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How to turn off wifi on the gateway eero?

Hi all, 

 I have 3 eeros set up, all are connected via ethernet and the network is working fine with internet & a couple dozen devices connected via ethernet or wifi.

The gateway eero is next to the modem - but both are in the worst possible place for a wifi access point, surrounded by metal sheets. I would like to turn off the wifi on the gateway eero, and allow the other two (ethernet connected) eeros to handle all the wifi.

How do I turn off the wifi on the gateway eero?  It's a simple question but doesn't seem to be answered anywhere. 

The reason for doing this is a) to avoid devices making a poor wifi connection to the gateway, and b) to reduce network interference as the gateway is presumably pumping out at max power c) a slight reduction in power consumption and d) allow the gateway to focus on gateway duties for all the connected devices. 

17 replies

    • cMoo92
    • 3 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    You can’t turn off the WiFi on any of the units. Your devices will connect to the stronger signal anyways (typically), so having a weaker signal from your gateway shouldn’t matter. And the power consumption savings without the radio enabled would be so minuscule, you’re not going to notice it.

    My advice, just relax and enjoy good WiFi and stop worrying about it :) that’s why I love having eeros in my house.

    • Mr_Johnson
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I agree that there should be a way to disable the wifi on the gateway Eero pro.  I have an Eero pro with 3 beacons.  Devices like an iPad will move from beacon to beacon as the signal strength changes.  Devices like my security cameras don't.  I have two cameras on opposite sides of my home.  Both with close beacons however they are connected to the wifi of my gateway Eero that's in the middle of my home.  My camera on the back side of my home frequently goes offline and that's why in installed another beacon close to it.  But the camera remains connected to the Eero pro.  With the ability to kill the wifi on the Eero pro, even its temporary, (A button the disables the wifi for two minutes then it auto reenables) this would give the devices a chance to reconnect to the closest beacon.  This would also cover the concern that someone would disable the Eero pro wifi and not be able to reestablish management if they didn't have a beacon.

    This would be much easier than having to default or power off my my cameras hope they connected to the closest beacon.  Eero is good as long a the connected devices have the ability to change to the strongest signal.  Eero would be better with the ability to disable wifi on selected Eero pro or beacons to force those stubborn cameras or other connected devices to hop to the next signal. 

      • txgunlover
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Mr_Johnson Turning off wifi would turn off wifi.  The purpose of wifi is to have wifi.

      • BenP1432
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      txgunlover unless you are using eero as a router, in which case you might not want it, or as someone else suggested, you might want the gateway (to which all the other eeros connect) located away from the broadband connection point …

    • BenP1432
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I agree - I was given an eero pro 6 by Talktalk to use as a router - but the wifi is worse than my existing wifi net so I want to continue using that but the eero is interfering with it’s wifi strength - you really should be able to turn the wifi off - not everyone wants wifi at all

      • whitestu
      • 2 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      BenP1432  Same with me - the Eero wifi is woefully bad on many devices that work really well on my TP link wifi. I'll be puting mine as far out of the way as possible and usint the TP Link unit which is miles better

    • bretep
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I have 1 access point that is used just to provide internet to a device that doesn't have wifi. It's a low bandwidth need. All my other eeros are hardwired.

    I have to keep rebooting the error that the sole purpose is to provide 1 device with the internet because my laptop and phone always connect to it as the closest access point, but streaming videos does not work well. (Rebooting this device, disconnects all the wireless clients and they connect to a nearby router, clients tend to maintain the connection without switching if the signal is good enough. This is why rebooting the device works)

    Being able to disable broadcasting the SSID or disable the wifi devices connect to would be wonderful. The Apple Airport and Airport Extreme supported this feature.

    There are logical and real reasons these features exist on other products. Please, allow us to disable wifi clients.

    In my last house, I would have loved to turn off the access point that was the primary router, because it was in my basement utility room. Devices that were connected via wifi to that had a lot of troubles. Lucily, for devices I cared about, that house had hardwired ethernet to all the rooms, and I just added another eero in those rooms.

    I do not have the luxury in the current home I'm in to solve this problem.

    • davidseddon
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    I have the Ring Pro Alarm, so the eero is just for z-wave to all the sensors.  Therefore, I'd like to turn off the wifi and I'm surprised this isn't a common use case.  Seems like a really basic feature, particularly given there's a button for disabling wifi.  Come on product manager, pull it into a sprint and just knock it out please. :)

    I already have an extensive Unifi network, which is obviously a very advanced network solution.

    • vas
    • 2 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Jumping on this bandwagon...

    As others have said, there are many good scenarios that require turning off the WiFi radios.

    Dear Eero product managers: I realize that you want to keep the user experience as simple/black-boxed as possible, but there are many of us out there who really want to use your products but can't do so without having a teeny, tiny bit more control. Thanks for listening!

    • iamhiro
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    We just got an eero, and we want to disable WiFi as well...

    • timcrawford
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    I'd also like to turn off wifi on the gateway router but for a reason others may share. My gateway router is in a metal wiring connection panel inside a bedroom closet. It has all of the Ethernet connection points, phone lines and cable lines. Right now, I have the gateway sitting outside the box hanging down the wall so that it is not enclosed by metal. The house has five other Eero devices at different locations that are hardwired from the switch that the gateway connects to. In fact, there is one Eero in a PoE ceiling mount on the floor just below the closet. I'd like to turn off wifi on the gateway Eero but leave it on for the other devices.

    • Curvball02
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    I have an extensive wifi setup and I am trying to turn off the wifi on the eero gateway device.  I haven't seen a wifi/router combo not provide the ability to turn off the wifi in years.  Please make this happen.

    I have a 30 day trial and looking for ways to work around this.

    Thank You

    • tragisj
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Teenagers. No kill switch (scheduled preferred) no more eero

    • PKBris
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Perhaps instead of turning off Wi-Fi altogether eero could be tweaked so that each unit could individually have its Wi-Fi strength reduced. In that way the smarts behind the system can choose the most appropriate node each device can connect to (whichever one has the strongest signal). Should be able to manipulate what device connects to what node???? 

    • ahhyeah
    • 1 yr ago
    • Reported - view

    Same. I have a WiFi network already and want to use the features with my new MetroNet service. 

    • marketrealm.1
    • 10 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    I like many of you have a great love for my solid and stable Eero WiFi - only one problem. There is overwhelming evidence that Wi-Fi has effects on our health. Case in point, my wife is one of the 3% of the population who is extremely sensitive to EMF, specifically it disrupts her sleep. I would like to be able to turn off the Eero router that is directly under the bedroom during sleep hours. I don't want to move the router because of its central location.

    I get what the developers are trying to do: less is more and simplicity is elegance, but the reality is they are sticking to their guns in "our way or the highway" fashion. If we want this feature in our routers, it's sad to say we have to move on from Eero.

    • Webcske
    • 7 mths ago
    • Reported - view

    It is strange that you can’t turn the WiFi off on the main Eero Router.

    i have a Mesh WiFi system which was pre-existing - so I just changed the Eero WiFi to something random I won’t use - then everything started working better!

     

    note: I changed it to “Police Surveillance Unit” just for shits and giggles!

Content aside

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  • 7 mths agoLast active
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