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, badges, to Portal Beams is not being received by Kio Cloud.
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Recent network outage or change.
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Change to a WiFI 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, please ensure that you have the following requirements in place:
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Kio Cloud account owner sign-in credentials; viewing and managing Portal Lights is limited to the Kio Cloud account owner.
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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.
For onsite troubleshooting, be sure the Kio Setup Manager app is installed on an iOS or Android mobile device.
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Kontakt.io Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) device, a tag, badge, or Portal Beam, within range of a 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 connection issues and their locations.
Available to only the Kio Cloud account owner, this can be determined by the Infrastructure Last Seen metrics available from the Device Management 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? 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 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.
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LED Color |
LED pattern |
Status |
Recommended action |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Not illuminated (no color) |
None |
Portal Light is not powered on. |
Verify it's 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. |
|
GREEN |
Solid |
Operating as expected. |
No action is required. |
|
BLUE/GREEN |
Blinking |
Over-the-air (OTA) firmware update in progress. |
Do not unplug the Portal Light during a firmware update; this may cause the device to become inoperable. |
|
ORANGE (yellow-orange amber) |
Blinking |
Time synchronization in progress. Establishing a connection to its configured NTP time source to synchronize its local UTC time. |
If the LED continues to blink for an extended period, it cannot connect to the NTP time source or has failed to receive UTC time. If you have only a few Portal Lights with this issue, reset their 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 (green LED). If you have many Portal Lights with this issue or a connection reset did not resolve this issue, you will need to work with your IT department to help resolve this type of issue. Contact your IT department and ask the following questions: External NTP time source - Is Port UDP 123 open? required to be open to allow Portal Lights to connect to an external Network Time Protocol (NTP) time source (pool.ntp.org; time-google.com). Is there a current internet outage or has there been a recent outage? Internal NTP time source - Have there been any recent network changes and are the NTP servers online? If the issue cannot be resolved, the next step is to perform a Portal Light advanced connectivity test. This is commonly completed by IT staff allowing them to perform network debugging and exploration to identify where the connection is failing. |
|
ORANGE (yellow-orange amber) |
Solid |
Connected to Wi-Fi network, but in an error state and not operating as expected. |
Get in touch with the Kontakt.io support team by submitting a support request. They will identify the cause to help resolve this error state. |
|
RED |
Solid |
Portal Light failed to connect to its configured Wi-Fi network. When first powered on, it illuminates for up to 5 seconds. |
If you have one to a few Portal Lights with this issue - locally at a Portal Light with this issue, 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 the LED remains RED, you will need assistance from your IT department (see below). If you have a high percentage of Portal Lights with this issue or many in a specific location, - you will need assistance from your IT department (see below). Contact your IT department and ask the following questions: Has there been a recent network change or an outage? Has there been a change to the Wi-Fi network SSID or passphrase assigned to the Portal Lights? Have the Portal Light network requirements (ports and firewall settings) been met? Commonly this is completed during deployment, but verifying is always best. Is MAC filtering used on the network? If yes, verify the Portal Light 12-character MAC address is added to the MAC filtering list. You can find the MAC address on the side or backside of the Portal Light. If there has not been a change to the Wi-Fi network, from Kio Cloud Device Management, verify the Portal Light's Wi-Fi network settings are correct. If settings need to be updated, see Update Portal Light Wi-Fi settings. If the issue cannot be resolved, the next step is to perform a Portal Light advanced connectivity test. This is commonly completed by IT staff allowing them to perform network debugging and exploration to identify where the connection is failing. |
When the Portal Light connectivity issues are resolved, it's recommended to verify that data from the Kontakt.io BLE beacon devices within range of the Portal Light is being received by Kio Cloud.
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Identify a BLE beacon device within range of a Portal Light that had a connectivity issue; a tag, badge, or Portal Beam.
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Sign in to Kio Cloud, go to Device Management 2.0 > select Beacons > from the list, locate the BLE 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 BLE device within range of the Portal Light to confirm it's an issue with multiple BLE devices.
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If you determine that the Portal Light is not sending BLE beacon 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 solution device infrastructure healthy.
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Be sure all your Kontakt.io devices have the latest firmware.
Portal Lights automatically receive and apply firmware updates when released by Kontakt.io.
For beacons, tags, badges, and Portal Beams, firmware updates must be completed locally with the Kio Setup Manager app or through a third-party app integrated and developed with the Kontakt.io mobile SDKs. Learn more about updating beacon firmware.
To learn more about the latest firmware releases, see the Device firmware changelog.
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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 Portal Lights and BLE beacon devices do not store data locally during a power or network outage.
Beacons continuously broadcast their data that is received by Portal Lights. Portal Lights send the last received beacon data every 60 seconds to Kio Cloud over their connection to the local Wi-Fi network.
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Onboard staff when deploying your Kontakt.io devices - let them know what not to do and what they can do.
Such as not unplugging a Portal Light or moving it to another location.
They can use the Portal Light passthrough outlet when needed. If there is no power to the passthrough outlet, quickly press and release the front LEd button to turn it on.
When they see a Portal Light LED blinking or it is not GREEN, let them know who they need to contact.
Get in touch with the Kontakt.io support team by submitting a support request.