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Solving problems with adding smart home devices to your Eero network
Adding Wi-Fi enabled devices to your smart home ecosystem, either through native apps or by using the new Matter standard, should be a piece of cake but there are times when you do everything the step-by-step guides suggest, but you just can’t get your smart light, plug, sensor or other gadget to pair.
It’s a problem that happens more and more with more complex Wi-Fi mesh systems like Amazon’s Eero.
That’s because many smart home devices only work over 2.4GHz Wi-Fi rather than the 5GHz (or even 6GHz) networks that systems like Eero offer.
And there’s a chance that the smartphone you are using to pair the device to the app – whether it’s an iPhone or an Android phone – will be using the 5GHz band and creating a conflict.
Verdict: Eero Max 7 review
The good news is that, with an Eero router and mesh system powering your smart home, you can turn off the 5GHz Wi-Fi in order to force your 2.4GHz-only devices to pair.
The steps below talk you through how to do that and the good news is that the change is only temporary (10 minutes); which is plenty of time to get a smart home device paired.
Once paired, it doesn’t matter that the 5GHz band returns, as it can only connect over 2.4GHz.
Read on to find out how to disable 5GHz Wi-Fi on an Eero router…
What you’ll need
- The smart home device you want to pair
- An Eero system
- Your smartphone with the Eero app
The short version
- Open the Eero app
- Tap on the Settings icon in the bottom left corner of the screen
- Tap on Troubleshooting
- Tap on My device is 2.4GHz only
- Tap on the Temporarily pause 5GHz button
- This will disable 5GHz for 10 minutes
This will disable the 5GHz band on your Eero mesh system. All devices that are currently connected to the 5GHz band will be automatically switched to the 2.4GHz band.
Disabling the 5GHz band may impact the performance of some devices, especially those that require high bandwidth but, as the change only lasts 10 minutes, there’s no need to worry.
You can always re-enable the 5GHz band by following the steps above.
You can only temporarily disable 5GHz on Eero mesh systems. There is no way to permanently disable 5GHz on Eero mesh systems.
See also: Use Echo Dot as Eero Wi-Fi extender
Why do smart home devices prefer 2.4GHz
There are a few reasons why smart home devices tend to use 2.4GHz rather than 5GHz Wi-Fi.
Range: 2.4GHz has a longer range than 5GHz, which is important for devices that are located far from the router or an access point.
Penetration: 2.4GHz can penetrate walls and other obstacles in your house better than 5GHz, which is important for devices that are located in areas with a lot of interference, such as smart doorbells or security cameras.
Cost: 2.4GHz chipsets are typically less expensive than 5GHz chipsets, which can make them a more affordable option for smart home devices.
FAQs
No, Eero combines both frequencies under a single SSID, and it automatically manages the connections. However, temporarily disabling 5GHz forces devices to connect to 2.4GHz.
You don’t need to, it will automatically restart after 10 minutes.
