Can't pair new Almond3s

[litzdog911]

So I'm trying to set up two additional Almond3s to my main Almond3 router.   I can't seem to get them to pair.   I tried the tips here with no success .... https://forum.securifi.com/index.php/topic,5038.0.html

Here's what I've tried so far:


* Follow on-screen instructions on new Almond3 to "Add Almonds".  New Almond3 was connected via ethernet switch to main Almond3.  Instructs you to go back to main Almond3 to pair, but never does.

* Moved new Almond3 to my office so that I can directly connect it via ethernet to the main Almond3.  Using either the main Almond's LCD panel, or my Almond iPhone App, they  never successfully pair.  I reset both the main Almond (power cycle) and the new Almond3 (factory reset button), but doesn't help.  New Almond3 just stalls on the Language Selection screen.   iPhone App does display a message that an "Almond3 (Securifi)" has joined the "Office" Almond3 (main Almond3), but still won't pair.

* I tried several times using the factory reset button on the new Almond3.  One time I actually saw the message "Found a primary Almond" on my new Almond3, but the main Almond3 was still trying to pair for what seemed like forever.   How long should I be waiting???   I tried factory resetting that new Almond3 again and didn't get the "Found a primary Almond" message again.

* Tried varying the distance between the new and main Almond3s, up to the ~50ft limit of my ethernet cable.  No difference.
I went ahead and set up one of the new Almond3s so that I could update its software.  That didn't seem to help, even after I reset factory defaults and tried again to pair to with main Almond3.


So why is this so hard?   Ideas?  Help?

For now I've configured one of the new Almond3s as an Access Point to mirror my WiFi settings. 

[litzdog911]

After I've configured my additional Almond3s to Access Point mode, is there an easy way to convert to a mesh/paired setup?

[linksith]

Try going through the wizard again after setting up as access point. If that doesn't help I would look at this thread where two people mentioned some solutions that worked for them. Apparently there's something to do with incorrect IP addressing?

[mparadis]

If it doesn't respond try pressing the reset button.

[litzdog911]

Try going through the wizard again after setting up as access point. If that doesn't help I would look at this thread where two people mentioned some solutions that worked for them. Apparently there's something to do with incorrect IP addressing?

Thanks linksith.   That's the thread I referenced  in my first post.  Those tips didn't help, unfortunately.

[litzdog911]

Try going through the wizard again after setting up as access point.....

By "wizard", do you mean the "Add Almond" steps from the main Almond3 router?   

Here's what happens when I try that ....

1. Select "Add Almond"

2. Wired or Wireless?  How do you want to connect your new Almond to the existing network?  I select "wired".

3. Then you step through several menus showing how to connect the main Almond3 to your internet gateway/router, and connect the new Almond3 to the main Almond3.  In my case, with the new Almond3 now configured as an Access Point, it's connect to my home network via an ethernet switch.
Then you get the "Pairing Almond" display.  "Power up the new Almond. Return to this screen and finish the setup.  Waiting for Almond to join.  It can take about 3 minutes."  I then reset the second Almond3, but the primary Almond never connects.  Even if I press the second Almond's "factory reset" button, they don't discover each other to pair.   

So I don't think having the second Almond already configured as an Access Point is helping.

Just curious ... why does the distance between the two Almonds matter when setting up a wired configuration?   20ft?  40ft?  60ft?

[litzdog911]

If it doesn't respond try pressing the reset button.

Thanks mparadis.  Tried that a bunch of times.   One time, with the second Almond in the same room as the primary Almond, I actually got the "Found a primary Almond" on the second Almond display.  But the primary Almond still just kept saying it was "waiting".   

It shouldn't be this hard, right?

[litzdog911]

Just to be clear about the steps I'm following, here's what I'm doing.   Maybe someone can point out where I might be going wrong?

1. My first Almond3 is configured as my primary router and connected to my FIOS gateway/router.  It's working fine.

2. I connect the new Almond3 to my main Almond3 as instructed:  Ethernet cable from main Almond3's LAN port to new Almond3's top WAN port.

3.  On the main Almond3, I select "Add Almond" and follow the on-screen steps.

4. It asks "Wired or Wireless?  How do you want to connect your new Almond to the existing network?"  I select "wired".

5. Then you step through several menus showing how to connect the main Almond3 to your internet gateway/router, and connect the new Almond3 to the main Almond3. 

6. Then you get the "Pairing Almond" display.  "Power up the new Almond. Return to this screen and finish the setup.  Waiting for Almond to join.  It can take about 3 minutes."  I then power up the second Almond3 and wait while it boots up.  After a few minutes the second Almond reaches the "Select Language" display, but the primary Almond never connects.  It just keeps "waiting".   Even if I follow the "Are you having trouble connecting" advice and press the second Almond's "factory reset" button, they don't discover each other to pair.   

What am I doing wrong?  Is there some magic to how far apart the two Almond3s need to be?  I've tried them a few apart on my office desk, and 20ft away.  I even had the new Almond3 update its firmware, then "factory reset" it again, but that still didn't help.   As I mentioned, one time I saw the "Found a primary Almond" display on the new Almond3 appear shortly after the "Select Language" screen, but the main Almond3 never paired with it. 

I'm reluctant to factory reset my main Almond3 since it's nicely configured and working fine.

[Ashok]

@ litzdog911,

Please try the following and let us know the status.

1) Reboot the Primary Almond 3.

2) After connecting the Ethernet cable from Primary Almond 3 LAN port to the secondary Almond 3 WAN Port.

3) Tap on Wizard on the second Almond 3-->Join Existing Home Wifi System-->Now tap on Add Almond on Primary Almond 3 and go with the wired option.

[litzdog911]

@ litzdog911,

Please try the following and let us know the status.

1) Reboot the Primary Almond 3.

2) After connecting the Ethernet cable from Primary Almond 3 LAN port to the secondary Almond 3 WAN Port.

3) Tap on Wizard on the second Almond 3-->Join Existing Home Wifi System-->Now tap on Add Almond on Primary Almond 3 and go with the wired option.

Sorry Ashok.  Still not working.  Here's exactly what I did:

First I tried your suggestion.

1. Just to be safe, I shut down all the other Access Points in my home (an original Almond, the new Almond3 (currently configured as an AP), and an older Linksys)

2. From the Primary Almond3 (PA3), I disconnected its existing LAN connection to my network switch, so the only connection is from the WAN port to my FIOS gateway/router for internet access.

3. I rebooted (power cycled) Primary Almond 3 (PA3)

4. Connected 10-ft ethernet cable between PA3 LAN port and new secondary Almond 3 (SA3) WAN port [Does distance matter?]

5. Power up Secondary Almond 3 (SA3).  It was previously factory reset from earlier attempts.

6. On SA3, navigate menus
   - English, N. America Region
   - Using Wizard:  Choose Location = Upstairs;  Join Existing Home WiFi System
   - Shows "Found a Primary Almond".   [seems promising!]

7.  On Primary Almond 3 (PA3)
   - Add Almond, Wired Connection
   - Pairing Almond:  "Waiting for Almond to join ...."  Eventually goes to "Having trouble pairing your Almond" display.   [How long should I wait???]
   - SA3 eventually goes back to Language selection display, then back to "Found a Primary Almond". 

8.  Following the exact directions on PA3, I factory reset SA3 while PA3 is still showing "Waiting for Almond to join ...."
   - SA3 resets to Language display, then shows "Found a Primary Almond"   But Primary Almond just keeps waiting!


So, at this point I figured what the heck, let's try factory resetting the Primary Almond 3 (PA3).  So that's what I did.  Here's what happened:

1.  Factory reset PA3.  Follow Wizard steps to edit WiFi settings back to desired settings.  Finds my Almond cloud account (good!).  Asks if I want to Add a New Almond, so I proceed.

2. Power up Secondary Almond 3 (SA3), which is still connected to PA3's LAN port.  PA3 shows "waiting for Almond to join ...."

3. SA3 shows "Found new Almond" while PA3 is still waiting.  PA3 eventually goes to "Having trouble pairing?" display.

4.  Followed instructions on PA3 and factory reset SA3 while PA3 is still "waiting".    SA3 goes to "Found a primary Almond", but PA3 just keeps "waiting".  I waited for several minutes and eventually see "No Almonds Found" on the Primary Almond 3 display.


So why is this being so stubborn?   Is the distance between the two Almonds a factor?   Should I try a "Wireless" connection instead of Wired, and then maybe convert that to Wired somehow?   

I would really love to get this working so I can post a positive review on Amazon.   Thank you for your help!

[Clieman]

I'm having a very similar problem. After multiple reboots, and resets to factory setting, I don't even get to the message, Found an Almond. Both just stay in "waiting..." mode. Last time left them for 2 hours without any change except the "Having trouble pairing?" display on the main unit after a few minutes.

Am very keen for any ideas of what I can try next.

[Ashok]

@ Clieman,

Could you please ensure that the devices are running on the latest firmware R012 firmware, we don't have any known issue of 2nd and 3rd unit not getting paired to create the Mesh. If the first time setup fails then at least through Wizard by selecting the option "Join Existing Home Wifi System" should work, also try to change the channel for both 2.4 and 5 Ghz.

[litzdog911]

@ Clieman,

Could you please ensure that the devices are running on the latest firmware R012 firmware, we don't have any known issue of 2nd and 3rd unit not getting paired to create the Mesh. If the first time setup fails then at least through Wizard by selecting the option "Join Existing Home Wifi System" should work, also try to change the channel for both 2.4 and 5 Ghz.

I know my Primary Almond 3 has vR012 firmware, and I'll double check that the new Almond 3 was also already updated during one of my earlier attempts. 

What do you mean by "change the channel for both 2.4 and 5 Ghz"?  Change the channels from what to what?  On both Almond 3s?

And I also want to know if the distance between the two Almond 3s should make any difference?

And, if I try pairing them as "wireless" instead of "wired", can I easily use the wired connection on the secondary Almond 3s?

[litzdog911]

Well what do you know!   My new secondary Almond 3 had older firmware.  After updating it, it worked!  Primary Almond 3 immediately recognized the new Almond 3 and they have now paired successfully!   Whohoo!!!   Now to try my third Almond 3 that's currently configured as an Access Point.

[litzdog911]

Success!!!  Third Almond 3 was factory reset and paired with my primary Almond 3.  All three Almonds now seem to be successfully meshed!

I don't know if this made a difference, but I actually connected the two secondary Almond 3s to my FIOS router/switch instead of directly to the Primary Almond 3.  So they wired like this:

* Primary Almond 3 WAN port to one of my FIOS Gateway/Router's 4 switch ports (for internet access)
* Secondary Almond 3 WAN port to another FIOS Gateway/Router switch port

I did this so that I wouldn't have to disturb the rest of my home network switches connected to the Primary Almond 3's two LAN ports.