Issue with RV Thermostat after power outage

[philh]

Winegard router with AT&T Sim chip. System runs on 12V.

RV Thermostat with wifi, Also runs on 12V.

I can connect to the thermostat when away from the trailer across the internet without issue... right up until the park power failed.

Testing it, was able to duplicate the issue by turning the main breaker off, walked away from the trailer so my phone was connected to cell tower instead of the onboard router, which is still working.

Couldn't connect to the thermostat!

Came back to confirm in fact the router was connected to cell tower and functioning and it was and the thermostat was indicating it was connected to the router, and I could get to it locally with phone connected to trailer wifi.

Ran the test again, first tried thermostat, no go. Connected to the router across the internet, and I immediately connected. tried the thermostat again, and this time it connected.

Any ideas? Something about losing pole power is disrupting thermostat connecting to the internet. Connecting to the router somehow cleared the connection to the thermostat?

[philh]

Gdetrailer wrote:
The power outage thing you noticed just may be nothing more than a coincidence.

I suspect you're correct.

My work VPN suddenly puked one day, and I got up and looked at the thermostat and it was "red" on connectivity. Still connected to router, but not connected to internet.

Logged on to the router, and it was showing good internet connectivity. Rebooted the router, and life was good again.

[Gdetrailer]

Which is why I don't bother buying or using IoT devices, Internet dependent devices tend to have a checkered past of support and life.

We are also in a cell band transition, the life support plug is being pulled on 3G cells and this may also affect some 4G LTE devices depending on the bands those 4G LTE devices were being used.

ATT is now currently in process of decommissioning all legacy 3G and some 4G services. Your "close" tower may be in the process of being decommissioned or reconfigured which may affect older legacy 4G LTE only devices. At this time, it is unknown exactly what non voice devices may work and what non voice devices will not work in the 4G LTE only mode since the new minimum standard is 4G VoLTE.

Your phone is most likely 4G VoLTE and therefore may work perfectly fine for Internet but your Winegard may be 4G or 4G LTE and it may be affected.. ATT is rolling this change out first, all other carriers are scheduled to decommission their 3G and some 4G equipment later on this yr..

The problem is, everyone in the chain is going to tell you that there is nothing wrong on their end or with their equipment..

The power outage thing you noticed just may be nothing more than a coincidence.

[philh]

new 6V batteries with both solar and shore power charging, so voltage is not an issue.

it appears to be a router/cell issue. I had an issue where my router suddenly stopped working and I looked at the thermostat and it showing red, meaning it couldn't connect to the server, which happens to be run by amazon.

wrt to access when disconnected from shore power, on our travel, I use my tablet to communicate to the garmin GPS, and it connects to the trailer router... so I know it works.

AT&T tower is really close to us.

[Gdetrailer]

philh wrote:
It's been working fine.

It was the pole power failure that manifested itself with sudden connection failure. The odd part, when I connected to the router, the thermostat worked again.

Winegard has punted and said their equipment is working.

Everyone want a piece of the pie, but no one is willing to take their fair share of the blame when something fails :M Pretty normal.

The problem is you have so many connections from the T stat to your phone which make troubleshooting even for the most seasoned tech almost impossible. If I read this correctly your chain goes like this..

T stat to Winegard Router, router to ATT cell tower, ATT cell tower talks to ATT Internet servers, back to your phone via normal cell phone Internet connection (not connected directly connected to your router)..

Things start working again if you go..

T stat to Winegard Router, connect your phone directly to the router..

By connecting directly, you are bypassing the ATT cell towers, ATT Internet servers and connections..

Sounds to me your Winegard Router is having issues when the shore power drops.. Even though your router is using 12V it doesn't mean that it is impervious to issues when the shore power is cut.

When you have shore power the converter output should be at a min of 13.2V-14.5V. Once shore power is cut, the 12V will drop to 12.6V-12.8V for fully charged battery..

Fully discharged battery is 10.5V so there is not a lot of wiggle room for voltage drop..

Verify at the router that when shore power is off you do indeed have at least 12.6V with a meter..

Verify at your batteries you have at least 12.6V with a meter with shore power off.

Other things to consider, you might just be in a area where the ATT signal is pretty weak and the slightest change in battery voltage, ATT signal strength and RF noise around or in your RV may be enough for the router to disconnect from ATT network..

But once again, way too many variables..

[philh]

It's been working fine.

It was the pole power failure that manifested itself with sudden connection failure. The odd part, when I connected to the router, the thermostat worked again.

Winegard has punted and said their equipment is working.

[Gdetrailer]

Has it always worked fine before and this is a new problem?

Or have you just installed the T stat and this is discovery mode?

Does the T stat WiFi indicator show it is still connected (green) or does it go red (no connection)?

If green, may need to check your HotSpot to see if it really is still connected to the T stat..

The problem here is, there are so many variables, a small glitch anywhere in the system can cause things to disconnect..

That is one of many reasons I don't bother with "IoT" (Internet of Things) stuff like this..

[philh]

RV Thermostat from microair, and uses 12V for power. Display continues to work with 120V off.

Router/sim modem use 12V, and continues to work with 120V off.

This is why I'm so confused. These are both 12V and I've confirmed in general, they continue to work while disconnected from 120V. I've been driving down the road and used my phone to turn on the furnace from my phone.

[Gdetrailer]

Brand and model number of T stat?

If it is a T stat originally intended for use in a home they are generally designed to operate from 24V AC and within the home T stats there are two categories..

Self powered = uses a built in battery to run the T stat

Remote powered = uses the Furnace/AC system to supply 24V AC for T stat operation..

Self powered (battery inside T stat) digital home T stats CAN be used to replace RV analog T stats.

Remote 24V AC digital T stats however cannot be used with 12V DC RV furnace/AC systems.

I see there is a Micro air Easy Touch digital T stat for RVs, the manual doesn't give any wiring details as to where it's power is coming from..

If you have this T stat, the A/C unit may be supplying the voltage required for T stat operation and when 120V is lost, the T stat no longer has power to stay connected to the WiFi.

In this case, try turning off the A/C breaker only and see if you lose WiFi connection.. If you lose WiFi connection with A/C breaker off then you will need to run a separate 12V power wire to the T stat..