Troubleshooting: pairing an eWeLink device to Wi-Fi network

First, make sure that:

RF433-only devices (such as an RF wireless switch or an RF remote controller) need to be paired with an RF Bridge or directly with an eWeLink smart device with an RF receiver, not a Wi-Fi router.

Similarly, Zigbee devices need to be paired with a Zigbee bridge, not with the Wi-Fi router with the app.

Wireless devices without Wi-Fi and Zigbee, supporting only eWeLink-Remote (Blutooth) protocol need to be paired not with the Wi-Fi, but with a compatible smart device with eWeLink-Remote receiver or hub. Read more about this in the manual of the device.

If it is indeed an eWeLink compatible Wi-Fi device, read on about reasons why you may fail to pair your device with eWeLink app:

The latest version of the eWeLink app will automatically search for devices in pairing mode. However, some older eWeLink devices do not support automatic pairing and only support specific pairing modes.

Check the user manual of your device to confirm which pairing mode it requires.

For example, older eWeLink cameras only support Sound Pairing. In such cases, regular automatic pairing won’t work. In the eWeLink app, tap on “More Options” to see other pairing methods.

Unless otherwise stated in the device's manual, use automatic pairing in the eWeLink app. To do this:

Note: On some devices (e.g., SmartWise garage door opener or certain Zigbee/RF gateways), the pairing button may be hidden or recessed. Use a paperclip, pin, or needle to press it.

It’s easy to make a typo on a small touchscreen. Double-check the password and make sure you’re using the correct Wi-Fi network (not a guest or secondary one).

If you enter the wrong password, the app might appear to complete the pairing, but the device will remain OFFLINE.

Repeat the pairing process with the correct password. You can also toggle the “Show Password” option in the app to ensure it’s entered correctly.

Note: Some routers restrict outbound traffic for guest networks. If you're using a guest network, try switching to the main network.

In most cases Automatic Pairing finds and connects to the eWeLink devices within 60 seconds.

If not, you may try an alternative pairing method, which should work fine in most other cases. This is called “Compatible pairing”, and it is basically a less automated way of pairing.

What happens in “Compatible pairing” is that you manually look for the eWeLink device’s Wi-Fi AP name, connect to it with your phone, then let the phone do the configuration of the device to the Wi-Fi and connection to the cloud. So you basically skip the automatic discovery but you manually connect your phone to the smart device.

1. On the smart device,

2. Now in the app:

open the pairing screen and scroll down to the bottom (may be outside of the default visible screen) and tap the “Compatible mode” button on the screen where you entered your Wi-Fi credentials.

We have seen cases when pairing failed using a certain phone and was successful with another. Why? There can be several reasons. One reason can be that an older phone has an outdated operating system, and newest eWeLink apps are not available for that older OS version. And a very old eWeLink app may not be fully compatible with all newer smart devices.

It may also happen, that there is some security software or firewall installed on a phone, which prevents the connection.

Also, it is a known issue that some Apple phones running old iOS v13 version may experience pairing problems (all other feature working well) with most eWeLink devices.

Anyway, if you experience pairing problems, it is generally a good idea to use another phone or table for the pairing. (And then, of course, you may use your own phone later to manage your smart home devices with the same login name and password, just try using another phone for the pairing only.)

Before you start pairing your smart home device with eWeLink app, please make sure, you are connected to the exact same WiFi network to which you want to pair your eWeLink smart home device.

Some phones have a feature to use mobile data connection (via mobile carrier) and Wi-Fi at the same time, and change between them in the background to optimize for bandwidth and response time. Having multiple network connections (Wi-Fi and mobile network) at the same time may confuse problems in connecting to smart devices.

So, it’s best to fully turn OFF mobile data connection on the phone running eWeLink and just use Wi-Fi-based internet connection during the pairing to avoid problems caused by this.

Most eWeLink smart devices only support 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi — they are not compatible with 5 GHz networks.

Please check if your router is dual-band and also support 5 GHz Wi-Fi band. In such case, it may happen that you router offers a 5GHz Wi-Fi channel for your eWeLink device which it cannot use, and this is why paring and Wi-Fi connection fails.

More advaced routers have a capability to use a different SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi channels. In such case, make sure you try to pair your eWeLink smart devices to the 2.4 GHz SSID.

If both channels share the same SSID name (this is no so good), we suggest you to turn off 5GHz band temporarily on your router admin page until your smart home device pairing is successfully finished.

If you do not have access to the router admin/configuration page or your router does not have such a feature to temporarily turn off 5GHz, you may try to move as far from the router as possible as a workaround. 5GHz channels normally only have a range of 5-6 meters, so moving a bit further away from it may help the smart device to connect to a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi channel. On a long run, you may also consider to have a dedicated 2.4GHz only router / subnet for your smart devices.

For a stabel solution, consider setting up a separate 2.4 GHz sub-network for smart devices.

Some eWeLink devices (e.g., certain LED controllers or DW2 door/window sensors) only support the older 802.11b standard on 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi.

Some modern routers do not support 802.11b, making them incompatible with these devices.

Check your router’s and device’s technical specs for compatibility.

Some low-cost routers or ISP-provided models can only handle max. 10–20 connected devices. So it may happen that even though your phone found and configured the smart device properly, the router is not able to support one more connecting device, because of this limitation of the number of maximum connections.

We suggest you to check the router’s specification to see how many parallel connections it can handle and check the actual number of connections on the router’s admin page.

If the pairing problem still persists, do not give up! Here is how you can quickly check if the problem is with your new smart home device, or rather on the Wi-Fi router / access point side.

So if pairing still fails, try this method:

If it works this way, but not with your home Wi-Fi, the problem is with your router, not the device.