2016 was the year of the mesh network, with WiFi routers finally breaking free of the commoditized hardware doldrums, and eero ruled the roost (although they didn’t actually serve up a true ‘mesh’ from the get-go) despite some fierce competition from Netgear Orbi. Beyond mesh, eero also successfully emphasized ease-of-use — although what some found simple, others found simplistic. While I’ve had to run my trio in bridge mode for the better part of a year, initial configuration was ridiculously simple and it’s largely been set-and-forget, with stellar throughput available from all corners of our home(s)… other than a transitory perfect storm of events that briefly took me down last December. And now, after 30 software updates since launch, the company is back with new hardware and claims of an even better experience…
Founder and CEO Nick Weaver tells me the second generation eero effectively doubles the performance of the original, in terms of bandwidth and range, largely due to re-engineering the antenna array and moving to triband radios. Whereas the original eero featured identical, interchangeable pods, the new eero system consists of the traditional (iconic?) eero base station and new Beacon satellite units, that take a page from Ubiquiti (and countless painful network extenders), going with a compact, wire-free outlet mount. However, if you appreciate Ethernet connectivity throughout the home, to accessorize (as I do) or for a more robust wired backhaul, all eero models of both generations are mix and match.
Other fun facts: The eero Beacon contains an ambient light sensor and dimmable nightlight (that many of us will simply disable) and the traditionally-shaped eero is powered via a USB-C cable. In our chat, Weaver repeatedly mentioned the home as an operating system, emphasized in practice via forward-looking Thread integration for IoT and an upcoming eero Plus service (with application provider framework) that kicks off with a beefed up proxy to protect against malware and provide enhanced parental controls.
View Comments
The Beacons supposedly provide better performance than the 1st gen eero but not up to 2nd gen eero performance as it doesn't include those tri-band radios. Fortunately, as mentioned above, it's all interoperable (and backwards compatible) - build out your system anyway you like.
One of my initial reactions to eero, Luma, etc was the high price point. But, in this day and age, investing in one's network infrastructure seems like a no-brainer. Doesn't matter how good my FiOS plan is if I can't reliably stream video to the far reaches of my home. But I'd rather than Alexa or Zigbee in my routers, vs Thread, and something Samsung is exploring with SmartThings integration.
Hi Dave, I think I've suffered with my FiOS Quantum router long enough. Have you seen a good comparison between Eero versus Google WiFi? I've also been reading up on a FiOS configuration and haven't seen a definitive answer on the best way to set it up for my 2,700 sq ft 2 story home. I'm thinking 3 mesh devices is the right answer.
Sam, I know at least two people who gave up on Google WiFi - and think our very own Adam Miarka was one of them. (I had personally given up on OnHub, which is what led me to eero.) If eero doesn't look right for you, I'd check out Orbi - those are the two I'd recommend in this space if you don't want to roll your own.
For reference, my prior home was 3600 and my current is 4000, but split across three levels. But, beyond square footage and footprint, is interference and obstruction. Each scenario will be unique. For FiOS, if you can replace their router with your own, it'll be better. At my old place, rewiring from MoCA to Ethernet was not going to be trivial due to ONT and homerun placement. At the new place, I may be able to get it done. Although I've got about 200 other projects, many higher priority. :)
Brain, new new house is wired pretty extensively for Ethernet - unlike my former house which had only three or four drops, in largely unsuitable locations. Not sure yet how I'll ultimately configure the new place. At the moment, everything is wireless with an eero on each floor. Performance has been solid in limited living/testing thus far. We'll see, may want to take advantage of an Ethernet backhaul - would have to reposition basestation and FiOS router at home run and then move the two satellite units. We turned the "office" into the "playroom" and the "living room" into the "office", so I don't have a drop where I'd most like it and definitely no time to fish cable thru drywall in 2017.
I went the unifi route. Bought 3 uap ac lite's and called it a day. Probably more the speed of your readers who are tinkerers. I did contemplate the eero but my house is wired throughout. At $75/each the lite's are disposable when the next major leap forward in wifi takes place.