eero dual band mesh router and WiFire

[robertjohnbenson]

I was excited about your suggestion on IPV6 it is a good one. Unfortunately, when I checked it is off. It did get me to thinking though. Maybe it's a DNS issue. The grill seems to connect but then fails. Eero uses an advanced protocol zScaler for security. I decided to change my DNS settings to a custom public setting of 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

The grill connected but gave me the same error. I was able to see the grill connection on the network. It shows up as a device named ESPRESSIF. The weird thing is the security connection shows as Basic(WPA2), I believe the grill uses WEP. My next thesis would be that the security level on the Traeger wifi is incompatible with the security level of the network. The diagnosis continues.

 

[traeger860]

Wow, all this on the Eero mesh.

I have a Linksys Velop AX4200 mesh network with 4 nodes and no issues with Traeger or two TP-Link extenders that allow some ReoLink WiFi camera to work 350 feet away (all at 2.4 Mhz).

My laptops and iPads all connect at 5Mhz for fast speed just fine using the same SSID for both speeds.

I've also been using a Linksys Velop system for a while. Had the AC3900 (dual-band) and just upgraded to the MX8000 (tri-band). No issues getting my Traeger or other 2.4-only devices to connect as long as they are in range of a node.

 

[robertjohnbenson]

Success!!! PaulyPaul really made me think this was doable. I'm still not sure what the actual solution is. I'll explain what I did and what is currently going on. From PaulyPaul's post, it was apparent that someone could get their grill working on the Eero mesh without any adjustments. I didn't want to return this thing, but I'm tired of dealing with it. I went ahead and tried to connect the grill one more time, this time with my iPhone. The Eero was in 5MHZ but still with custom DNS 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. I didn't change anything on the iPhone. I went through the setup, and it failed to connect to wifi again; it didn't even get to the time error. I knew that shouldn't be the case. I last time I scanned the QR code, and before inputting the SSID password, I walked to the front of the house, far away from the grill. Sure enough, I could see on the iPhone that the grill connected to the SSID, the internet, and updated itself. I then checked the grill settings on the App and saw it was connected with a weak signal to one of my access points located in the middle of the house. I moved the access point closer to the grill and rebooted everything. Everything works, and the signal is good. I will attempt to change the DNS settings back to the ISP's setting and restart the Eero mesh's security features and see if it continues to work.

 

[robertjohnbenson]

Final update. Changed the DNS settings on the Eero and restarted the Advanced Security and Ad Blocking on the Eero mesh and the grill is still connected. I think if I had not been hovering over the grill with my phone during the installation the install would have progressed from the start. I think the problem is with the connecting and negotiation of the networks during install.

 

[PPitBoss]

Final update. Changed the DNS settings on the Eero and restarted the Advanced Security and Ad Blocking on the Eero mesh and the grill is still connected. I think if I had not been hovering over the grill with my phone during the installation the install would have progressed from the start. I think the problem is with the connecting and negotiation of the networks during install.

One though I have is the signal strength from the "node in the middle of the house" was just marginal enough that the phone's wifi radio next to the grill saturated the signal making the node undetectable by the grill. This is why it worked when you moved to the other side of the house - the phone wifi signal was "less." Seems odd but it's theoretically possible.

Also, I saw one person comment they had good wifi signal where the smoker was. Please understand that just because your iphone/android phone says the RSSI value (signal strength) is strong doesn't mean the smoker views it as strong. Think of two humans talking. Their ability to communicate is how loud one person is talking COMBINED with the ability the other person to hear (and visa versa). Other posts pointed out Traeger is using an Espressif WiFi chip. This chip has lower transmit power and receive sensitivity in the upper .11n data rates (MCS7 for those who are uber technical). Your premium Eero mesh AP helps some but the overall success is influenced by the weakest link in either device. Phones have higher quality wifi chips so will show a better signal strength.

 

[robertjohnbenson]

One though I have is the signal strength from the "node in the middle of the house" was just marginal enough that the phone's wifi radio next to the grill saturated the signal making the node undetectable by the grill. This is why it worked when you moved to the other side of the house - the phone wifi signal was "less." Seems odd but it's theoretically possible.

Also, I saw one person comment they had good wifi signal where the smoker was. Please understand that just because your iphone/android phone says the RSSI value (signal strength) is strong doesn't mean the smoker views it as strong. Think of two humans talking. Their ability to communicate is how loud one person is talking COMBINED with the ability the other person to hear (and visa versa). Other posts pointed out Traeger is using an Espressif WiFi chip. This chip has lower transmit power and receive sensitivity in the upper .11n data rates (MCS7 for those who are uber technical). Your premium Eero mesh AP helps some but the overall success is influenced by the weakest link in either device. Phones have higher quality wifi chips so will show a better signal strength.

I think you are on to something about the strength of the wifi on my iPhone or Ipad saturating the signal near the grill. I hope someone who is having similar issues trying to connect can test to see if this is the case. I would recommend starting the installation near the grill so that you can input the QR code or manually input the UUID. Before entering the SSID password move away from the grill a distance to see if the installation continues. I would love to hear if this works or not. I'm just happy my is working now. I actually could adjust my grill from my office this afternoon.

 

[TraegerPants]

After trying everything in this and other threads and banging my head against the wall for days, here's what worked for me:

1) Unplug all Eero access points except for the main connection, which for me is the farthest from my grill
2) Create an Eero guest network
3) Go into Eero app troubleshooting and pause 5GHz
4) Restart phone and put in airplane mode when back on
5) Connect phone to guest network
6) Power up the Traeger and finally was able to make it through all the connection steps, named the grill (Tina) and off we go!
7) Plug everything back in and the Traeger is still connected to the guest network, even using a closer access point.

I'm not brave enough to try and get it to connect to the main network, so on the guest network it stays.

 

[TheOriginalTaco23]

Well, that is positive!

Between my mother who is ill and the havoc that the COVID-19 virus has created for the College and University classes that I teach, I probably won't be able to look at trouble-shooting my new 780 for at least another month or so. It is good to know that I should be able to get things to work as they are supposed to.

If you try a full cook with GrillGuide, please let us know how that works.

Thanks again for the updates.

I hope your mom is getting better. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate right now.

 

[Razman]

Another trick to try with Eero mesh that worked for me:

My Eero system came with 30 day trial period of advanced security that I had to turn off in order for the grill to connect to the internet.

Look under discover tab and try turning off any additional ad blocking or advanced security. This worked for me.

Of course you still have to pause your 5Ghz band on the network to get the grill to connect as well. This is found under settings - troubleshooting - My device won't connect - My device is 2.4GHz only - Temporarily pause 5 GHz.

You can try to reactivate the advanced security after your connected and see if you connection holds.

Hope it helps.

 

[Slimpicker]

Another trick to try with Eero mesh that worked for me:

My Eero system came with 30 day trial period of advanced security that I had to turn off in order for the grill to connect to the internet.

Look under discover tab and try turning off any additional ad blocking or advanced security. This worked for me.

Of course you still have to pause your 5Ghz band on the network to get the grill to connect as well. This is found under settings - troubleshooting - My device won't connect - My device is 2.4GHz only - Temporarily pause 5 GHz.

You can try to reactivate the advanced security after your connected and see if you connection holds.

Hope it helps.

Can't you just tell the system to "accept" the new found WiFi component as 'safe' then any advanced security will still work?

 

[TheOriginalTaco23]

After trying everything in this and other threads and banging my head against the wall for days, here's what worked for me:

1) Unplug all Eero access points except for the main connection, which for me is the farthest from my grill
2) Create an Eero guest network
3) Go into Eero app troubleshooting and pause 5GHz
4) Restart phone and put in airplane mode when back on
5) Connect phone to guest network
6) Power up the Traeger and finally was able to make it through all the connection steps, named the grill (Tina) and off we go!
7) Plug everything back in and the Traeger is still connected to the guest network, even using a closer access point.

I'm not brave enough to try and get it to connect to the main network, so on the guest network it stays.

I'm trying your steps but I can't connect to my own guest network. Any idea why this might be happening? Super frustrating that you have to jump through all these insane hoops

 

[TRXguy]

Just got my Century 885 unit tonight and am dealing with this same issue. I also have the newest eero WiFi 6 unit, but I thought the issue was potentially my eero+ subscription potentially blocking the outbound connection, as this was an issue with another device I used. Once I whitelisted that domain, it worked. I was thinking that I just needed to find out what the WiFire domain is that is used so I can whitelist it, and I’d be golden. Now I’ll try a couple of these solutions to see if they work. Thanks, all!

 

[TraegerPants]

Sorry, I don't know if I have any better info. The process that worked for me was after 6 hours of trial and error.

I'm trying your steps but I can't connect to my own guest network. Any idea why this might be happening? Super frustrating that you have to jump through all these insane hoop I

 

[Charlie00TJ]

Found a fix on Eero that worked for me. I saw it on Reddit and it makes perfect sense too.
Change your dhcp settings to manual

Settings>Network settings>DHCP & NAT>Select Manual IP

i also disabled 5ghz for good measure but not sure that really mattered

 

[dunawayfamily]

Found a fix on Eero that worked for me. I saw it on Reddit and it makes perfect sense too.
Change your dhcp settings to manual

Settings>Network settings>DHCP & NAT>Select Manual IP

i also disabled 5ghz for good measure but not sure that really mattered

The temporary disabling of the 5GHz radio was the fix ...