Presence sensors: Just stopped working [Platform issue now fixed!]

General Discussion
42

Support regularly receives presence tag pairing failure reports from customers, but the are a couple things going on:

  1. The presence sensors did not get the same hardware level refresh as the other devices, and are a bit more sensitive to timing, etc during the pairing process. Additionally, they are super subject to range and interference. If they have an incomplete pairing out of the box, while near the Hub, gently remove the battery>put it back in>tap the button once - this should reconfigure it.
  2. As part of our QA process, we test a lot of inbound devices that customers report are not working. We definitely come across issues with devices (and the customer is almost, always, usually right), but the presence sensors often seem to work when they hit our workbench. Therefore, we want to be super sure before replacing the sensors.
  3. There seems to be a regression in the app where tags are pairing in the background. Usually the tag will implement a correct handshake shortly thereafter
  4. Confirm you are getting the same error when pairing using Marketplace>Connect New Device and Marketplace>Coming and Going>Presence Tag>Connect Now

If you are stillllllll having issues, check in with support@smartthings.co.uk as they may have an update for your Hub or some other troubleshooting tips before replacing.

43

@Aaron

Zigbee Presence Sensors Work By Checking In every Minute or So

A presence sensor which was always “away” or one which kept bouncing between being “away” and “present” could easily represent any of the issues you describe with range, interference, or an incomplete pairing.

And if presence is based on GPS, as with a mobile phone, reporting can come from the wrong location sometimes.

However, a zigbee presence sensor which is always reported as “present” is something else again. That would typically represent a failure on the cloud side, not the device. It’s not based on “where I saw you last” reporting as GPS is. It’s a direct connection to the ST Hub at the home.

A zigbee connection can be lost due to interference, just as turning on the microwave might cause Netflix to buffer. But it can’t be falsely maintained through any of the factors you listed. The arrival sensor doesn’t check out when it leaves. Instead, the cloud account notes repeated failures to check in locally as the sign that the device is “away.”

There’s No “Check Out” Signal to be Lost in the First Place

So either the hub isn’t passing along the check-in information to the cloud or the cloud isn’t recording/processing it correctly, but honestly I don’t see how the sensor itself could contribute to a sustained false positive. Sustained false negative, sure–if the sensor can’t maintain enough power to check in regularly, it eventually gets marked as “away” when it’s really home.

"Teleportation’ between “away” and “home,” sure–the device isn’t checking in properly or there’s interference.

But sustained false positive for hours or days? There’s nothing the Zigbee sensor itself can do to cause that. (A GPS based device can, but not the Zigbee device.)

Resetting the battery in this cases is likely forcing the cloud account to resynch as well.

If It’s Really a Sustained False Positive on the Zigbee Presence Sensor, That’s Very Odd

Make sure the engineers know that what’s being reported in this thread is nothing to do with GPS devices or bounce or false away statuses.

It’s a zigbee presence sensor being falsely reported as present for hours at a time. And multiple people reporting that things were OK and then the error started happening. And some reports of two in one home failing at the same time.

This just doesn’t fit “the usual suspects” for a presence detection error. If these were mobile phones, sure–GPS-based devices can do that. But the Zigbee device just doesn’t have a local protocol that should fail in that particular way. It really sounds like something else is going on.

Submitted with respect.

2 Likes
44

Just to +1 this, I have exactly the same problem. Removing and re-pairing makes no difference. The pairing process seems to go smoothly, but the presence is absolutely always “Present” regardless of where the sensor is.

45

Since I bought the starter kit and other devices the presence sensor has failed to work. I can pair it and it reports as present the first time. However, as soon as it goes out of the hub’s range and gives not present, that is where it stays. If I try and delete it from the app, clear out any routines that use it and reset the sensor, it always seems to re-pair without any further intervention. That suggests it hasn’t been completely deleted from the hub. I have given up on it and I’m not far of giving up on ST. It’s so unreliable, I can’t believe it.

46

Does Life360 work in the UK? Or is there an Oath issue for that as well? If it works, I would use that for a presence sensor.

47

Since purchase my SmartPrensence sensor is always Present, even when I’m miles away.

I repaired it many times. I’ve also switched off my 2.4GHz wifi just to prove its not an interference issue. I use 802.11ac so I wasnt using 2.4 channel anyway.

I’ve opened a ticket with support. They replied that this is a trending issue in the UK and they will get back to me.

1 Like
48

I just wanted to say - I’ve tested this with SmartTiles this morning. Its strange that SmartTiles actually updates the status of the sensor correctly. This appears to be ST app specific.

Shame you cant trigger anything from SmartTiles.

49

In my case, the status is also incorrect in the IDE. I think is a device issue as the status reverts to INACTIVE after a couple of mins from pairing and the last updated field is always empty.

50

Anyone have a workaround for this presence issue ?

I got my Wemo switches working fine, even though they’re not on the officially supported list just yet.

Surely the same can be done for the presence fobs ?

I raised this as an issue on monday, and to be frank if they cost ÂŁ30 then I do expect some functionality rather than (currently) nothing ?

I’m sure its being worked on as a platform issue.

51

Support have confirmed to me that this is a widespread platform issue and its being worked on. Unfortunately they could give no ETA for a fix.

Id hope that something this significant is being worked upon around the clock given the nature of the fault, but who knows, given mine have been inoperable for nearly three weeks now :frowning:

Not impressed as I’ve got £230 worth of dead wood for the last three weeks.

52

Oops. just started a new thread on this. Should have checked here first! Anyway, same problem. All 3 of my presence sensors show “present” and “inactive” with no recent activity.

53

Hi. I’m quite new to smart things. Everything seems to work fine except the presence sensors. I have 3, all on key rings. They get identified with the hub no problem but that is it. They always remain present at the home address. In my device list all 3 are inactive and all 3 have no recent activity. Clearly something is wrong. At £30 each they are not cheap either. I have tried re-pairing all 3 but still the same problem. I’m currently using my phone as a presence sensor which can be a bit flakey.

Any help would be appreciated!

Update - OK so I just read that cordless phones can interfere with the pairing process. My hub was right next to one! Lol. Anyway I just moved it, reset and re-paired the presence sensors and they now say active. Unfortunately I’m home alone with the kids so cannot go anywhere to see if they “leave” the house with me. Hope so.

55

Hi. Thanks for that. I just realised there is an extensive thread on this already. Apologies for starting a new one! I’ll post in the other one from now on. Oh and I’ll raise a support ticket too. Thanks again.

1 Like
56

I’ve had three holding emails in the last week for my presence sensor which has worked for a total of 4 days in the last month. Here is my most recent:

Hey Bob,
I just wanted to let you know the engineers are working around the clock to find a solution to your Presence Tag issue. I am pestering them every couple of hours for updates, and I will relay the information back to you.

Thank you for your on going patience.

Cheers,
Tom

You would have thought with the suggested man hours going into this problem that they might have cracked it by now.

57

They also wanted photos of the inside of my presence monitor.

Just speculating - and why not - that there have been some slight changes in device manufacture causing these issues, so its not widespread.

I do know the Mk1 and Mk2 presence monitors had different outer plastic casings, but was lead to believe the internal workings were the same - but perhaps not ?

58

The radios are the same for both the old and new versions of the presence sensor but the battery mountings are a little different.

59

Yeah was going to say my V2 working fine until the day after a Platform update about 3 weeks ago.

1 Like
60

If there was a platform update that caused this, then

a) why hasn’t that been communicated if the problem is known?
b) why hasn’t it been rolled back to fix the issue?

This is simply awful service and handling of a platform outage.

61

So its now three weeks since this thread started, any progress on the platform issue?

62

Yep and support is in ‘no reply’ mode.

I really like smart things, writing custom apps with IDE is super cool.

But non working presence (since the box was opened on purchase)
 I am currently recommending all my interested friends to stay away.

Cool tech, but not ready for prime time.

1 Like