iRobot Roomba has made our lives easier by taking over the house cleaning responsibilities. While it integrates with your Alexa smart home ecosystem effectively, you can also get notifications on key activities and control the device using the iRobot companion app. However, there’s one trouble you might face- Roomba not connecting to wifi.
Once in a while, your iRobot may drop off the network connection and may display a message or emanate the not connected sound. This indicates that the Roomba is not connecting to the WiFi network at your home. Now, there can be several reasons for the issue to arise, but, having them is never going to be fun. Having said that, this blog will walk you through steps to resolve the iRobot Roomba not connecting to wifi issue in no time.
Content
- iRobot not connecting to WiFi- reasons
- Troubleshooting iRobot Roomba WiFi connectivity issues
- Reconnect Roomba to Wi-Fi
Things you’ll need
- Roomba Companion App Installed
- Roomba Robot
- Active internet connection
iRobot Roomba not connecting to WiFi- Reasons
When you boot up your iRobot Roomba for the first time, you’ll see a prompt on the iRobot companion app. This will ask you to pair your new Roomba to a WiFi network.
Now, a necessary requirement to get this done successfully is connecting your smartphone to the same WiFi network as well. The iRobot will typically connect to the same WiFi network that your smartphone is connected to. And, if there’s an issue, you’ll see the Roomba not connecting to wifi error.
Additionally, issues with the wifi network can also contribute to the error. It is therefore important that you follow a strict setup procedure to connect your devices. You can go through the iRobot Roomba setup process here.
Troubleshooting iRobot Roomba WiFi connectivity issues
Once you have identified the core issue behind the error, you can follow a set of troubleshooting steps to eliminate them:
Step 1: Check the WiFi network
A majority of users skip this step and start calling technicians to rescue them from the situation. What they don’t check is the wifi network at their home can also be down. Even if the wifi is working, there is a possibility that it is not running at its peak performance. This can make it difficult to add and connect new devices.
You can consider checking the network speeds at your end and trying to reconnect the Roomba. In addition, you can restart your wifi router or extender at your home. If the internet connection continues to remain down, you can check with your ISP(Internet Service Provider) and they may help you with the cause.
Step 2: Connect to the correct network band
Make sure your iRobot Roomba is connected to the correct network band. Most routers and range extenders support dual-band connectivity. While only a few models of Roomba support the 5GHz connection, others work perfectly with the 2.4GHz one. Traditionally, the latter is the best for devices that work at a certain distance away from the main router, given the wavelength of the signals that are transmitted.
The Roomba 600 series connects to the 2.4GHz network only. In fact, all models below the 6 series do not support 5GHz connectivity. Therefore, if you are trying to connect one of these models to the 5GHz band of your home network, you’ll likely get the iRobot Roomba not connecting to widi error. It is recommended that you launch the companion app and change the wifi selection to the 2.4GHz band.
Step 3: Moving the router and the home base closer
The distance between the Roomba charging station and the wifi router at your home can also affect the wireless connectivity.
Ideally, the charging station/home base should be in the good signal range of your wifi router network. The farther the home base is from the router, the less bandwidth it will share with the robot.
Consider moving the two closer to each other and see if that helps with resolving the iRobot Roomba not connecting to wifi error.
Step 4: Reset your Roomba robot
If following the above steps fail to resolve the wi-fi connectivity issue, you can reset the robot settings to factory default. Doing so will effectively wipe the settings off the robot and delete any previous configuration that was saved on the device.
Once you have reset your Roomba, you can add back the Roomba into the app using the general wifi setup steps. Here are some steps you can follow to reset different models of your iRobot Roomba:
Roomba S, I, and 900 Series
- Press and hold the Home, Spot Clean, and Clean buttons together.
- Once the light ring around the Clean button begins to swirl, release all the buttons.
- Your Roomba will now restart indicating the end of the factory reset process.
Roomba 800 and 600 Series
- Press and hold the Home, Spot Clean, and Clean buttons together.
- Once the robot makes a beeping tone, release all the buttons.
- Your iRobot Roomba will now reboot to indicate the completion of the reset process.
Reconnect Roomba to WiFi
Connecting your iRobot Roomba to the wifi network at your home is easy. Here are some easy steps you can follow:
- Connect your smartphone to the appropriate wifi network band that your roomba model supports. Also, don’t forget to enable Bluetooth on your smartphone. Finally, make sure your roomba robot is on the charging dock.
- Now, launch the iRobot companion app on your smartphone.
- To add your roomba to the WiFi network, select the Add Robot option. The app will scan for and detect the robot device and add it to the account.
- Once added, you can assign a name for the same and tap on the Continue button.
- Type in the password for the WiFi network band that you’re looking to connect to and tap on the Continue button. Roomba will now pair to your WiFi network automatically.
If you experience network issues or intermittent coverage, you would want to change the network that the Roomba is connecting to. Simply, launch the iRobot app and head to the Network Settings menu. Now, find the network that you wish to connect to and type in the password to connect.
Your roomba device has now been connected to the internet.
The final word
iRobot Roomba not connecting to wifi error can be a headache. While you may be looking over the internet for tips to get the issue resolved, the troubleshooting steps mentioned in this blog will help you get things in order. If you continue to face issues with your iRobot Roomba, you can always reach out to the team at our end for help.