Amazon made a curious move in early 2021 buying Eero, the manufacturer of Wi-Fi Mesh systems. With bets as strong as the one made by Jeff Bezos' company in Alexa, Eero's technology was obviously going to help Amazon consolidate and continue to strengthen its position in the field of the connected home. Today we will talk a little about this type of routers, what advantages do they have and how can they improve the quality of your connected home. At the end of the post you can see our video analysis of these Amazon routers.
What is Wi-Fi Mesh and why is it useful for my connected home?
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Even the smallest house has Wi-Fi connectivity issues. The waves of the router do not usually get along very well with concrete load-bearing walls, so it is possible that the router that your operator gives you is not enough to cover your entire home or, at least, not enough to have a stable bandwidth in all rooms of your house.
If you've ever had coverage problems at home, you may have purchased a repeater or a PLC. And, surely, you have not had a good performance with one of those devices either. routers Mesh are an evolution of this technology and They serve just to solve that problem. They come from the business world and have proven to be an effective solution in offices, hotels, points of sale and restaurants, to name a few examples of noisy places where this type of network performs spectacularly well.
Unlike a simple router and repeater, a Wi-Fi Mesh network or mesh network it functions as a base station and a set of satellites. All of these devices are able to communicate with each other and form a large network that shares the same SSID and password. Huge networks can be created and also very secure, since the configuration will be inherited from the master router and they are not as easy to hack as traditional networks. However, the main difference between Mesh networks and a normal network with a repeater is that, in the latter, the repeaters are usually only able to communicate with the central router. In Mesh networks, always we will connect to the optimal access point. If a node fails, the network can 'self-heal' redirecting traffic through the rest of the elements of the mesh so that we do not lose connectivity. Thanks to this, Mesh networks are much more stable and they also offer much more confidence.
Amazon Eero models
The Amazon Eero family is not yet very large, but there is already an interesting enough base of devices to be able to create a complex network at home, regardless of the surface that has to be covered.
amazon eero pro 6
Is basic device to start your Eero Mesh network. With one unit you can create the network. From this point, you can expand your network as much as you need with Eero 6 or Eero Beacon nodes. It is also possible to configure an Eero Pro as one more access point within the network.
The idea that Amazon is looking for with these devices is replace the Wi-Fi router you have at home. However, this is sometimes not entirely possible. Even so, Eero devices, like those of Ubiquiti, can be fed from the operator's standard router and build your entire network in parallel smoothly.
One of the great advantages of the Eero Pro is the Ease of configuring the network and add new nodes to make the network more and more complex.
Mainly, there are two models of the Eero Pro router: with and without Zigbee. The model that has this integrated technology is much more expensive, but you can save the price if you already have an Amazon Echo with Zigbee or a switchboard like Philips on your Wi-Fi network. Routers can also be purchased in double packs, for more complex installations.
Amazon Euro 6
The Eero 6 are used to extend the network of nodes of your Mesh network. This model has Wi-Fi 6 with a dual-band system that supports up to 500 Mbps and can cover a maximum area of Sqm 140. To use it, it will be necessary to have an Eero network beforehand.
The Aero 6 sold individually or in packs of 3 units. There is also a model with Zigbee technology, if you need it.
See offer on AmazonAmazon Eero Beacon
If you have a free socket at home, you have one more node for your Mesh network. The Eero Beacon is the model more compact that Amazon has for sale, but can you give a coverage up to 140 square meters if there are no obstacles in the way, just like the Eero 6. The idea is that you can place one or more of these devices at home so that you get coverage in those rooms where you have home automation devices and your basic router does not reach correctly.
As an added measure, the Beacon has a small warm light that can be used as a night light. It can be turned off with voice commands and can also be scheduled if preferred. This model is the same price as the Eero 6 and has very good reviews. One of its big differences is that this model only supports Wi-Fi 5. At the moment, this model is not yet available in Spain.
How do Eero and Alexa integrate?
Eero doesn't just allow your home network to extend throughout your home and bring greater coverage and stability to your connected home. They also get along thanks to the skills. The strong point of this union is that you can manage any aspect of the network directly through Alexa commands.
To do this, we will have to have the wireless network already established and previously configured. Once that is done, we will need to make sure that our Eero router is on eero OS version 2.0.0 or higher. We will also have to have the eero mobile app in version 1.3 or later. We can do this process on both iOS and Android.
After these steps, open your Alexa app on your mobile and go to 'Skills'. Seeks 'Eero' and enable it. Fill in your account information and verify the unique access code that you will be asked for. With this done, your Alexa device and your eero Wi-Fi system will now be paired.
Thanks to this integration, you can use Alexa to locate your mobile devices at home through Wi-Fi coverage, for example. You can also control the lights of the routers through voice commands or establish changes in the network easily and simply by simply asking Alexa, without having to open the Eero app on your mobile.
Are these devices worth it?
Mesh networks are not cheap, but they do guarantee a security and stability that have little to do with traditional networks. If you have been suffering for years internet outages and you have not come across the key on how to solve this problem, without a doubt, it will be worth it.
Even so, Eero is not the only brand that offers this type of product. Ubiquiti, for example, has very similar solutions, although it is also true that they have a more focused approach to the professional field. It will be in your hand to calculate the number of nodes what you need to cover your house, the price it would cost and whether or not it is worth making the investment. Evolving towards this technology will only be profitable if you depend a lot on Internet connectivity due to your work or if you have many home automation devices scattered around your home.
Video analysis
If you still have doubts about whether or not it is worth getting one of these devices, we say goodbye by inviting you to take a look at this analysis of the Eero 6 that we have made for all of you and with which you will clear all your doubts:
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