HomeKit support lands on Amazon's Eero mesh routers

AppleInsider

Eero's long-promised HomeKit update has finally arrived, making the Amazon-owned mesh router the first to support Apple's smart home platform.

Eero Pro mesh router now supports HomeKit

After appearing recently appearing imminent, Eero has finally made the update available to users of its eero, eero Pro, and eero Beacon models which add additional security for smart home devices.

With HomeKit support, users are able to restrict communication for smart home devices to only communicate in the home, to the default connections recommended by the manufacturer, or no restriction whatsoever. With smart home devices controlling everything from our lights to our locks, knowing that they are prevented from sending data outside your abode can offer a great deal of peace of mind.

The update is installed by heading to the "Discover" tab within the eero app.

Once the router is installed, all accessories will be supported on the HomeKit router and be more secure, but for added security the devices must be removed then re-paired with the network. This generates a unique passkey that only the router and your accessory know. This step ensures the highest degree of security possible and only needs to be done once.

HomeKit router support was announced at WWDC 2019. Thus far no manufacturers have added HomeKit support, making eero the first. Linksys appears to have an update imminent for its popular Velop tri-band models and Charter Spectrum was also announced as an early HomeKit router partner.

If you want to try an eero router with HomeKit support they are available direct through Amazon.

Updated to clarify details around re-adding accessories to a HomeKit router

lkrupp

Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly this was discussed in depth. The consensus of the panel, especially Alex Lindsay, was that Apple needs to design and manufacture its own HomeKit router and HomeKit products rather than rely on third party support, whose implementations are often less than secure.

soli

lkrupp said:

Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly this was discussed in depth. The consensus of the panel, especially Alex Lindsay, was that Apple needs to design and manufacture its own HomeKit router and HomeKit products rather than rely on third party support, whose implementations are often less than secure.

Right?! I'm glad Eero now offers HomeKit, but this now being owned by Amazon means they are monetizing data from traffic over these routers as much as possible.

While I don't care that Apple removed SNMP from their routers and have very few options compared to other vendors, at least they worked reliably and I don't have to worry about Apple selling my traffic to 3rd-parties.

coolfactor

lkrupp said:

Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly this was discussed in depth. The consensus of the panel, especially Alex Lindsay, was that Apple needs to design and manufacture its own HomeKit router and HomeKit products rather than rely on third party support, whose implementations are often less than secure.

From the article, it sounds like adding HomeKit to third-party routers makes them more secure, and puts Apple back in control over the router behaviour. Did I mis-read this part?

With HomeKit support, users are able to restrict communication for smart home devices to only communicate in the home, to the default connections recommended by the manufacturer, or no restriction whatsoever. With smart home devices controlling everything from our lights to our locks, knowing that they are prevented from sending data outside your abode can offer a great deal of peace of mind.

I don't think I could bring myself to buy Amazon-owned equipment, but it's great to see forward progress. I, too, hope that Apple re-enters the field of routers and networking.

agilealtitude

lkrupp said:

Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly this was discussed in depth. The consensus of the panel, especially Alex Lindsay, was that Apple needs to design and manufacture its own HomeKit router and HomeKit products rather than rely on third party support, whose implementations are often less than secure.

I couldn't agree more.  The article lost me at 'Amazon'.

mike1

Can we now get HomeKit support on Ring devices?

edited February 2020

marchawk

Can we now get Amazon Cloud Cameras to work with Secure HomeKit storage?

jagbatth

Looks like Amazon beat LINKSYS Velop routers fo the punch. Just a couple weeks ago Linksys/Belkin retracted statements on their websites saying they will be the FIRST routers to support homekit.
Its better late than never for Linksys velop for now I guess.

soli

coolfactor said:

I don't think I could bring myself to buy Amazon-owned equipment, but it's great to see forward progress. I, too, hope that Apple re-enters the field of routers and networking.

I bought them for my mother's ridiculously large house right before Amazon acquired them. The HW, SW, and setup have all been great. Apple's existing routers weren't ever going to be good enough since they don't have a proper mesh option. I don't think I'd buy them today because of Amazon, but I also can't argue with the results.

PS: Unfortunately, she hadn't been using the Eero routers for the last several months. An ISP tech came out to the house and convinced her that her routers weren't good and that she needed their modem/router combo for an additional monthly cost. 🤬 Of course her range and speeds are considerably worse now, which is why she contacted me… which she should've done before all this happened. I got her back onto the Eeros, but she's still paying the monthly fee to the ISP. :sigh:

mdriftmeyer

I doubt Apple purchased Intel's IP just to beef up it's 5G work. Apple most certainly is looking at adoption rates of HomeKit and will release their own stuff. When that happens people on rumors sites will whine and complain about monopolistic Apple once again.

macgui

lkrupp said:

Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly this was discussed in depth. The consensus of the panel, especially Alex Lindsay, was that Apple needs to design and manufacture its own HomeKit router and HomeKit products rather than rely on third party support, whose implementations are often less than secure.

I was watching that episode and couldn't agree more. I believe the lack of an internal web page and granularity is a big reason Apple routers weren't more popular. They were relatively consumer friendly but fell short in prosumer utility. Price and possibly power output too.

Even so, I'd take an Apple mesh HomeKit router in a heartbeat. I'm still using the last gen AEBS. I just think Apple has too many irons in the fire to bother with the router market, but I see the HomeKit router fire as being a very slow burn.

There are several Echo devices in my house but there won't be an Amazon router or a Google thermostat keeping them company.

soli

macgui said:

lkrupp said:

Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly this was discussed in depth. The consensus of the panel, especially Alex Lindsay, was that Apple needs to design and manufacture its own HomeKit router and HomeKit products rather than rely on third party support, whose implementations are often less than secure.

I was watching that episode and couldn't agree more. I believe the lack of an internal web page and granularity is a big reason Apple routers weren't more popular. They were relatively consumer friendly but fell short in prosumer utility. Price and possibly power output too.

Even so, I'd take an Apple mesh HomeKit router in a heartbeat. I'm still using the last gen AEBS. I just think Apple has too many irons in the fire to bother with the router market, but I see the HomeKit router fire as being a very slow burn.

There are several Echo devices in my house but there won't be an Amazon router or a Google thermostat keeping them company.

1) Funny how AirPort routers were pricey for people but now mesh router system far exceed Apple's prices and people seem willing to pay for them. I guess the public finally realized that a good WiFi setup is worth a little extra money.

2) I have Echos—and they're extremely useful—but I keep them and other devices on my guest network so they never talk to my local network which is pretty much just wired and wireless Apple devices and a wired NAS.

baka-dubbs

Soli said:

I bought them for my mother's ridiculously large house right before Amazon acquired them. The HW, SW, and setup have all been great. Apple's existing routers weren't ever going to be good enough since they don't have a proper mesh option. I don't think I'd buy them today because of Amazon, but I also can't argue with the results.

PS: Unfortunately, she hadn't been using the Eero routers for the last several months. An ISP tech came out to the house and convinced her that her routers weren't good and that she needed their modem/router combo for an additional monthly cost. ߤ젏f course her range and speeds are considerably worse now, which is why she contacted me… which she should've done before all this happened. I got her back onto the Eeros, but she's still paying the monthly fee to the ISP. :sigh:

Just an FYI, I don't know who your mothers provider is, but at least with Spectrum they can remotely turn off the wifi(all their modems now include wifi).  They pulled the same crap with my parents, but I was able to get them to refund the couple months they charged the $5.00 wifi fee.  I could care less about the the amount charged, its just seeing them take advantage of a generation that may be less technically inclined pisses me off(for essentially a downgraded experience from an older Asus gaming router). .

edited February 2020

lkrupp

Maybe Apple should buy iDevices. I get all my HomeKit stuff from them and their app plays nicely with the Home app.

rayz2016

lkrupp said:

Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly this was discussed in depth. The consensus of the panel, especially Alex Lindsay, was that Apple needs to design and manufacture its own HomeKit router and HomeKit products rather than rely on third party support, whose implementations are often less than secure.

I disagreed with you about a year ago, and I was wrong. Apple needs to build a secure home WiFi setup to replace Airport. 

mplsp

Soli said:

macgui said:

lkrupp said:

Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly this was discussed in depth. The consensus of the panel, especially Alex Lindsay, was that Apple needs to design and manufacture its own HomeKit router and HomeKit products rather than rely on third party support, whose implementations are often less than secure.

I was watching that episode and couldn't agree more. I believe the lack of an internal web page and granularity is a big reason Apple routers weren't more popular. They were relatively consumer friendly but fell short in prosumer utility. Price and possibly power output too.

Even so, I'd take an Apple mesh HomeKit router in a heartbeat. I'm still using the last gen AEBS. I just think Apple has too many irons in the fire to bother with the router market, but I see the HomeKit router fire as being a very slow burn.

There are several Echo devices in my house but there won't be an Amazon router or a Google thermostat keeping them company.

1) Funny how AirPort routers were pricey for people but now mesh router system far exceed Apple's prices and people seem willing to pay for them. I guess the public finally realized that a good WiFi setup is worth a little extra money.

2) I have Echos—and they're extremely useful—but I keep them and other devices on my guest network so they never talk to my local network which is pretty much just wired and wireless Apple devices and a wired NAS.

Eero was good, but amazon is bad, so they would be a no-go for me. 

The airport routers were more expensive, but they were solid routers that were well-integrated wit macs and were easy to manage and set up with the airport utility. As time passed, Apple did little to upgrade their functionality beyond adding the newer WiFi protocols. Meanwhile the mesh network system came out that were easy to set up, had sleek iPhone apps that were easy to use and gave you more features and control, and they also let you easily extend the network if you didn’t have hardwired Ethernet jacks. So yes, the mesh systems are more expensive, but they also give you more. Apple needed to either invest in Airport to make a competitive product or get out. Unfortunately they decided to get out. 

strangedays

macgui said:

lkrupp said:

Yesterday on MacBreak Weekly this was discussed in depth. The consensus of the panel, especially Alex Lindsay, was that Apple needs to design and manufacture its own HomeKit router and HomeKit products rather than rely on third party support, whose implementations are often less than secure.

I was watching that episode and couldn't agree more. I believe the lack of an internal web page and granularity is a big reason Apple routers weren't more popular. They were relatively consumer friendly but fell short in prosumer utility. Price and possibly power output too.

On the contrary, managing an Apple router with the app was far better experience IMO than those local admin web pages on most routers.