Aria won’t connect to Xfinity Modem

[Erin5550]

A while back I got a new modem and my Aria will not connect to it. I read through the troubleshooting on here, and made the necessary changes. My password is alphanumeric with no special characters and is set up as 802.11 b,g,n and STILL won’t connect. I haven’t had this scale for even a year and it’s a major hassle. Any other ideas on getting this to work? I’ve already had to get a replacement Charge 2 after 13 months and I’m really not wanting to spend money on the new Aria. It’s really awful that this is being sold knowing how difficult it is to connect to WiFi. 

[56rascal]

I know a lot has been written about this issue. Today, Oct 4, 2018, I talked with a Comcast tech support individual that said that the Xfi gateway cannot be reset to b/g/n without taking a significant hit to network performance. So if you are specifically using the Xfi system in your home, you have two choices: have the router reset to b/g/n mode and take a hit on overall performance of the network or get rid of or mothball your Aria scale until something changes. Personally, I have pulled the batteries for now and will give it another couple of months before I drop the scale off at our local electronics recycler.

I assume the need for the b level mode is hardware driven in the Aria and not a software/firmware issue (and I think it the same for the Aria 2 also). So there are no other choices at this time and neither is a pleasant option. Note this may not apply to other Comcast routers or levels of service, but it does appear to apply to the Xfi system that is in the upper tier of our local Comcast residential services.

[JuanJoFitbit]

@56rascal Thank you very much for your feedback and sharing these comments. I know that this has been frustrating.

[cuddlemutt]

Same problem here, Aria is such a PITA to connect to WiFi that it’s virtually unusable. They can’t seem to figure out what they’re doing in this company.  HR wearables don’t last 2 months before the bands bubble and become useless too.  They offered me a discount to buy their “new improved” version after the SECOND HR in less than a year bubbled and had to be thrown out!  Why in the hell would anyone want another FITBIT product when the first three were all POSs?

[JuanJoFitbit]

@cuddlemutt I'm sorry about the experience you had with your Aria scale and I'm also sorry to hear that it's not covered by the warranty. I totally understand how you feel about this and your feedback is greatly appreciated since this helps us to keep improving.

[MoparElmo]

So what feedback are you looking for? I have a version 1 scale that makes a
great paperweight at the moment that I paid $129 for 3 years ago? My wife
bought a scale 10 years ago for $29.95 and it still works great. I would
suggest Fitbit consider when they have the tech ready to support 5GH wifi
networks they launch it and provide an introduction offer of trading your
Aria 1 or 2 in (dont make any difference in value either ) and make that
available to anyone who has a current Fitbit scale.

Just a suggestion,

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[JuanJoFitbit]

@MoparElmo I definitely understand your frustration and thank you very much for your suggestion. We truly appreciate your comments and feedback.

[dajjws]

 I also was told by Comcast that I could take the action suggested by Fitbit but that doing so would make my other devices not work as well or perhaps not work at all.  Not worth the risk.  So goodbye Aria.

[JuanJoFitbit]

@dajjws We’re aware of the issue, but may not be able to provide a fix in the immediate future. We'll continue to monitor the situation, and keep our team informed of the impact to you and other customers. We understand that this isn't the resolution you were hoping for, but rest assured we are always working to improve our products.

[MurrayJ]

I can't find Additional Settings to make the changes you suggested.   Have the instructions changed or been updated?

[JuanJoFitbit]

@MurrayJ Thank you for joining us in this thread and our Fitbit Community! Regarding your inquiry, please contact your Internet service provider so they can guide you how to make changes to your router. Make sure that the router settings run the protocol 802.11b and bandwidth 2.4GHz.

After this, follow the setup process as described in this help article.

Let me know how it goes!

[MoparElmo]

I have done this multiple times including having Fitbit's tech support on a
3 way call with Xfinity tech support. This issue is the scale is using
obsolete technology admitted by both Xfinity and Fitbit. I will not be
using the scale for anything but a paperweight any further. I may consider
using a new model of the Aria in the future but it must have new technology
to prevent this from happening again. Bottom line is if the Aria wont work
on 5GH I wont be buying it.

[johnc_]

Fitbit----Is there anything you will do to help us out? Like others have mentioned, I now have a heavy paperweight that is unusable.  Is the aria 2 on a newer protocol? 

[LMH425]

Has anyone given up and shelled out more money to buy the Aria 2? Does is actually connect? 

It's been 8 months I've experienced this issue with no resolution! After the 'workaround b,g,n' connection dropped after a day, I've been manually recording the measurements in the Fitbit iOS app, but I had to replace the batteries and now cannot get it out of setup mode because it will not connect! I have to leave a battery out to turn the scale off, and reinstall and repeat this process every time I want to use it!

@JuanJoFitbit - Is there any discount Fitbit will provide to replace their un-updated scale with the Aria 2?

[JuanJoFitbit]

@MoparElmo @johnc_ @LMH425 I know how frustrating this is for you guys. Our team is aware of this issue. Once a solution is available, we'll make sure to post it in the Community.

I'm afraid that we don't have a trade program with the Aria 2.

I truly appreciate your feedback since this helps us to keep improving.

[johnc_]

There's no solution as my gateway doesn't support b and I'm not downgrading
internet. I tried setting up an older wireless router as an access point
and even another Wireless router broadcasting 802.11b even with another
ssid it cripples my wireless network and is very unstable that a device
won't stay connected. The scale won't even sync after used due to not being
able to connect to the network I made for it, it wakes and syncs about 30
minutes after.

There simply isn't a solution to keep using this scale other than
downgrading internet which is not an option. I want an executive to contact
me.
--
Thanks,
John

[98JHSDFKjh]

This does not work, at least on my xfinity router.

[JuanJoFitbit]

@johnc_ @98JHSDFKjh I'm sorry about the setup difficulties you've experienced with your Aria scales. I know that this is frustrating. However, our team is looking into this and once a solution is available, we'll make sure to post it here.

Thank you for your feedback!

[gschoen]

I can imagine how frustrating this is for those using an Xfinity supplied modem and gateway/router.  

A device that has hardware that supports only 802.11b cannot support newer standards by a software or firmware upgrade.  It should be noted that the decision to stop supporting 802.11b is by Comcast/Xfinity and not Fitbit.  The information Comcast is giving that enabling 802.11 b/g/n mode will take a massive performance hit is not completely accurate.  Without getting into technical specifics, if Aria is the only device communicating on the b standard you will not notice any difference in speeds.  Since the device transmits only tiny amounts of data and is completely off otherwise, it wouldn't matter if it was using b g or n.  It would only make a difference if it was transmitting large amounts of data and continually on.  

Further, most newer devices use the 802.11ac which is a vast improvement over b/g/n.  These devices usually communicate on the much less crowded 5ghz band.  So things like laptops, tablets, phones, TVs, media streamers, etc that use large amounts of data would not be affected by the Aria if using this band.

My suggested solution for ANYONE with an Xfinity gateway is to stop paying the outrageous monthly fee for their hardware that is inferior to what you can purchase.  I recommend purchasing a modem at least as fast as your speed tier, but a faster modem could be handy if the speeds are later upgraded.  Also it's preferrable to have a separate router than the all in one models, since it's more flexible for technology changes down the road.

Another option is to use a second (old) router and create a separate wifi network on a different channel in the 2.4ghz space.

@johnc_

If setting up a second network with another device did you adjust the second wireless device to disable the DHCP server, put it in access point (not gateway) mode, set a static IP in the same subnet and out of the DHCP range of your gateway, and set both wireless access points to fixed, separate non overlapping channels with different SSIDs? 

There is no need to "downgrade internet" in any event. 

Moderator edit: merged reply

[JuanJoFitbit]

@gschoen Thank you so much for sharing this information and input my friend. I'm pretty sure that this info will help other users.

I'll be around if you have any questions! 

[linfeld]

I'll be waiting.  If there is no fix within one month, I will be replacing my Aria scale with one that is more modern.