I did notice a few of my non-IOT devices connecting to the ST WiFi hub network instead of to Deco when I plugged that back into my new Deco network, so I think you’re right that Deco is (incorrectly) making the assumption that they are the only active WiFi. Because I noticed this, I think I have to have two separate SSID networks in play.
For ST/Plume, I don’t think there is any other setting available to disable the DHCP feature (I think the only setting available is that it gets set to ‘Auto (Bridge)’ mode and that’s it). So hopefully ST/Plume does actually disable DHCP when it’s set to ‘Auto (Bridge)’ mode(?).
For Deco, I do want it to handle DHCP.
For modem (in my case Comcast), when I log into the portal for my modem it is in ‘Bridge’ mode … but, a lot of it is grayed out to change. In some of the areas I do see DHCP enabled (under ‘Local IP Network’ (grayed out), and ‘Xfinity Network’ (not grayed out)). Not sure if it does any harm with how it’s setup. If it’s possibly causing some harm, maybe I bring it back out of Bridge mode and change DHCP to ‘disabled’ under ‘Local IP Network’ and re-enable Bridge mode(?).
Apologize for straying even wider off the SmartThings topic… But, you have not mentioned yet having any kind of dedicated firewall device between your switch and Comcast gateway. So, if that gateway is in bridge mode, that means it is simply passing traffic through from the public internet to that switch. With what you have shared so far, I think you want to change that. While not the best device in the world, the Comcast gateway when not in bridge mode is going to provide default firewall functionality (nothing comes in and everything can go out) and NAT so that devices plugged into your switch aren’t directly accessible from the rest of the world. When in bridge mode, devices plugged into your Comcast gateway are going to get IP addresses from the same place the Comcast side of that gateway got it’s address.
With regards to DHCP, you can have multiple active, just make sure that they are not managing overlapping pools of addresses.
If I’m understanding correctly (I’m not very good with networking so a lot of this is over my head ), I only have the Deco plugged into my Comcast modem (2.5G port), with the other 3 Ethernet ports on Comcast modem remaining unused. So my setup is as follows:
Comcast Modem —> Deco #1 —> Switch
So I think I’m covered because Deco #1 is basically my firewall? Modem is in ‘Bridge’ mode, Deco has DHCP active, and the Switch … hmmm… it’s not an unmanaged switch, and not sure if I can disable DHCP on it with it not being an unmanaged switch(?). It’s a Netgear Managed Pro switch. I would then plug in my ST WiFi main hub into the Switch itself instead of directly into Deco #1.
Sounds good - misunderstood one of the earlier posts that it was Comcast gateway → switch → Deco.
The Netgear shouldn’t be doing DHCP so no worry there.
In looking at the user guide for the Deco it doesn’t mention the ethernet ports from a configuration standpoint, seems like the software is expected to just figure it out. So presumably it makes the assumption that the first ethernet port active is the uplink and the rest are managed by it. If that’s the case then yes, the Deco would be acting as your firewall for devices plugged into the Netgear switch.
Still leaves the possibility of turning off bridge mode on the Comcast gateway. In effect you are already paying for their firewall/security features on that gateway and bridge mode turns those off.
Cool - thanks for clarifying Just want to make sure I’m doing the right things and understanding it all correctly (and always eager to learn!).
Correct - they tell you to only plug one thing in first when connecting to modem (and you can use any of the 3 ports for connecting to modem, but I’m using the 2.5G port since I currently have Gigabit+ plan with Comcast), then it leaves open the other 2 ports for anything else (which is nice to get those extra ports on each of the 3 units so I don’t have to buy even bigger switches in some spots).
If I turned off Bridge mode on Comcast modem, I would then have a 3rd broadcasting WiFi network: Comcast, ST WiFi Mesh, and Deco (and I live in a multi-tenant building with extremely crowded WiFi networks all fighting each other). I would think that would be a bad thing to do in my particular living situation … but interesting that Bridge mode actually turns off their firewall/security features (didn’t know that). If I did turn off Bridge mode (which forces its wifi network back on), then I’m assuming I would want DHCP disabled under ‘Local IP Network’ in the modem portal page otherwise it would cause a mess with Deco also handing out DHCP(?).
Anyhoo … thank you for the help and info! Much appreciated. Hopefully tomorrow goes well in fixing all this mess
Alrighty … I followed my outline today (thank you @BroncoCountry ) and it’s all setup and configured. So far everything is pretty rock solid (including the Ethernet backhaul), and I actually have much fewer offline devices in ST than before (which is really funny). Still a bit of mixed feelings on the Decos, but more of a fan now after re-setting them up again today. Hopefully it just needs some time to fully ‘settle in’ and get rid of a few gremlins I’m seeing.
I like the Alexa integration (handy to automate turning on/off the bright LEDs and the guest network). And wow … the Speedtest on my Apple TV now goes up to the full 1GB speeds which I could never get with the ST WiFi hubs (most I would get before was around 300-400mbps).
Regarding my dedicated ST WiFi network with its own SSID/pw, does anyone know of a way to actually hide the SSID? I’m not seeing that option anywhere in the ST or Plume apps, and it seems odd that it’s not there. Just curious… would just rather hide the SSID if I can. Thanks.
This is pretty cool … I use Alexa heavily for Routines to automate a lot of things (as ST can’t do everything … they both have their pluses and minuses in what they can do). If you go to menu in the Deco app (the 3 lines at left) then ‘Link Account’, hook it up to Alexa. Then in Alexa, I created a few Routines:
‘Deco Guest Network ON’ - turns on the Guest Network shortly before the start of my workday and sends me a push notification so I know it ran (I put my work computer on the guest network so it’s completely segregated from my home network)
‘Deco Guest Network OFF’ - turns off my Guest Network at the end of my workday and sends me a push notification as a reminder that it ran and its off (I chose a time that I rarely work past). The nice thing about turning off the Guest Network is the SSID then no longer shows and is a bit safer in doing this.
‘Dinner Time’ and ‘Movie Time’ - turns off that super-bright-crypton-green light on the Decos so that it doesn’t interfere with my TV watchin’ You’ll see a setting in the Routine choices to turn on or off the LEDs (it does it for all 3 Decos). One of my Decos is below my TV.
‘Goodnight’ - added a step to turn off the LEDs on all Decos (same as 3 above but OFF so that it doesn’t look like Area 51 in my bedroom).
‘Good Morning’ - added a step to turn on the LEDs on all Decos so I can keep an eye on them to make sure they are behaving throughout the day.
Sure thing - Alexa is very powerful in what you can do and integrate. I’ve been using it for 9 years now … I’m a pretty big fan of it and have way too many Routines. There are some things you can’t integrate in ST but you can in Alexa (e.g. Deco, Wyze, Dyson), so it’s worth exploring as another alternative to ST.
Sometimes a picture helps - example Routine below in Alexa:
I got in touch with support again after hearing nothing after the first escalation where they said opensync certificate is out of date contact plume. I contacted plume and they said they can’t do anything for 3rd party devices and to have samsung fix the issue. So we will see what the second attempt at level 2 support does. I tried to get them to note on the ticket its literally every single customer with these hubs that is affected so hopefully they can make an update or something and not make these things paper weights. Would be nice if any of the support staff or devs on here could comment if these hubs are being killed off or what since they haven’t even gotten a hub update in a while. Kind of ridiculous to not say anything about it.
I agree we need more transparency on their plans, but it’s not likely to happen in this forum. This forum was set up a number of years ago so that customers could help other customers: it’s not actually an official support channel. (With the exception of the little section where there is some developer support.) SmartThings staff who post here are here on their own time, and they aren’t going to make any big announcements unless they copy one of the email announcements that goes out to the announcements section.
The best way to get official attention is to post on one of their public facing channels like Facebook or Twitter/X. At least those are read by marketing staff.
It’s funny you say it’s not an official support channel but when anything is mentioned in the “official” support channels they don’t hesitate to say they have no idea and to visit this forum for support. At least smartthings finally has a support number not tied to the overall samsung support number so they don’t just send you on a loop of redirects to home appliances and you can get to someone with knowledge of smartthings items.
I know. Right now I am just super frustrated with SmartThings support, but I hope the new phone number makes things better.
From 2014 until about 2017 there were SmartThings staff assigned to this forum to answer questions about the app.
But once they combined a bunch of Samsung apps into one and shifted support from a smartthings dedicated staff to Frontline Samsung help lines, there were no longer employees assigned here. But employees over at the official support forum still refer customers over here if they think it’s an app or automation question. Definitely not helpful.
Funny timing - I get a text today from the Samsung CS team saying that Tier 2 support would now like a screen recording showing that I’m selecting my sub hub before being taken to the setup screen so that the developers can confirm the issue and investigate further. I previously provided them screenshots on 2 different occasions with the CS reps when they were walking me through the process. Lack of trust here?
Wouldn’t it be nice if Tier 2 support actually talked to me directly instead of playing this game of only speaking with the CS reps to then get in touch with me with their asks? They like to respond like every 2 weeks asking for something else.
Samsung Gods - I’m really tired of these games and you should feel embarrassed at the support being provided to us loyal users.
Just got an update on my ticket. On to tier 3 support it goes lol.
Case #158355208.
" We’ve escalated this user’s case to T3 for investigation. There is currently no ETA on a fix for the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and we thank the user for their patience while we continue working on this."
Noticed over the last month or so the homepass app is no longer “optimizing” my network. Also no activity recorded, no events, etc. I have three Wifi hubs that worked great until recently. In the Samsung app, the two sub-hubs show “Connecting…” like others have mentioned.
At this point I get better wifi speed if I unplug the two sub hubs and just use the main. I’m currently in contact with smartthings support and I believe they’ve sent it to tier 2.
I’m not hopeful for a resolution but we’ll see. Sounds like I will need to purchase a new mesh system but hoping to avoid that.
Still more data- I have a ST WiFi setup in 2 homes. Only the one with wired backhaul collapsed (irreparably apparently) with all the symptoms described in this thread.
The one that is all wireless still functions perfectly and looks normal in Plume Home Pass as well. Except that the date for last optimization is 12/31/69. Maybe it will keep going, maybe it won’t!
Noticed over the last month or so the homepass app is no longer “optimizing” my network. Also no activity recorded, no events, etc. I have three Wifi hubs that worked great until recently. In the Samsung app, the two sub-hubs show “Connecting…” like others have mentioned.
At this point I get better wifi speed if I unplug the two sub hubs and just use the main. I’m currently in contact with smartthings support and I believe they’ve sent it to tier 2.
I’m not hopeful for a resolution but we’ll see. Sounds like I will need to purchase a new mesh system but hoping to avoid that.
I love my new WiFi mesh system (Deco XE75 Pro x3). I’m just now using the single ST WiFi Mesh hub plugged into a switch via ethernet as mentioned earlier for all my ST devices (will keep the other two units as backups if ever needed). All my ST devices talks fine to just the single hub. It actually seems more stable using just the one hub vs. all three as before (fewer disconnections of devices). Hopefully we can at least use it this way if they decide they will no longer support the Mesh system with Plume (hopefully that won’t be the case though).
The new Deco mesh system corrected all my problems I had before with my WiFi and network, so it’s a win-win for me in the end. It is super fast and reliable, and it also corrected my Sonos dropout issues by going ALL WiFi and can finally use AirPlay in my home! I got a good (almost) 6 years use of the ST Mesh system.
Hopefully ST won’t give up on these units to keep them functioning for everyone.
), I only have the Deco plugged into my Comcast modem (2.5G port), with the other 3 Ethernet ports on Comcast modem remaining unused. So my setup is as follows:
Just want to make sure I’m doing the right things and understanding it all correctly (and always eager to learn!).
You’ll see a setting in the Routine choices to turn on or off the LEDs (it does it for all 3 Decos). One of my Decos is below my TV.
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