WiFi disconnects after days or weeks of uptime
Some users report that their MagWLED-1 drops off the WiFi network after days or weeks of continuous uptime and doesn’t reconnect on its own. This is a known issue with the ESP32-C3 WiFi stack under long-running conditions, not specific to MagWLED.
Things to try
1. Check for Home Assistant on your network
If you have Home Assistant integrated with WLED, its polling can overwhelm the device and cause it to freeze or drop off the network. Try disabling WLED polling in Home Assistant, or set a longer poll interval. This is a well-known cause of WLED WiFi issues.
2. Enable “Keep WiFi Connected” in WLED
In the WLED interface: Config → WiFi Setup → Keep WiFi connected — make sure this is enabled.
2. Use a static IP address
Dynamic IP assignments (DHCP leases expiring) can sometimes cause reconnection failures. Assign a static IP to the device either:
- In WLED: Config → WiFi Setup → Static IP
- Or in your router’s DHCP reservation settings
3. Disable WiFi sleep on your router
Some routers aggressively drop idle clients. On Unifi (and similar): check that WiFi power save mode is not forcing clients to sleep/disconnect.
4. Set up automatic restarts (WLED scheduler)
If the above don’t fully solve it, a daily automatic restart at an off-peak time (e.g. 3 AM) keeps uptime manageable. In WLED: Config → Time & Macros → Timed Presets — set a reboot macro.
5. Reduce WiFi channel congestion
In dense WiFi environments, try switching your router to a less congested 2.4GHz channel (1, 6, or 11).
If it never reconnects after a drop
A power cycle (unplug and replug) almost always restores the connection. If the device needs to be rock-solid without manual intervention, the automatic restart workaround is the most reliable fix while the underlying ESP32 WiFi stability issue is tracked upstream.