Is it a WiFi issue? Yes. Is it YOUR WiFi issue? Who knows? Maybe you
need to 'splain to them that you can fix YOUR WiFi issues, but you are
not obligated to fix THEIR WiFi issues.
or better yet, have a handout explaining the limits of your service
call, and that if they have somehow created their own problem, that it
will be charged at $XYZ/hour?
bp
<part15sbs{at}gmail{dot}com>
On 10/16/2025 6:42 AM, Ken Hohhof wrote:
Silly me, I thought Zigbee used 900 MHz. That’s not wrong, but it can
also use the same 2.4 GHz band as WiFi, and that’s what a Philips Hue
Bridge does.
I got sucked into this by a WISP customer with a leased WiFi mesh
system and somehow their Hue lights also became my problem. I didn’t
understand how smart lights work because I still turn my lights on and
off the caveman way, with the light switch. Who knew I was
insufficiently sedentary.
Unfortunately, smart lights and home automation in general is marketed
as plug and play, and consumers aren’t going to consult Reddit or
Wikipedia, which is what I had to do. Turns out 2.4 GHz WiFi messing
with smart bulbs is a common issue. And Zigbee doesn’t go as far as I
thought, 10-20 meters depending on walls and stuff, and one of the
recommended solutions is to put additional smart lights in the path
since they form a mesh network. Also changing frequencies, like
putting WiFi on channel 1 and Zigbee on channel 25.
Sure, your typical Hue smart bulb buyer is going to do these things
(not). Or they can call it an Internet problem when Alexa says some
of the lights are unreachable. Yep, must be an Internet speed
problem. (I’m going to guess Philips doesn’t have phone support for
light bulbs.)
This customer also reported their Hue Bridge device was placed on top
of the main WiFi mesh router. That doesn’t sound like the best place
to me.
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