216 Messages
Router issues affected Video Doorbell - How I fixed it.
My Orbi RBK20 2 node mesh system kept going offline, and at first, I blamed Comcast, my ISP. But finally, I accepted the reality that my less than 2-year-old Orbi system had failed. I set up my old Nighthawk router that wasn't strong enough to send a signal to the doorbell and started searching for a replacement Mesh system. IMO, mesh is the only system worth having at this point.
I finally settled on the eero 6 (not Pro) and it is working fine, better than the Orbi, even when new. But for some reason my Video Doorbell wouldn't work! It acted dead. The SS help files kept telling me that the doorbell wasn't receiving power, but the doorbell WOULD ring the legacy mechanical doorbell chimes. That, to me, said that power WAS being fed to the doorbell.
In reading, and re-reading, all the help stuff I noticed a phrase that said to connect the doorbell and give it a few minutes time to charge up. My doorbell had been connected for at least a week and wouldn't charge!
So, I removed the Doorbell mechanism from the mount, to check to see if all the connecting pins weren't bent and couldn't make contact. At that point I noticed on the back of the mechanism, a micro-USB port, and a tiny button right above it. I suspect the button did a factory reset, and the USB was a power and testing port for service technicians.
Pushing the reset button didn't work. Out of desperation, I had nothing to lose at this point (it was out of warranty) I plugged a power cord into the micro-USB port and let it charge for 20 minutes. At that point the reset button worked and allowed me to reset and re-install the video doorbell as if it were new. Everything now works as it should. Apparently, there is a tiny capacitor or battery in the device that needs to have enough power stored to prime the pump, for startup, so to speak, and I was running on "Empty"!
I probably wouldn't have done this if the device were under warranty, I'd have sent it back for service, but I felt that I wanted to figure this out on my own, and I really, REALLY, didn't want to tell my wife that we needed to replace yet another electronic gizmo that replaced an earlier device that lasted 35 years without service of any sort and would have likely lasted another 35 years.
That's my information, use it at your own risk. I make no guarantees or promises that anything I've written will work for you or make your doorbell work like new.
I finally settled on the eero 6 (not Pro) and it is working fine, better than the Orbi, even when new. But for some reason my Video Doorbell wouldn't work! It acted dead. The SS help files kept telling me that the doorbell wasn't receiving power, but the doorbell WOULD ring the legacy mechanical doorbell chimes. That, to me, said that power WAS being fed to the doorbell.
In reading, and re-reading, all the help stuff I noticed a phrase that said to connect the doorbell and give it a few minutes time to charge up. My doorbell had been connected for at least a week and wouldn't charge!
So, I removed the Doorbell mechanism from the mount, to check to see if all the connecting pins weren't bent and couldn't make contact. At that point I noticed on the back of the mechanism, a micro-USB port, and a tiny button right above it. I suspect the button did a factory reset, and the USB was a power and testing port for service technicians.
Pushing the reset button didn't work. Out of desperation, I had nothing to lose at this point (it was out of warranty) I plugged a power cord into the micro-USB port and let it charge for 20 minutes. At that point the reset button worked and allowed me to reset and re-install the video doorbell as if it were new. Everything now works as it should. Apparently, there is a tiny capacitor or battery in the device that needs to have enough power stored to prime the pump, for startup, so to speak, and I was running on "Empty"!
I probably wouldn't have done this if the device were under warranty, I'd have sent it back for service, but I felt that I wanted to figure this out on my own, and I really, REALLY, didn't want to tell my wife that we needed to replace yet another electronic gizmo that replaced an earlier device that lasted 35 years without service of any sort and would have likely lasted another 35 years.
That's my information, use it at your own risk. I make no guarantees or promises that anything I've written will work for you or make your doorbell work like new.
No Responses!