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Does Philips Hue Need a WiFi or Internet Connection to Work?

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If you are looking at investing in a Hue bridge and bulbs then common questions we here are to what happens if there is a power cut or the internet goes down.

Can the Hue bridge work without an internet connection?

The answer is yes. The bridge works as a standalone device and does not require the internet to work. The app on your phone works with your wireless network and not over the internet, the same goes for all the bulbs too which uses the ZigBee Light Link (ZLL) protocol.

Although the internet is not required, the bridge must be connected to a wireless router, this is because the hue bridge does not have wifi, the wifi allows your smart phone or tablet to connect to the bridge using Wifi. The bulbs themselves use ZigBee.

You do need a connection to the internet to:

  • Download software updates for the bridge and bulbs
  • Using the out of home feature with the Hue app.

What if there is a power cut?

The bulbs and bridge all require power and if there is a power cut in your home then just like with normal bulbs they will stop working. Once power is restored the hue bulbs will all come back on and illuminate in a white light state unless a different option is selected with the Hue app settings, where you can select last state or a specific color.

Connecting the Philips Hue Bridge to Wi-Fi

Your Hue bridge must be connected to a wireless router to allow communication with your wireless phone and tablet where you can control the bulbs. The Hue bridge must be connected to the wireless router using an Ethernet cable that goes from the bridge and connects to the wireless router. It does not matter if the wireless router is connected to the internet or not. If you do not have a wireless router then something like the TP-Link N300 Wireless Wi-Fi Router would be ideal.

Read our guide on how to set up the Hue bridge here.

What about Bluetooth?

If you don’t have a Hue bridge, or wifi then you can use the Hue Bluetooth bulbs, these connect via your Phone and can be controlled by the Hue app. 

Read our guide on how to set up your Hue bulbs without a bridge here

Do Hue switches and buttons work without the internet?

The Hue dimmer and switches work using Zigbee of wifi and do not require the internet to work or be used.
 


Founder & Editor

Mike is the founder of Hue Home Lighting, a huge Hue fan with far too many lights, covering home and garden. A smart home gadget addict and also enjoys the odd bit of DIY

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59 Comments

  1. Bruce Woodrow

    I have a spreadout layout in my home. I have a modem+router+wifi in my office. I have a second router+WiFi in the living room, along with Hue bulbs. Will I encounter any problems if my Hues bridge is plugged into an Ethernet jack in the office but my iPhone is connected to the WiFi in the living room? The manual and FAQs are not clear.

    Reply
  2. Robbo Robertson

    If there is no internet, where does the hue get its time from? Is there a way to put it in manually?

    Reply
  3. Darren lowe

    Is there an adapter to make the bridge wirless as there are no free plug sockets adjacent to the wifi router.
    Thanks in advance

    Reply
      • Darren lowe

        There’s spare capacity on the router, it’s the plug sockets I have the issue with. So the bridge will need to go into another room hence the question about a wifi adaptor of dongle so that we could bypass the hard wired bit.
        Thanks

        Reply
        • Hue Home Lighting

          Use a wireless bridge like this – http://amzn.to/2E8w26c
          This will give you the network connection point and then connects to your wifi network. So your bridge is basically hard wired to a wireless bridge.

          Reply
          • Billy Kidd

            The wireless bridge you show needs to be powered by a USB port, does the Hub have a USB port with sufficient power for this?

          • Brian B.

            For Billy Kidd: The Network cable gets the Wireless Bridge connected to the Hue Hub. The Hue Hub has it’s own power connection. The USB is connected to a permanent USB power source (wall adapter, etc.) The Wireless bridge is set-up on your network and communicates with your wireless router. Good luck.

  4. Chris

    You need an official way to stop lights coming back on full after a power cut…what happens at night? We all get woken up by bright bulbs 🙂

    3rd party Hue apps allow the power state to be set as Off following a power cut so the official app should too.

    Reply
    • C'mon

      Unless you live somwhere very strange, you don’t experience very many power cuts. I live in rural Scotland and I still can’t remember the last time we had a power cut. It’s the 21st century. Yes, cuts happen, but hardly and day-to-day concern.

      Reply
      • Kittapea

        We had an outage at work last week and also lose power at least four times a year where we live in Pittsburgh, PA. We have lost power about as often at another home in a North Carolina. Then there are the times when it switches on and off a few times which is another four times a year, necessitating the need to reset the clocks on the oven and microwave. It sounds like your infrastructure is much better than ours.

        Reply
  5. Sriram

    Will these Philips light work/compatible only with Philips Router/Bridge? I mean if i have similar router/bridge from different vendor, will these lights work?

    Reply
  6. Sriram

    I presume the Router/Bridge needs to be Wire-connected to WIFI modem?
    Say, I wire connect this in my living room (where my Internet modem exists), can I put the lights in 2nd floor and be able to control through app?

    Reply
    • Hue Home Lighting

      Yes, the philips brige connects to your wireless router via an ethernet cable. Your router must be wireless, your bulbs connect to this network and can talk to your bridge.

      Yes this works on multiple floors as long as your have a connection. The bulbs also link to each other so you may not have a wireless connection from that point, but if you have other bulbs that can talk to each other then they will still work.

      Reply
  7. Brandon V

    I don’t have a router in my kitchen. How is this oversight a thing? The Bridge itself should just connect to the router wirelessly. My only router is in my office. For a device like this that is almost $150 this is a massive problem that pretty much cripples my ability to use it.

    Reply
    • Hue Home Lighting

      Can you not just plug the bridge into your router in your office?

      Reply
  8. Phillips hue person netherlands

    So i have a problem with my phillips hue. The problem is that I can’t turn the lights on without having an internet connection on my router. My mobile phone is connected to the router but for some reason, the app says ‘geen hue verbinding’ which means no hue connection. Can someone help me with this problem?

    Reply
    • Hue Home Lighting

      Are all the lights on, on the Bridge? Are you connected to the same wireless network as the bridge? If so try standing close to the router for better signal. If all fail then try rebooting the bridge.

      Reply
  9. Fredrick

    I have a a wireless router that is not connected to the internet and therefore still maintains a network. Will this system work?

    Reply
    • Hue Home Lighting

      Yes, the bridge needs to be connected to your router via a network cable. The router is needed to talk to the bulbs as the bridge itself is not wireless. It will still work without an internet connection, functions that won’t are the away function and turning lights on and off when you are not connected to your home network.

      Reply
  10. John

    Can my hue lights be controlled from my iPhone when I am out of the country i.e overseas ?

    Reply
  11. Brad

    I read I don’t need wireless internet from your site – I bought s wireless router and plugged it in bridge and get the middle and far right blue light to turn on but not the left.

    I can’t get it to connect through my app – it says no bridge found. When I have in fact reset the wireless router (not connected to internet) I’m confused!!!!

    Reply
  12. Andrew

    Can I use a wifi extender with bridge without an actual wifi router ? So basically I want to plug the bridge directly into the extender which is not connected to a wifi router.

    Reply
    • Robert

      Andrew – Did you ever figure this out? I’m trying to do the same exact thing. I don’t have access to the main hardwired router and I’m trying to plug the bridge into an Airport Express extender. So far, no luck. The first 2 blue lights are activated but not the 3rd.

      Reply
  13. john parker

    As we all know that the bridge don’t need an internet connection to connect. As Philips hue is a bride, so it does not need an internet connection.

    Reply
  14. Ray V

    I don’t have no internet in my home what’s so ever. Just bought the starter kit. Will I be able to use my hue philips lighting starter kit at all?

    Reply
      • Eric

        If you have no Internet connection, then why is a wireless router required? Why wouldn’t a simple wireless access point suffice?

        Reply
        • Hue Home Lighting

          An internet connection is not needed, however a connection to a wireless network is. The wireless router is needed so that the Hue bridge can be connected to this via an ethernet cable, this then provides a wireless network for your phone to connect too.

          Reply
  15. Netgear Tech Support Canada

    some good concepts of hue bridge are nicely discussed in the article. the best thing about hue bridge is it can work without an internet connection. the setup process is very easy.

    Reply
    • Alan

      I have tried tirelessly to connect to my hue bridge without internet but it hasn’t worked for months. It works perfectly with an internet connection and fails without one. When there is no internet connection the 3rd light flashes. All other lights remain steady. Please help!!!

      Reply
  16. Epson technical support

    I am using Tenda router, my problem is that wifi is not giving sign-in option..what to do?

    Reply
  17. Rohan Sharma

    Third light is not stable. I have connected tp link wifi extender with network cable.. but still light is not stable or blinking.. Please Help

    Reply
  18. cellbet

    Hi Rohan Sharma ,
    This was a excellent informative you have shared on this page about the protection of your self from the wiffi radiation by installing a WiFi router with high frequency range at the roof of a home otherwise the radiations of wiffi in the form of signals are damaged the upper layer cells of human body continuously day by day so takecare of your self and also configure or restart it by online wiffi portal.
    Thanks.

    Reply
  19. Potential customer

    Hallo , The Phillips Hue starter pack includes 2 remotes ..
    1 seems to be the Bridge (Long one) and one seems to be a Motion sensor .. My question is do I Need the Motion sensor to make my Phillps hue work /connect to Google home voice commands etc.
    I do not Need a Motion sensor as my house is tiny.

    Reply
    • Hue Home Lighting

      The motion sensor is an accessory and does not need to be used and does not effect the use of Hue.

      The bridge is square and can be seen in the video above, please ensure you get one.

      Reply
  20. Dimitris

    Can a Philips hue lamp activated in a particular scene when i return home and my iPhone connect to the home wifi?
    I know about leaving home activity in the ios application but this work with the location
    I want to turn off when i go 3 floors down and turn on when i return to my apartment

    Reply
  21. Norbert

    Hello!
    I have a bridge a wireless router and 2 bulbs but I can not make it work ( I don’t have internet at home) I connected the bridge with the router but the app can’t find it. Can anyone help me please

    Reply
  22. Tommi

    My phone provides my internet at home. I would love to use my Google Home also for my Hue lights. Why cannot Philips make the bridge with wifi capabilities? Is the Vonets VAP11N only option?

    Reply
  23. Nancy Hasiuk

    I have had problem with my Hue the last 3 days now, it will not use my cellular data any more?? I keep trying to log in and it keeps saying ( failed to log to My Hue. Please try again later ) Why all of a sudden it is doing this it worked fine before 3 days ago? I tried asking this before and not really getting any help.

    Reply
  24. diidu

    If there is no internet connection, how does the Hue bridge get correct time for timed operations?

    Also, I don’t seem to get the motion sensor configured without an internet connection. The app complains about it.

    Reply
  25. Erin

    I have my bridge connected to a wireless router. When I open the app, it searches for the bridge, and finds it but says I have to do an update. My phone is currently on the router network, and the app has been stuck on “installing update” for a couple of hours (it said there were 2 updates, but currently says it is “installing update 0/0”

    I understand that other people have found the update process very long… but I am wondering if, without the physical wifi connection, if it is even able to do the update at all? I cannot tell if it is making progress because it has said the same thing for over an hour.

    Any help is appreciated. I am not very technically savvy.

    Reply
  26. valentina giordano

    Hello,

    I use a mobile wifi at home because I travel a lot for work and it’s quite handy to be able to take it with me. Is there a way I can use Hue?

    I saw in a previous post that it’s enough to have wireless router that it doesn’t need to be connected to the internet, but I don’t understand where I am supposed to connect the cable to/from if the router is not online…

    Sorry, I am sure you have already answer the questions but I am still not sure if my mobile wifi device needs to be used to connect and how…

    Thanks 🙂

    Reply
  27. Nelson Lopez

    Hello – I have the bridge connected to the home modem/wireless router and lights that receive their wifi signal from a booster. Same network, but different IP address than the default gateway. When I’m in the app, I am unable to discover the lights even using the 6 digit number associated with each light. Do the lights have to be connected to the same wireless router as the bridge?

    Reply

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