KP200 -- Unstable WiFi Connectivity

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KP200 -- Unstable WiFi Connectivity

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KP200 -- Unstable WiFi Connectivity
KP200 -- Unstable WiFi Connectivity
2021-12-22 04:28:54
Model: KP200  
Hardware Version: V1
Firmware Version: v1.0.9

Problem Details

 

  • First floor remodel started November 2020, finished May 2021.
  • All TP-Link hardware originally configured May 2021.
  • Wired and powered up weeks before that.
  • Scheduled Christmas lights for sunset to 12:30 AM:
    • Scheduled using Alexa routines.
    • Scheduled in groups of three (3) with three (3) receptacles in each group, 2 minutes apart.
    • Each group scheduled a second time 8 minutes after first scheduled time for improved reliability.
  • Everything is working great from Thanksgiving on!!!  Happy Wife!  Happy Life!
  • Electrical work on Dec 16th requires breakers to be turned off.
  • Electrical work completed same day, breakers turned back on.
  • Since then, all KP200's connect to the WiFi but do NOT maintain connection:
    • Solid white WiFi status light for a minute or so
    • Begins green blinking WiFi status light until connection is reestablished.
    • Rinse and repeat.
    • Just the KP200's are not communicating reliably -- all nine (9) of them.
    • Everything else works as designed as it has for the previous seven (7) months.
  • Results: highly unreliable control of Christmas lights -- sleepin' on the couch...  :(
  • This is NOT a local/remote control issue:
    • If the receptacle can't communicate on the local network, no expectation of remote control.

 

TP-Link Smart Devices

  • Nine(9) KP200 Smart Plugs -- the problem
    • Hardware: v1.0
    • Firmware: v1.0.9
  • Six (6) HS200 Smart Switches
  • Two (2) HS220 Smart Dimmers
  • Two (2) KL110 Smart Lamps

 

Miscellaneous Networked Devices

  • Xfinity XB7 Cable Gateway (aka Technicolor CGM4331COM)
  • Three (3) Ring Model 4 Doorbells
  • Four (4) Laptops
  • One (1) Sony Smart TV
  • One (1) Roku 4K Streaming Stick
  • One (1) landscape lighting controller
  • One (1) Crestron Pyng hub for shade control -- hardwired

 

Failed Attempts to Correct

  • Assigned DHCP reserved IP addresses in the XB7 Gateway to all TP-Link devices as well as Ring, Crestron and Roku devices for good measure.
  • Reset XB7 Gateway.
  • Reset all KP200's to setup mode and reconnected to WiFi through Kasa app.
  • Factory reset the two (2) KP200's closest to the XB7 Gateway, reconfigured, and reconnected to WiFi through Kasa app.

 

Network Diagnostics and Additional Details

  • XB7 Gateway confirms devices have IP addresses matching assigned MAC addresses.
  • ping assigned IP addresses -- all devices EXCEPT KP200's have rock solid responses.
  • arp table shows no duplicate IP addresses.
  • Closest KP200's are 15 ft from XB7 Gateway across an empty room.

 

Help!  I want to sleep in my bedroom again by Christmas Eve so Santa can deliver those sweet, sweet gifts...

 

Reasonably technically savvy.  If you have additional science that can be applied, I should be able to provide additional diagnostic information.

 

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#1
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4 Reply
Re:KP200 -- Unstable WiFi Connectivity
2021-12-30 22:27:14

@Carl  Apologies for pinging you directly in the message.  No replies for more than a week and totally at a loss here on how to proceed after this last attempt...

Tried a full factory power off reset on the KP200s:

  • Removed the devices from the Kasa app.
  • Full factory reset on all of them.
  • Threw the circuit breakers to power off all devices for 48 hours.

 

After reconfiguring all KP200s still having the same instability with WiFi connectivity.

 

During reconfiguration, a number of outlets gave me a "Something went wrong" message when naming the plugs, some a number of times, but eventually it appeared to work.

 

Also some outlets, but not all, reported "Almost Done.  You've configured your Smart Outlet but you need to turn on Remote Control to use your Smart Outlet away from home."

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#2
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Re:KP200 -- Unstable WiFi Connectivity
2022-01-12 17:08:50

@SteveMR 

 

I'm now experiencing this issue too.  Plugs have been disconnecting and re-connecting constantly to the wifi, and it's driving me nuts.

 

I've done a full reset which let me fairly easily add it back in, but it's been doing the same thing.  The weird part for me is that it didn't happen immediately after a power issue.  It happened a week or so after for me.

 

I do wonder if I flip the breaker off for a few minutes, and then turn it back on if it'll let everything reset itself.

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#3
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Re:KP200 -- Unstable WiFi Connectivity
2022-01-12 18:06:29

@SteveMR 

 

So, one thing that I found that seemed to make a difference was I connected these outlets to a different network.

 

I have a dedicated WiFi network setup for all of the smart home devices, but there are 50 of them on there, which may be causing some crowding.  I moved these to my other network, and they seemed to be much better.

 

Hope this helps.

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#4
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Re:KP200 -- Unstable WiFi Connectivity
2022-01-26 02:38:30

@castertr0y357

 

Purchased a Linksys AC1200 WiFi router and hardwired it to the Xfinity XB7.  Disabled the 5GHz radio on the new Linksys router.  Connected all the KP200s to the new WiFi network.  It's glorious!  Three days now of solid operation.  On at sunset.  Off at 12:30 AM.  Single Alexa scheduled event hits all 9 in one shot.

 

There a lot of details in "standards" open to interpretation or just simply misinterpreted.  Either the KP200 WiFi chipset got something slightly wrong or the XB7.  Given no other device connecting to the XB7 has an issue, I know where I'd begin my investigation.  Could still be the XB7 violating a standard and everything else rides through it.  When you're large enough to scatter that much hardware around the country, your mistake can end up being a "standard".

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