New G100 will only connect via another G100 camera

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I purchased two brand new G100 cameras from Amazon recently - I’ll call them A & B - and have hit a bit of a problem.

I powered up camera A but it wouldn’t load into pairing mode - i.e the point at which it announces that it’s ready and waiting for a connection from the app. Instead it sat there with the yellow light on for about 10 seconds, after which it would go off briefly & then repeat the cycle. At no point was it accessible from the Aqara app.

I then fired up camera B. It loaded up normally and announced that it was ready to connect.

Now, here’s a strange thing … as soon as camera B went into pairing mode, so did camera A. Note that both cameras were in the same room as the router.

I then proceeded to connect and configure both cameras, as well as upgrade the firmware.

Here’s where it got weird again, no matter what I do to camera A (restart / factory reset / remove SD card etc), it will not come online unless camera B is sitting physically within a couple of metres of it. If I switch off camera B or move it further away, camera A disconnects & goes back into the solid yellow light mode.

Camera B is happy to be anywhere in the house & will connect successfully (i.e. solid blue light).

Already in the house was (yet) another G100, a G410 doorbell and an E1 camera. They all work happily!

As part of the installation, both new G100s were upgraded to 4.5.20_0020 firmware.

So, just to be clear. Camera B functions normally, whereas camera A will only function if camera B is switched on & nearby.

Questions:

  1. What does the solid yellow light (with the occasional blip) mean?
  2. What can I do to make camera A fire up & connect normally?
  3. What’s the story with one camera only working when the second is nearby? Do G100s “mesh” together somehow? I thought they were wifi connected cameras only?

Any advice or suggestions would be most welcome.

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Hello, welcome to the forum. First of all, I would check the router, see what is happening there, are there subnets. Check the permissions for connecting additional devices via WiFi.

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Thanks for the reply. No problems with the router. Can connect additional devices no problem … besides the second camera (B) connected successfully to the wifi after me trying to connect the first camera (A).

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@adi_aqara so what happens now if you unplug camB? Can you still use cam A?

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No, that’s the problem. Camera A seems to be dependent on camera B for its network connection. It’s almost as if camera A is talking Bluetooth to camera B, to be able to access the network via camera B’s wifi.

Camera A goes into the solid yellow mode if B is either switched off (when it’s nearby) or switched on but located more than a few metres away.

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Hi, definitely contact support. They have already returned from their mini vacation in China.

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That’s definitely a strange habit! Never heard about that! Please contact the support like @gafich10 mentioned

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That’s not normal behavior, G100s don’t mesh, they connect directly to Wi-Fi.

Solid yellow usually means it’s stuck in boot/init, not pairing. The fact that it only works when the other camera is nearby points more toward a fault with camera A (likely Wi-Fi/module issue).

Try a full reset and set up A alone near the router. If it still depends on B, I do RMA it.

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Hi @moe313. Yeah, it’s weird! Have already tried various resets in close proximity to the router.