Devices not updated remotely

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 1:58 am
MarcoGT offline
Posts: 1091
Joined: Sep 11, 2014
Location: Germany

Devices not updated remotely

Hi all,

I have just set up HomeKit Bridge on my father's MacMini/Indigo7.
Everything fine, except he cannot control devices from outside the network, only when iPhone is connected into the same network; setup is as follows:

- Indigo7 running on MacMini, connected via ethernet
- AppleTV connected via ethernet
- iPhone connected via WiFi
- All devices connected to the same iCloud account (even if on some devices it switches to old @mac.com address, and on some others is switches to @me.com

He has a FritzBox as modem/router, me too, and we set up a VPN between them so that I can reach all devices from inside the network.
My network is 192.168.2.x and my father's network is 192.168.1.x
Could this cause a problem? I do not think so.

On my setup, basically identical to my father, everything is working fine.

Any idea?

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 5:58 am
siclark offline
Posts: 1960
Joined: Jun 13, 2017
Location: UK

Re: Devices not updated remotely

Which AppleTV does he have? Is it recent ?

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 6:28 am
MarcoGT offline
Posts: 1091
Joined: Sep 11, 2014
Location: Germany

Re: Devices not updated remotely

ATV 4

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 7:00 am
rehafer offline
Posts: 279
Joined: Feb 08, 2013

Re: Devices not updated remotely

Does the AppleTV show as connected in the Home? I sometimes have to log out and then back in to my iCloud account and restart the AppleTV to get it to connect.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 8:51 am
siclark offline
Posts: 1960
Joined: Jun 13, 2017
Location: UK

Re: Devices not updated remotely

You also need 2FA on the iCloud account.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT207057

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 10:32 am
MarcoGT offline
Posts: 1091
Joined: Sep 11, 2014
Location: Germany

Re: Devices not updated remotely

On iPhone it is enabled; I think it is automatically enabled also on ATV

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 2:25 pm
virgahyatt offline
Posts: 132
Joined: Jan 11, 2014

Re: Devices not updated remotely

2 Factor is an account setting. So if it's turned on all devices using that account are using it.

iCloud keychain must also be turned on for the iPhone.

If you open his home app, on the home screen click either the house or arrow in the upper left.

Look for a section labeled Home Hubs. His apple tv should be listed as connected.

If it is not then it won't be able to relay the remote commands.

If it isn't showing there, I would start by Power-Cycling his router. Also, if the vpn is setup right it shouldn't cause an issue but you might want to disconnect it to see if it makes a difference if it still isn't working after the power-cycle. The iPhone and Apple TV have to be able to detect that they are on the same network in order for the Apple TV to set itself up as the Home Hub.

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:11 pm
MarcoGT offline
Posts: 1091
Joined: Sep 11, 2014
Location: Germany

Re: Devices not updated remotely

I checked in my ATV and I cannot find the 2FA setting (but I found it on my iPhone).
By the way, it showed connected both in Home App on iPhone with iOS12 both on ATV with tvOS12 but remotely nothing worked.
Therefore I suggested a factory reset of the ATV (as read on the Apple forums) but now the ATV cannot even be activated :roll: :roll:

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:34 pm
virgahyatt offline
Posts: 132
Joined: Jan 11, 2014

Re: Devices not updated remotely

If it won’t activate it means it is having trouble connecting to apples activation servers and is probably related to why remote access isn’t working. To get around the activation issue connect it to a hotspot long enough to complete the setup.

Posted on
Tue Nov 06, 2018 11:55 pm
MarcoGT offline
Posts: 1091
Joined: Sep 11, 2014
Location: Germany

Re: Devices not updated remotely

But my father told me that both process setup, manual and automatic using iPhone, network settings are never asked.

Shall I try with iPhone using LTE and not WiFi?

Posted on
Wed Nov 07, 2018 8:47 am
virgahyatt offline
Posts: 132
Joined: Jan 11, 2014

Re: Devices not updated remotely

That’s because it’s connected via Ethernet. You will have to disconnect it to get prompted during the setup process for a WiFi connection

Posted on
Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:34 am
MarcoGT offline
Posts: 1091
Joined: Sep 11, 2014
Location: Germany

Re: Devices not updated remotely

So, my father tried, ATV asked then for a WiFi, my father entered password, IP (no DHCP) but then it says "network not found".

I am lost now...no idea anymore.

During Christmas I will be at my parents' home and I will have a look.

My father says: "it does not work anymore since we configured the Hue hub" (which is with DHCP and connected via ETH cable)

Posted on
Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:24 am
siclark offline
Posts: 1960
Joined: Jun 13, 2017
Location: UK

Re: Devices not updated remotely

Can the ATV not be wired? Should be easier. Can you check that there are not static IPs set up that could bebconflicting?

Posted on
Thu Nov 08, 2018 9:06 am
MarcoGT offline
Posts: 1091
Joined: Sep 11, 2014
Location: Germany

Re: Devices not updated remotely

It was wired when we had first problems, therefore we decided to go for WiFi :)
No IP conflicts, I checked in the router which IP are assigned

Posted on
Thu Nov 08, 2018 10:14 am
virgahyatt offline
Posts: 132
Joined: Jan 11, 2014

Re: Devices not updated remotely

The point of taking it off of ethernet was to connect it to a different network (hotspot) so that it might be able to reach the apple activation servers. Once it's connected to that hotspot and successfully activated you can either reconnect via ethernet or connect to the normal wifi network.

As for what happened during the setup. I'm not sure what you mean by no DHCP. DHCP should be enabled on both the router and the apple tv. DHCP means that the router assigns the IP information to the devices on the network automatically. On the Apple TV, DHCP (or Automatic) tells the Apple TV to expect to get that information automatically instead of having to manually enter it all like we used to decades ago.

FYI, the Hue bridge should not have caused any issues on your network if things were setup properly.

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