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.
Common causes of connection issues
Recent network outage or change.
Change to a Wi-FI SSID or passphrase assigned to a Portal Light.
Portal Light cannot connect to an NTP time source.
Portal Light has been unplugged or an outlet does not have power.
Portal Light network requirements are not met.
Portal Light Wi-Fi signal strength: requires a wireless signal strength of -80 dBm or stronger.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure the following prerequisites are met.
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.
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.
Step 1: Get the quantity and location of Portal Lights with connectivity issues
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 Dashboard. Once you know this information, it will help guide you through the steps to resolve the issue.
Sign in to Kio Cloud, go to Device Management > 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-only device data within its range is not being sent to Kio Cloud.
Step 2: Identify the action to take by the Portal Light LED indicator
You'll need to identify the LED color and behavior of the Portal Lights experiencing connection issues.
Read the LED colour and, for orange, count the blinks between pauses — the blink count identifies which part of the connection failed. Then take the action for that state.
See Portal Light LED status indicator guide for the full table: normal-operation states, every orange blink count (2 = no network, 3 = wrong SSID/password, 4 = no DHCP, 5 = no NTP, 6–7 = cannot reach Kio Cloud), the hardware-fault pattern, and what the LED does after each Kio Setup Manager action.
Two states are worth calling out here, because they are the ones most often misread:
- Solid RED means the Portal Light is powering on. It is not a connection failure.
- Blinking RED means an internal hardware issue — submit a support request rather than troubleshooting the network.
Step 3 (optional): Verify BLE-only device data is being received by Kio Cloud
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.
Sign in to Kio Cloud, go to Device Management > 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.
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.
Recommendations to keep your Portal Light infrastructure healthy
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.
Need additional help or have questions?
Get in touch with the Kontakt.io support team by submitting a support request.