ATI Straton app and wifi connection as horrible as ever

Ricardo Miozzo · Dec 15, 2023

So, after some time preparing the new aquarium and setting it up, I decided to test the brand new Stratons. Tank will be 120x60x50 cm. and I got two lights. Long story short: it's almost impossible to pair them (I still didn't manage to). Set one up, and the other. Direct connection. opening the app, only one shows up. It's either one or the other. Manual has a complicated connect/disconnect/reconnect/change/again and again - several steps needed - procedure that to my despair, didn't work. Hours and hours spent trying, connecting one light, setting up the wifi connection, etc, just to see it not working at all. Any advice other than rebooting each light and/or the internet modem? I have a pretty good home wifi, so please don't say I have a bad weak internet signal. Now, to check each light, I have to connect separately to each one, instead of simply clicking the app and seeing it connected so I can do things with the lights. Why can't ATI have a simple and well working app? It's been years of this...

jsker · Dec 17, 2023

It might come down to your home router. Most of the equipment is stuck in the Stone Age with 2.4k connectivity. I would suggest finding a wifi extender that has 2.4k and 5K connectivity. Netgear has a couple of choices.

Ricardo Miozzo · Dec 17, 2023

It wasn’t. After three days I finally got to set up those two things - and pair them!!! A miracle, considering the Stone Age app, firmware and the lack of a US$2.00 Bluetooth part. It’s a horrible experience to setup these lights. ATI could spend a little money on this.

ATI North America · Dec 21, 2023

Not sure if it has anything to do with your situation, but water is a very good insulator for WiFi. Putting your antenna behind your tank/sump etc will certainly cause problems. Ideally you slide them out from behind when you need to connect, or mount them in a location where they have line of sight out of the stand rather than tucked behind water.

I am however ATI North America, not an engineer so I cannot comment on the so called stone age app. Its always worked well for me, but Im usually using the fixture in my lap to help walk through users not on a tank behind water.

Ricardo Miozzo · Dec 21, 2023

jsker said:
It might come down to your home router. Most of the equipment is stuck in the Stone Age with 2.4k connectivity. I would suggest finding a wifi extender that has 2.4k and 5K connectivity. Netgear has a couple of choices.

It isn’t

Ricardo Miozzo · Dec 21, 2023

ATI North America said:
Not sure if it has anything to do with your situation, but water is a very good insulator for WiFi. Putting your antenna behind your tank/sump etc will certainly cause problems. Ideally you slide them out from behind when you need to connect, or mount them in a location where they have line of sight out of the stand rather than tucked behind water.

I am however ATI North America, not an engineer so I cannot comment on the so called stone age app. Its always worked well for me, but Im usually using the fixture in my lap to help walk through users not on a tank behind water.

Nothing to do. My phone or laptop have nothing between them, the WiFi router and the lights. I talked with Tobias from ATI Germany and he told me they’re seriously considering several changes on the app, the way to connect to ATI lights and other innovations so all no hardware things are up to date and something more 21 rst century. Bluetooth is another thing they are considering. Tobias told me all ATI lights have the same chip they used in the old T5 appliances, and this is probably why the app takes so much time ro do things and the connection system is so complicated. Changes are on the way, and ATI has a chance to finally have the best light and the best system. It took me three days of intense labor and a lot of patience to have it all set and working well. Compared to Mobius (lights connected and set in less than 15 minutes) for example, ATI software in general is a total mess. But thanks for the reply. Best of luck.

ablemad · Dec 26, 2023

I have just bought a pair of stratons and I'm trying to connect the two. As far as I understand all i need to do is connect the slave unit to the master unit's network and. The slave network will disappear and the two should be in sync. The only problem is that they don't appear to be. Any ideas?

Ricardo Miozzo · Dec 26, 2023

Ok, as per my experience:
1) turn one Straton on, and wait until the green light blinks. Find it in your phone or laptop. Open the app and connect to it. Save all settings.
2) do the same with the other or as many other stratons you got.
Connect to your WiFi network and add all lights to it. I did it by opening the WiFi, dialing 192.168.100.1 on browser and configured the lights to work in my WiFi network. You do not need to do the master and slave thing. Once they’re all in your WiFi, they will all respond to the same settings unless you divide the groups.
3) after all that, go to the app and try to update it.
4) remember that anything you do will take some time to work on the lights.
5) if anything goes wrong, start over. You can reset the light by pressing a needle or something alike on a very small hole the black box on the light for 5 or more seconds. Good luck. It’s a real test of patience.