SL4 Pro: No WiFi reconnect since firmware 4.3.10

Discussion Questions
1

Hi,

All my smart home devices use WiFi (I don’t have any bridges) and all my smart home devices work cloudless. I don’t want my smart home to be dependant on any external servers/services.

That’s why I bought a Nuki Smart Lock 4.0 Pro with WiFi and battery pack in July 2024, which is configured to use my 2.4 GHz smart home WiFi and which I control over MQTT.

The WiFi is 2.4-GHz-only provided by a Netgear Nighthawk X4S R7800 (yes, this device also does 5 GHz, but I gave it a different SSID). The WiFi access point disables WiFi at about 04:00 AM for a few seconds to check for the least crowded WiFi channel. Then it changes to this WiFi channel and brings WiFi up again.

All my smart home components (3 Shelly Pro, 4 Shelly 2.5, 4 Sonoff S20 running Tasmota, 3 Refoss P11 also running Tasmota, 1 WARP3 Pro electric car charger) use this WiFi without problems. This also applies to the nightly short outage of the WiFi. All of them reconnect.

At the time I bought the Smart Lock 4.0 Pro, the app asked me to update the firmware, which I did. All ran well, no problems, as with all other smart home components named before.

A few weeks later, the app offered me to update to firmware 4.3.10. Since firmware 4.3.10, the Smart Lock 4.0 Pro does NOT reconnect to the WiFi after it has been disconnected. Ironically, the changelog for 4.3.10 said something about “enhancing WiFi stability”, which has not been an issue for me before I updated to 4.3.10.

Shortly after, I was offered to update to firmware 4.3.11, which changelog also said something about improved WiFi stability. Unfortunately, this update does not change anything for me.

Disabling WiFi of the Smart Lock Pro 4.0 in the Nuki App, force-closing the app, starting the app up again and re-enabling WiFi in the Nuki App again does not change anything. Also, cutting power from the WiFi access point does not help. The only way to make the Smart Lock Pro 4.0 reconnect to the WiFi is to pull the battery for a few seconds and reinserting it.

So, to sum it up:

  • WiFi works as long as it’s there. If it’s gone for a few seconds, the Smart Lock Pro 4.0 does not reconnect.
  • Cutting power from the WiFi access point does also not make the Smart Lock Pro 4.0 reconnect.
  • Starting a mobile hotspot on my Android phone does not allow the Smart Lock Pro 4.0 to connect to it. The app “sees” the WiFi, accepts the password, says that it connected successfully, but then shows a circle that’s rotating forever and a single red signal strength bar.
  • After removing and reinserting the battery pack of the Smart Lock Pro 4.0, everything works again: connecting to the smart home wifi (with all signal strength bars solid in the app!), connecting to the Android phone’s mobile access point (also all signal strength bars solid in the app!).
  • Disable the mobile hotspot for a few seconds and the Smart Lock Pro 4.0 will NOT reconnect.
  • Wait until 04:00 AM (when connected to the smart home WiFi) when the WiFi disappears for a few seconds and the Smart Lock Pro 4.0 will also NOT reconnect.

What can I do to track this problem down?
Can I downgrade to the firmware prior to 4.3.10?

Thanks!
Sven

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2

Please look at this FAQ and join the beta program. If the problem persists with the latest beta we can try to help you from there.

If you do not want to join the beta, please contact our support via the Nuki App (Menu > Help > Contact Customer Support) in order to report problems. They will be gathered and forwarded to the development team.

3

Many thanks for your help, @Juergen . I applied for the beta program, got accepted and installed firmware 4.4.4 to my SL4 Pro.

Unfortunately, the behaviour does not change. Disabling and re-enabling WiFi on the access point for a few seconds results in a permanent connection loss.

This is what the access point logs for the SL4 Pro’s MAC address (last three octets redacted for privacy):

Wed Oct  9 09:59:55 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Wed Oct  9 09:59:55 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 4)
Wed Oct  9 09:59:55 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: AP-STA-CONNECTED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX auth_alg=open
Wed Oct  9 09:59:55 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX RADIUS: starting accounting session CFDB14C07AAA1F4E
Wed Oct  9 09:59:55 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Wed Oct  9 09:59:55 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: EAPOL-4WAY-HS-COMPLETED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX

After disabling and re-enabling WiFi on the access point for a few seconds, the access point logs this for the SL4 Pro’s MAC address repeated ever and ever again:

Wed Oct  9 10:04:24 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Wed Oct  9 10:04:24 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 4)
Wed Oct  9 10:04:24 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: AP-STA-CONNECTED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX auth_alg=open
Wed Oct  9 10:04:24 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX RADIUS: starting accounting session CD27496F4FCF5CF7
Wed Oct  9 10:04:24 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Wed Oct  9 10:04:24 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: EAPOL-4WAY-HS-COMPLETED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX
Wed Oct  9 10:04:32 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX
Wed Oct  9 10:04:46 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Wed Oct  9 10:04:46 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 4)
Wed Oct  9 10:04:46 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: AP-STA-CONNECTED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX auth_alg=open
Wed Oct  9 10:04:46 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX RADIUS: starting accounting session 56ADF2C02FE2FAA1
Wed Oct  9 10:04:46 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Wed Oct  9 10:04:46 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: EAPOL-4WAY-HS-COMPLETED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX
Wed Oct  9 10:04:54 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX
Wed Oct  9 10:05:18 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Wed Oct  9 10:05:18 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 4)
Wed Oct  9 10:05:18 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: AP-STA-CONNECTED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX auth_alg=open
Wed Oct  9 10:05:18 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX RADIUS: starting accounting session 3142D225EA025AF5
Wed Oct  9 10:05:18 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Wed Oct  9 10:05:18 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: EAPOL-4WAY-HS-COMPLETED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX
Wed Oct  9 10:05:29 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX
Wed Oct  9 10:06:13 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: authenticated
Wed Oct  9 10:06:13 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX IEEE 802.11: associated (aid 4)
Wed Oct  9 10:06:13 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: AP-STA-CONNECTED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX auth_alg=open
Wed Oct  9 10:06:13 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX RADIUS: starting accounting session 2C01057293EB24E9
Wed Oct  9 10:06:13 2024 daemon.info hostapd: phy0-ap2: STA b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX WPA: pairwise key handshake completed (RSN)
Wed Oct  9 10:06:13 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: EAPOL-4WAY-HS-COMPLETED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX
Wed Oct  9 10:06:24 2024 daemon.notice hostapd: phy0-ap2: AP-STA-DISCONNECTED b0:c7:de:XX:XX:XX

Can I collect debug logs from the SL4 Pro using the Android App?

Thanks!
Sven

4

For others who have the same problem and stumble across this thread:

  • Firmware 4.3.10 and 4.3.11 seem to check whether the smart lock is connected to the internet if you are using the integrated WiFi
  • This check does not apply to the FIRST connection to a WiFi network after boot
  • If you operate your smart lock in an environment without internet access (like I do), this leads to a working first WiFi connection, but any subsequent WiFi connection will fail. Not because the smart lock could not connect to the WiFi, but because it can’t reach the internet and then immediately disconnects.
  • To make the smart lock believe it is online, it seems sufficient to allow sse[0-9]-smartlock.nuki.io to be resolved via DNS. So either allow DNS queries for these FQDNs or create fake entries for these FQDNs in your local DNS.
1 Like
5

I would really like to know if there is a solution to this problem.
I have a Smart Lock 4 Pro, double battery, fingerprint keypad and door sensor. connected to a router that is 3 meters away at 2.4 GHz.
The app is cyclically offline, both with people at home but also when the apartment has been empty for days.
All the other smart devices in the house are working but the Nuki will only work again after disconnecting/reconnecting the battery.
Until the next offline.
Now you understand how much anxiety assails me every time this happens.
I live hundreds of kilometers away and my kind neighbors are always out for work.
I wrote a couple of emails to support but with great disappointment I received pre-written responses from people who had not even read my email in full (they proposed solutions to which I had given a detailed answer in the text of the email).
If the problem is the last firmware (before the disconnections were non-existent), why doesn’t Nuki solve it quickly?
Thanks to those who will provide help.

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