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Eero Pro (2nd gen) won't connect wired to working ethernet port

I have 3 Eero Pros (2nd gen). They are all plugged into working ethernet ports connected to our router. Worked great for a few years and still working okay but 1 of the 3 shows in the Eero app that it's using wifi connection to the router rather than ethernet like the other 2. But in the app under advanced it shows that it does detect that an ethernet cable is plugged into the back. I verified that the cable & port are working by unplugging the Eero and plugging a laptop with wifi turned off and also by swapping the locations of this Eero with one of the other 2 and the problematic Eero shows it's using wifi to connect to the router in the other's location but the other one successfully used the same port & ethernet cable to connect to the routed via ethernet.

How do I debug this? Obviously, I've powercycledboth the Eero and the router multiple times with no change. At this point do I just need to conclude that the ethernet hardware in this unit is like broken? Since it is still working to extend range via wifi only, I assume the only penalty I pay is a bit of bandwidth, but if there is something I can do to get it back to the way it was supposed to work, I'm all ears. Eventually I'll need to replace this hardware anyway.

7 replies

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    • Michael_eero_support
    • 6 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    Hi Karl Pfleger

    Your topology (Router->multiple hardwired eero) is an incorrect topology.

    The eero are designed so one eero has to upstream of the others in the topology.  This head eero will be the gateway eero and will coordinate the other eero's actions (like wireless scanning and channel selection/changes) even if the eero are bridged and not doing any routing work.

    https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000830546-Examples-of-common-network-topologies

    In the setup you have the hardwired eero will all try to be the head/gateway eero, since they have equivalent access to the internet.  This can cause network instability and it can cause eero to get their connection to the gateway over wifi instead of wired, as you noticed.

    The topology should go internet/modem/router->gateway eero->other hardwired eero (using a switch if you need to hardwire multiple devices/eero

    • Karl_Pfleger
    • 6 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    Thanks for this. I don't remember this topology issue being emphasized in installation instructions when I got my 3-pack of 2nd-gen Eero Pros in mid-2019. I unplugged our switch from the router and plugged it into the Eero Pro I think of as the main Eero (the one co-located next to the router in our networking closet) and sure enough all 3 Eero Pros now report using the wired ethernet connection now.

     

    But the wrong one claims to be the "Gateway eero Pro" in the app. The topology had been eero Pro A plugged directly into router. Switch plugged into 2nd ethernet port on router. Eero Pro B & C plugged into switch. Now the topology is Eero Pro A plugged into router. Switch plugged into 2nd port on Eero Pro A. But app reports eero Pro B as "gateway". I don't see a way in app to tell it which pro should be the gateway. How does it pick? This came as a 3-pack of 3 identical 2nd-gen pros, so they should all be capable of being gateway.

      • Michael_eero_support
      • 6 mths ago
      • Reported - view

      Karl Pfleger The eero with the most direct access to the internet is the gateway, which is why plugging all three into the same router makes them all try to be the gateway.

      In this case it may be a simple case of mistaken identity.  If you go to the eero app, select an eero and go to Advanced it will provide the serial number.  You can use that to confirm that the eero are all named right.

      Alternatively you can simply unplug the other two eero from power and see which one stays online.

      • Karl_Pfleger
      • 6 mths ago
      • Reported - view

      Michael_eero_support 

      That does not appear to be the way it works. I verified using the serial numbers that the one which the app reports as "Gateway eero Pro" was *not* the one directly connected to the (Comcast) router but one of the ones on the other side of the switch plugged into the 2nd ethernet jack of one of the other 2 eero Pros. I don't know how the 3 Pros decided which one would be "Gateway" but when I physically swap the units around, it doesn't matter which location I put them in w.r.t. to the ethernet topology---the same serial number always shows as Gateway in the app. Nor do I notice any functional difference having the "Gateway" unit be the one directly connected to the router vs in one of the other places. Everything seems to work the same (though I'm not stress testing anything). For parsimony and to follow the rules you suggested, I've left the one that my app reports as Gateway in the directly-connected-to-router location, but now I have to rename them as the names are now wrong.

      • Evan_eero_support
      • 6 mths ago
      • Reported - view

      Karl Pfleger I would suggest calling or emailing our team so we can properly investigate what may be causing this report to be inaccurate.

      • Karl_Pfleger
      • 6 mths ago
      • Reported - view

      Evan (eero support) Really appreciate the support in this thread, but since I've got everything working now (and set up with the correct topology), I'm not gonna bother unless something stops working.

    • Karl_Pfleger
    • 6 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    PS Here is a screenshot of the way things looked in the app when the Gateway was not the unit directly connected to the router. Then I tested disconnected the switch from the 2nd port of the "network closet" eero Pro so that only it was connected to the router. The 2nd screenshot below shows that the Gateway and the 3rd Pro went offline but the Gateway-ness did not switch to the network closet unit despite now being the only unit in the system.

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