Was your Circle set up, but now you can't connect? Seeing a message about Circle being offline? Two of the most common symptoms of this issue are:
- The Circle LED light is blinking.
- Opening the Circle with app gives a message like "Can't connect to Circle," or "Your Circle is offline."
- You may receive a notification that says "Looks like your Home Plus is offline."
- Android-Only Users: You may see the Home profile icon change from a blue color to an orange color. This indicates that your Circle is offline.
Try some of the following troubleshooting steps to see if we can re-establish a connection!
Troubleshooting if your Circle device is offline
1. Make sure your Circle device has been set up
Your Circle device will blink slowly (about once a second) if it is not paired yet or needs paired after a network change. Make sure you've already set up your Circle device. For assistance setting up Circle 1st generation for the first time see here. For help setting up the second generation, Circle Home Plus, head over here.
2. Reboot your devices
Sometimes a process can die that will disconnect the Circle app, your Circle device, or Internet connection. Restarting your Circle device, app, phone/tablet or router can help:
- Reboot your Circle device: Simply hold down the grey power button on the back of the Circle for about 10-15 seconds, until the white light on the back turns off completely. Then, hold the button again for a few seconds, until the light comes back on. See more here.
- Restart your Circle app: On an iOS device, double tap the "Home" button or slide up to see all your apps, and "slide" the Circle app up and off the screen. On an Android device, tap the window icon in the bottom right of the screen or slide up from the bottom to see all apps, and slide the Circle app off the screen to the left or right. Having trouble closing an app? Try searching online for your device by name and how to "Force close an app".
- Reboot your iOS/Android device: Usually, this involves holding the power button on the iOS or Android device until a "Power off" button appears. Tap/slide the button, wait about 30 seconds, and then power the device back on by holding the power button down for a couple seconds.
- To reboot your router: Unplug your router from power, and wait about 30 seconds. Then, plug the power cable back in, and wait a few minutes for it to start back up.
3. Check the LED light on Circle
The LED light on Circle can help with determining why your device is offline. Check out the sections below depending on what the white LED light is doing.
Is Your Circle Device LED Blinking?
When Circle is not paired to your network it will begin blinking. If you haven't set it up yet, do so by following this guide. If it's previously been setup and is now blinking:
- Reboot your router and Circle. This can restart some of the processes that either rely on to communicate with one another.
- Connect your Circle via Ethernet to your router. This can fix some communication issues between Circle and your router.
- Move Circle closer to your wireless router. We recommend 3-5 feet, but not on top of your router.
- Did you change something in your network setup? Changing your Wi-Fi network name or password will cause the Wi-Fi pairing between your network and the Circle device to break. You can tell this occurred if the Circle unit is powered on but blinking. Try removing the device from the app from under the Menu and manually resetting. Then try pairing again.
- Resetting and starting set up over again. Need to pair Circle over again? To do so, open the Circle app >> Menu >> Settings >> and tap "Remove Circle Home Plus". As well, you will need to reset the Circle Home Plus manually by following this guide. After doing so, wait a minute and then open the menu again and tap "Set up Circle Home Plus" to proceed through pairing again.
Is your Circle Home LED Solid?
- Try rebooting! Turning things on and off has a magical way of helping getting issues like this resolved. See above in our section on rebooting your devices for more on that.
- Check that you are connecting to the same network as Circle. Try "forgetting" any other wireless networks (ie. 5GHz networks, extenders, guest networks) from your list of Wi-Fi networks. You can also try disabling cellular data to be certain you're connected to your home network; the easiest way to do this is to turn on "Airplane mode," and then connect to your Wi-Fi network.
- Was your Circle device paired with a guest network, or an extender or access point? Circle should be set up with your main router's 2.4GHz wireless connection (whichever connects directly to your internet service provider). After setup, it can be connected via ethernet to this router. You can re-pair following this guide.
- Make sure your Circle app, device with the app and the Circle device firmware are updated. Update the app via your app store, then update your phone under your settings. Finally, leave Circle plugged in over Ethernet to your router for 24 hours to have it update its firmware then try again.
- (Circle Home Plus only) Still having issues getting online? Try removing the Circle device from the Circle app from under the Menu and manually resetting. Then try pairing again.
4. Still having issues? Reset and set up again
You may need to factory reset your Circle device and try again to set up. Open the Circle app >> Menu >> Settings >> and tap "Remove Circle Home Plus". As well, you will need to reset the Circle Home Plus manually by following this guide. After doing so, wait a minute and then open the menu again and tap "Set up Circle Home Plus" to proceed through pairing again.
What is causing this offline issue?
When your Circle device can't be reached by our server, you'll get a notification that it Circle has lost its Internet Connection, offline, or needs attention. This could mean your network is down, something is wrong with the power for your Circle device, the Circle device has been moved out of range from your router, or something else.
Network issue
If your network goes down and your Circle device is unable to communicate with our servers, you'll get the "Looks like your Circle is offline." notification. When you're at home, try navigating to a website like google.com. Can't reach it? Something might be wrong with your router, or there may be an Internet outage for your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
What can I do?
You might check to see if your router is on and the Internet connection light is indicating a connection. You can try rebooting the router or your router and modem by powering them off. If you're still having issues reach out to your ISP.
Power failure
If your Circle device dies from power failure, you might see this notification. Is your Circle device plugged in? The battery inside your Circle device will keep it going for an hour or two, but not forever.
What can I do?
Make sure your device is plugged into a working outlet or that the power strip it's connected to is turned on. You might need to try a different charging cable or base if your Circle device's power keeps dying. See the troubleshooting article here on power issues.
What should I do after a power outage or if Circle won't connect?
If you've had some power outage issues recently and are having issues with Circle we recommend rebooting your router by powering it off and on, then rebooting Circle. Afterward, wait 15 minutes or so for things to reconnect. Note: rebooting your router will take down your access to the Internet temporarily. If the Circle device still does not power on or have a solid LED light try changing to another power outlet, or checking your breakers at home. As well, you may need to plug Circle into your router via Ethernet and wait a few minutes.
Did your router or Circle device move?
If your Circle device can't communicate with your router because something is in the way, or the router is too far away, then it won't see itself as paired and you'll get the "Looks like your Circle is offline." notification. If you find that your Circle device is still on but the light on the back is blinking that means its unpaired.
What can I do?
Try moving Circle closer to your router. We recommend 3-5 feet, or even better connect Circle over Ethernet cable directly to your router via the Ethernet port above the power plug in. After you've done so it's never a bad idea to reboot Circle by holding the power button down for 10 seconds until the light turns off, and then clicking the power button once to turn Circle back on. Read more about rebooting Circle here.
Offline right after setting up or soon after?
If your Circle Home Plus device is suddenly offline right after set up or soon afterward try rebooting it (hold the power button down for 10 seconds, release, then click it again to turn it back on). If that doesn't bring it online, try removing the Circle device from the Circle app: tap the Menu icon in the top-left of the main screen, then tap Settings >> Remove Circle Home Plus. After removing the device from the app, manually reset the device. Wait a couple of minutes after resetting, then try pairing again.
Is your Circle app saying that it can't connect to Circle and you've already set your Circle device up? This can be related to a number of issues related to the device or your network.
Note: you might have trouble connecting to Circle if you are using a VPN on your phone or tablet during setup, or if you connect to a different network than Circle is paired with.
Is your Circle on and has a solid light on the back?
- Make sure that the light on the back is solid. This tells you that your Circle device is connected to the internet through your home network. If you see a blinking light on the back you need to pair your Circle to your network.
- Make sure your Wi-Fi is on and you are connected to the same network as Circle.
- Close your Circle app and reopen it. This will start the app fresh and force a new connection. On the Android app tap the back button and then "Exit".
- Turn your Circle device off and then on.
- Turn your router off and then on. Doing so will take down your Wi-Fi network temporarily. Only do so if you feel comfortable.
- Did you change something in your network setup? If you moved your Circle, or added another network device to your network Circle might be having issues communicating with the Circle app. You can reconnect it via Ethernet cord to your router to get it back online.
- As a last resort: factory reset Circle. Afterward, set it up again as new by uninstalling the Circle app, reinstalling, and then working through the app prompts.
My Circle device is on but the LED is blinking.
This means your Circle is not properly connecting to your Wi-Fi network. Here are some things to try:
- Move Circle closer to your wireless router. We recommend 3-5 feet, but not on top of your router.
- Connect your Circle via Ethernet to your router. This can fix some communication issues between Circle and your router
- Reboot your router and Circle. This can restart some of the processes that either rely on to communicate with one another.
- Pair Circle again if you changed your Wi-Fi name or password.