I have a strange problem that just started this morning. I am using a Bond Pro to control two different ceiling fans on the 3rd floor of my house. The Bond Pro is integrated into Home Assistant. One of the fans is working just fine, but the other…
I tried rebooting, updating the bond firmware, toggling the power to the bond and the fan, etc. I even removed the offending device and tried to add it back in. The behavior I’m seeing is:
When I try to add the device, I select fan … not a smart device … then I pick the “Toggle” button. I go to the bridge and press a button. The app finds the signal, says it’s a B2, I test it - it works fine. The moment I say “It works”, it creates the device in the app screen, and it stops working. The device has been running for years with no problem, and the other fan still works just fine. I’ve gone through this cycle many times now and I’m stumped. What am I doing wrong? Among my other questions, is there an easier way to select a B2 fan control?
Not sure what’s happening. Maybe a Bond staff member will be able to come through - @endy sometimes has quick app based suggestions or fixes.
Are you using iPhone or Android app? Public or beta app (not talking firmware on the Bond, yet).
you could uncheck “search database” in the advanced options when scanning your remote signal, but it would mean you need to raw record each button, not having the simplicity and functionality of the template (B2) device.
Guess that turns into a “is the stop gap worth the time” judgment call.
@Wells.GoFar would you like to share your Bond ID so I can check some internal logs?
The fact it stops working just after you saying that the B2 remotes work for you is really curious…
Have you tried another template/remote option? Or maybe recording all the buttons, like @residualimages suggested?
In our internal logs it looks like you have only one Ceiling Fan device that was created recording all the buttons (what we call internally a “raw recorded”, because we send the “raw recorded signal” when pressing the buttons in the app).
Is that the one that is failing or the one that is working? If it is not, can you create another device and record the signals of the buttons so I can share with the remotes team to try to understand it better?
I have re-added the bedroom fan, but it doesn’t work very well. This is a TX029-RS remote at 304MHz, controlling a Model 60-SUDE Sudler Ridge 60 inch ceiling fan.
I put fresh batteries in the remote, and it works perfectly even from downstairs.
When I try to record commands, the bridge tries to map to a slightly different frequency every time (I’m not sure this matters, like 303.7, 303.9, etc.), and it doesn’t reliably suggest the B2 every time. I manually forced it to 304MHz in the advanced controls. Recorded commands will work sporadically, maybe 1 of 4 tries from the Bond App on my iPhone 15.
All I really care about is the light on/off, and the fan on/off at its lowest speed.
I wonder if the problem is some sort of radio interference. I recently installed 7 switchbot shades and 3 associated bluetooth proxies in the same room - don’t get me started on why this was necessary. Turning off the proxies improved the reliability of the signal sends, but didn’t fix it, so I’m eyeing these shades that I don’t really have a way to turn off that I know of. The bond bridge is in another room, and it used to work just fine.
If it is interference, I wonder several things:
Is there a way to just enter the remote information and force it to select a B2 at 304MHz? The recording process is difficult and error prone, and is just a source of frustration.
Is there a way to increase the broadcast power, just overwhelm the interference when I want the fan on? The remote always works, which makes me think it’s just much more powerful.
Why would bluetooth devices be causing this type of interference at a completely different band. I’m not a radio engineer, I know enough to be stupid.
If it’s not the BT devices, could it be something else?
I will check with the remotes team if there is a way, but all I know from the app side you need to set the info before recording the signal, tapping the “Advanced” button, where you can set the Frequency and enable the search remote database
Unfortunately, there is no way to increase the broadcast power. Remotes and the Bond Bridge are two different kinds of devices and have different legislation about radio power - I don’t know the details, just overheard about it with my colleagues
The interference should not be a big issue because of the different bands, but it is all physical waves going over the air, so maybe, depending on the power the Bluetooth is being transmitted, it can cause some issues
Other type of interference can be causing issues in the transmission, like noise in the power outlet, the power supply…
Are you using the power supply provided with the Bridge?
And have you tried moving the Bond closer to the fans or away from other interference sources?
As I highlighted before, this just recently stopped working. It has been working flawlessly for quite some time (since February with the “pro”, and for years before that with the regular Bond Bridge). Moving the bridge could be an option, and I’ll try it. There are two rooms where I have fans I need to control, the office and the bedroom. The bridge is located in the office, powered by PoE from a Ubiquiti Unifi switch (I expect the power is pretty clean) and the office fan continues to work quite well.
Is there any other sort of log or diagnostics you can get from your end that might explain the problem? Does the Bond bridge listen to any of the RF environment and could report on interference?