124

Separate SSIDs for 2.4 and 5.0 band

I work for an integration company and have installed eeros in at least 15 houses, but it seems I have to pull at least half of them.  Savant Pro handheld remotes require a stand alone 2.4 SSID.  When the SSID is a 2.4 and 5.0 mixed band, the remotes fall offline regularly.  Since most of my clients are Savant users, they cannot be eero users until this feature is added.

 

Thanks for the time.

171 replies

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    • Gene_Texas
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I spent all day either on the phone or chatting online with tech support.  I have no more time for this. I can tell from this forum that the problem is not mkjy issue but the eero philoshy.l

    • Mike94ZLT1
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I’m an Eero dealer and until this feature is implimented I will not be using Eero products anymore. We are having too many issues with other products, especially devices running  iOS 11 which favor the 5G band, to keep dealing with it. I love the idea of Eero, but the reality is the product doesn’t suit my needs as a professional installer  

    • killercams
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I posted about my issue a few months ago and received no response. I've been watching complaint after complaint answered by a generic reply stating "it should work" or "we're not doing that"

     

    I think its safe safe to say their support does not care as long as the majority of consumers purchase their product. 

     

    I believe eero is one of the stronger solutions out there considering their shortcomings can be fixed with simple software updates, (DDNS, assigning a device to a specific eero, ETC) but eventually a product will be implemented likely by another manufacturer with a more robust solution and unfortunately eero will inevitably be left behind due to its lack of attention to consumers complaints/requests. 

     

    On what basis do you grant a simple request to the user community? Do you need several thousand people requesting the same change? Aren't we helping you beat the competition and staying ahead of the game by adhering to these requests? Poor approach guys! 

    • Gene_Texas
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I am actively looking for a replacement for eero.  The don't touch or look under the covers has worked in some fashion for Apple, but I do not support it.  I want an appliance that does what I need, not one that allows a manufacturer to tell me what I need and am allowed to do.  eero is actually already late with the implementation of a third channel for device control traffic, they will also be late with selective use of the channels within a mesh system.  The commerce arena is littered with companies that had a good idea but poor executionl

    • tigerbike13
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Rather than accomplishing the functionality people are looking for via separate ssids for 2.4 and 5ghz...  How about the ability to force a specific MAC address to only leverage one bandwidth or the other.  Call it a compatibility mode.  I think this could be a win for customers (at least a workaround) and not violate the principle of single SSID.

    • Mike94ZLT1
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I’ve had fantastic results with Luxul and Araknis. Both are pricier, and require at least a Cat5e connection, but they work plain and simple. 

    • Mike94ZLT1
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    No, this is an issue of you guys not giving your users and dealers enough control over your product. The ability to create multiple SSID’s would solve this. Have one that used both 2.4 and 5, and give us the ability to make a separate 2.4 or a separate 5G network if we need to. 

    • Gene_Texas
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Ubiquiti Amplifi HD has more range than eero, more speed, has a separate channel for bonding with the mesh units, is competitive in price and allows users to split 2.4 and 5 ghz if needed,  While eero employees have gone out of their way to prove that the customer is not always right, the competition has passed you.  eero gets no pats on the back for adhering to the company song; but rather a more forceful adjustment should be applied to their collective posteriors.

    • Mike94ZLT1
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Has anyone else noticed issues with iOS 11 favoring 5G and not handing off to 2.4 when needed? I have some customers we installed a system for over the summer and everything was great until they upgraded. 

    • mcschaefer
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Also adding my request for this feature. I'm in the same room as my eero gateway, sitting right next to it, and sometimes it just sticks on the 2.4 GHz band unless I turn my laptop's WIFI on and off. It's noticeably slower. I wish I could have a separate 5G only network. 

    • ribozyme
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Another example of an accessory that needs specific access to 2.4 GHz band for both the device and an iPhone with a configuration app is the Yi Home Camera. The camera is capable of 2.4 only, but the iPhone with iOS 11 now goes automatically to 5G, and configuration fails because they both need to be on the same network/band. We cannot change the world, but a temporary option to configure this device by forcing the Eero network into 2.4 GHz band-only for a period of time would solve the problem. After configuration, we could go back to normal mesh mode. We need this option.

      • tjcs
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      ribozyme 

      If needed for configuration only a hack is to change name of eero network temporarily i.e. "HomeX"  from "Home" and then take your phone in airplane mode and connect to HomeX and then turn it into a 2.4 ghz only hot spot named "Home". Configure your device and then turn off the hotspot and rename your eero network back from HomeX to Home. 

      Note that every device on your network will start connecting through your phone. So airplane mode will control it to stay on wifi.

      Of course this could be done if eero provided the same capability to offer a 2.4ghz only bridge with as simple of a setup as their guest network. 

    • dps281
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    eero, you're wrong here. Customers deserve the ability to have separate SSIDs for each band.  Please come down from the ivory tower and listen to the reality that your customers are dealing with.  

     

    I bought a 3 pack system for my parents.  The 2.4 GHz band is highly saturated in their location due to neighboring Wi-Fi networks.  I can see at least a dozen of them. However they have a couple of devices that need 2.4 GHz (printer, Kindle).  They already have ethernet runs to each eero unit so they don't need 2.4 GHz for backhaul.  What they need is the ability to isolate their devices such that their Macs, iPhones, and iPads only join 5 GHz and the legacy devices join 2.4 GHz.  

     

    iOS devices are notorious for preferring 2.4 GHz over 5 GHz when it shouldn't, particularly when both bands share the same SSID. That's because it scans the 2.4 GHz channels first (before 5 GHz) and because 2.4 GHz signals are likely to be stronger through walls due to the longer wavelength. If you've ever attended WWDC you'd notice that they always have 2 SSIDs, one fast, one slow.  Apple knows this and they design networks accordingly.  They have sold over a billion more devices than you, please cater to the way their products work, not the way you wish they worked.  

    2.4GHz is for cooking.  We deserve the ability to control which of our devices us it.  Please listen to us.  

     

    If I had known that eero didn't support this I would have bought Google Wifi instead.

      • eero Community Manager
      • Jeff_C
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      dps281

      Thanks for the feedback. The issue with separating the bands is that this then affects roaming as well as simplicity with having devices on the network.

      With a single SSID that handles both the 2.4 and 5 GHz radios, devices are able to seamlessly move throughout the home without having to manually change networks each time a device falls out of range of 5 GHz. 

      I'm happy to share this feedback with our team, and while I don't have any updates to share today, I'll be sure to share anything should this change.

      As for the other product mentioned, they only offer a single SSID as well.

      • dps281
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Jeff C. You're missing the point.  Our devices should never roam onto 2.4 GHz, period.  The whole point of buying a mesh system with multiple APs is to avoid the need for 2.4 GHz at all.  Your system shouldn't be roaming to 2.4.  2.4 is saturated in any urban area and needs to be used solely for legacy devices that required.  

       

      Repeat after me, 2.4 GHz is for cooking, not Wi-Fi.  Friends don't let friends roam on 2.4.  eero, please be our friend.  

      • oviano
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      @Jeff C.

      How about an option to force any 5Ghz-capable device to *only* connect to the 5Ghz band. I understand you want the flexibility to allow the use of 2.4Ghz if you fall out of range of 5Ghz, and this could remain the default behaviour but for those of us with enough Eeros to provide 5Ghz throughout the property this would be a nice option to have.

      Sadly my Eeros stopped working after one of your recent updates (I posted elsewhere, but basically bridged DHCP has broken) so I'm not sure if I'm a customer anymore, but after replacing my Eeros with DrayTek APs I found that I have a much improved experience by separating my SSIDs into 2.4 and 5Ghz bands and making my 5Ghz devices forget the 2.4 Ghz network and therefore only connect to 5Ghz. Only items that require 2.4Ghz (Harmony Hub, Y-Cam, pretty much nothing else) now connect to 2.4Ghz. Speeds are so much better than I was getting on Eero in the exact same house, with the DrayTek APs located in the exact same positions as the Eeros.

      • DenverOps
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Jeff C. I agree more control doesn't mean better performance. Sometimes you just need to let go of the control.  I like Eeros opinionated stance here.   Stay strong.  

      • tjcs
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Jeff C. 

      For devices that will never roam, lights, doorbells, sensors all that may have some problem that makes them eligible to be added to your incompatible with eero list and by that nature very unlikely to have any updates from their manufacturer... does it make sense to just keep growing a list or to add a block of ip addresses that can be served to a 2.4ghz only portion of the network with a hidden said And make eero more compatible with more devices perhaps only to users who venture into advanced, eero labs territory?

       

      No more need to keep a list, and continue to defend a philosophy against people who have products they own but cannot configure and maintain connected to their Network.

    • Gene_Texas
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I have eeros  and I had an issue with connecting my wifi switches.  I found a workaround.  I went and got an old moto-g phone that is only 2.4gHz.  When I install or add a device that requires connection only to 2.4 I run the app on my 2.4 phone.  When the device is installed my phone connects the device to eeros at 2.4gHz and from then on it is okay.  The issue really seems that the devices do not negotiate eeros 2.4 or 5.0 system adequately.  eeros runs very well otherwise, and I consistently get 352mbps throughout my 3000 sq foot home, but there are other devices that allow more flexibility, more speed and range at lower cost.  Don't upgrade your eeros, REPLACE them.  I know I will.  I got absolutely no help from eeros and I finally thought tht my issue did not surface until I upgraded my phone.  It negotiates between 5.0 and 2.4 but is always on 5.0, which is a good thing.  Unfortunately, it has the same insane ideology issue as eeros, I can't tell it to connect at 2.4 only when I am trying to connect a second generation device like my wifi switches.

    • zubinanary
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    dps281 ...  You said above "The whole point of buying a mesh system with multiple APs is to avoid the need for 2.4 GHz at all."  I have NEVER see any documentation to that sort.  Please provide a source from an industry publication (not an amature blog) or a manufacture that states this...  The point of a mesh from what I understand is to get whole home coverage on both 2.4 and 5.0, and you let the devices switch as they need.  The iPhone X does this very well, and you can see this in the eero app.

      • wellcraft19
      • 4 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      zubinanary 

      Me as well have zero issues with 2.4 GHz and, with multiple SSIDs for each of the 4 APs I have in my house - and each frequency (resulting in a total of 9 SSIDs if counting the guest network) - I zero issues. I like to know where and "what" I am connected to.

    • Gene_Texas
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    2.4 and 5.0 bands serve different purposes and have different design considerations.  That leads me to posit two responses

    Jeff C.  A restatement of the obvious is not a solution.  Other mesh vendors have provided solutions that are workable.  eeros should do the same or lose market share; and employees, if that makes this personal to you.

    It is both obvious and banal that if we identify a 2.4 and a 5.0 and a mesh SSID, devices that are limited to one or the other frequencies are going to be impacted by both the benefits and the limitations of that frequency.  The user will need to chose distance coverage or speed.  That negates some of the advantages of eero however, with three eeros, I do not see much impact anyway regardless of the frequency and if such decisions meant a need for another eero or a version 2,  that would be justifiable.

    In my early days as a programmer, we did not speak to our customers, only to our system analysts.  The customer really only got what we deemed he or she needed.  Over the decades that attitude changed for the better.  The customer became king and IT made everyone more capable .  Frankly, I'll be damned if I let some young, arrogant, whippersnapper, tell me, 30 years later; that they know what I should do; and refuse to offer what their competitors already do.  I am an early adopter and an influencer.  Watch your 6.

    • Gene_Texas
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    dps281 You ignorant, arrogant twit!!  You cite an opinion as if gospel fact.  You obviously know nothing about why we have these two frequencies, yet you dare to tell everyone on the forum what they should or should not do, as if the choice were a sin.

    Humble yourself, and learn.  Then speak.

     

    My 2 cents worth, I mean no insult to either twits nor arrogant egoists in general, and you may have been misunderstood.

    #MAGA

    • eero Community Manager
    • Jeff_C
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Hi everyone -

    We greatly appreciate the feedback here. This community is designed so customers like you can share your candid feedback with our team on how we can further improve eero.

    We as a company strive to be as transparent as possible so customers can make the best decision for their needs. For this feature in particular, it has been marked as “Not Planned” since it was first posted, and that’s due to how eero is designed to work. 

    As a team, we track and continue to evaluate future features and improvements based on feedback and how a request fits the current product and roadmap. Not everything is going to be the right fit, but our team works to think of ways to improve the experience based on any feedback.

    If having separate SSIDs for 2.4 and 5 GHz is a requirement for your network, we understand if eero isn’t the right fit for your current needs. 

    Last thing I’d like to mention is that everyone here is free to express themselves and share their feedback. However, if you do wish to post and interact with the community, it is required that you follow our community guidelines:

    https://community.eero.com/t/638a33/eero-community-guidelines

    • MNA1966
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I have a Broadlink Mini 3 that will only setup on a 2.4 network. Their app detects a 5.0 signal and I can't go any further to setup the Broadlink. A 2.4 ssid is needed. UNLESS there is another way. 

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