Smart...") do not have your connection "remembered" as otherwise you may have to manually switch back to your default home network (i.e. away from the device) to complete the installation
- Note: In my case my Smart Home app started to throw an error in the last step of the registration - but it appears that this is not a fatal issue and I just ignore.
- Run the Smart Home app and attempt to "add device" following the instructions for a "slow" blinking LED
- Once the Hub is reconnected, remove any devices that are currently being managed by the Hub.
- After deleting all the devices - remove the Hub from your account "deleting all the associated data"
- Now you can reboot the hub, restart your Smart Life app and just install the Hub
- In this mode (with just the Hub installed) monitor the Smart Life app to confirm that the Hub remains stabe and no longer diconnects from your account.... you should do this for lengthy period - several days to confirm.
At this point you should have stable “Hub” devices - but no “managed” devices or Remotes.
- At this point with all the Hubs now stable and you can try to add new devices to control or be "managed" by the Hub (note - it is these "managed" devices that can cause issues and force your Hub to be randomly removed from your account - so be aware that you may need to follow these steps again if any of the Hubs "managed" device becomes corrupted).
No luck! The 3rd device continues to disconnect so now its time to add the device to a new Smart Life account.
New Smart Life Account
I decided to create another Smart Life account and add the 3rd Hub to this account and see if it stays connected. The theory is that the data stored in the cloud regarding the Hub's "managed" devices is the reason for the disconnection issue as there is no way to clear out this data that remains stored in the cloud.
Partial Success Using New Smart Life Account?!
It appears that adding the 3rd Hub to a newly created Smart Life account improved the situation? The 3rd Hub remains connected and stable including when adding a "managed" device / Remote. The first 2 Hubs also remain stable and working on the original account and each are able to control "managed" device or remotes.
I then moved all 3 Hubs and associated "managed" devices or remotes to the new account and now all 3 Hubs appear to be stable, able to control their respective "managed" devices or remotes relaiblly and the Hubs are no longer immediately disconnecting.
Once this worked for several hours - I decided to move the 3rd Hub to the DLink router while still being managed in the new account and it continued to remain more stable with no disconnects. This further proves the fact that it is not a network issue that is the cause for the random disconnects - it also further proves that the root cause is realted to a Smart Life device itself and/or the account configuration/data issue.
Corruption of Smart Life Account ("managed" devices or remotes)
Based on my testing, it appears that the instability of the Hubs (randomly dsiconnecting) has nothing to do with the stability of the WiFi network, nor the network security configuration, etc. nor specifically the Hub account data (which you can purge). Is i t possible that there is other configuration data that is stored in your Smart Life account (possibly related to your "managed" devices or remotes) that is associated with your cloud based Smart Life account (that you cannot manage and/or purge) that is contributing to forcing the Hub to be "removed due to a device reset". Creating a new account and setting up your "managed" devices or remotes should help troubleshoot this issue of random disconnects. Adding a new account appears to improve the situation as the HUbs connect and stay connected for a while, but eventually the devices disconnect. So it is not related to corrupt data/configuration.
Purging and Recreating Your Smart Life Account
The last thing to test is to completely remove my existing (i.e original) Smart Life account, thereby purging ALL the related data (including any configuration data regarding "managed" devices or remotes) - then recreate the original account to test if all 3 Hubs will stay connected in this account and can reliably control "managed" devices or remotes. This is important for folks that do not have access to more than one email account to register on Smart Life.
Root Cause
Unfortunately, the root cause appears to be a fudamental design (H/W and/or S/W) flaw with the Moes device(s). After perfroming additional research supplemented with my own troubleshooting, it appears that this design issue affects many Moes devices and therefore, and since Moes is unable to fix this issue, I cannot recommend these devices and suggest that users look at other manufacturers.
Solution / Fix - Migrate to a New Smart Life Account (Or delete and recreate your existing account)
As a stop gap measure you can follow the steps above to clear out any "suspect" or "corrupted data" from your Smart Life account associated with the "managed" devices connected to your Hub. After clearing out the suspect device(s), do not add any "managed" devices and your Hub(s) should connect to your WiFi network and Smart Home account. Once you have proven that all your Hubs has been installed and no longer randomly disconnect, you can then start to add back devices to be "managed" by your Hub(s) (and any associated Google Home or Alexis accounts that are connected to your Smart Life account can now realibly control your devices). This will allow you to use the devices for a period of time, but is not a reliable soution.
In my case, I created another new Smart Life account separate from my original Smart Life account to purge out the offending configuration data and then added back my your Hub(s) and associated "managed" devices or remotes. But performance appears to be temporary and eventually the devices disconnect.
Update - 2024 - June
The new Moes device arrived. This is the Moes Model: UFO-R2-RF version.
Adding the Device
When you scan for a new device in Smart Life - it automatically finds the device (something the previous versions did not do):
Once added, the device allows you to add either a WiFi or RF devcie. In my case I simply added a Samsung TV to see if this device stays connected. What is also different with this device is that it does not add your "managed" devices / remotes to the home screen. Instead, you have to explicitly navigate into the IR Hub to get to your device that you want to control. The Hub added sucessfully and I will monitor how wellt he device performs - most importantly whether it remains connected.
I suspect that the device (being new) will remain connected and will only begin to fail over a period of time so it will be difficult to assess the reliability of the new device.
Stay tuned for further updates on how the newly acquired Moes device performs....in the meantime I have ordered a couple replacement WiFi hubs from a different manufacturer to replace the failing Moes devices.
Moes App
When assessing the new device, I came across the fact that there is now a Moes specific app (separate from the Smart Life or Tuya apps), specifically designed to control the Moes devices? I have decided to try out the Moes app on the devices that are disconnecting (Hub 2 and 3 from above) to see if that resolves the disconnection issues.
Once I added the app, I was required to create a user account/pwd. I did this then added the 3rd Hub (refer to above) and the device connected and it automatically added the previous "managed" devices / remotes to the Hub that were added using hte Smart Life app. The Hub connected for only 30 seconds before being automaticlly removed. So it appears that the app did not resolve the issue of disconnecting.
To continue testing, I then added the 2nd and 3rd Hub (refer to above) to see if they will stay connected in the Moes app and monitored stability. Hub 3 disconnected again after 25 minutes and Hub 2 disconnected after 4.5 hrs.
Summary of Moes App
Based on my testing, the Moes app did not help to resolve the disconnection issues with the problematic Hubs (Hubs 2 and 3 above).
The conclusion after researching and troubleshooting the devices is that the Moes devices are not of high quality resulting in intermittent disconnects. This appears to be a fundamental H/W or S/W design flaw that affects many of the Moes products including the WiFi Hubs (currently affecting 2 of my 3 Moes devices) and as such Moes devices are NOT recommended as they cannot be relied upon. Over time, the devices will start to fail causing them to randomly disconnect.
Many users have contacted Moes with this issue, only to get the "run around" as it is apparent that there is a fundamental design flaw in their products that cause them to randomly disconnect after being used for a period of time. My suggestion is to invest in other WiFi Hub devices from alternative manufacturers.
New WiFi Hubs
Ordered a couple (2 pack) generic Mini WiFi hubs to see how they work.
They connected fine with Smart Life and configured devices with no problems. Will monitor to see how long they last.
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