WiFi Sync not working. Tried troubleshooting article. Tried adhoc net. No luck.

mike_huizenga
mike_huizenga
Community Member

It's been a year since I last synced my 1Password vault on my Mac to my iPhone. I've only used the WiFi method. When I try normal WiFi sync using my home WiFi router the sync status changes to "Sync started" but no further. I tried all the steps in the troubleshooting article, same result. I tried using an adhoc wireless network on my Mac, but 1Password on my iPhone cannot seem to connect to the adhoc network. My iPhone > Settings sees the adhoc network and I'm able to connect to the "Device"; however, when I get to the 1Password screen on the iPhone app where it is searching for a WiFi network, it does not see anything. My Mac is OS X 10.11.2 using 1Password 6.0.1. The iPhone is iOS 9.2.1.


1Password Version: 6.0.1
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: OSX 10.11.2
Sync Type: WiFi
Referrer: kb:icloud-faq, kb:sync-options, ug:mac/sync-wi-fi, kb:wifi-troubleshooting, kb:wifi-adhoc

Comments

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @mike_huizenga,

    If I've correctly read and understood your post it does sound like you're saying that you've managed to successfully connect your iPhone to your Mac by way of the ad-hoc Wi-Fi network but that even doing this didn't help in being able to see 1Password for Mac from 1Password for iOS.

    I think the best thing to do in this case would be as follows.

    1. Create the ad-hoc network again and attempt to set up Wi-Fi Sync.
    2. Create a diagnostic report on both your Mac and iOS device using the instructions below and email it to us so we can review it.

    Here are the guides for 1Password for Mac and iOS.

    Please do not post your Diagnostics Report in the forums

    The email address you will want to use is support+forum@agilebits.com.

    When sending the first diagnostic report to the address above it would help immensely if you could include a link to this thread and your forum handle so we can connect the two. For additional diagnostic reports please wait for the automated reply that will be forthcoming. If you either reply to that email or use the email subject as is it will allow our system to link the emails together as belonging to a single issue.

    Once you've sent the reports a post here with the ticket ID will help us to keep an eye out for it. With access to the report we should be able to better assist you :smile:

    With a little luck something in the diagnostic report will show why you're having such problems trying to get Wi-Fi Sync to work. I suspect it will turn out to be something like an anti-virus or firewall application on your Mac as that would block an attempt with an ad-hoc network as well as with your normal network setup, in fact the ad-hoc test is to see if the issue is network related i.e. the router is doing something. Let's see if the diagnostic reports help :smile:

  • DMeans
    DMeans
    Community Member

    Hello, @mike_huizenga

    I had trouble with WIFI sync too (Mac v6.0.1). The information provided by support is good, but it's missing the crucial information regarding the server port. If you're running a host firewall that blocks all incoming requests, then you're not going to have success even though you enable Bonjour ports 5353 (udp) and 5354 (tcp).

    Bonjour is a DNS-like service for local networks: it will tell the 1Password app where the server is, but it doesn't perform the UPnP function of opening the firewall for the server port.

    I discovered that for my system, the 1Password server is running on tcp port 52472 (I can only assume that's static across the eco-system). Once I opened that port in my firewall, then the sync worked as expected. I'm unsure why the KB article fails to mention this incredibly necessary bit, unless they just assumed the 1Password server would communicate with the OS or firewall application and auto-magically open the port.

    BTW, the feed-back from the app is misleading. When Bonjour DNS succeeds but the server connection fails, the "Syncing ..." status will be displayed. That means it's getting (or has received) the server IP address via Bonjour. The "Wi-Fi" status means it's actually performing (or has performed) the sync. The sync icon will "spin" during the Bonjour step, misleading you into thinking the sync is actually working when it's not, when the server port is blocked.

  • rickfillion
    edited February 2016

    Thanks for the additional info, @DMeans.

    tcp port 52472 is not static in our eco-system. We let bonjour give us a port number and we just use a service name for lookup. The server can change ports at any time.

    Thanks for the feedback about the UI being inaccurate in that case. I've filed a bug on our side (OPI-3394) so that we can try to get that fixed up.

    Rick

    ref: OPI-3394

  • DMeans
    DMeans
    Community Member

    Rick -

    Thank you for the feedback. Does the application communicate with the Mac firewall to open the server port? If so, then it's just a matter of disabling the McAfee firewall and enabling the Apple firewall.

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @DMeans,

    I believe the OS X firewall works based on processes rather than specific ports. By that I mean I have an entry in the OS X firewall configuration where 1Password mini is allowed to accept incoming connections. So merely by opening a port it communicates all it needs to OS X. Everything is handled under the hood and no other configuration is required.

  • DMeans
    DMeans
    Community Member

    Hi @littlebobbytables,

    You're correct: I disabled the McAfee firewall, enabled the Apple firewall, and added the 1Password app to the rule set. The OS then communicated the port to open on the listen.

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Greetings @DMeans,

    Well that sounds like progress which is always good! So the question now is, are you happy with using the built-in OS X firewall or would you prefer to use the McAfee firewall? I don't know their product on the Mac but I'm sure some investigation could result in a potential solution if McAfee is your preference. If you're happy with OS X firewall though it might be things are good now?

    Basically just making sure you're happy as we wouldn't want to accidentally assume the issue has been resolved if it wasn't :smile:

  • DMeans
    DMeans
    Community Member

    Hi @littlebobbytables,

    I would prefer to use the McAfee FW (for consistency), but that's a non-starter at this point. McAfee doesn't permit one to configure applications to modify the FW on an ad-hoc basis. I suppose there are a couple of potential reasons for that. Either they've just not implemented it, or the OS doesn't provide the call-backs they need (I've not researched it). I'll open a ticket with McAfee and see where it goes. Otherwise, I'm happy with the configuration. :-)

  • @DMeans Well, we wish you luck! Please do pop back in here and let us know what they say when you hear back. We'd love to know a workaround if there is one. :)

This discussion has been closed.