Pairing with Pixel 6 Pro

[Old Pirate]

I had it paired once after many hours of trying, but my signal was weak where I wanted to put my grill so I added another "point" to my Google Nest Mesh system and in doing so had to create a new home wifi and the connection broke. I have created a "guest" wifi which uses the 2.4 system like my 885 does but I can't control it so if I get too close to the router even the "guest" wifi wishes to work in 5G. I've followed the suggestions of Traeger help line to no avail.

When I try to pair it tells me it wants to create a temporary wifi system of the same name as the default grill name from the factory. When I do that it never even comes close to pairing. I understand on Apple phones you get that question and the answers given to choose from are "Yes" and "No" while on my Android the answers to choose from are "Yes" and "Cancel". I've reset everything by the book. I've tried at the standby level only as well as with the menu showing to no avail.

I love the way the grill cooks, but I've never had this type of problem pairing any device and my phone from cars to audio systems to watches. Over 70% of the cell phones in the world run on Android the last I looked and Traeger can't find a way to easily pair with the most recent Android software? As I said, I like the grill's cooking ability, but I would never have bought it had I known I would be facing this and certainly can not in good conscience recommend Traeger to anyone seeking a wifi grill who uses an Android phone.

Sorry for the rant, but in this day and age not pairing is totally ridiculous. That being said.....if anyone can help I'll follow your instructions and withdraw my criticism from here, but until it works then it stands. When I asked Traeger if they ever talk to the folks at Google to make sure the software works I was told, "I don't think we do". Most manufacturers selling software driven devices stay in constant touch with the folks who build the software that links their products to the world.

My apologizes for the rant, but I specifically bought this grill so I didn't have to sit with it during a low and slow cook and yet $1,500 later, here I am still having to go to the grill as if it was a medieval fire.

 

[SquirrelyWrath8]

I actually had the same issue yesterday. I also have a Google Wifi Mesh network and a Pixel 6 Pro on Android 13.

I usually have the Wifi on the ISP supplied router off since my Google Mesh takes care of that aspect, but to avoid the headache, I re-enabled the 2.4 GHz band specifically for these IOT devices and named it with a different name so I can connect to that directly.

I thought by doing that, I would be able to use my phone, connected to that 2.4 GHz band, to connect to the Traeger. However, the process that the IOT devices use is a bit obscure. The app takes the Wifi name that your phone is connected to, and sends that and the Wifi password to the Traeger directly by connecting your phone directly to the wifi network your Traeger is broadcasting.

The issue I found with Android 13, is the security features are a bit more robust and seem to prohibit an app (the Traeger App) from changing your wifi connection automatically to connect to the Traeger.

I happen to have a Chromebook that runs Android 11, installed the Traeger app, and used that to connect my grill to the app.

Once that's done, its added to your account so you can use your phone (or presumably any device with the Traeger app logged in).

 

[Old Pirate]

Thanks. My wife has the same phone as I and I had tried an Android tablet and it does the same thing.

I may try borrowing my son's Iphone and doing what you suggest.

Thanks

 

[RayClem]

Many home routers want you to use the same SSID for both the 2.4 gHz and 5 gHz bands. This allows the router to select whichever band it thinks is best for the device. However, when you pair you smartphone to the router, the router will typically assign the phone to the 5 gHz band. This will prevent the phone from connecting to the Traeger WiFire. The grill uses 2.4 gHz ONLY so you phone or tablet has to be connected to the 2.4 gHz band before you can do the setup.

You might have to go into the router settings and assign separate SSIDs to the 2.4 gHz and 5 gHz bands. You can use the same password for both SSIDs.

 

[Old Pirate]

Many home routers want you to use the same SSID for both the 2.4 gHz and 5 gHz bands. This allows the router to select whichever band it thinks is best for the device. However, when you pair you smartphone to the router, the router will typically assign the phone to the 5 gHz band. This will prevent the phone from connecting to the Traeger WiFire. The grill uses 2.4 gHz ONLY so you phone or tablet has to be connected to the 2.4 gHz band before you can do the setup.

You might have to go into the router settings and assign separate SSIDs to the 2.4 gHz and 5 gHz bands. You can use the same password for both SSIDs.

Thanks, but to the best of my knowledge the Google Mesh system does not allow you to assign. It will alternate between 5 and 2.4 depending on the signal strength where it is being received. 2.4 is used where the signal strength is low since it goes further and penetrates walls better than 5. My phone will show what it is using and when it uses 2.4, I can start walking towards the router or one of the points I can see it switch to 5 as the signal gets stronger. I always try to pair when I see the 2.4 being utilized based on where the phone and grill are located. Again, I was able to pair it once, but when the new Android system was installed the link was broken and I've literally spent hours trying to reestablish to no avail. Once the grill showed it was linked, but the app didn't recognize the grill. So I am back to square one. I will work on it again this weekend and hopefully get lucky.

 

[RayClem]

See if there is any way you can temporarily turn off the 5 gHz radio until you get WiFire connected to 2.4 gHz. Once you succeed, you should be able to turn the radio back on. You might need to power off the secondary access points while you are doing this.

If the cell phone keeps switching from 5 g to 2.4 g you will never get the WiFire set up.

 

[Old Pirate]

The Google Mesh Wifi system, to the best of my knowledge, will not allow you to turn off either the 5g or 2.4g signal. So while my phone will take either one (as the grill should in today's world) the only way to get 2.4 at the grill is to have it far enough away that only the 2.4 is getting to it in any measurable way. Again, I had it paired once using this phone, so it can be done, but the last Android update broke the connection. My grill is also showing that it is behind in firmware, but obviously I can't update it unless I can connect it to a wifi system in order to catch an OTA broadcast from Traeger.

But thank you for trying to help.

 

[RayClem]

It is quite common for home automation devices to be 2.4 gHz only. That includes appliances like washers, dryers, stoves and refrigerators as well as small devices and sensors.

While 5 gHz has faster speed, 2.4 gHz has broader range. Home automation devices do not need fast speeds, but often benefit from longer range, especially for something like a grill in your backyard.

You might check your phone to see if there is any way to turn off the 5 gHz WiFi radio in the phone itself. While this is not possible with newer phones running the latest version of Android, it might be possible with your older phone.

 

[Old Pirate]

I tried to pair again this afternoon. And with a few hiccups strange stops and goes it paired and remains paired. I did nothing different as best as I can tell. I will leave it in standby over night to see if the grill firmware gets updated to the most recent.

Again, I love the grill but I bought a WiFi grill and that part has really been rocky.

If customer service is watching I would strongly advise your making friends with the Android folks and Apple technicians to keep your software current with theirs.

Again, thanks to all who offered me suggestions.

 

[Lbeberdick]

I had it paired once after many hours of trying, but my signal was weak where I wanted to put my grill so I added another "point" to my Google Nest Mesh system and in doing so had to create a new home wifi and the connection broke. I have created a "guest" wifi which uses the 2.4 system like my 885 does but I can't control it so if I get too close to the router even the "guest" wifi wishes to work in 5G. I've followed the suggestions of Traeger help line to no avail.

When I try to pair it tells me it wants to create a temporary wifi system of the same name as the default grill name from the factory. When I do that it never even comes close to pairing. I understand on Apple phones you get that question and the answers given to choose from are "Yes" and "No" while on my Android the answers to choose from are "Yes" and "Cancel". I've reset everything by the book. I've tried at the standby level only as well as with the menu showing to no avail.

I love the way the grill cooks, but I've never had this type of problem pairing any device and my phone from cars to audio systems to watches. Over 70% of the cell phones in the world run on Android the last I looked and Traeger can't find a way to easily pair with the most recent Android software? As I said, I like the grill's cooking ability, but I would never have bought it had I known I would be facing this and certainly can not in good conscience recommend Traeger to anyone seeking a wifi grill who uses an Android phone.

Sorry for the rant, but in this day and age not pairing is totally ridiculous. That being said.....if anyone can help I'll follow your instructions and withdraw my criticism from here, but until it works then it stands. When I asked Traeger if they ever talk to the folks at Google to make sure the software works I was told, "I don't think we do". Most manufacturers selling software driven devices stay in constant touch with the folks who build the software that links their products to the world.

My apologizes for the rant, but I specifically bought this grill so I didn't have to sit with it during a low and slow cook and yet $1,500 later, here I am still having to go to the grill as if it was a medieval fire.

Traeger don't support WPA2 security on wifi. Make sure your access point setting allow for WPA security.

 

[Old Pirate]

Again. Regardless of the initial problems it remains paired and works great. I only wish I knew what kept it from pairing early on and what eventually allowed it to, so I could share the information as educational.