Bit of background: My wife manages a community hall, they have users hire the hall at varying times throughout the week and also one-off hirers. Heating used to cost a fortune as it was left to run at a low level all day with a thermostat that users could turn up (and forget to turn down). Earlier this year, the management committee agreed to install a Hive thermostat so the heating could be scheduled remotely to match the usage of the hall. The device installed is a Hive Mini that can only be scheduled through the app.
It was ok for a while....
In November, when we were away for a weekend, it decided to lose connection for no apparent reason, which left the heating unserviceable. The 'fix' was to power-cycle all of the components. It took 2 attempts before everything paired up again. This is obviously not great for a remotely managed site.
This Friday, the app said it was offline again. On Saturday, I got into the hall and found that this time the thermostat, hub and receiver were all talking to each other (green lights, normal thermostat display and the boost feature turned the heating on), but the app was adamant that the thermostat was offline and so the heating can't be controlled. Over the weekend, I've tried:
- Powercycling everything, including the router, multiple times
- Installing the app on a new phone and logging in from there (so I'm confident there's no app/phone issues)
- Re-pairing the thermostat and the hub
- connecting the hub via Bluetooth and resetting the wifi connection
- engaging in an hour-long discussion with Hive's AI assistant and doing everything it suggested.....
The app still doesn't work, and the heating can't be scheduled AT ALL now. So the hall is in a worse position than before the Hive was installed.
For info: the hub, receiver and wifi router are all in the same cupboard, and the thermostat is on the wall around 6 feet away with only the cupboard door between them, so there shouldn't be any connection issues. Also, nothing's moved, and the wifi hasn't changed.
What am I missing? How can we get the app to recognise that the system is actually online? Or is it broken and simply not fit for purpose?
Ours has stopped working because it's no longer compatible with Sky/Now Broadband. Not sure this helps or not.
Ridiculous but seemingly nothing we can do before the end of our BB contract in July, according to ChatGTP.
I tried everything.
Mmm - used hive for years.
have you tried using hive online/internet stuff and NOT the app. ?
how do you link the app on the new phone to the physical system, id try doing that again (so long since we did ours I can’t remember how to do it) , I think you need to delete the devices from your system and readd. Presumably you’re doing it all with the single mail address that set it all up ?? ( ours is in wife’s email and phone so a pita if it needs secondary authentication)
have you checked the hall internet stuff is ok. (Trying online would help there)
how do you link the app on the new phone to the physical system, id try doing that again (so long since we did ours I can’t remember how to do it) , I think you need to delete the devices from your system and readd. Presumably you’re doing it all with the single mail address that set it all up ?? ( ours is in wife’s email and phone so a pita if it needs secondary authentication)
have you checked the hall internet stuff is ok. (Trying online would help there)
My wife has a mobile phone that's the contact for the hall, and also has the hive app on. The new phone I tried is mine (Pixel 8a) that I downloaded the app onto and logged in using the email and password. The 2-factor stuff was sent to the old mobile, but I had that handy.
have you tried using hive online/internet stuff and NOT the app. ?
How do you do that?
Router in the hall have IPV6 enabled? Disable it and try again. Android, Wifi6, Apps and content do not get along. Failure to load Hive info was one of the symptoms for me.
Overall, if I was buying a Wifi connected thermostat again I'd not be buying a Hive!
How do you do that?
Done that now, same message, everything is apparently offline.
Router in the hall have IPV6 enabled? Disable it and try again. Android, Wifi6, Apps and content do not get along. Failure to load Hive info was one of the symptoms for me.
Interesting, would this suddenly cause it to stop working? It used to be ok. I can't test this until I can access the hall. The router is pretty new, fibre was installed back in May along with the new router.
The internet in the hall is fine, there's 2 wifi networks, the normal one and a guest one for hall users. Both work ok and the Hive doesn't show online on either.
Have you considered that it might be broken? I think I'd be sending that back.
I have a Hive system here which was installed under duress. I can't exactly say that it's something I would recommend. Getting a stable connection between the boiler unit and the thermostat was a fkn nightmare.
My hive decided to disconnect a few times over the last couple of months. similar to you, hub next to router, in a wooden cupboard, main thermostat about 8 feet away.
my fix was to unplug the hive hub for about 2 minutes, then restart it, with the cupboard door open. seemed to do the trick. a quick power cycle didn't fix it so I'm assuming it needs time to forget something and set up when it restarts.
not ideal when it's -4 outside and the heating has failed to start in the morning, reminded me of being a kid in the '70's
Ours did work initially, then became intermittent. We have a small have extender plug installed. Worked fine since
... apologies, I see you have.
When I was having connectivity issues, my solution was to plug the hub into a travel router midway between the thermostat and the receiver. The things create their own little mesh network rather than connecting devices in a specific order.
If it's all talking between itself but not to the outside world, it'd suggest that the hub is at fault. The system doesn't need the hub to function, rather it provides the 'smart' features such as app control.
When I was looking for solutions to my issue it seemed to be a common theme that the Mini was garbage.
https://sso.hivehome.com/?client=v3-web-prod&redirect=https://my.hivehome.com
Stone me , that probably won’t work
google for hive single sign on
ps you can get a secondhand thermostat on eBay/arsebook for maybe. £25
If it's all talking between itself but not to the outside world, it'd suggest that the hub is at fault. The system doesn't need the hub to function, rather it provides the 'smart' features such as app control.
That's my understanding. I'm not an IT person, so I could be wrong. I think there's a receiver that's wired to the boiler and is controlled by an old-fashioned RF link to the thermostat. Then there's the hub that's connected to the wifi and talking to the thermostat and the internet. If that's right, then as long as the RF link is connected, the heating can be manually operated. Is my understanding correct?
However, that's no use to us as the Hive Mini can only be programmed from the app so no internet connection means no scheduling of the heating and hot water. It also doesn't make sense as the hub has a solid green connection light, so it appears to be online despite the app saying otherwise.
My wife's been calling Hive today, and they've recommended we factory reset the thermostat and re-pair everything.
If that doesn't work, I'll try disabling IPv6 on the router. It's like everything is connected, but no data is being sent, so the app says it's offline.
When you go to hive app, then manage (borrow right on an iPad) , then my devices what do you see, I think it shows what devices are connected (bar chart bit) are all your devices connected
When you go to hive app, then manage (borrow right on an iPad) , then my devices what do you see, I think it shows what devices are connected (bar chart bit) are all your devices connected
This shows the hub connected, but the thermostat and ho****er disconnected.
Why has hot water been filtered?
Oh FFS! I see what it includes, S****horp problem, I suppose.
Update: It appears a full factory reset of the thermostat and re-pairing of everything does work.
It's a bit of a pain to do on a remote site, and it's not a process given in the online help or their help chatbot. It's like they assume this problem won't happen, yet the internet seems full of people complaining and not getting a resolution. Not impressed.
For anyone stumbling across this page in future:
Kill the power to the receiver
Hold the down arrow and circle on the thermostat, it will start counting down to a reset - keep holding until you see a hive logo
Remove a battery
Restore power to the receiver
Hold the heating button until the light flashes pink, then hold it again until it's double flashing amber
Then, using the app, select install devices - add another device - go.
When the receiver light changes to a single flash orange, put the battery back in the thermostat.
When the thermostat finishes searching, it'll do a welcome tour. Wait 5 minutes, then refresh the app dashboard.
Ta-Da!
I'm not impressed that something that should be simple and reliable will, every so often, just stop working, leaving you without heating. Then the process for fixing it is 20 minutes of convoluted button holding that's not in the online instructions.
Interesting, would this suddenly cause it to stop working?
It's only in specific versions of Android, so Phone software update might have triggered it, a router update may have also. I'm no expert, but had a similar problem with my new router after a fibre upgrade.
For anyone stumbling across this page in future:
That's nuts.
Glad you're sorted. For now.
I don't know much about the Mini, but on my regular one there are manual controls and a quick 'boost' button which fires it for a given amount of time (as well as scheduler controls). If it's something you're keeping, it might be worth jumping on ebay for a full fat thermostat then you've still got an option of "on" if the remote smarts go tits up again next December.
... Google would suggest that there's a manual control on the receiver. I'll have to check mine.
Google would suggest that there's a manual control on the receiver. I'll have to check mine.
There's a 'boost' option on the thermostat and a manual 'on button' on the receiver. Unfortunatly with the mini, that's all you get; there's no way to schedule on/off times without the app. If it were an occupied building, this would be more useful as you could turn it on in the morning and off when it's warm. However, being a hall 10 minutes from my house, it's less helpful. Yesterday, for example, it required my wife to go out first thing in the morning to turn the heating on so the pre-school group had a warm environment when they arrived at 8. Just leaving it set to 'on' 24/7 would cost a fortune that the hall can't really afford, hence getting the Hive in the first place.
Put hive into holiday mode for 2 weeks last Sunday and set the temperature to 12C. Checked during the week and it was keeping to 12C but looked this morning and upstairs is 23C and downstairs is 19C. WTF? I did update iOS yesterday, surely that wouldn’t cause it?
Our Hive hub went offline months ago. Resets, repairing, all have had no effect so far. Hive account now seems inoperable.
Rf connection between controller and thermostat is just good enough for them to communicate most of the time.
I could not recommend Hive.
Glad you got it working OP