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ZipaMicro WiFi Warning.

Ed shared this problem ago

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I have just been given some information by Borna in support which I believe needs to be public:

Borna: we see that you are using Wi-Fi feature. This one is not currently supported.

Me: That's really disappointing, there is no ethernet near where this device is destined to be used. The device is marketed with WiFi, so not supporting it is false advertising. Do you have a timescale for when this essential feature will be supported?

Borna: It's not "false advertising". It does work in most cases. But as Wireless networks aren't always stable plus there are a lot of parameters that influence the connection...We don't recommend using Wi-Fi until we develop a way to reset the device Wi-Fi credentials and/or set them up using a phone. At this moment if the Zipamicro doesn't connect to Wi-Fi there is a strong possibility it will stay bricked (waiting for wi-fi connection) and require an SD card flash.

This needs to be public knowledge, as advertising a feature, then claiming it's not supported and will likely "brick" the device is really not on. I do get the feeling that this was rushed to market.

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Replies (7)

Mislav C. ●

Hi Edward,

Borna was trying to warn you of possible problems with using Wi-Fi connection on Zipamicro.

Zipamicro Wi-Fi is supported, but there is a possibility of software freeze ("brick" that Borna mentioned) in which case we need to reset the controller. We are of course working on solving the issue in a future update.

BR,

Mislav

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Ed ●

Thanks Mislav,

I do understand, and am glad of the warning.

It does still mean that I can't use it on WiFi, and nor should anyone else if I understand you correctly.

BTW - as far as I can tell, the device has never managed to make a connection to my WiFi network, despite the SSID and passphrase being correct. So the WiFi is not working, and not "supported", as the "fix" included turning off the WiFi.

Ed.

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Mislav C. ●

Wi-Fi is functional but there is no discovery implemented so you have to manually setup the connection at this time. The exact reason why your Zipamicro doesn't connect I am not sure, could be your Wi-Fi network setup or router.

We do not recommend using it at this time because of the possible freezing issue that was mentioned.

BR,

Mislav

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Ed ●

Mislav,

I do understand that it could be an issue with my infrastructure, but the 40+ other devices on my Unifi system suggest not. I am also sure that the correct details are entered, because I could see it being transferred in the JSON sent back in the web client.

My point still stands that the device is not ready for market if one of the core features can cause the device to break, and that support seems to be limited to "turn off wifi" or "it is your system".

There also seems to be a bit of a communication issue at Zipato, as Borna clearly states that WiFi is "not supported" but you say it is supported, but then fail to provide support.

This should be :

Fixed as a very high priority.
Made clear to potential purchasers before they spend money.

I suggest amending the product page to say:

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n ( Coming Soon )

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Mislav C. ●

Well I can only repeat what I previously said. Wi-Fi is supported but needs to be "polished" so that it's easier to setup and has no bugs which can create problems with the rest of the functions. This is in our best interest so we are working on fixing the issue.

Regarding your Zipamicro Wi-Fi connection this needs to be solved in your private ticket.

BR,

Mislav

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Alberto Macias ●

As usual, Zipato prefers to keep their issues private instead of communicating to the community, I cannot remember how many times and how many users have asked Zipato publicly and privately to inform of these kind of issues. At least they don't delete the posts anymore...

We all understand there could be issues with new devices and features, but the fact they keep trying to hide them is frustrating to many of us. In my case I have tickets opened for a year now and the final response is "we know is an issue but we are busy and cannot solve it now", example are plenty, like battery alerts, OTA upgrade and issues on groups.

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Carlo ●

Same thing with 3g and old zipabox...

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SVB Axton Residence ●

I tried to connect my zipamicro to wifi with no success, so I thought that maybe it is only to connect wifi smart-things. But as I read your comments it should be able to connect to wifi (or brick it) - I agree that this is misleading customers.

So far I solved it by buying a wifi extender and by LAN cable I connected the zipamicro and the wifi extender. Zipamicro is online now, but for some reason I do not see any history in the events...

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SVB Axton Residence ●

Another thing is that on the zipamicro page they say it can have a optional backup battery Li-Ion 3.7 V 900 mAh - but there are no other information and there is no battery in the zipato product line

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Mario H. ●

But where is the description how to do an SD card flash

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Adrian Van Der Heijden ●

you are right, this is misleading product information. Quite simply wifi does not work. Do not say it needs polishing, either it works or does not. If a customer can not connect the Zipamicro to wifi, then is DOES NOT WORK.

This, if advertised as having Wifi, to any and all consumers, means it should have an easy and stable connection to a wifi router. Why would you release such a product with what is now-a-days the most basic and standard feature in any connected object.

And how long has the product been released for and still no fix, no to mention the time before it was released.

@alberto any idea what they are fixing and adding as new products in this time period? Looking at the last year there have been a minimum of new supported devices. The Intercom/SIp feature they spent and are still spending time on is aweful. No google home support yet, no combined energy metering, no battery level warning for device (besides through a clunky virtual battery alarm) and many more basic and standard features that have been requested by the many users.

What are they implementing and who is requesting these implementations? as the community is largely ignored it seems.

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Sebastian Popovic ●

This product is primarily Z-wave gateway which requires Z-wave and Ip connection. Primary connection for any gateway including this one is ethernet since WIFI is neither close as reliable.

Anyway, Zipamicro wifi is generally working fine, but some units may have issue with the power supply when switching to wifi from ethernet, so it is good to try with some stronger power supply (2Amp) and check whether it will work like that.

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Micha P. ●

Ahh... now I know why my ZipaMicro was working with WiFi :)

I have used an external power supply....

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Henning ●

I purchased my first ZipaMicro today and WiFi works fine with a standard 5V 1A powersupply.

I manually had to enter the "SSID" and "Passphrase" under "Controller settings" and then it swopped to WiFi when I disconnected the LAN cable. I also tested a second WiFi and discovered that the ZipaMicro accepted the new settings and swopped WiFi when I pressed "Syncronize" and not when I pressed "Save" under the settings.

My ZipaMicro was FW 1.3.29 when I tested this but now I have updated to 1.3.61 and it still works fine.

Just some feedback in case people still read this thread later.

Happy Easter!

// Henning

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Chris ●

Just purchased the ZipaMicro and updated firmware. Not very impressed with the lack of WiFi support with the unit. This was an advertised feature and I assumed it would make things easier to add Z-Wave devices to the unit. But instead what's happened is that I've had to run an ethernet cable to get the unit close enough to add the devices because the wireless only sometimes connects to my wireless network. Something is hinky about the way it works because it looks like the MAC address changes every time it does manage to connect to the wireless network. The ZipaMicro is plugged into my network normally, so I'm fine using a wired connection MOST of the time.

A few other issues I had was the unit was unable to update the firmware from the prompt on the device in the main screen and had to do this from under the Controller settings screen after clicking the drop down menu and choosing official.

Second, I've tried to set a manual IP address for the ZipaMicro and the setting is totally ignored.

Third - The Network Heal and ZWNTUT tools do not complete successfully. They appear to be unable to retrieve the neighbor list (2 nodes), even though the devices do work in the web interface.

Finally, I setup the Alexa integration and it works a fraction of the time, with a response of "Device not responding", but works in the web interface. I will probably create a new forum post for these issues as the last two cause me to question whether this device is going to work long term as I add more devices.

There wasn't much in the way of reviews out there about this unit, so I knew I was taking a gamble on it. I was planning on posting a review online of my experience with the unit, but so far I'm not impressed with it or the lack of support for the unit which seems to be more evident to me when looking at the forum postings and support center links.

Chris

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