Wifi method - Presence Sensor

Devices & Integrations
1

Hi there,
Im wondering if there is any method to identify when my iPhone lose the wifi connection with my home router so i can have a second rule to check the “presence” feature.

Thanks.

2

I know one method is to use a custom app called Host Pinger. If sniffs your network for active IP addresses and reports the online/offline status to SmartThings. I have it running on a Pi3. It’s an awesome App!

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3

Thanks rontalley! But i was wondering if is there any option without the Pi3…

4

WiFi sleeps on mobile devices so will show inaccurate presence data while it’s trying to save power…

5

What @Entityxenon said. IFTTT has (or did at one time) have that capability. I stopped using it for the reason Jake posted.

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6

There are multiple threads discussing this in depth linked to from the presence faq. See posts 2, 3, and 4, for example.

But the short answer is that this is easy with some routers, difficult with others, so it depends in part on the features of your WiFi router.

FAQ: The Many Ways of Detecting Presence

That said, however, in other threads you described your use case as wanting to distinguish between two different floors in the same building. Are you not still in WiFi range of your home when you go to your office and vice versa?

If you are still in WiFi range of your home router when you go to your office, you can’t use WiFi as a presence method since you will not be marked as “away” when you go from one to the other.

But it just depends on how far away your router can detect your phone.

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7

My house is in the 17th floor and the office in 1st. So no problem with that and also different wifi networks.

8

What IFTTT applet did you use? Maybe i can make some rules in Webcore and make it more reliable. Thanks!

10

The usual rule of thumb in networking for 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi networks is that the range should be around 50 m indoors up to 90 m outdoors.

The distance from the first floor to the 17th floor is probably around 64 m. It’s not impossible for the Wi-Fi range to go that far although maybe it won’t.

But my concern is that you’re going to be marked as being home as soon as you’re in Wi-Fi range, which could be certainly five or six floors away from your own apartment. That’s not what most people want. But you’ll know the specifics of your own situation.

The fact that the home is on one Wi-Fi network and the office is on a different one is not relevant. Your phone will stay on your home Wi-Fi network until it’s out of range and then it will automatically switch over to your office network. The question for your use case is exactly when is it going to make that switch.

11

I’ve used both Android Device and Location.