Unable to connect to internet fridge

[AdrienP]

I purchased a  Samsung Family Hub RS68N8941SL about 2 months ago. Since then, I have been trying relentlessly to connect my Note 8 and 2 Samsung tellies via Family Hub or Smart things.

Via smart things, I was able to pair the note 8 and fridge. However, I can use none of the app features.

When I try to register my mobile device via the fridge, it gets stuck at the authentication code stage.

No one in Samsung (and I mean no one in 20 odd interactions) has been able to help. An engineer even came out and he just shook his head, left, closed the ticket and said "not our problem"

I have reset the fridge several times and updated with the latest firmware.

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!

[ChrisM]

Hi @AdrienP.

Did you manage to get this working or are you still having the same issue?

[Flamenco]

I have the same problem with my new RF56M9540SR/EU fridge.

You enter your mobile number on the fridge but it never sends the SMS verification code to your phone.

After about 5 attempts the fridge says you've reached the your SMS limit for the day.

I waited until 24 hours had elapsed, tried again and still no SMS code sent to my phone.

Meanwhile I'd reset the hub to defaults a number of times and tried again. The Hub software on the fridge was already on the latest version, it's connected to my wifi and getting weather/time updates/I can browse the web on it and I've connected my phone using Smart Things but I can't use the Family Hub app due to this verfication code obstacle.

I spoke to Jenny G on Samsung's chat support service and all she could suggest is to try again when the 24 hours had elapsed to try another SMS code. I've done that and still no code.

I've now raised an enquiry via the website '1:1 Enquiry'. Hope I don't receive a generic response asking me to try all the stuff I said I'd tried in my problem description, like the last time I used that service.

I may try another defaults reset, register an account for my wife and try with her phone this evening.

This is an expensive fridge and the hub should work better than this. Some alternative verification options would have been nice, e.g. let the customer have a choice of verify by email or SMS. (and any other suggestions?)

[merryb]

Were you ever able to get this working? I have the same problem.

[Filemoon]

Hi,

I do have very same problem ;/

[TyoMad]

Same problem here.  The chat support submitted a ticket, but said it will be 1-2 days before I get a response.  I dont think it is a problem with the refrigerator, but a problem with their cloud / SMS gateway systems. 

[Filemoon]

Hi,



Just to clarify the issue is not with fridge - fridge is not sending your verification codes (you do not need to reset/restart fridge).

The issue is with FamilyHub application or Samsung SMS (text) verification system (Samsung application or Samsung infrastructure).

I've spend (wasted) lot of time with Samsung helpdesk and no one was able to help me - they switch me to other representives/department all the time (from Samsung appliecnes to SmartThings - I do not have SmartThings) - FamilyHub product and application is not popular and is very badly supported.

I hope you will find solution soon.

Do we have contact to group who is dooing FamilyHub app development - they need to be contacted - more likly issue is at their side.

[TyoMad]

Yeah...I've rebooted and done a factory reset.  It's really unfortunate that the whole user experience hinges on this step.

[Filemoon]

What is the story with your ticket?

Any udpate?


Regards Chris

[Flamenco]

Hi everyone and sorry for the delay in responding.

The good news is that I did manage to get my fridge connected.

The bad news is that Samsung support were of no help at all and the problem never actually got fixed as such (I shall explain further).

Firstly, as expected. I got a very generic and unhelpful response for Samsung's website '1:1 Enquiry' support. I basically posted my enquiry under the wrong category/department so my query was closed and I was told to open a new one in the right place. Here's a quote from their response...

"From what you wrote I understand that you cannot pair your phone with Family hub.

Please note that you contacted Samsung Content and Services. Here we can assist you if you encounter any issues related to Samsung Account, Samsung GALAXY Apps, Find My Mobile, etc.

For your inquiry, please contact our colleagues from Samsung Electronics. Go to http://www.samsung.com/ and find the "Contact Us" category on the page, where you can choose the desired way to contact Samsung Products Customer Support Team.

We are grateful for all your patience and understanding, we remain at your disposal for any further information if necessary and we assure you of our highest consideration."

In my opinion this does quite neatly fit under 'Content and Services' however, I never enquired with Samsung Electronics to find out if they agreed with me!!!

And also, by that time I'd also resolved the problem myself.

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, my next step was to try registering with my wife's phone and within a few seconds the SMS code was received and the fridge then connected successfully.

So as others have mentioned, this does appear to be a problem with Samsung's SMS gateway or whatever system they use to generate the SMS response.

My phone is on the 'EE' (UK) network (formerly 'T-Mobile' before they got merged with 'Orange').

My guess is they have a problem sending SMS's to the EE network or legacy T-Mobile.

My wife's phone is on the 'Three' network and Samsung's SMS system appears to have no problem with that.

So it will be interesting to hear from everyone else what network their phones are on to see if my hunch is correct.

If you are on EE, please specify if you were previously with T-Mobile or Orange or if you joined EE after the merger in case that has any significance.