Wifi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) is the latest standard for wifi encryption. Enabling WPA3 on your eero network provides added security for connected devices that support the WPA3 standard. This includes an encryption method called Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE), and Management Frame Protection (MFP).
In WPA3, SAE replaces WPA2-PSK (Pre-shared key) mode, providing protection against offline dictionary attacks that can affect WPA2 and provides forward secrecy which prevents someone who later learns the network password from decrypting saved older messages.
MFP makes it more difficult for an attacker to pretend to be your access point and attempt a deauthentication attack. A deauthentication attack allows an attacker to kick any of your devices off of the network at any time by pretending to be your access point. MFP ensures that clients only listen to management frames from your eero.
When enabled, eero’s WPA3 feature operates in “transition mode”, meaning WPA3 capable devices will connect using this standard, and unsupported devices will continue to use WPA2.
How do I enable WPA3?
WPA3 is available in the eero Labs section of the eero app. Tap the Discover tab and toggle the WPA3 feature to add this security feature for connected devices that support this standard.
How can I determine if a connected device is using WPA3?
Each connected wifi device indicates whether it is connected using WPA2, WPA3, or without a password. Tapping device details for each connected device will show the current method. Select the Home tab > Select the device > Look for the section block Security.
Known Interoperability Issues
Even though transition mode is designed to support WPA2 and WPA3 simultaneously, our testing has revealed interoperability issues with some legacy devices.
- Some legacy devices will have difficulty connecting to any network with WPA3 turned on. This can present as the device not getting an IP address, not being able to see or connect to the network at all, or disconnecting intermittently.
- If you are having issues connecting legacy devices to your network, please toggle WPA3 off and see if the issue persists.
- On networks capable of 6GHz, WPA3 will always be present on the 6GHz band, regardless if WPA3 is toggled on. WPA3 is a necessary component of the 6GHz frequency band. This can present in issues where devices are continuously asking for a password or refusing to roam away from the 6GHz band.
- If you are having issues with devices communicating between the WPA2 and the WPA3, please toggle WPA3 on and see if the issue persists.
If you notice a device isn’t able to connect to eero wifi after turning on WPA3 or if you are seeing other symptoms mentioned above, you may need to update that device to the latest available software or use an updated device if available.
We recommend contacting the device manufacturer for any devices that have difficulty connecting when WPA3 is enabled.