Eero WiFi mesh network and Hubitat

Ok, complete idiot question here...i have an Eero mesh network at home. How do i set up hubitat on the mesh network? We tried to wire it into the Eero and it will not find the hubitat. I tried to call Eero, and they had no clue. I searched the message boards and cant really find any help! I just feel stupid here....

Hubitat establishes its own separate zigbee (or z wave) mesh network with the devices you attach to it like sensors, lights switches, etc.

Eero is a wifi home network system which is a completely different protocol altogether although it shares the same frequency bands as zigbee. (z wave is on a completely different set of frequencies altogether). They don't integrate in the way you're thinking.

Essentially you would connect your hubitat's ethernet port to your router and off you go with the rest of the set up instructions from here Registration and setup - Hubitat Documentation.

1 Like

Welcome aboard! If you followed the Get Started guide, you should have been able to discover the hub. Is the hub not getting an IP address?

Here are a few troubleshooting tips that may help resolve your problem:

  • Use an alternative device to attempt registration (we recommend using a computer for the initial set-up)
  • Use an alternative browser (we recommend Google Chrome for the best experience)
  • Make sure your device is connected to the the same network segment as your Hubitat Elevation (i.e. same subnet)
  • Reboot your router
  • Power cycle your hub by unplugging the power cord for 30 seconds before plugging it back (as the very last option)

If the issue still persists, please send us an email at support@hubitat.com. Be sure to include your hub's MAC address.

2 Likes

So literally EVERYTHING is on the mesh network. Phones, tvs, all my plugs and switches, irobots....i was trying to merge everything but it isnt possible? I have read some people have hardwired into the Eeros, but not knowing how. I am literally over home automation and ready to go back to 1990!

Eero has two Ethernet ports, have you plugged Hubitat into one of the ports using the provided Ethernet cable?

1 Like

I think what he was trying to explain is that the WiFi mesh that Eero provides is a separate mesh from the Z-Wave and Zigbee meshes that the home automation devices will create with the Hubitat Hub (and each other). Each one runs on a different frequency and uses a different protocol but they can all live together in your home. The Hubitat Hub is a way to bring the three disparate "meshes" together. Hubitat will interface with your Eero via an ethernet cable to one of the "hardwired" ports.

2 Likes

Welcome!

In the most basic sense everything will be "merged" by the hub. Yes all the technospeak above is correct, and you will learn about the difference as you get more into it.

For now, to get it setup your best bet is to plug your Hubitat into the same Eero that is connected to your modem/router. Plug the ethernet cable into the other Eero ethernet port and then connect the power cord. Give it a few minutes and than rescan of the hub.

I have tried to plug my hubitat directly into the primary eero ethernet port. The primary eero has two ports and the other port is connected to the ISP modem. When I did the initial setup/hub discovery process it was unable to find my hub. I then moved the hubitat into the ISP modem ethernet port and it was discovered.

5 Likes

Glad to hear you got it working! @jlundy78 :fist_left: Home Automation can be very frustrating, but stick with it. The rewards will be worth the learn curve. If you run into trouble post again and great people will be here to help!

Glad you got it going! +1 on @TechMedX's comments too, stick with it

2 Likes

Welcome to the Hubitat Community!

Glad you got a working solutions. Really, with most mesh routers, it should be possible to piggy back a device that doesn't have WiFi on the second ethernet port. With mesh routers, which port on the mesh node is WAN, and which is LAN doesn't matter. They auto select. But from their help documents, it sounds like eero isn't providing IP to anything but a network switch for some reason.

This is odd behavior. I wonder if there's a setting in the firmware to choose whether the second connected ethernet device will be a network switch, or will it be an end device. That would be odd. No offense to anyone, but the eero seems to have very strange behavior from what I've heard described about it before, and in comparison to other mesh routers I've had experience with. I much prefer my TP-Link Deco M5s. They started out with a fairly basic system and had a weird limit to the number of reservable IP addresses, but their current firmware is really good.

Anyway, doesn't sound like you have a problem, but it's too bad you apparently cannot connect your Hubitat to the second ethernet port on the eero. That would be a nice way to get the Hubitat hub directly centered in your home, which will give you the best overall results with devices you add to it down the road.

Unfortunately, although I was able to find my hub, i am not able to to discover end divices as most are connected to the eero mesh network. Only the degices that are connected to a hub (ie Phillips Hue) and connected to the ISP modem can be discovered. I was able to link my Smartthings hub via "link to hub" App but not having much luck with individual devices.

Can you specify what they are?

2 Likes

What devices are these? Are they on the list of compatible devices?

1 Like

Individual devices? Do you mean lightbulbs and other device that are WiFi (e.g. IP based)?

Only Wifi devices that are supported on Hubitat Elevation or have a custom hardware and/or software integration will work. There are few directly, and others via bridges, other hubs, and software. Some are official integrations with IP based devices, some are not. Yeelight, Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT, Hue Bridge via Hue Integration, Lutron Caséta Pro Bridge via Telnet, and other hubs such as SmartThings via Hub Link/Link to Hub, Ring via @codahq Unofficial Ring Integration, Xiaomi Mijia via MiConnector, HomeKit via Homebridge, Insteon via @cwwilson08 Insteon web socket driver, and other built-in and custom integrations.

The majority of lightbulbs will be Zigbee in a private mesh network. They make bad repeaters, so keeping smart bulbs on your Hue Bridge is a good idea. Continue that, and buy good devices so your Zigbee mesh network on Hubitat Elevation will stay healthy. Add Zigbee outlets that are known to be good, and no issues have been reported on the forum. There are several, but an inexpensive, yet decent repeater would be something like an Ikea Trådfri outlet. They will relay the signals to other Zigbee devices that are too far from the hub to send signals well or at all. So it hands it off like a baton. Similar idea to your eero's WiFi mesh. Sort of, a lot more to it, but that's that basic idea. The newest SmartThings outlets repeat signals as well.

Anything Zigbee that has a battery is not going to repeat the Zigbee signal for another device. They are your Zigbee end devices.
The map of this is rebuilt and rearranged automatically by the Zigbee radio in your hub.

This explains more about Zigbee.

If you add Z-Wave devices to your network, then you will have the best luck by looking for devices that say Z-Wave Plus. They have the ability to rebuild the Z-Wave mesh in a sense, automatically with other Z-Wave Plus devices, similar to Zigbee but not as well. If you add non-plus Z-Wave devices, they will work, but some older or lower priced devices may have stability problems. There are a lot of Z-Wave devices available, but avoiding the really inexpensive ones is usually a good plan. Z-Wave devices (non-Plus) don't rebuild the table of their place on the network automatically, so you have to manually initiate a repair on the Z-Wave network when they are present, any time you add or remove a device from the Z-Wave network.

Z-Wave devices that have batteries, just like Zigbee devices that have batteries, do not repeat Z-Wave signals. They are your Z-Wave end devices. Z-Wave is unique, in that resetting a Z-Wave device still keeps it as a member of the Z-Wave mesh network, but as far as the device knows it's been reset, and the hub it was joined to before is no longer part of its life. So you want to make sure that you Exclude it from the Z-Wave network when you remove a device by resetting it, or when you no longer intend to use it and have unplugged it or removed its batteries. If you don't do that, it causes problems. But you can Exclude after the fact and repair the Z-Wave network to resolve those problems. An example of a good repeater for Z-Wave would be an Aeotech Range Extender 7. Buy good Z-Wave repeaters and you shouldn't have problems.

You can find more about Z-Wave here

Take your time as you add devices and things will go smoothly. Have fun!

4 Likes

Hi folks.
I"m a beginner, so need a bit more clarification, please.

I have a Spectrum Router - with 4 ports
I originally had the HE plugged into the Spectrum Router directly

I got an Eero Pro for better coverage - it has 2 ethernet ports

I've been told that I should move all my stuff to the Eero for better coverage throughout the house vs Spectrum wifi.

The Eero - 1 port goes directly into the Spectrum, 1 port goes directly into the HE

There is a yellow dot on my HE mobile app icon.
How do I change the network on my HE
When I try and discover, it doesn't show.
I don't know how to do the advanced HUB discovery, as I don't know how to find my router's MAC or LAN address.
(I did say I was a beginner)

@rock I can help you a bit, but you might be best to start your own new thread. Some people will not review this thread since it is dated.

When installing your Eero did you set them up as "bridge" or "NAT"? By default I think they do "NAT" but you'd better served in "bridge" mode. When in bridge mode it allow your main router to do the routing. This is the best way to go if possible, but NAT can work as well.

Here is a page on how to use set them to bridge mode. If I were setting it up I'd plug my HE into my Spectrum router, plug the Eero Pro into the Spectrum router, set my Eero pro to bridge mode and all devices would be on the same single network.

check this out and LMK if it works. I'll keep this thread open so I see your response.

1 Like

Thank you.
I think I’m a NAT set up. I didn’t do anything special, just plugged it in.

If I plug the HE directly into spectrum Router instead of the Eero - do I still get the advantage of all my HE smarthome switches in the bigger? Eero mesh network ?

Is it really THAT simple to do a bridge network (one change in choice on the app?) .
Do I have to give the HE or EERO static IP addresses or anything ?

I have about 60 items connected to HE via Zwave across multiple floors and 50’ away

Not sure if this info is useful ...

No they will get an IP from the router, but yes at some point we are going to want to give an IP to your HE hub. I preferred DHCP reservations over static IP, but we'll get to that.

You would be basicly change the Eero Pro from a "router" to an "access point". You already have a router (the spectrum one), so when you make the Eero an AP it will take a "backseat" and let the router control all the "routing" of the ENTIRE network (including devices connected to the Eeros, anywhere). A wireless device will connect to the closet Eero AP, then get an IP address from the router, and all devices will work correctly and talk to each other on one big wireless network.

I do the same thing for businesses all the time. Sometimes we need 2-3 AP's sometimes more. At once large client venue we have about 20 APs all over the place to provide access on a 3 acre campus. What you are doing is similar, but on a much smaller scale.

FYI this will not impact your z-wave network at all, it separate. This is just wi-fi

Hi all, quick question and it seems this is the right thread.
Can anyone explain what this switch does on the device page:

image

I did not have success finding documentation for it and to that point I could have sworn this wasn't there a couple of recent firmwares ago - but I could be wrong.