eero dual band mesh router and WiFire

[Grill Billy]

I have been involved with Network Infrastructure & Security for 30+ years, so my choices skew towards identifying solutions where I have full control over the device ... which is why I had the statement start with "personally ..." - no knock against your choice ... with my extended Family, I have them using lots of solutions that I would not personally choose, given that it fits their requirements better than something I would deploy within my home, and their needs do not match what I am doing here ... apologies if that came across as a negative, was not intended as one ...

All good, man. I never felt that you were dissing my hardware choice. I thought that I may have come off like I felt that eero was the best thing since sliced bread. It's working well for me, but I don't pretend that it's the right choice for everyone.

I get that those with your knowledge and experience would want the keys to the car. While I am no expert, I am fairly techy and have set up networks and labs of Macintosh computers. I too would prefer to have the keys to the car. I think that sometimes they don't include the more advanced controls to save the "non-techy" people from themselves–like training wheels. In the wrong hands, things could get messy in a hurry. With great power comes great responsibility. LOL

 

[MikeyR]

An update, my 3rd IW650 came in today finally (2nd replacement, long story, paint peeled, it’s a whole other thread). I had disconnected and reconnected my other 2 grills with my iPhone on eero no problem several times before, but now I had a fresh grill to test some theories that are out there. Before connecting it to my home WiFi via my iPhone XR and the most recent app, I confirmed my iPhone was on the 5GHz band, and it was with good signal strength (pic attached), so I wasn’t too far out of range to have dropped to the 2.4 GHz band. The IW650 connected instantly to my home WiFi. Out of the box it had SW 01.01.02 and config 06.006. As expected, the grill was offline in my app. I gave it 10 mins and the SW updated to 02.00.01 and config to 06.008 and the grill immediately showed online in the app (so old grills still do update). I’m a bit disappointed I didn’t get the newest SW & Config, but I’m sure I’ll get it whenever Traeger figures out the current issues (they must feel this is the most stable release). My other IW650 has SW 02.01.00 and config 06.009. I kept it off WiFi when I was working to get it replaced, and once I read controllers started getting fried. I reconnected it 1.5 weeks ago and it has sat there ever since.
So, I’m not sure if it’s different eero models or eeros that aren’t updated or phone models or what the issue is, but in my experience you shouldn’t have to turn the 5 GHz band off (have been successful with 3 grills).

 

[Grill Billy]

Hey Mikey,

Wow, sorry to hear about your issues!

With my Pro 780 at least, for the initial first setup only, everything needs to be using the 2.4 GHz band. After a successful connection is established, the grill should first do any software/firmware updates, then you can name the grill and finish the set-up. Once your set-up is complete, then you can turn 5GHz band back on and everything should be good.

WiFire works great for me now. We actually had a power outage last night for a few hours. When power was restored, I double-checked that my grill would connect up again and it did. Everything seems rock solid. ??

I still need to resolve the poor workmanship on my lid, but at least the wifi is working.

It seems like Traeger may have some quality-control issues to work out.

Good luck!

B

 

[Grill Billy]

Quick Update: The new lid for my Pro 780 arrived today. It is installed and ready to go. WiFire continues to work perfectly. The flaw on the original grill lid caused two left hinge pins to break. This time Traeger sent me an extra hinge kit in addition to the new lid, so I'd have a set of back-up hinges "just in case". This lid looks good so I do not anticipate any more hinge failures.

I am super happy everything arrived before the weekend. I am all set to grill up some tasty food for my kids when they come home for a "social-distance" Father's Day.

B

 

[cawatx]

Has anyone successfully connected their Traeger WiFire grill to their eero network?

If so, I could use some help.

I understand that Traeger WiFire requires a 2.4 GHz connection and my eero router is dual-band. My Nest Security Cameras require 2.4 as well, one of which is near the grill and farther away from the beacon in fact, and it works great.

Thanks in advance!
Bill

I have the EERO routers from when they first came out. I have not had to make any changes to the EERO router/apps and the Trager Ironwood 650 connects with no issues. Sorry, I don't have a better reply.

 

[Grill Billy]

I have the EERO routers from when they first came out. I have not had to make any changes to the EERO router/apps and the Trager Ironwood 650 connects with no issues. Sorry, I don't have a better reply.

All good. I managed to get it working. I had a faulty controller.

 

[Jonginear]

Hi all,
I'm an Eero dealer and have run into issues with Pool equipment that will only work on a 2.4gig network similar to the Traeger issue. Creating a guest network will most likely solve the connection issue. There's no downside to leaving the Traeger on a guest network since the info you receive in the app comes from the Traeger cloud servers, not directly from your grill. Both devices do not need to be on the same network SSID. Secondly, Eero is a dual band router system where your mobile device will connect first to the 5gig band if you are close enough. Move too far away from the access point and it will automatically switch to 2.4 gig which has greater range although lower speed. It's counter intuitive, but moving your grill far enough AWAY from your Eero access point will force it to only see the 2.4gig band and allow it to connect.

 

[WiFireisGarbage]

It's nothing we as consumer's can do to fix it. This is clearly a problem at Traeger. WiFire randomly works, then just as random stops working. It is a rampant problem and Traeger continues to deny that there is a problem with the software or hardware.

 

[lifjoy]

The stated "requirement" for a separate 2.4GHz SSID really has nothing to do with the WiFIRE Controller itself, but the App Device being used to initially setup the WiFIRE Controller and connect it to your Home Wi-Fi Network

Thanks so much for this insight! It worked...

I powered up an old iPhone 7, and ran the eero app on my iPhone 11 Pro to confirm that the iPhone 7 had indeed connected on the 2.4GHz band. I was then able to use the iPhone 7 to add my Silverton 620 to the Traeger app, and the grill updated its firmware immediately after connection.

After that initial setup using the iPhone 7, I was able to control the grill from the Traeger app on my iPhone 11 Pro, which is on the 5GHz band. Prior to this trick, my iPhone 11 Pro was unable to add my grill to the Traeger app.

Hope this helps others! Thanks again dunawayfamily!

 

[traeger860]

I have a Linksys Velop mesh system. A few of my other “smart” appliances won’t connect to its mesh network, but my Ironwood 650 connected on the first try.

When I first read that the WiFire only supported 2.4, I reactivated the WiFi inside my modem and used that. Signal was low because of where the modem is located, so figured I’d give the mesh system a shot. So far so good.

 

[RealMenDIY]

I initially could not connect my Pro 780 to my Eero network either, even with Eero cust service disabling the 5ghz band. I too had the idea to move one of my beacons right next to the grill but still had no luck. Eero cust service asked me to unplug my beacon so that the grill would only see my base station unit. Once I did that the grill connected to the network first try. Once setup was complete I plugged the beacon back in and the grill has stayed connected ever since. Hope this can help some others!

 

[SamE]

Has anyone successfully connected their Traeger WiFire grill to their eero network?

If so, I could use some help.

I understand that Traeger WiFire requires a 2.4 GHz connection and my eero router is dual-band. My Nest Security Cameras require 2.4 as well, one of which is near the grill and farther away from the beacon in fact, and it works great.

Thanks in advance!
Bill

Not sure if this has been resolved for you but after a lot of troubleshooting, we finally got ours connected. Make sure your phone is in airplane mode with Bluetooth disabled as well. In the Eero app, go to Settings -> Troubleshooting -> My Device Won’t Connect. From here, disable your 5 GHz temporarily. While it is disabled, go to Settings -> Advanced -> Restart network. While your router is restarting, power cycle your grill. The network will turn back on, with the 5 GHz still disabled (keep on eye on the timer) and the grill was able to connect. Hope this helps!

 

[Grill Billy]

We’re good now. The problem was a faulty controller.

 

[Rather_be_grilling]

Not sure if this has been resolved for you but after a lot of troubleshooting, we finally got ours connected. Make sure your phone is in airplane mode with Bluetooth disabled as well. In the Eero app, go to Settings -> Troubleshooting -> My Device Won’t Connect. From here, disable your 5 GHz temporarily. While it is disabled, go to Settings -> Advanced -> Restart network. While your router is restarting, power cycle your grill. The network will turn back on, with the 5 GHz still disabled (keep on eye on the timer) and the grill was able to connect. Hope this helps!

I was having trouble with my Pro 780 and this worked for me. Just disabling the 5 GHz didn’t. I had to power cycle the grill and make sure my phone forgot the Traeger WiFi network. Then it worked like a charm.

 

[B4b]

Ok I found a much simpler fix. I think this has been plaguing many of us. Eero routers come with a feature called Advanced Security which blocks malicious sites, botnets, phishing, etc. find that feature in the app and TURN IT OFF. Your traeger will connect properly on the first try and you don’t need to delete the app, power cycle anything. Sooo easy. Can’t believe I didn’t think of this after hours of agony and customer support calls. They kept telling me router must have a firewall on it but no firewall settings configured. Turns out advanced security is like a firewall that’s auto applied. Turn it off and there you go.


ALSO, once you’ve installed and connected you can turn advanced security back on and it doesn’t kick off the traeger. So you get back to having a secure mesh network and grill online.

Hope this helps someone. I never post on forums but had to share this with y’all.