Smart home appliances are impressive. There’s no doubting that they’re the future, and they can help to make our lives a whole lot easier. However, we’re currently in a very early phase of these products, and you can often find little niggly issues with them that can be frustrating.
One of the most common issues you’ll find with these products is that the disconnect from the wifi, or you can’t connect to it yourself. But if your smart plug won’t connect to the wifi, what should you do? Here are a few reasons why this might be happening, and what you can do to fix it.
Smart Plug Won’t Connect to Wifi
The most likely cause of not being able to connect to the wifi with your smart plugs is the app that you’re using, and your phone’s settings. Ensuring that your Bluetooth, wifi and your location settings are on is the first step to fixing the problem.
However, there are a few more reasons why you may not be able to connect to the wifi with your smart plugs. It will vary slightly depending on which brand you’ve got – advice may be different for an Amazon smart plug as opposed to a different brand.
But, there is some general advice that works well across the board. So, here’s some things that you need to check to ensure that you can get a connection between the two.
Check Your Device
The most common place that you’ll find an issue with connecting smart plugs to your wifi is with your phone. This will all depend on which app you’re using to connect the plugs to the wifi, but there are some general rules that you can follow and a checklist that you should tick off to confirm this.
Most people will likely be using the Smart Life app. The setup process for devices with this should be super simple, as you just need to select the type of smart product you’re using and then add it manually within the app itself.
You’ll need to put your smart plug into the socket first, and you should see a flashing light on the plug to confirm that it can be found by your app. Make sure that you enter the correct wi-fi password at this step, as well as ensuring you’re using the correct email address that’s synced with your phone too.
Outside of your device and the Smart Life app, the other thing that you may have to check is the internet connection.
Check Your Router
Although in my experience problems with a wifi router and connecting to smart home devices are a rarity, this is still something that you’ll want check if you’ve tried all the other options.
Make sure that you have the right SSID and the right password for your router, otherwise your smart plugs aren’t going to know which wifi to connect to. You should be able to enter this into the app that you’re using when you first set the plugs up, as without the password, they can’t connect.
Check Your Band
Another thing you might need to consider is which band of internet your smart plugs are going to run on. With some apps, you’ll need to be connected to the 2.4 GHz band, and you’ll need to connect your plugs to the same band as well.
Smart plugs work on the 2.4 GHz frequency. The most important thing with smart plugs is range, not speed, which is why 2.4 GHz is the preferred band. Whilst 5.0GHz is definitely the faster of the two, it is also the less reliable too.
This can seem to cause problems with people who are using a mesh wifi system. This is because they combine 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz together, so your smart plugs may have a problem knowing how to connect. This isn’t just a problem with plugs, but it can occur with any smart home device.
If you can’t connect to the mesh wifi with your smart plugs, then you may have to opt for another pair that you can connect with (you shouldn’t have this problem with bigger brands like Teckin).
If you’ve already purchase your plugs, you may be able to set up another 2.4 GHz in your house for the plugs to connect too. This is quite a lot of hassle, but may be the only way, as you will need to connect to the 2.4 GHz wi-fi.
You can also consider splitting out your wi-fi bands, which internet providers like Virgin Media don’t do automatically. This means you can connect to each band directly, which makes it easier for your smart plugs to connect.
Recommended smart plugs – Teckin SP27
If you want to play things safe, then you want to opt for something like a Teckin smart plug or at least a fairly well known brand. Their cheapest set are the SP27 pair, which are a good idea to opt for if you’re trying smart plugs out for the first time.
They should work almost out of the box, which can be an issue with some cheaper brands. They work very well with both Amazon and Google ecosystems, which is probably one of the most important functions of a set of smart plugs now.
They’re a good choice if you want full control over your smart plugs from a simple to use app (Smart Life). Although simple, that’s all most people will need.
Conclusion
In conclusion, unfortunately it isn’t always an easy fix to get your smart plugs up and connected to your wifi system, especially if you’re using a mesh system.
However in many cases, you can quite simply fix the issue, as it’s likely to be a problem with your phone and the app that you’re using, or something to do with your home router. Issues with smart devices are pretty common, as we’re still in the early stages of adoption.
