Very disappointed with Thermoworks Smoke Gateway

OhioEgger

I was one of the early buyers of the Smoke Gateway and it was great at first. Cumbersome to set up, but once it was going I liked the capability. But I didn't use it for quite a while, and when I tried to use it recently it couldn't connect to anything. I went through the troubleshooting guide on their website about ten times, but no luck at all.

So I called them for tech support. It was still just within the 2 year warranty. The tech support guy spent about 20 minutes on the phone with me and walked me through a number of steps, but started giving me a hard time because he didn't believe what I was telling him. "No, it doesn't do that." "You must not be able to tell the blue light from the purple light" "No, it can't behave that way."

Finally he gave up and had me send it in (at my expense). They claimed there was nothing wrong with it, worked perfectly, and sent it back. Of course, it's behaving the same way as before I sent it in -- utterly useless.

Since they claim it's perfect, I can't even get a refund. I'm so annoyed I'll probably never buy anything from them again, and I used to be one of their biggest fans (because of the Thermapen).

HeavyG

Did you perhaps change your router and/or router password in the interim? There are quite a few things that could explain your problems even if the Gateway is itself functioning properly.

OhioEgger

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2424017#Comment_2424017

No. Anyway, after the first attempt failed I did a factory reset on it and started from scratch.

BugFreak72

Did that work?

HeavyG

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2424028#Comment_2424028

Factory reset on what - your Gateway or your router?

mahenryak

I'm sure that you or the tech would have caught this but FWIW I was reading on a post from a different site that the app needs location permission, and possibly other permissions.

Retired RailRoader

Make sure you’re trying to connect to the 2.4 GHZ band of your router and not the 5 GHZ. The gateway will only connect to the 2.4 band.

alaskanassasin

total shot in the dark here, my smobot wouldnt connect so I called, he said do you have a HP printer, yes, unplug it while setting up the smobot.

It worked, I plugged printer back in and they both work fine.

dannys

I bought the gateway but never set it up. I'm OK with just using the remote that it comes with - I don't need what the gateway provides. I wish I had thought about that before I bought it.

While we are on a ThermoWorks rant. I bought a timestick trio. Or as I like to call it, the best way to kill a battery ever invented. I replace the battery and the next time I go to use it, the battery is dead again. It's happened 3 times now, I'm finally through with it and it is going in the recycling.

kjs

@OhioEgger what you described is exactly what I am experiencing minus I haven’t taken the time to call customer service. Very frustrating. And I thought I was going to be a loyal ThermoWorks guy based on my earliest experience.

buzd504

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2424229#Comment_2424229

I have a Trio and I've never used it. I don't know how to operate it. The timer on my oven is still working fine, though I rarely time anything other than baking.

rekameohs

Sounds like you may have a gotten a newer person in their Tech Support group. The "it doesn't do that" comment just means that the Tech has not seen that error before. Do they have a Level 2/3 Support person available? The fact they have similar color lights that can be confusing sounds like a design defect (or the purchasing group got a better price on blue & purple lights !)

****

So I called them for tech support. It was still just within the 2 year warranty. The tech support guy spent about 20 minutes on the phone with me and walked me through a number of steps, but started giving me a hard time because he didn't believe what I was telling him. "No, it doesn't do that." "You must not be able to tell the blue light from the purple light" "No, it can't behave that way."

Botch

https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/2424168#Comment_2424168

That... is weird! 😯

ryantt

This is unfortunate, as they have always provided a good level of support to my daughter and I. I would suggest that you call in again and explain what’s happening and see if a different tech could help.

Best of luck,

Ryan

MaskedMarvel

Yeah that really sucks.

I called about probes that went bad - out of warranty - and they sent me replacements for free.

Sorry for your experience they should definitely be making things right.

Carolina Q

I don’t know if she can help, or even if she still works there, but you might try contacting Amber Bowcut (amber@thermoworks.com). She was extremely helpful to me on a couple of occasions in the past. It’s been 7-8 years though. Worth an email.

OhioEgger

Update:

I decided to give it one final try before throwing the Gateway in the trash.

I had already deleted the app from my phone, so I downloaded a fresh copy and went through the tedious setup process again. Amazingly, it worked.

So the problem was not in the unit but in the app. It must have gotten corrupted and the new copy worked properly.

But my beef with Thermoworks still stands. I described the situation in detail to the tech support guy (how the app would just give a "Working" screen and freeze forever) but he blew me off ("That's not how it works") and walked me through a completely different sequence. He should have at least told me to delete the app and replace it with a fresh one.