Grill can't connect to network - FIX

[shawnshawn20]

i joined to just share how i fixed my not connecting to WiFi. after the update my grill to would not connect, so i deleted the grill from my account and tried to re add it multiple times with no success. i started doing my own trouble shooting. i used three different phones all with no success, both android and iPhone. i got another router put it within ten feet of the grill still no success. Then i started to wonder if it was because my phone was connected to my router over 5GHz band instead of the 2.4 GHz. i logged into my router shut off the 5 GHz band, tried reconnecting my grill to the WiFi and it connected no problems. then my grill updated to the current firmware. i then turned my 5 GHz network back on checked my grill to see if it was still connected and everything still seemed to be working, cooked twice with the grill and everything seems to be ok. hope this helps some others with their problems.

 

[gotbacon?]

Thank you for taking the time to share this fix!

 

[Holland]

i joined to just share how i fixed my not connecting to WiFi. after the update my grill to would not connect, so i deleted the grill from my account and tried to re add it multiple times with no success. i started doing my own trouble shooting. i used three different phones all with no success, both android and iPhone. i got another router put it within ten feet of the grill still no success. Then i started to wonder if it was because my phone was connected to my router over 5GHz band instead of the 2.4 GHz. i logged into my router shut off the 5 GHz band, tried reconnecting my grill to the WiFi and it connected no problems. then my grill updated to the current firmware. i then turned my 5 GHz network back on checked my grill to see if it was still connected and everything still seemed to be working, cooked twice with the grill and everything seems to be ok. hope this helps some others with their problems.

You're lucky to have the thing work at all. I received my Pro 575 for Thanksgiving. Assembly was a breeze and the seasoning went well. Since then, I've had several people far smarter technology wise then I, try to connect the WiFire business. The head of the Sheriff's Cyber Crimes Unit recommended a quick death for the grill.

As you had done, we tried different phones and even brought the grill in the house to be near the router. No luck there either. I've become a non Traeger fan and the grill sits in the garage, unused.

I tried to sell it on the local Marketplace just after the first of the year for $700.00. This included the fold up shelf, 60 pounds of pellets, many drip tray liners and a Weber quick read thermometer. No takers, not even a price "lets negotiate" message. I suppose more people have read the number of bad reviews concerning these grills than I did. I went by word of mouth from an old Traeger user.

I'm glad to finally see a good report on someone's WiFire connectivity. Wanna buy a nice unused Pro 575? I still have my trusty old Weber Kettle and a 15 year old CharBroil water smoker, so the Traeger will eagerly go to someone's new home.

 

[Biffdotorg]

You do know your grill will work amazingly well without wifire right? It's a great smoker with or without it, and should not keep you from using it for it's intended purpose. You may learn to get it connected someday, but don't let it keep you from using it like the thousands of others without wifire.

 

[Holland]

You do know your grill will work amazingly well without wifire right? It's a great smoker with or without it, and should not keep you from using it for it's intended purpose. You may learn to get it connected someday, but don't let it keep you from using it like the thousands of others without wifire.

I know that it will work just fine without the WiFire business. But the WiFire was the reason for buying the new and improved Pro 575 instead of the Pro 22 that was on sale everywhere for $399-$450. I've just accepted it as part of the garage. Thanks for the tip though.

 

[Biffdotorg]

That's good to hear. On those few occasions that the grill is not showing on my phone. I just suck it up and start programming from the front.

Just the other night, mine took exceptionally long to connect. But I got it ignited, set my temp. Plugged in my probe, and it asked me if I wanted to set an IT temp alert. And then even set a timer for a 10 min flip.

And after all that, then my phone showed it online. HA! At least I proved to myself, that the Wifire is a very, very nice convenience, but not mission critical.

As noted in another thread, once that display on the grill shows the little antennae, trust that it is connected to the internet. Don't trust your phone. Leave it plugged in and on, and call/email traeger and have them push the firmware. They should be able to do it. Or leave it for a few days. And check your firmware daily. as well as your phone app for updates. And don't be afraid to delete and re-install after the fact. As they may setup differently after every firmware. Mine updated yet again on Sunday!

Good luck,

 

[DinnerWithDougLLC]

You're lucky to have the thing work at all. I received my Pro 575 for Thanksgiving. Assembly was a breeze and the seasoning went well. Since then, I've had several people far smarter technology wise then I, try to connect the WiFire business. The head of the Sheriff's Cyber Crimes Unit recommended a quick death for the grill.

As you had done, we tried different phones and even brought the grill in the house to be near the router. No luck there either. I've become a non Traeger fan and the grill sits in the garage, unused.

I tried to sell it on the local Marketplace just after the first of the year for $700.00. This included the fold up shelf, 60 pounds of pellets, many drip tray liners and a Weber quick read thermometer. No takers, not even a price "lets negotiate" message. I suppose more people have read the number of bad reviews concerning these grills than I did. I went by word of mouth from an old Traeger user.

I'm glad to finally see a good report on someone's WiFire connectivity. Wanna buy a nice unused Pro 575? I still have my trusty old Weber Kettle and a 15 year old CharBroil water smoker, so the Traeger will eagerly go to someone's new home.

My Timberline 850 has worked perfectly for 2 1/2 years until the software upgrade in February. Then WiFire couldn't connect. II'm an IT guy so I understand most of Traeger's recommendations. I double checked to make sure that everything is up to their standards and Kit from Traeger Support verified my configuration:

+ Android app has been updated to 1.4.1
+ Grill firmware is set to 3.00.00 ( Traeger confirmed this is correct for the Timberline, otherwise you want 2.00.00)
+ My Wifi Router is using 2.4 GHz (and the password does not include any special characters and is less than 10 characters)

I rebooted my grill, cleared cache on my phone, uninstalled / reinstalled the Traeger App. Tried installing it on my son's iPhone. No Luck... Called Traeger Support today. Spoke to a guy for 20 minutes who didn't know crap about Wifire so I asked him to have one of the Wifire experts call me back and he just transferred me to lady named Kit. She knew her stuff but still couldn't get it to connect. I have one of the first models of the Timberline 850 which uses a slightly different controller than the current engineering revision, so she is having a new controller sent (7 business days) and also included some rubs. So we'll see what happens. Grill still works obviously, but no WiFire, and I use Wifire a lot on long smokes especially. I reviewed a video of the controller and it looks easy to replace (famous last words...) 4 screws on the face and 4 or 5 plastic wire harness connections. While I'm less than overjoyed about the software issue, today's support phone call was pretty good. It would not have gone that way if I didn't ask for a Wifire Expert to speak to...

I'll keep you posted if the new controller resolves the issue. Should be around 3/14.

 

[bnv85k9]

I cannot connect via Wifire. I have tried everything already. Now what?

You'll likely need to follow the steps in this comment on another thread about the same issue: https://www.traegerforum.com/threads/failed-to-download-certificate-files.782/page-7#post-5408 Hi I bought the Traeger so cooking is simple. Everything was fine until the most recent update. My...

www.traegerforum.com

 

[SKMyatt]

Mine would not work either until I separated the 2.4ghz and 5ghz signals from my router. Looks like the Wifire doesn’t play well with a mixed signal. Has worked perfectly since then. Hope it helps!

 

[StillinICT]

First post here, been lurking since upgrading to the Pro 780 last year.

I guess I dodged the bullet on the upgrade mainly from limited use.

Christmas, grill worked fine. Next use, Superbowl, iPhone still connected to the grill but couldn't get a temp reading so went manually. Followed the various threads and just left it off completely. Last week I plugged it in, held my breath for two days, updated the app on the phone and all works well.

Near as I can tell from observation, it one of the updates toasted the controller or something like that. I run my wifi with both 2.4 a 5 on and my grill connects to the 2.4 with no problem. Just cooked again this last weekend and all functioned well on my end.

 

[indy]

I will add my name to this list. I have tried two networks, 2.4ghz only and tried the Mesh. Spoke with Traeger support, Verizon support and Eero support multiple times. Deleting app, Different phones. iPhone and iPad hotspots, routers within a few feet, phone in airplane mode, and farther from grill.. Faceplate facing router. Changed names of networks and passwords. I have tried every solution I have come across. And open for more. Nothing works for me. (I did have it work once for a short time, but now it won't find that network again) They tell me to be patient. 3-months and I'm becoming less of a fan of Traeger.

 

[Tubs]

i joined to just share how i fixed my not connecting to WiFi. after the update my grill to would not connect, so i deleted the grill from my account and tried to re add it multiple times with no success. i started doing my own trouble shooting. i used three different phones all with no success, both android and iPhone. i got another router put it within ten feet of the grill still no success. Then i started to wonder if it was because my phone was connected to my router over 5GHz band instead of the 2.4 GHz. i logged into my router shut off the 5 GHz band, tried reconnecting my grill to the WiFi and it connected no problems. then my grill updated to the current firmware. i then turned my 5 GHz network back on checked my grill to see if it was still connected and everything still seemed to be working, cooked twice with the grill and everything seems to be ok. hope this helps some others with their problems.

Thanks all for sharing all your pain, suffering and solutions. I've tried them all. I bought a wifi extender. I tried the IOS angle. Then I finally fixed my issue by changing the WiFi password on the 2.4G to 8 characters, previously greater than 8. Worked. Hopefully it does for you.

 

[Johnmil2000]

after the update, i cant connect to the grill. i removed the wifi connection from the grill. i then connected to the grill with my phone. however, it will not take the wifire password that was shown in wfire information.

 

[DinnerWithDougLLC]

I will add my name to this list. I have tried two networks, 2.4ghz only and tried the Mesh. Spoke with Traeger support, Verizon support and Eero support multiple times. Deleting app, Different phones. iPhone and iPad hotspots, routers within a few feet, phone in airplane mode, and farther from grill.. Faceplate facing router. Changed names of networks and passwords. I have tried every solution I have come across. And open for more. Nothing works for me. (I did have it work once for a short time, but now it won't find that network again) They tell me to be patient. 3-months and I'm becoming less of a fan of Traeger.

A couple notes from another post are below that may help. I finally got mine to connect today after I installed a new controller and did #1 and #2 below during the install process. Good luck!

Yes, we ran though the whole setup process a number of times.
Made sure phone app (droid) was 1.4.1 .
Made sure firmware was 3.0.0 (for Timberline only, otherwise 2.0.0).
Made sure phone WIFI was using 2.4 GHz channel from router.
Uninstalling the app on my phone. Cleared cache for traeger app on phone.
Shutting down / Restarting the grill.
Turned off 5GHz wifi channel on router, keeping the 2.4GHz channel running.
Changed WIFI pw to exclude special characters.

3/11/20 Update: New controller arrived so I installed it today. Initially tried to connect, same result as before"Unable to join network" message on phone. I did a couple other things that we didn't try before and WAS able to connect to WIFIRE !!
1.) Make sure the grill menu displays the WIFI settings when trying to connect. Previously I wrote them down on paper and I'm not 100% sure my grill menu displayed WIFI settings when I tried to connect.
2.) Brought my phone right next to the grill when setting up the connection. I'm not sure how this made a difference but it seemed to. My WIFI router is high end and I can get a signal 300 ft beyond my yard, but regardless having the phone right next to the grill seemed to help.
3.) My WIFI pw includes special characters and is longer than 8 characters and my second router channel running 5 GHz was also running, so these 2 variables did not seem to impact my ability to connect.

Good luck with WIFIRE.