Tapo / Kasa hubs unreliable internet connection
Hello
My Tapo and Kasa hubs keep disconnecting from the internet for no apparent reason.
LEDs on the hubs are orange when that happens. It seems they keep working locally to allow the different sensors to communicate with the other devices (i.e. the Kasa hub correctly adjust the KE100 valves depending on the temperature readings from the T315 thermometer) but they disconnect from the internet so I can't control any device when I'm not home.
This will happen randomly - the hub may be reachable remotely and correctly working for days, then disconnect and become remotely unreachable for a few minutes, or hours, or days. Turning it off then on again doesn't solve anything (I can do that remotely thanks to a smart plug from another manufacturer). The only thing that works is going home - of course when I am on the same wifi network I can see all the devices working in the TPlink apps, and then when I leave again (home and wifi network) the hubs will stay connected and reachable for at least a few hours. But, having to go home just to reconnect with my devices kills all the purpose of having remotely controllable smart devices...
I've tried every suggestion to make my network more stable (apart from setting the DNS to 8.8.8.8 because I don't have that option in my router), to no avail. The thing is, I have several other 2.4GHz devices that work just fine when the TP link hubs don't. My router is just a few meters away from the hub, in the same room, using a wifi channel not disturbed by neighboring networks.
I have had several Tapo smart plugs, they exhibited the same behaviour, erratically disconnecting and appearing unreachable. Of 6 plugs no more than 3 appeared reachable at any given time. So I ended up replacing these with smart plugs from another manufacturer and these work just fine, rock-solid connection 100% of the time. Now I'm left with just my Kasa KE100 valves, Kasa hub and 4 thermometers, 3 T315 and one T310. I hope I don't have to replace all my KE100 thermostats since these were quite an investment and the integration with the T315 and T310 thermometers is wonderful - all other manufacturers rely on the internal thermometer of each valve.
I'm no network engineer but since all my other 2.4GHz devices work just fine at all times, it must be something with how the TPlink hubs work and communicate over the internet that makes them unreliable *at my home* (no doubt they work fine for others). Now if I could just figure out what it is...