topic Re: WPA3 default causing issues? in Nest Wifi

WPA3 default causing issues?

ajayS — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 16:36:59 GMT

We recently had a short power outage and after that I discovered some of the devices in the lost connectivity. I initially thought it was a device issue and struggled, but looked at Nest after I found the 3rd device offline. See that WPA 3 was on by Default. Was this changed in a recent s/w release? And does this cause issue with devices? These are things like smart switches etc...

Re: WPA3 default causing issues?

David_K — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 16:44:06 GMT

It isn't turned on by default I don't believe, it's something you must enable manually. Some legacy WPA2 devices might be incompatible with WPA3 and experience connection issues when WPA3 mode is on. If you have legacy devices, like smart switches, that are experiencing connection issues with WPA3, you might consider turning off WPA3. Your 6 GHz capable devices might not connect as often to the 6 GHz band, but the entire network will deliver 6 GHz benefits since Nest Wifi Pro's mesh connections make use of the benefits of 6 GHz.

Re: WPA3 default causing issues?

ajayS — Sun, 03 Dec 2023 17:10:38 GMT

I turned it off, but was on and I don't remember turning it on. Turning it off helped with the devices.

As regards the mesh benefit, I have them hard wired. I do not however understand the link between WPA3 and use of 6Ghz though.

Re: WPA3 default causing issues?

olavrb — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 11:11:05 GMT

WPA3 is a requirement for 6ghz / Wi-Fi 6E.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/wireless/what-is-wifi-6-vs-wifi-6e.html#~benefits
"The Wi-Fi Alliance has made Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) mandatory for all Wi-Fi 6E devices, without backward compatibility for WPA2 security."

Re: WPA3 default causing issues?

ajayS — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 18:12:22 GMT

Any thoughts on the impact to the simple devices on 2.4GHz?

Re: WPA3 default causing issues?

olavrb — Tue, 05 Dec 2023 23:10:13 GMT

Thoughts? Around what?

If they don't support WPA3 and are properly designed, they should fall back to WPA2 without having to disable WPA3 on Nest Wifi.

Nest Wifi with WPA3 enabled = WPA3 and WPA2.

Re: WPA3 default causing issues?

ajayS — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 00:35:02 GMT

I think its confusing the way Nest Pro describes the parameter. See attached images. BTW turning it off helped, and the devices on 2.4 were able to connect. I had them online before, and a couple of days ago they were knocked off the net. I found that the Home app had this parameter turned on. So as I said, its not clear whats the parameter for and what should be the default

Re: WPA3 default causing issues?

olavrb — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 11:59:40 GMT

I agree, the GUI is misleading. You can read more about WPA3 and Nest Wifi here:

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/6309220?hl=en

I assume WPA3 to be the default for Nest Wifi Pro because Wi-Fi 6E requires it.

Re: WPA3 default causing issues?

ajayS — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 00:51:53 GMT

There was a thread https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Nest-Wifi-Pro-dropping-all-2-4-ghz-connections/td-p/447798 which seems to be related to me. My problem is not completely solved too. I hope this gets fixed in a s/w release, else I too will have to get another router, as was suggested in that thread.