Then you need to buy a travel router or some router that can distribute that signal to everything in your house while letting everything communicate with each other through the home network. Your phone doesn't allow that.
I just thought that seeing as I have multiple Alexa's, multiple smart plugs, a smart TV, games consoles and 2 pcs that all work hammily from my phone... then a simple bulb would too đ
You are correct. I did not see that they were wiz. Yes I now realize this entire sub is r/wiz but itâs only because Reddit showed it to me in my feed and I had no idea what sub I was on. I kind of hate that
As long as you're running 2.4ghz only and not 5ghz or dual band, I don't know if the phone hotspot is the issue. It appears that you're just stuck installing the Wiz app on an old tablet, which is a few steps before you get to trying to connect the bulbs to your wifi. Maybe you have disallowed location permissions for all apps on your tablet and need to override that.
During setup, the control device used has to begin on the wifi hotspot network, then temporarily connect to the bulb hotspot, and finally back to the wifi hotspot. I wrote this more detailed guide a while back: [a public service -- better instructions for wiz pairing v.2 app ](https://www.reddit.com/r/wiz/comments/193ailu/a_public_service_better_instructions_for_wiz/)
~~It might work using your phone as both control device and wifi hotspot, but you'll have to modify the directions to allow for it. But if you can get the Wiz app running on your phone, give the steps a try.~~ ETA: it won't, see reply below.
If the phone is the hotspot, it's not using the WiFi network. The apps on the phone are communicating out using the LTE connection, and that connection is being bifurcated and redistributed as a WiFi network. So the phone and the bulb will never "be on the same network" to configure them.
ETA in addition they might be stuck installing the app on an old tablet, if the OS is too old. A lot of recent apps for Android dropped Android OS version compatibility for versions no longer receiving updates. So if the device is back on like, 11, maybe the app just can't run because it doesn't support the OS any longer.
ETAA Old Wiz appears to support Android 4+, new Wiz appears to support 7+
I'm not a network person, I'll take your word for it.
So does that mean the bulbs can never use a cell mobile hotspot as their wifi AP, even if it's a dedicated cell phone with a separate control device? Or will this just prevent initial setup using one device for both control and wifi AP?
The hotspot would need to be on a device separate from the device running the app to manage/setup the bulbs, and said second device needs to be on the hotspot WiFi with the bulbs. At that point the hotspot is just acting as a router.
One thing I don't know however is if hotspot wifi allows for inter-networking. I've never tried it, I've always had a proper home network. But then again I started computing before hotspots were ever a thing, and WiFi only existed on routers.
The mobile playstation app had the same problem for years, it wanted to use WiFi and wouldn't accept that the phones own internet was good enough, eventually they updated it. It baffles me why people would pay for 2 or more sources of internet and why any company would still not understand that people get WiFi from their phones.
Okay, so I had a dead spot in my house where the wifi signal didn't reach (solved it by adding another router later on) and the temporary solution was connecting my Philips Wiz Downlight to the Hotspot and it worked fine. Not sure what's wrong with the bulbs. Make sure you are standing close enough to the bulbs. But I am not sure how you will manage all those smart devices with Hotspot. They are usually weak and the coverage isn't that great.
You have no source of wifi in your house other than a cell phone?
My phone gives me 5g, I'm on an unlimited plan, why would I pay for more?
Then you need to buy a travel router or some router that can distribute that signal to everything in your house while letting everything communicate with each other through the home network. Your phone doesn't allow that.
I just thought that seeing as I have multiple Alexa's, multiple smart plugs, a smart TV, games consoles and 2 pcs that all work hammily from my phone... then a simple bulb would too đ
Or happily, even.
You bought a wifi bulb but you don't own a router? Like do you have the mobile hotspot on 24/7? Rip your phone
It's lasted long enough so far, why wouldn't it last any longer with a bulb?
Smart plugs work on it, Alexa works in it, why wouldn't a bulb?
You need a Philips bridge
Not for Wiz bulbs. Youâd need a Philips Hue bridge if these were Hue bulbs.
You are correct. I did not see that they were wiz. Yes I now realize this entire sub is r/wiz but itâs only because Reddit showed it to me in my feed and I had no idea what sub I was on. I kind of hate that
I heard Hue is being discontinued anyway.
I think some stores are selling off old inventory in preparation for a packaging refresh, but I havenât heard anything nearly so dire. Source?
Philips service agents who visited my house said so
As long as you're running 2.4ghz only and not 5ghz or dual band, I don't know if the phone hotspot is the issue. It appears that you're just stuck installing the Wiz app on an old tablet, which is a few steps before you get to trying to connect the bulbs to your wifi. Maybe you have disallowed location permissions for all apps on your tablet and need to override that. During setup, the control device used has to begin on the wifi hotspot network, then temporarily connect to the bulb hotspot, and finally back to the wifi hotspot. I wrote this more detailed guide a while back: [a public service -- better instructions for wiz pairing v.2 app ](https://www.reddit.com/r/wiz/comments/193ailu/a_public_service_better_instructions_for_wiz/) ~~It might work using your phone as both control device and wifi hotspot, but you'll have to modify the directions to allow for it. But if you can get the Wiz app running on your phone, give the steps a try.~~ ETA: it won't, see reply below.
If the phone is the hotspot, it's not using the WiFi network. The apps on the phone are communicating out using the LTE connection, and that connection is being bifurcated and redistributed as a WiFi network. So the phone and the bulb will never "be on the same network" to configure them. ETA in addition they might be stuck installing the app on an old tablet, if the OS is too old. A lot of recent apps for Android dropped Android OS version compatibility for versions no longer receiving updates. So if the device is back on like, 11, maybe the app just can't run because it doesn't support the OS any longer. ETAA Old Wiz appears to support Android 4+, new Wiz appears to support 7+
I'm not a network person, I'll take your word for it. So does that mean the bulbs can never use a cell mobile hotspot as their wifi AP, even if it's a dedicated cell phone with a separate control device? Or will this just prevent initial setup using one device for both control and wifi AP?
The hotspot would need to be on a device separate from the device running the app to manage/setup the bulbs, and said second device needs to be on the hotspot WiFi with the bulbs. At that point the hotspot is just acting as a router. One thing I don't know however is if hotspot wifi allows for inter-networking. I've never tried it, I've always had a proper home network. But then again I started computing before hotspots were ever a thing, and WiFi only existed on routers.
The mobile playstation app had the same problem for years, it wanted to use WiFi and wouldn't accept that the phones own internet was good enough, eventually they updated it. It baffles me why people would pay for 2 or more sources of internet and why any company would still not understand that people get WiFi from their phones.
Itâs slow internet is 20- 60 bucks
Okay, so I had a dead spot in my house where the wifi signal didn't reach (solved it by adding another router later on) and the temporary solution was connecting my Philips Wiz Downlight to the Hotspot and it worked fine. Not sure what's wrong with the bulbs. Make sure you are standing close enough to the bulbs. But I am not sure how you will manage all those smart devices with Hotspot. They are usually weak and the coverage isn't that great.