Finally I was able to onboard it and here are the details and issues:
After reading for the ten times all the details of your procedure I realize that at the beginning you ask to ensure to be in “aiplane” mode.
I did it but as the application need 1st to be logged in on the server with account, so not compatible to start with airplane mode.
And secondly during the 3rd step of providing a name for the robot in the app it also asked to have internet access (cellular or wifi).
Finaly when displaying the Finishing up message it try again to access your servers through internet.
How did I fix it is not “normal procedure”.
First of all I deactivate all known wifi of my smartphone to prevent any automatic connection to wifi.
I start the application with my cellular data active to login and launch the process.
I switch to airplane mode on my smartphone and continue the process until the step where I provide name to the robot
I reactivate my data for the naming step
I switch to airplane mode again and those until final step and message “Finishing up”
when this message is displayed I activate again my cellular data.
And Tadaaaaa it works.
Thank you for you message anyway that indicated me that the process itself was very sensitive to the connexion status of the smartphone.
It is potentially different depending on the kind of smartphone and OS level you have.
Anyway happy that it worled and hope that Litter Robot will be able to refine their app and the way they onboard the robot. the process of setuping wifi from the smartphone is a good and secure idea, the way it is implemnted needs to be reviewed to works on all cases
Big tip if you setup a Guest Network for your LitterRobot!! 02/18/2020
If you guest network requires that you log into the network through a webpage (ex Linksys wrt1200ac), the LitterRobot and will fail/hang trying to send Wi-Fi credentials even if you follow the mentioned steps above (disabling data/otherwifi/airplane)
First time I connected my robot, your airplane off and on mode worked for me. However, second time I had spotty coverage.
This is VERY frustrating. Probably an android specific thing.
My solution was quite different.
1 disabled cellular network / data
2 when I was ready to connect to the robots wifi, I forgot my wifi network(s) so that it wont reconnect
3 when I got to the final step where it hangs, I connected to my wifi
4 forgot to add, obviously turn your cellular data back on
The moment I switched back to the app, it showed COMPLETED.
Just figured I’d share a simpler, alternative approach, for those in rural areas.
No … bought it from www.litter-robot.com. I am just trying to find any troubleshooting help. I have submitted a ticket to www.litter-robot.com, and their email said they would answer within the next several days.
I’m SO glad I found this thread, as I was having the exact same issue. Ended up having to get a new base from Litter-Robot, but even with it, I had troubles getting it to work. Using a combination of everything above, I finally managed to get it going. Below were the steps I ended up doing:
Logged out of app, closed it, then force-stopped it
Forgot my wifi network, so that my phone would not automatically reconnect
If it was still there, forgot the Litter-Robot wifi network, too
Turned off wifi, so that cellular data was used
Re-opened app and signed in
Continued all steps while still on cellular data until prompted to connect to Litter-Robot wifi.
Turned on wifi, selected Litter-Robot network and entered password
When prompted, selected my home network and re-entered password. This was done from the app, NOT from my wifi connections
After all these steps, it finally worked and I’m now good to go.
I am experiencing problem similar to many users here - and unable to enrol my Litter Robot 3 Connect in app / onto my wifi network. My litter robot / app are stuck on Step 5: “Sending Wi-Fi credentials”. I receive a message saying my SSID / credentials are invalid (they are accurate).
I have wasted hours on this. I have taken the following steps to troubleshoot:
Unplug the LR directly from base for varying times (15 seconds, 5 minutes), allow full cycle on restart;
Delete and reinstall app (iOS 13)
Restart router, and ensure signal is broadcast in 2.4 GhZ
Move LR next to router
Restart iPhone / try with iPad
Forgetting home wifi networks from my iOS device in the onboarding
Try variations of airplane mode troubleshooting, described here
Try using the bluetooth pairing option when prompted (or alternative disabling BT and skipping this prompt
This has been a time consuming and frustrating experience. I am very disappointed to have zero connectivity on this smart device.
Finally, out of desperation, I tried the last thing - I created a Guest WiFi Network, with only 2.4GHz band on it, and FINALLY, I was able to successfully finish an onboarding.
My normal SSID is a tri-band of 2.4+5.1+5.1GHz with 20/40MHz channel bandwidth, apparently, LitterRobot can’t work with it.
Now, the question here - does it have to be on the same wifi as my phone to properly communicate with the app?
Or does the LitterRobot talk directly to the remote internet server, and wifi is needed only to get access to the internet?
And the app also only talks to remote server, and not the device directly?
When you do the configuration, the phone has to be within range of the Litter-Robot, on the same network. But once it is configured, the Litter-Robot is connected to the Litter-Robot server. Your app phone is connected to it as well. You don’t need to be on the same network once it has been configured, all goes through the network, which is why some customers have issues when the Litter-Robot network goes down for a few hours.
Thanks for the confirmation.
It would be nice though if LitterRobot can be a bit more flexible about wifi channels.
After all, even my fairly old robot-vacuum has no problem connecting to 5GHz wifi channel.
Considering the price (high) of LitterRobot, you could have upgraded a wifi chip in it…
Thank you this was a god send. Airplane mode in the exact sequence you mentioned and finally got this silly thing to connect! RobotSupport please update your user guide with these exact directions for Android users!!!
OMG THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! I just received a second base for the Litter Robot and was starting to have the same issues as before. I did what you recommended and it’s finally working So frustrating tho!