Resolved Remote access not working - what have I missed

[Jackiekoz]

I have just started setting up a home environment. I have Philips Hue lights and hub, and Schlage Sense lock, and an old iPad running applicable iOS as a hub. I have two factor authentication on and have signed in and out of all devices since setting up to be sure. The problem is when I leave my apartment I can't remotely access the lock. At the moment I have the lock working well in the house and in close proximity but not when I am away. Any ideas of which step I have missed. I cant directly bluetooth pair the lock with the hub and I don't have the the Schlage wifi adapter. Do I need the wifi adapter for remote control. I did set the lock up before I had the iPad as the hub - not sure if that would make any difference. I thought the hub would allow it without. I also get no response on the Philips lights but that is not so important.

 

[malcky77]

I don’t know about how the lock works but I do have plenty of hue lights and accessories in my house....as long as you have the hue bridge connected and does have an internet connection then you will also need to make sure that you have the correct setting on the hue app set up too, which is: out of home control....make sure that is enabled.

 

[Jackiekoz]

I don’t know about how the lock works but I do have plenty of hue lights and accessories in my house....as long as you have the hue bridge connected and does have an internet connection then you will also need to make sure that you have the correct setting on the hue app set up too, which is: out of home control....make sure that is enabled.

Thanks will do that.

 

[waw74]

in the home app, go to the home tab (bottom left) then hit the home icon (top left)
scroll down, there should be a hubs and bridges setting, make sure your iPad Is listed and says "connected"

unlike HomePod or appletv, for the iPad to work as a hub, it has to be manually enabled, this is in the main iOS settings app under home.

I don't have any bluetooth devices, but I believe whichever device is working as the hub will pick up the bluetooth connection if your phone isn't home, so make sure the iPad isn't in the back bedroom. as it needs to be in bluetooth range of the door lock.

The remote access option in the hue app, allows the hue app to be used remotely.
homekit works in a different way, and doesn't use that setting.
When I started my hue system, that wasn't even an option. but homekit still worked.


-a little more detail here

Set up your HomePod, HomePod mini, Apple TV, or iPad as a home hub - Apple Support

You need a home hub to control your HomeKit and Matter accessories while you're away from home, share control of your accessories with others, and automate your accessories to do what you want, when you want.

support.apple.com

 

[cynics]

Like mentioned, check in the Home app on your iPhone to make sure the iPad is acting as a hub (once enabled). To operate a bluetooth devices it will need to be within bluetooth range.

Personally for smart devices that are HomeKit compatible I disable many of the features especially those related to location services (geo fencing) in the native app. HomeKit can handle this functionality and it will prevent the app from using location data (negatively effecting the iPhones battery life) for no good reason.

 

[Jackiekoz]

Thanks. I have managed to get this working and just checking reliability before closing the question. Also doing some testing. While I had enabled the iPad as hub it wasn’t showing up. I had Apple TV as hub too but it was too far from Bluetooth device. I have moved the Apple TV closer and turned both hubs on and off and now working. Just need to see if I can move Apple TV back to the Tv. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[waw74]

i haven't found anything official from apple (haven't looked too hard though)


But from what i've seen online, Bluetooth devices can connect using the "standby" hubs if they can't get a good connection to the main "connected" hub

so if your lock doesn't work once you move the aTV. you can try leaving your iPad plugged in closer to the front door.

 

[Jackiekoz]

i haven't found anything official from apple (haven't looked too hard though)


But from what i've seen online, Bluetooth devices can connect using the "standby" hubs if they can't get a good connection to the main "connected" hub

so if your lock doesn't work once you move the aTV. you can try leaving your iPad plugged in closer to the front door.

Thanks - the iPad hub is within 2 metres of the door so I expect that should work. I have moved the Apple TV and did go out and was able to remotely access so if that continues I believe it is solved. thanks
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To anyone reading this thread with similar issues the lessons learned here were:
Make sure all devices are signed into same apple account and two factor authentication is on. I signed in out and in on all devices fresh.
Make sure you are signed into the same network throughout - I had to forget alternative channels on the wifi.
Make sure you manually enable an iPad hub in iOs settings if you are going to use an iPad as a hub.
Make sure a hub (s) is in bluetooth proximity to devices using Bluetooth e.g.my lock.
If the hubs aren't properly identified e.g Apple TV Connected and name's iPad Standby in the Hubs and bridges section in Home app you may not get remote access. I had to turn off (disconnected from power) and turn back on devices for some reason to achieve this.

Thanks everyone for their help. Mission accomplished.