Kidde Water Leak + Freeze Detector WiFi 6 Compatibility
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Table of Contents
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The Kidde Water Leak + Freeze Detector (60WLDR-W) does not support WPA3-SAE authentication and/or WiFi 6 dual band networks.
Background
Some recent storms in Iowa led to me taking shelter in my basement and discovering an indoor pool was forming.
After dealing with the cleanup, I vowed to not get surprised again and went to Menards to get a leak detector that ideally connected to WiFi so I could see alerts if I was not home.
The only thing my local Menards had in stock was the Kidde Water Leak + Freeze Detector so I went with it, especially as it claims Google Home compatbility.
Setup
In short, while my phone seemed to connect via Bluetooth to the device fine, it just refused to connect to my WiFi. It would show loading for ~2 minutes before giving up with no information as to why it failed. The box and manual prominently display that 2.4 GHz WiFi is required, but I didn’t think anything of it, since all of my Wyze devices and MyQ garage door opener only support 2.4 GHz and they work fine.
After doing some Googling and seeing this help article I started to get suspicious. I use TP-Link Omada WiFi 6 access points and have a dual band SSID with 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz bands. Apparently the WPA2-PSK/WPA3-SAE authentication that Omada requires you to use with WiFi 6 is not supported by the Kidde detector.
Fix
I ended up creating a seperate SSID just for this one device in Omada and disabling WiFi 6. Leaving 5 GHz enabled still worked fine, it just took issue with WiFi 6 and the authentication required.
Afterwards
I do want to give some props to Kidde. While trying to set up the device multiple times, the app did allow me to send automated error reports. I submitted at least one of these and actually got an email the following business day from a real employee at Kidde saying they had recieved the report and suggested some troubleshooting steps.
I am incredibly surprised and impressed by this. I’ve never once had a company contact me about any (automatic or manual) error reports I submit.