HomeKit homekit devices work on Apple TV's no response on iPhones.

[Project Alice]

Hey all,
I have two smart bulbs (sylvania BT bulbs). Over the past two weeks I haven't been able to control them all with my phone. 100% of the time I get "no response from devices". The home app will work sometimes if I open and close it a bunch of times.
The same thing happens with my old iPhone that is used as a glorified alarm clock. They worked perfectly for two months and all of the sudden this started happening.

Both my Apple TVs however don't seem to have a problem controlling the lights. But this isn't ideal as I like to turn them on from the car or my bed room. These are my first two smart devices, and I wanted to get more but if this is how it's going to be I don't even want to get anymore.

Apple TV 1 (5th gen 4k) is in the same room as the bulbs, and is set up as the hub. ATV 2 (4th gen HD) is in a different room, and hub was enabled but I disabled it to see if it solved the problem. It did not. All devices are on the latest version of the OS; the "alarm clock" phone is actually on 14.5 beta, but my actual phone is on 14.4.

 

[srl7741]

Sound like a bluetooth issue and nothing more. Bluetooth has always been unreliable, slow and limited in range.

 

[Project Alice]

Sound like a bluetooth issue and nothing more. Bluetooth has always been unreliable, slow and limited in range.

If it was a BT issue the Apple TVs would also have problems controlling them. I don’t even have BT turned on, on my phone. The ATV stays connected as the hub and then the phones can control it over the network.

I specifically got BT devices because if someone breaks into them they have no real network access.

 

[xraydoc]

If it was a BT issue the Apple TVs would also have problems controlling them. I don’t even have BT turned on, on my phone. The ATV stays connected as the hub and then the phones can control it over the network.

I specifically got BT devices because if someone breaks into them they have no real network access.

I don't really have a solution to offer, but since there's only two bulbs, it wouldn't be too hard for you to delete all the Home settings, restore everything to factory, and start again.

Definitely shouldn't be like this. I have a relatively massive number of devices -- 7 HomePod/HomePod minis, about 30 Hue lightbulbs and 8 or so dimmers, around 15 Lutron Caseta dimmer switches and lamp modules, an August-Yale door handle lock, two Ikea roller blinds, and a bunch of Nest gear including 7 cameras, 2 thermostats, 2 Protect smoke detectors, a Nest Guard and a dozen Detects, and two Nest-Yale deadbolts all running through a Starling HomeKit hub -- and don't really have any problems like this (though none are BT-only, however).