404Assign a device to a specific eero
I was recently going through my connected device list and noticed I have some of my devices connected to an eero which isn't the closest one to it. Wouldn't it make more sense to bind a device to a specific eero? For example, my Ring doorbell is maybe 10 - 15 feet from the closest eero but it is connected to one upstairs and further away. Not sure if that would cause a QoS kind of issue but for stationary devices I don't see them moving from one eero to another (Nest products, Amazon Echo, Ring doorbell, etc.)
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Jeff C. just wanted to validate that you have seen the level of interest in this feature... Thanks.
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kmacsandiego —
Thanks for checking in. Our team is always watching the discussion and gauging interest in potnetial new features. At this time, I don't have any update to share regarding this specific feature, but we will update this thread should there be any update.
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I also would like to see this implemented. I have some HDHomeruns that I use for the Channels App on various Apple TVs around the house and if those Apple TVs are not connected to the closest Eero, the stream gets pixelated -- when they are wired to the closest one, the stream is crystal clear.
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I also have the same issue. Devices routinely switch between nodes which glitch things, particularly when things end up on a distant node. Here's a suggestion: Add a checkbox in the app for each node that when checked adds a second ssid. For example, I have eero1 and eero2 on a network call home. If I check the box for eero2 that node is available as home and home-2. If I have a fixed device close to that node, I simply link it to home-2 and it will never switch to other nodes. Seems like once you're on the node you can mesh the traffic just the same. Minor change to the app, presumably simple change on the device most home devices support multiple ssid (secure/guest) and nothing fancy on the client side.
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dvogt The problem with this suggestion is that many devices need to be on the same SSID to keep functionality.
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diejoh There are many folks on this thread having similar problems. This may not be the solution to every problem, but I suspect that it would solve the issues that most people face. For example, streaming video from your apple tv or fire stick just needs a reliable connection (for most people anyways). If eero isn't willing (or able) to make a change that fixes everything, yet perhaps can put in a much simpler fix that solves 80-90% of day to day issues, isn't that something that has value? This is of course all academic anyways since none of us controls what eero can/will do ;)
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diejoh What devices require the same SSID? As long as they are on the same network (i.e. the same controller is providing DHCP, routing, same IP range, etc) it shouldn't matter. No different from a hardwired connection to an eero vs. wireless connection. Think of a device specific SSID as the same as a hardwired device.
It would solve the problem, at least mine.
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ifermon dvogt
You would think it shouldn’t matter but it does, and we get into the limitations of other devices. Philips Hue, for example, needs to be on the same SSID or you’ll have intermittent connectivity from iOS and Amazon Echos. I’m having this issue with my Nest Hello doorbell where it connects to a further Eero at only 2.4GHz, as though there is no band-steering and it ignores the closest eero even though there are no more obstructions and it has connected at 5GHz before to the closest Eero with a decent signal. Eero also suffers from the “sticky client” problem where it won’t release a device to connect to a closer Eero with a stronger signal. Anyway, device limitations shouldn’t matter because they’re designed to be used on a functioning wireless network, and Eero has problems that others have solved long ago. It’s the wireless access points that should handle all of this properly, and as we can all agree, Eero is not doing its job right now. I hope they fix this. Also, creating multiple SSID’s degrades performance because you’re taking the same radios and splitting them, so there’s another reason to stick with a single SSID.
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diejoh I don't understand the mechanism by which a device could distinguish that other devices are on a different SSID. I've never heard of a problem like this before.
As for "splitting radios", I don't believe the radio gets split in any physical sense by adding SSIDs. I believe all that matters is how many frames traverse the radio, not what SSID they connect.
Am I wrong?
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mzman I would never say I know everything, but I do manage a large enterprise network and we have 30 Meraki access points. According to Cisco / Meraki, they advise not broadcasting too many SSID’s because you will degrade performance. The point of having different SSID’s is to route traffic with different settings, like having a Guest network isolated outside of your main network. It makes sense that broadcasting multiple SSID’s cuts signal strength compared to having all radios broadcasting one SSID. Whatever the radios are doing outside of serving the SSID you’re connected to is going to impact performance, but it might not be enough to bother.
The main issue here is that Eero users want better performance and we shouldn’t need to have workarounds - it should just work. Eero could have double the radios but without using them properly it’s still not going to solve the issues we’re all having. I really hope this is fixable with a firmware update.
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diejoh I have the Nest Hello Doorbell and it is 8' away from the ERRO Pro in my living room....The Nest operates best when connected to the 2.4Ghz band, at least thats what the Nest people tell me....However, my house is 2400sqft.....I was worried that the 3 ERROs would cause conflict and not allow the devices to switch properly because of overlapping signals....they get confused.....My Nest 95% of the time connects to the 5.0gHz band in the living room and shows up orange with 2 of 5 bands.....I still have video and it works fine although I wish I could set a separate IP for it to connect to 2.4Ghz.........it occasionally connects to the 2.4gHz and has full 5 green bands......so with the overlapping bands, it is probably why the Nest Hello is having problems connecting when it is too close the the eero pro.....I am going to try and move the living room eero pro across the room 18’ away and see if it will connect to the 2.4gHz band......that may be my problem.....they cant be too close to the device.....
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Wow. Just wow. This thread speaks volumes about eero’s future.
Why is this not fixed yet?
Given the level of interest, complaining, and passion the eero community has for this feature, it’s embarrassing that seemingly nothing has been done.
To make matters worse, I cannot even trust the data in the eero app. Routinely, I’ll notice incorrect data, such as what AP a device is connected to. And even more alarming is the device detail page being incorrect. But let’s not bring up old fights we’ve had, honey.
Eero had a lot of promise. Unfortunately they are being left in the dust by companies with deeper pockets. Companies who are willing to invest in their users’ happiness.
I am sad to say that I am no longer recommending eero to friends, family, and colleagues.
From an NPS (net promoter score) perspective, I’m probably a 3.
It is not a product worth investing in for a home mesh network. Or even just a multi-AP based network.
Thanks for the memories, and pretty product packaging though. I’ll be selling my eeros in the near future.
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eerosucker While I am very disappointed by Eero's responsiveness, I am still holding out hope that they will do something about this issue. I have suggested technical solutions and even offered to implement them for free. Not sure what else I can do as a customer with 5 Eero nodes.
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The fact that this discussion has been going on for over a year clearly shows a lack of empathy by Eero.
Jeff C's solution is drab at best. They made their millions from us now they refuse to implement the simplest of requests. The most logical of solutions is being able too assign a device to a node end of story.
Do the right thing Eero. Do the right thing.
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Every time this thread has a new post I check which Eero my Nest Hello is connected to. Shock and amazement that it’s now connected to the nearest Eero at 5GHz with full bars strength. So why would it ever switch to a different Eero at 2.4GHz?! Anyway, it’s working now. So everyone in the house please don’t move.
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It is very important that our baby monitor stay connected to my WiFi. There is an eero 2 feet from her monitor, but it connects to the eero station furthest away from it, and won’t stay on the WiFi.
Should I......
A) go buy three or four more eero’s Station and plug them all in my baby’s room.
B) send someone at eero an email to hear “thank you, for your email” “we’re working on a solution but we don’t know when we’ll have one”
C) wait until my child is old enough to not need a monitor.
D) return my eero
E) just give up & accept that eero delivers the exact same flawed WiFi as every other router.
F) find someone that handles product liability cases and show them an eero commercial
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truman1404 Yeah, that's a drag. It could be the baby monitor though, and is it 5GHz and just chooses to connect to the further one at 2.4GHz? That was the same issue I was having with my Nest Hello doorbell, but lately it's started connecting to the nearest Eero at 5GHz all of the sudden. (Although last night it disconnected - maybe there was an Eero update that I wasn't told about?)
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Happy6069.......I have the Nest Hello Doorbell and it is 8' away from the ERRO Pro in my living room....The Nest operates best when connected to the 2.4Ghz band, at least thats what the Nest people tell me....However, my house is 2400sqft.....I was worried that the 3 ERROs would cause conflict and not allow the devices to switch properly because of overlapping signals....they get confused.....My Nest 95% of the time connects to the 5.0gHz band in the living room and shows up orange with 2 of 5 bands.....I still have video and it works fine although I wish I could set a separate IP for it to connect to 2.4Ghz.........it occasionally connects to the 2.4gHz and has full 5 green bands......so with the overlapping bands, it is probably why the Nest Hello is having problems connecting when it is too close the the eero pro.....I am going to try and move the living room eero pro across the room 18’ away and see if it will connect to the 2.4gHz band......that may be my problem.....they cant be too close to the device.....
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truman1404...
It may be that 2' is too close. I'd move that eero to an adjacent room, hallway.
As for the monitor disconnecting, I'd wonder if the problem is there in the monitor and not eero. My wifi connections since installation in 2 homes have been rock solid, and I'd hope that you'd have the same experience as well.
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PMSyPly I doubt there's such a thing as "too close." Putting it outside the room would reduce the 5GHz signal to the point where it may not connect at all at 5GHz, which is the best band for speed. You need line of sight for a solid 5GHz connection.
It could be the camera, though, but 2 feet is not too close.
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+1 for this feature request. We recently moved to a new house with 4 floors (finished basement to attic). We put the main unit on the 2nd floor, and another unit on each floor in different places in the house. I have a device on the attic level that is ignoring the eero in the same room and connecting to the basement eero. This is nuts. Of course that device doesn't work well. I'm going to remove eeros and try to go with two units in hopes of making things work better. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE add this feature, it is so needed. I'm starting to shop for a new system already.
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+1
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Adding my +1. Periodically one or two of my Sonos speakers will connect to a different Eero than the others which are configured as a surround-sound system. Unfortunately, this seems to prevent the speakers from consistently working with Sonos' app. I've contacted Sonos and Eero's support teams multiple times about this and it turns out that the only way for me to temporarily resolve the issue is to unplug each Sonos speaker and Eero and reconnect them. It's not the end of the world, but it's also not ideal. It would be nice if I could just assign the speakers to the eero in my living room.
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Come on, Eero - let's get this fixed already! How many more user testimonials do you need to make it a priority?
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I recently purchased 2 3-pack eero Pros for my 3,000 sqft home. It's overkill, but that's me. I find this product to be absolutely amazing and am recommending it to my family, friends, and console gamer buddies. Initially, I had the same issue with strange connections to distant eero units and was trying to figure out how to assign devices to specific eero. Was there an update overnight? This morning, my devices are hoping around to the most appropriate eero locations. That make me very happy!
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RobN0569 You may just be lucky there. This morning I noticed that one of my Sonos speakers decided to connect to a different Eero again. I can assure you that I didn’t move the speaker. I’m not sure what causes this to happen, but being able to assign devices to specific Eeros would resolve the issues this can create, so I hope that this is in the roadmap.
If someone from Eero is monitoring these forums, it would be nice if he or she could comment on this.
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jamescmtaylor Yes, I suppose I was lucky. Unfortunately, my luck ran out quickly. My static units that never move have jumped to different eeros since my earlier message this morning. I am hoping eero techs are working on an upgrade. For me, the lack of assigning devices to a specific eero is my only concern/complaint, so far...
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RobN0569 I couldn’t agree more. Fingers crossed :)
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+1 yes please - I have stationary devices that seem to move to beacons that are further away when there is one just steps away.
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This seems like a very popular request. I too would like to see this so my ring.com camera will connect to the appropriate beacon rather than the eero in the house. I have 3 eero systems at 3 different vacation rentals and they are great but the ring.com cameras outside seem to want to connect to the furthest away eero and it drives me nuts especially when the video surveillance is important.
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I'm going to add to this request. My specific use case is for security equipment (Ring & IP cameras), Rokus and Sonos, all of which are stationary. I'll add also that Eero is not perfect at choosing which station to connect to, and it's helpful to be able to override. Ideally, the feature would let me override, until Eero found a better connection. I'm guessing that this is data that Eero could use to get smarter about optimizing which device to connect to.
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Hi, Tela – Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experience, and welcome to the Community forum!
We definitely appreciate your thoughts and your interest in this functionality, and I'd like to assure you that it's something we're still looking at. I just wanted to take this opportunity to mention that the eeros actually don't decide which devices connect to which access point – it's entirely up to your devices to decide which eeros to connect to, and when to switch between eeros (in the case of non-stationary devices). If the main issue you're having is with stationary devices, then simply rebooting the devices or re-setting up their WiFi will almost always help them connect to the strongest, closest eero. If you continue to have any questions or concerns, we definitely encourage you to give us a call at 877-659-2347 or email support@eero.com and we can help you make sure your eeros are placed as optimally as possible to give the best signal to your devices!
Thanks once more for your valuable thoughts, and for being a valuable new part of our Community!
Kindly,
Drew, eero Community Team -
Drew - We appreciate that Eero is looking into this, but I don’t understand how this problem can be blamed on all the other varying devices. This problem is happening with many devices from many different manufacturers, and only when using an Eero mesh system. We don’t read about this happening with other mesh systems. I’ve used other wireless access points where firmware updates announce fixes to these sorts of problems. A device on the network just wants to connect to the nearest strongest signal and doesn’t care. With Eero, the nearest strongest signal is there, but it’s as though the total opposite of “band steering” is happening, so instead of directing clients to 5GHz, Eero directs the clients to 2.4GHz. But what’s even more strange is that we all seem to notice the devices want to connect to the gateway Eero even though it may be at the opposite end of the home, and at 2.4GHz, even if it must bypass multiple other Eeros. This really looks like an Eero problem.
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diejoh Just want to add that although I'd like this functionality, my experience isn't like this. My devices don't seem to favor one Eero or another, and don't prefer the gateway.
My Ring devices are the worst, as they pick an Eero and then never try for a stronger signal.
I can completely see how this is the device's fault, at least in my experience. That said, a clever way to work around dumb client devices would be much appreciated from the Eero team.
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mzman - true, I've also seen this happen as well. It's not always connecting to the gateway Eero, but it's not the closest Eero. In fact, right now my Nest Hello is connected to the 2nd closest Eero at 2.4GHz, when it could have a 5GHz connection mere feet away with less obstructions.
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diejoh
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diejoh .....one of the things about other systems like Velops is that they allow you to set up separate 2.4gHz and 5.0gHz networks.......then you can set up Nest Hello to the 2.4gHz network and all is good.....I know because I had that system......but I had continuous drop out and never got the range I get with the eero pro.......as long as my door bell connects and works, I do not mind but......I would like control over it or find a place in the house that it will consistently connect to 2.4gHz
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From a strictly technical perspective, the devices pick the access point, not the other way around. That said, there is a *LOT* that the APs can do to influence this, up to and including refusing a connection. So in practice the APs can strongly influence which AP is used by a device.
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ifermon - you're right, and a device is understood to be "dumb" and just connect to the first thing it sees. But the Eero, being a "system," is responsible for being smart enough to steer devices onto the strongest connection and to 5GHz. Eero is blaming the devices that don't care and saying the devices should somehow be smart enough to do all of that themselves. It's ridiculous.
This functionality shouldn't be something we want to manually manage - it should be automatic in the background.
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diejoh
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The eero system since it’s one mesh system should have the ability to assign a device to a particular AP. In other words it should be smart enough to “Block it from other eeros or beacons if you “assign” a device to a particular especially since you can’t tell a device where to connect. Eero come on help please!!!
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I also would like to see this happen. Although my technical expertise on networking is very small, I do notice that when I bring my iPad upstairs, it insists on staying connected to the basement two floors away, and the signal according to the eero app is weak.
I reboot the iPad, and it connects... but to the eero on the main floor (again, when there's a beacon on the top floor not 10 feet away).
Why the basement has 3 connected devices (2 of which are two floors away), the main floor eero has 20 connected, and the upstairs has zero... I guess I don't understand why the system wouldn't spread things out more?... especially when the signal strength is weak?
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trevororiordan yeah I have also been seeing that same issue. My iPhone or another device will connect to a eero that’s much further away then the one it’s closest to. Doesn’t make a lot of sense. I think the Eero’s at the least need/should hand off any device to the closest unit.
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Thanks so much for sharing your concerns, imjoey and trevororiordan – and welcome to the Community, Trevor! Without rehashing too much of what's already been said in this thread, I just want to take this opportunity to thank you both for sharing your feedback and experience with us. While it's ultimately up to devices to decide both what access point to connect to and when to roam between eeros, rest assured this is something we're actively exploring so we can continue to make the eero experience seamless and satisfying.
In the meantime, we hope you'll continue to reach out to support at 877-659-2347 so we can offer whatever assistance possible for the specifics of your home network. Thanks again so much for being valuable Community members, and enjoy your weekend!
Kindly,
Drew, eero Community Team -
Drew Thanks so much for writing back! Appreciate the response.
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Drew Apple devices support 802.11k, 802.11r, and 802.11v to help their devices seamlessly roam from one AP to another so they’re not “sticky clients.” But Eero doesn’t support those, right? So what does Eero do instead? Nothing except blame the devices. Devices connect how they’re designed, and Eero should be designed to accommodate them, not the other way around. Other wireless solutions have implemented more intelligent ways of dropping devices once their signal is too weak so they can reconnect to a closer and stronger AP. The Eero experience won’t be seamless and satisfying until this is fixed.
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trevororiordan have you run a speed test on the devices that connect far away....I pay for 150/10......they upped the speed to 220/10......everywhere I go and test my devices, I am getting well over 200/10.....it docent matter whether it is my iPhone, iPad, iMac,TVs laptops or apple tvs....I have great signal and all in the green........I too want this figured out but the devices connect to the “best” signal at the time and place of the devises location......I am satisfied and was concerned about where they connect....but as long as I have a good signal I am fine with that...no matter which eero pro they are connected to.....the mesh is designed that way and I have great coverage over 2400sqft on both floors
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The more I think about it, I don't really mind it connecting to a beacon that is really far away... as long as the connection is strong! But if the connection is NOT strong, why would it not try to grab onto a beacon that has a better signal? Maybe that beacon is closer, maybe it's not, but I think for me the main issue is that the connection is good.
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This situation—regardless of whether or not it's the fault of the device or the router—was responsible for slow HD streaming from my media server and hiccups with airplay streaming.
I resorted to plugging in the media server directly into the eero router, at the expense of increased throughput between the eero and the gateway, and taking my hardwired solar panels offline.
Would love to see this get fixed.
Drew is the Band Hopping setting in the eero beta settings designed to help this?
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Thanks for sharing your experience, ethansen – we appreciate your thoughts here, and sorry to hear about any frustration. So, to offer a little additional context and insight from our end, I'd like to stress that devices choosing which access point to associate with is not only expected, it's intentional, and that it's not anything broken that needs to be "fixed," per se. This is a core standard that's true of all mesh WiFi systems, not just eero (although we've done a lot under the hood that distinguishes us from other systems).
Because devices being able to choose their own connection point is so crucial for ensuring a consistent and predictable connection, it's not quite as simple as just being able to add a toggle to the app – that said, please rest assured that the question of improving and streamlining the ability for devices of all kinds to connect consistently and smoothly to eero is something we're continually exploring, and it's something we hear loud and clear from users!
To your question about Band Steering, that feature has more to do with encouraging compatible devices to connect with faster signals – in other words, band steering helps keep your dual-band devices on the 5GHz connection and reconnect to 5GHz more consistently when joining the network and when roaming from eero to eero. It's not really able to help with devices only needing 2.4GHz or connecting devices to specific eero units.
We definitely appreciate you taking the time to post here, and we're glad to have you. Welcome to the Community, we look forward to hearing your other thoughts going forward!
Kindly,
Drew, eero Community Team
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I hope this feature is in development! It remains my sole point of frustration with the system. I have multiple eero nodes in a 3 level home. Devices automatically reconnect (when restarted) to the LAST eero they successfully connected to, not necessarily the strongest connection. This is normally transparent and not a big issue, but has occasionally caused me problems. Now, with Apple Airplay 2, it is a constant problem. Devices connected to different eero nodes have a noticeable lag which prevents them from being used for whole house music. The lag disappears when connected to the same acces point. Control over individual eero and device pairings would fix this, in addition to the other issues commenters have noted in the thread. Thanks much!
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Look at the votes. Customers want this feature. Why is eero sitting on this for over a year? I'm not a networking engineer so I believe eero what telling us that the device is picking the eero. I'm OK with that. But customers are have issues with that scenario. Why not help the customers problems? To tell us to reboot eeros on almost a daily basis is NOT a fix. Make the feature work in ip reservation area. Pretty simple.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feedback with us bobby35ny , and welcome to the Community! I'll refrain from going over and over the same ground here, and encourage you to look back over some of my previous responses here in the thread, but in short, I'd like to continue to assure everyone that this is definitely on our radar! While the path from idea to implementation isn't always as easy as we'd like, we continue to hear all your insights and examples provided, and it's super valuable for us!
Thanks again for reaching out, we're glad to have you here!
Kindly,
Drew, eero Community Team
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I was thinking about the minimal viable product for this request. Based on the prior comments, the major theme was “my device connects to a suboptimal/lower strength eero.” What if the feature was a button that allowed you to “find stronger eero.” Then the user is somewhat removed from the equation and eero can “force” a better reassociation?
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The eero system already has the capabilities to:
1) detect every device that is connected to each specific beacon.
AND
2) Block any device from eero system.
Would It be possible to block a specific device, from a specific beacon, but not block it from the entire mesh network? Eero already knows everything that is connected to each beacon.
It would force “the device” to find a different beacon to connect to. The current technology employed by eero already has the ability to detect a device, & block a device, combining those technologies to make a better mesh network, would be huge step forward & fix that could be implemented in an app update.
It might not be part of the extreamly sophisticated 4 year overhaul the engineers at eero are currently “working on”, but Drew, how awesome would it feel to write a reply that said “we updated our system with a solution that fixes this issue, we would like to thank you for your patience, and all of your wonderful feedback over the years.”
instead of
“Thanks for your comments & feedback” “we value your input” “you’re super duper important to us” “we take these issues serious” “know that we’re trying” “our radar has located this issue” “technology changes take years and years to happen” “your call is very important to us” “recent changes have made health care more affordable” “don’t hang up, do you suffer from back pain” “press 2 to be placed on our do not call list”
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truman1404 That would work too!
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