Perhaps they didn’t particularly think there was one. It seems like we are talking about ST branded V3 hubs that have gone unclaimed for four years or so (which is somewhat ironic given the mass complaints over unavailability of hubs back then), and Aeotec and other regional partner branded hubs that have gone unclaimed for at least one year.
The current models manufactured in the last year don’t have a problem and it seems they are having some success preventing old stock reaching customers without being updated.
The problem lies with older devices that didn’t get claimed (installed) by March this year and so ran out of time to get a firmware update. That includes ST branded hubs that haven’t even been manufactured for over four years.
Nothing has changed in years with regard to the firmware update process. Unfortunately nor had the firmware shipped with the hubs and that included a critical security certificate that expired in March, preventing the hubs updating themselves on first installation.
The workaround relies on the hubs not knowing the right time when reset and so not knowing the security certificate has expired.
In my opinion what should have happened is that when the manufacturing change was made a year ago, if not sooner, there should have been a publicity campaign warning that the clock was ticking for unclaimed hubs.
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@SmartThings Any chance you can give us a Table (or link) to check when our Hubs were manufactured by Serial Number? It would be nice to know whether/not to anticipate these problems prior to getting started!
Dropping this link in again along with this screenshot for reference as it’s helpful to understand where the Hub is in the Onboarding/Updating Process.
Aeotec Support Article: Smart Home Hub troubleshooting
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I finally found a way to block ntp…
I now have the v3 hub online with the latest firmware installed. For anyone who hasn’t overcome the problem yet:
On your router, look for parental controls and block all NTP servers in your country. So simple… Then you can add the hub to smartthings. Since I’m in Portugal, I blocked the following:
server 0.pt.pool.ntp.org
server 1.pt.pool.ntp.org
server 2.pt.pool.ntp.org
server 3.pt.pool.ntp.org
pt.pool.ntp.org
pool.ntp.org
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Just had a wonderful Tech Support Experience with Aeotec!
I am in the process of helping two separate households get started with SmartThings. I bought their Hubs a few weeks ago, then saw THIS thread! 
I didn’t want to be working out the Port-123-Blocking/Firmware Upgrade Issue on their Routers, so I wanted set them up at my house in advance before venturing into a new install.
With them not having their Samsung Accounts nor SmartThings set up yet, here’s what I did:
I have an Asus ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro Router, which shares a very common WebGUI Interface with many (if not most) Asus Routers. The Aeotec Tech had me do this in the Asus WebGUI:
- Advanced Setting → Firewall → Network Service Filter
- Enable Network Service Filter = Yes
- Filter type = Deny
- Input the following into Network Services Filter Table at the bottom:
Source IP = empty
Port Range = 123
Destination IP = empty
Port Range = empty
Protocol = UDP
Don’t forget to click the “+” to ADD the above to the Table
Then click Apply down at the bottom
Next Steps…
- Plug the Aeotec v3 Hub into my Wired/LAN; then Power Up the Hub
- Waited for the Hub’s Light to start Alternating Red/Green Lights, then…
- In SmartThings, click “+” (upper-right) > “Add Device”
- Used the “Scan QR Code” button at the bottom and scanned the QR Code on the bottom of the Hub.
- Followed the steps to add it, including Downloading Firmware progress bar, then an Updating XX% until reaching the Name Device Dialog.
- You can return to your Router and turn off: Enable Network Service Filter = No, then Apply at the bottom.
Two Hubs Installed & Updated estimating around 5-10 minutes each without a hitch ! 
He suggested double checking my.smartthings.com/advanced/hubs to make sure the hub has Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Thread radios functional which will let you know that the hub is fully working before you factory reset the hub.
NOTE: Once updated, the hub will retain the new firmware in memory and updates the security certificates of the hub, even after a Factory Reset (to be clear, a Factory Reset does NOT revert to the Firmware it shipped with). This allows the hub to be setup properly with NTP enabled the next time if you wish.
These Additional Steps were for me to Remove the Hubs from my account so they could be added to the new Households:
- Remove power to the hub (keep hub on Ethernet)
- Remove the hub from your account via SmartThings app or MySmartThingsAdvanced
- Press and hold the RESET button, and power the hub up at the same time
- Wait until the LED yellow flicker becomes solid (at ~30 seconds), then release the RESET button
- Wait until the LED flashes red/green which should indicate it was successfully factory reset
Kudos and Much Appreciation to Aeotec for the great support!
3 Likes
Same problem. my serial number is 4021229990. I not able to disable 123 udp port on my router what option i got. The hub its brand new and i not able to connect. My router TP LINK AX11000. What option i got?
Check with your friends and neighbors if they have a router that is capable of blocking udp port 123. You can set it up on their network to get the updated certificate and firmware. There is also a hub replace option through a few vendors as noted in the first post of this thread.
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Did you see @Pyrylamo 's method of using Parental Controls?
Maybe this page in the AX11000 Guide might help ? I would connect it via LAN first so that you can select it as a Device as shown on this page. I wonder if a Wildcard would work for the server, rather than blocking all of the URL’s @Pyrylamo used, maybe use just *.ntp.org ???
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Tried that , dont work for me
Check NTP servers active in your country and block them. Check https://www.ntppool.org, choose your country and block them in parent Control page of your router. What is your country?
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United Kingdom
United Kingdom — uk.pool.ntp.org
To use this specific pool zone, add the following to your ntp.conf file:
server 0.uk.pool.ntp.org
server 1.uk.pool.ntp.org
server 2.uk.pool.ntp.org
server 3.uk.pool.ntp.org
Block:
server 0.uk.pool.ntp.org
server 1.uk.pool.ntp.org
server 2.uk.pool.ntp.org
server 3.uk.pool.ntp.org
0.uk.pool.ntp.org
1.uk.pool.ntp.org
2.uk.pool.ntp.org
3.uk.pool.ntp.org
uk.pool.ntp.org
pool.ntp.org
I think its not necessary all this entries but i did it like that…
Try select all filters and add to your list:
server 0.uk.pool.ntp.org
server 1.uk.pool.ntp.org
server 2.uk.pool.ntp.org
server 3.uk.pool.ntp.org
(Include ‘word’ server as i posted)
I did it for all devices… Not ONLY for hub… Try that…
make sure to change Port Type from TCP to UDP 
what router model you got? on my one no option for filtering service