Topic: My Access and Smart Hub don't play well together

[HeloMech]

I had an issue with my Access not being able to be added to MyAcurite.  After some exhausting troubleshooting I was able to get that figured out with my ISP yesterday. That is a whole topic of its own.  Anyway, after watching the Access about constantly while I am learning it and adjusting my pressure to be calibrated for my house, I began to notice some issues.  For one, I used the replace function to replace a smart hub. That worked fine.  I then tried to re-add the smart hub.  No luck, with the dreaded this device must be connected warning.  It was logged in, and I could see traffic on my router and the connection to the Acurite servers in my router logs. So I waited for the servers, thinking that I would restart the hub a few times and eventually it would be available to add the device in MyAcurite.  Well, that never happened, and I am not really losing sleep over it.  But to the observations.

I had been adjusting my Access elevations to get my pressure right in the splash page and following the changes on WU until I got it right, and then went and changed myacurite device page to match.  It is a work around that is fast and works well, but I kept getting funky station pressure showing up.  Super low, in the 26 inhg range, but didn't match the Access station pressure or my ASOS local pressure.  It was a number all out on its own.  Then MyAcurite would update and match my adjusted pressure to a tee, and my feed to WU.  Then in a few minutes it would revert back to some wonky station pressure.  Every time I opened the MyAcurite app or webpage, the pressure graphing would be correct, matching the Access, but the pressure tile, the big numbers would be some station pressure that didn't match anything.

I was watching my Access rapid fire update times on WU, and comparing them to Georges update times in Peru, NE.  Mine would vary from 10 seconds or so to 2 minutes.  Georges were never really more then 30 seconds, sometimes way less.  I know that his Atlas sensors send data to the Access faster then the 5 in 1 but the Access still sends faster, even if the data hasn't changed.  While I was watching and wondering about that I disconnected the Smart Hub to let it set to try and reset again, and bang, the Access rapid fire started to match Georges update speed.  I watched it for a while and plugged the smart hub back in.  Once it logged in the speed dropped way back to 1 minute or more with an occasional 30 second update. MyAcurite pressure went wonky again too.  Checking the splash screen of the smart hub shows that no WU log-ins are assigned to it.  It sees all my sensors, but they are technically not added, and the device isn't added.  But it is reporting its own station pressure to the Acurite servers and it is getting mixed into the app and website.  It also is sending to WU and slows it way down.  I am not sure how, as it does not have the WU data showing.  But it is repeatable, and I have done it several times this morning.    It may also have clashed with my rainfall recording last night. Big rainstorm and wonky graphing and reading of the rain fall.  My local displays are all correct, but MyAcurite and WU are all goofy.  Unfortunately I can't repeat that test. 

I never did get my smart hub to re-add into the devices, and I don't need it anyway with 5 sensors.  If there is anybody else running both the Access and Smart Hub simultaneously, maybe you could check your Access to WU update times and see what they are with the smart hub operational and with it disconnected.  Maybe it is just a glitch with mine?  Maybe something that Acurite may not know about. My app and WU have been perfect since removing the Smart Hub from the network. I did remove my WU sharing and logins prior to hitting the replace button.   

[nincehelser]

I had been adjusting my Access elevations to get my pressure right in the splash page and following the changes on WU until I got it right, and then went and changed myacurite device page to match.  It is a work around that is fast and works well, but I kept getting funky station pressure showing up.  Super low, in the 26 inhg range, but didn't match the Access station pressure or my ASOS local pressure.  It was a number all out on its own.  Then MyAcurite would update and match my adjusted pressure to a tee, and my feed to WU.  Then in a few minutes it would revert back to some wonky station pressure.  Every time I opened the MyAcurite app or webpage, the pressure graphing would be correct, matching the Access, but the pressure tile, the big numbers would be some station pressure that didn't match anything.

You're probably running into issues right here.  I wouldn't trust modifying anything on the splash page, and it is going to get over-ruled by myAcurite anyway.  Set it to "adjusted" pressure on myAcurite, then make any elevation adjustments on myAcurite.  Let myAcurite handle the settings on the Access and SmartHUBs.

I was watching my Access rapid fire update times on WU, and comparing them to Georges update times in Peru, NE.  Mine would vary from 10 seconds or so to 2 minutes.  Georges were never really more then 30 seconds, sometimes way less.

I'm assuming you're watching the timing indicator on wunderground?  It is often wildly off from reality.  I do my timing measurements by monitoring the data stream.  Who knows what wunderground is doing after it has the data, especially in the condition it's been in lately.

Checking the splash screen of the smart hub shows that no WU log-ins are assigned to it.  It sees all my sensors, but they are technically not added, and the device isn't added.

The Access and SmartHUB will show all devices they "hear" locally, up to a certain limit.  It has no relation to your settings on myAcurite, so you will possibly see entries for devices you do not manage on myAcurite.

  But it is reporting its own station pressure to the Acurite servers and it is getting mixed into the app and website.  It also is sending to WU and slows it way down.  I am not sure how, as it does not have the WU data showing.  But it is repeatable, and I have done it several times this morning.    It may also have clashed with my rainfall recording last night. Big rainstorm and wonky graphing and reading of the rain fall.  My local displays are all correct, but MyAcurite and WU are all goofy.  Unfortunately I can't repeat that test.

I don't find that surprising given the way you were trying to directly modify settings on the Access.  They will eventually be over-ruled by the settings in myAcurite.  I don't trust modifying settings directly on the device that way given my past experience... it just seems to be wonky. 

I never did get my smart hub to re-add into the devices, and I don't need it anyway with 5 sensors.  If there is anybody else running both the Access and Smart Hub simultaneously, maybe you could check your Access to WU update times and see what they are with the smart hub operational and with it disconnected.  Maybe it is just a glitch with mine?  Maybe something that Acurite may not know about. My app and WU have been perfect since removing the Smart Hub from the network. I did remove my WU sharing and logins prior to hitting the replace button.

Many people are running the Access and SmartHUB in parallel.  However, you should not have both reporting to the same wunderground ID at the same time.  If you do, it will definitely cause problems for wunderground.  Normally myAcurite should prevent you from doing that, but if you are manually altering the splash page like you mention above, all bets are off.

[HeloMech]

I knew that would bring ire.  And I don't disagree with you.  The technique has served me well though, and I probably didn't explain it well enough. Using the rapid fire, I adjust the splash screen, fairly quickly until I get the pressure indicated that matches my ASOS pressure (which I am 10 feet from when adjusting as I have the luxury of working in the same building at the calibrated equipment), and then quickly match that adjustment in the Device settings so that they match exactly.  I try to accomplish this prior to the update schedule the app.  When the MyAcurite updates they match.  I do not just adjust the splash screen and not the app.  So when the app "overrules" it uses the numbers that I have already applied and the displayed pressure is correct. It is just a way to adjust quickly, and not have to wait for the five minute app update, make and adjustment, wait again and so on.  If the app updates before I get a change to change it, it will override the manual settings in the splash screen. But by then hopefully I will have written them in my log and just change the device in the app. The Access and the hub sensors do not read identically, as expected, and my log numbers were then useless.

The splash screen on the smart hub is not editable when it is not added to the device page.  I am seeing that it has no WU information at all.  No login, password or ID. It also had a blank elevation.  That is where my extreme low station pressure was coming from. Not the Access. The Hub was just running on its own.  I cannot change anything on it.  I understand Acurite servers should not allow it.  I am saying that they are, in my case.

I am not trying to have both report to WU, and don't want them too.  I agree that the WU timestamp is really variable, but not to the extreme that I see when both are connected.  I can see the difference, it is repeatable and substantial.  It might be just my hub, I don't know.  Maybe it is still attached to my account even though I can't add it. Thought I would post here, to see if anyone noticed a difference or had even looked. 

[nincehelser]

The SmartHUB and Access each have their own MAC.  That's how they're identified by myAcurite through the data stream at the URL level.  I can't see why myAcurite would suddenly start replacing the pressure from the Access with the pressure from the SmartHUB.

Other than that baro pressure, all other sensor readings should always be identical as they are read from the same radio packets emitted by the sensors.

I've bricked a SmartHUB altering the information on the SplashPage.  That's enough for me not to try it anymore.  Letting myAcurite handle all the settings keeps things straight.

[HeloMech]

Yep.  That is the quandary if you will.  Since all the sensors read the same to both the access and the hub, the only difference would have been the individual pressure sensors. I could see the station pressure and the adjusted pressure numbers from the access but I could not see the hub pressure, as I could not add it as a device.  So that had to be where the off number was coming from. It was in the station pressure range for my altitude, but was definitely not the station pressure of the access which I could see.  The other numbers could have been from either receiver, as they would have been posted the same and I have no way of really knowing that since both showed all the same sensors.  So if the Hub has some kind of priority over the access I could not prove it other than the override of the pressures. 

I am retiring the smart hub anyway, and the access alone is working very well so far.  I am not really troubleshooting more than just stating my observations.  My "plan" was to re-add it compare the pressure sensor trends and then shelf the hub.  I was unable to do either.  Then just curious if anyone else had noted weirdness with the MyAcurite and update times with both running. 

Maybe my issue is unique.  I now wish that I would have just added the Access and brought the sensors over manually leaving the hub connected.  I was happy to bring my sensors calibrations over automatically, but now I cannot study the issue more.

I think I will call into Acurite on next week, and see if they can see the smart hub on their system, and as to why I cannot re-add it.  I am beginning to think that it either did not replace correctly in their system, or, that when I deleted the WU information from the hub that I did not allow the system ample time to update before hitting the replace button.  Just for giggles, I hooked up the smart hub again and let it log in.  Again, my pressure changed to station pressure, I assume from the hub in the MyAcurite website after the 5 minute refresh.  I did nothing but unhook the smart hub, and again after the 5 minute refresh, back to the adjusted Access pressure.