Topic: Brand New Out of the Box Iris 5 in 1, WiFi tested by Chaney QC, Then....

[Boopster13]

when we connected the display up here at home, the WiFi worked until I unplugged the display to move it to its permanent location on the wall, where I immediately got a big. fat. RED. X. over the WiFi icon.     This is the THIRD display unit I have gotten since Oct 2022.  As I stated in the subject line, Chaney QC tested the WiFi before sending the unit to us, as well as stating they "do not know of any WiFi issues" with the model 06102M/01532MCB.

When we bought our first unit, we had a Neatgear router, and all went well until early March 2023, (except for the Lightning detector, but that is another whiny story - we are on our 3rd one of those, too)    We got a 2nd unit, which worked briefly, then started working intermittently, much  as described elsewhere in the forum by a J Hudson (Jan 2023).  Coincidentally, shortly before the 2nd unit arrived, we switched routers, going to an ASUS AX 6000 WiFi 6 (RTAX88U).  The 2nd unit connected, worked for ~ 5 - 6 wks reliably, then began "dropping out" more and more frequently, culminating in complete loss of signal in July. 

After jumping through the usual hoops with AcuRite support (which has got to be one of the most frustrating experiences on the planet),we finally prevailed on them to provide us with one last unit, which they agreed to pre-test before shipping.  It arrived a couple of days ago (I honestly did not have the interest in setting it up until today).  Today was the day of reckoning.  After 4 tries and re-booting the router, it successfully connected.  Then it disconnected, as described, when unplugged to be moved.  Subsequent "tries" to re-establish connection have been unsuccessful.

J Hudson also described his observation that the Iris display does not stay connected to WiFi, but sends data intermittently in "packets", disconnecting from the router, then reconnecting every 20 to 30 seconds.  Whether or not this is part of the problem (and if the source is the router not recognizing the signal or the WiFi transmitter in the display not "seeing" the router once disconnected [ie - when it tries to connect again]) is undetermined.  There could also be a number of other reasons far beyond my limited tech skills.  If you need health info or data crunching, let me know.  Computer and circuit board stuff - I got nuthin'.

All I really need to know is - tell me what router is going to work with this unit without the signal dropping out and not picking back up all the time.  Thank you.

[DoctorKnow]

You likely changed IP numbers when you unplugged the display, unless you gave it a static IP in your router. Often times when IP changes happen, it fouls up a device.

[Boopster13]

Thank you very much.  We are wondering if we can give it a static IP address with this router (TBD w research), since this also happens when the WiFi drops out between "data packet" transmissions.  As J Hudson noted in his January thread https://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=44440.msg455920#msg455920 (very similar problem ours) the WiFi signal does not not stay on all the time.  In fact, we rebooted the router after the signal went down (after unplugging the unit), and were able to reconnect to the system (AcuRite, Internet, Weather Underground). The signal stayed up ~ 1.5 hrs.  Now it is down again and we have made no changes - it is all due to the interaction between the unit display, the router and the internet configurations.  So I have no idea what else to do.  We will research the static IP address possibility.

[DoctorKnow]

Are you getting any bars being picked up from the outside sensor on the display? Maybe it looses signal and crashes? I know that is what happens with my Atlas display. It will loose one bar, and then loose all bars over and over until you find a sweet spot that makes it happy. It is not easy either... Very weird.

[Boopster13]

Absolutely - "full ker-smash" as we say in HAM radio.  The sensor outside has always performed beautifully.  We have determined that the router log is constantly "seeing" and recording this behavior -

"Aug  3 19:27:24 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth6: Disassoc 24:C8:6E:0F:36:D5, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (, rssi:0"

This has happened every 10 - 15 seconds since I first connected the weather display a little after 1400 CDT.

[Boopster13]

It looks like we may have discovered the source of the problem and found a way to "fool" the router.

This is a AcuRite firmware and wireless module vs (any) Router AO2.11 AX6 incompatibility issue, as nearly as we can determine.  Other people have had issues with it.  We are trying a different approach.  I am hoping not to “jinx” it by sharing  it with you (ha-ha), although it may perhaps help other people.  We just hope this works!!

So here it is – we have introduced a “go between” acting as an access point (portal) for the weather station ONLY – a TrendNet TEW818, which is not an AX6 device.  The TrendNet only supports up to 802.11/AC devices, so there is no conflict with the AcuRite wireless module.  We have then connected the TrendNet to the ASUS so the AcuRite display does not “see” anything AX6 and get confused.

So far, the AcuRite display WiFi has been up and running now for 6 hrs, a major milestone.        Fingers crossed this solves the problem.  Thanks to DoctorKnow for answering my posts.