This article provides steps to troubleshoot Portal Light Wi-Fi network connection issues. Commonly, you may have staff reporting that the front side of a Portal Light is blinking blue or orange (amber) or is red. Or it could be reported that data from your Kontakt.io tags or BLE-only Infrastructure devices (such as a Tags, Portal Beams, Beam Minis, or Anchor Beacon)s are not being received by Kio Cloud.
In this article:
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Recent network outage or change.
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Change to a Wi-FI SSID or passphrase assigned to a Portal Light.
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Portal Light cannot connect to an NTP time source.
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Portal Light has been unplugged or an outlet does not have power.
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Portal Light network requirements are not met.
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Portal Light Wi-Fi signal strength: requires a wireless signal strength of -80 dBm or stronger.
Before you begin, ensure the following prerequisites are met.
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Onsite access to Portal Lights - allows visual inspection of a Portal Light when needed. If you are troubleshooting remotely, it's best to have someone onsite to help you troubleshoot.
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Kontakt.io Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)-only device, such as Tag or Portal Beam, is within range of the Portal Light to verify data is being sent to by Kio Cloud.
A quick way to determine the scope of the issue is to know how many Portal Lights are experiencing issues and their install locations. This can be determined by the Infrastructure Last Seen metrics available from the Device Management 2.0 Dashboard. Once you know this information, it will help guide you through the steps to resolve the issue.
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Sign in to Kio Cloud, go to Device Management 2.0 > select Dashboard.
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From the Infrastructure Last Seen metrics, identify the quantity of devices not in the Last Hour data point.
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Selecting a data point from a graph widget automatically takes you to the list of devices. This can help identify the Portal Lights and their locations.
To further filter the view, from the Set Criteria option, select Product > set to Is > select Portal Light.
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Have one to a few not seen in the Last Hour?
This may be an issue with the Portal Light configuration and requires troubleshooting locally at the Portal Light.
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Have a high percentage of Portal Lights not seen in the Last Hour?
This commonly indicates a local Wi-Fi network or NTP connection issue.
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What causes a Portal Light to enter an Offline status in Kio Cloud Device Management 2.0?
Every 60 seconds, a Portal Light connects to the Wi-Fi network to send and download data from Kio Cloud. Each time a Portal Light successfully connects to Kio Cloud, its Last Seen timestamp is updated. If a Portal Light’s Last Seen timestamp exceeds 5 minutes, it's automatically set to an Offline status.
When a Portal Light is in an Offline status, BLE-only device data within its range is not being sent to Kio Cloud.
You'll need to identify the LED color and behavior of the Portal Lights experiencing connection issues.
Models: Portal Light, Portal Light 2, Portal Light 2 IR
The Kontakt.io Portal Light is equipped with a color-coded LED that indicates its operational status. The following provides the details of the different behaviors of its LED under normal and abnormal conditions. The second table describes the LED behavior when a Portal Light encounters issues and is not operating as expected.
For a Portal Light model with firmware version 2.96 or below, see Portal Light LED status indicator.
The below table details the LED behavior when a Portal Light is operating as expected.
|
LED color |
LED pattern |
What it means |
Action to take |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Not illuminated (no color) |
None |
No power applied. |
Verify the Portal Light is properly plugged into a standard grounded outlet and that it has power. If plugged into a GFCI outlet, complete a reset and verify the outlet has power. |
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RED |
Solid |
Powering on (booting up). |
No action required. |
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GREEN |
Solid |
Operating as expected. |
No action required. |
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ORANGE |
Short blink, followed by long blink |
Receiving Kio Cloud configuration; commonly occurs during use with the Kio Setup Manager app. |
If it continues to blink for an extended period of time, this can indicate the device is not found in within the Kio Cloud account. Verify the Order ID has been claimed. |
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BLUE |
－ (repeated) |
Establishing a Bluetooth connection; commonly occurs during use with the Kio Setup Manager app. |
No action required. |
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GREEN/BLUE |
1 blink green - pause - 1 blink blue - pause |
Firmware upgrade in progress. |
Do not unplug the Portal Light during a firmware update; this may cause the device to become inoperable. |
The below table details the LED behavior when a Portal Light is not operating as expected and requires attention - that can result in a Portal Light not sending or receiving data from the Kio Cloud.
Key for LED signal pattern: Circle - represents a single blink | a dash ( - ) represents a 1 second pause
Commonly, when not operating as expected its LED continues to repeat the LED pattern.
|
LED color |
LED pattern |
What it means |
Action to take |
|---|---|---|---|
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ORANGE |
2 blinks - 1 second pause |
No Wi-Fi network connection Cause: network is offline (unavailable) or no internet connection. |
When there is one or a few Portal Lights with this status: Locally at the Portal Light reset its connection. Unplug the Portal Light for 20 seconds, then plug it back in. Wait a few minutes to see if it returns to a normal operating status (LED is GREEN). If its LED does not change to GREEN, requires assistance from your IT department or network administrator. When there is a high percentage of Portal Lights in this status or cannot resolve the issue: requires assistance from your IT department or network administrator. Refer them to the Troubleshooting: Portal Light network connection issues article. |
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ORANGE |
3 blinks - 1 second pause |
No Wi-Fi network connection Cause: could not connect to network with configured network due to incorrect network name (SSID) or password. |
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ORANGE |
4 blinks - 1 second pause |
Connected to Wi-Fi network but cannot obtain IP address from DHCP server. |
Requires assistance from your IT department or network administrator. |
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ORANGE |
5 blinks - 1 second pause |
Cannot connect to NTP time source; cannot synchronize its UTC time. |
Requires assistance from your IT department or network administrator. Portal Lights can be configured with an external NTP time source (factory default) or internal NTP time source. Port UDP 123: required to be open to allow Portal Lights to connect to the factory default NTP time sources; pool.ntp.org; time.google.com |
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ORANGE |
6 or 7 blinks - 1 second pause |
Cannot connect to Kio Cloud Cause: Typically, a network firewall is preventing the connection. Alternatively, although less common, the Kio Cloud platform may be unavailable. |
Requires assistance from your IT department or network administrator.
|
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RED |
●－ repeats this pattern |
Internal hardware issue |
Submit a support request to the Kontakt.io Technical Support team for assistance. |
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None (OFF) |
None |
Preparing to restart; may take some time. |
No action required. |
When the Portal Light connectivity issues are resolved, it's recommended to verify the data of a Kontakt.io BLE-only device within range of a Portal Light is being received by Kio Cloud. This also applies to Kontakt.io Portal Beams and Anchor Beacons that are located within the Infrastructure menu.
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Sign in to Kio Cloud, go to Device Management 2.0 > select Tags > from the list, locate the device > verify its Last Seen timestamp is within the last few minutes.
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If the device's Last Seen timestamp is within the last 5 minutes, this confirms the issue has been resolved.
If the Last Seen timestamp is not recent, this indicates the Portal Light may not be receiving or sending data to Kio Cloud. Locate a different device within range of the Portal Light to confirm it's an issue with multiple devices.
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If you determine that a Portal Light is not sending the Tag data to Kio Cloud, submit a request to our support team for assistance.
Portal Lights are the key infrastructure devices that receive data from your Kontakt.io IoT BLE devices and sends this data to Kio Cloud.
The following recommendations are intended to keep your Kontakt.io infrastructure healthy.
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Be sure Kontakt.io devices have the latest firmware.
To learn more about firmware releases, see the Device firmware changelog. To learn how to manage firmware upgrades, see About managing device firmware.
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Ensure your IT department notifies you when there is a planned network change or outage.
This can allow you to plan for any Portal Light network setting updates to data gaps during an outage.
Kontakt.io devices do not store data locally during a power or network outage.
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Onboard staff when deploying your Kontakt.io devices - let them know what not to do and what they can do.
This includes:
Do not unplug a Portal Light or move to another location.
When they see a Portal Light with a LED that is not GREEN, let them know who they need to contact.
For Portal Lights with a passthrough outlet, external devices can be plugged into this outlet when needed.
Get in touch with the Kontakt.io support team by submitting a support request.