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jtkriese's profile

Thursday, May 26th, 2022 6:29 PM

device not responding

Every few days I get a message "Device not Responding" then a few hours later "Device Restored" all are for a door entry sensor. Is the sensor going bad?

Official Response

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

3 years ago

Hi @jtkriese ,

That message means that your Entry Sensor is failing to check in with the Base Station, which could be due to several possible reasons.

Since you do see the Entry Sensor restoring every time (meaning that eventually the sensor is able to check in again), it's unlikely for it to be a battery issue. But if it's been 2-3 years since you last changed out that battery, it might be a good time now.

Bit more likely, it would be interference that is preventing communication. Interference can be from physical objects literally getting in the way, like brick or concrete walls, mesh insulation, or heavy appliances. Or it could be from other wireless devices competing for the same airspace  - a common culprit would be remote controlled garage door openers.

Whatever the cause is, it seems to affect the sensor for a time, before it's able to re-connect eventually.

When troubleshooting, the first thing to consider is the position of that sensor in relation to the Base Station, then you can figure out what possible causes of interference are in between, and address that cause accordingly.

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Community Admin

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@keiseror​ Are you also seeing an "Entry Sensor Not Responding" error message on your system? If you are, I would first replace the battery in your sensor to rule out if it's low or not. 

If replacing the battery doesn't help, we would need to troubleshoot for physical or wireless interference between your Base Station and sensor. Physical interference comes from dense objects getting in the way between the two devices. These are things like thick walls or heavy appliances. Wireless interference is caused by other wireless devices broadcasting at the same frequency as our devices. You'll want to look for devices like wireless weather stations, some baby monitors, and garage door openers. 

To troubleshoot for interference, look at the placement of your Base Station and sensor to see if there's any devices mentioned above around them. If there are, try changing the placement of the Base Station or sensor to improve their connection.

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