Eero upgrades mesh wireless networking solution for better range, easier setup

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion
Mesh networking solution company Eero has updated its eponymous hardware to version two, and has added an extending Beacon and a subscription service to its lineup of products.




The eero second generation model has the same design and footprint of the first release. The revised edition has tri-band WiFi and two Ethernet ports, with the company claiming that it doubles the speed of its predecessor as a result.




The new eero Beacon is half the size of the base device, and plugs directly into the wall similar to the original Airport Express. It is also equipped with a LED nightlight, coupled with an ambient light sensor and automatic dimmer.




Both the second generation eero and beacon are backwards compatible to the original eero feature a Thread radio for "internet of things" devices, "intelligent backhaul" allowing the devices to switch to a eero-specific frequency in real-time for the backbone of the system, and easy setup an updated app.

The $9.99 per month eero Plus subscription service offers protection against phishing attacks, guards against accidentally accessing sites associated with harmful content, grants advanced parental controls, and gives users priority customer support with "limited or no wait" according to the company.

The second generation eero Home WiFi System, and eero Beacon are available for preorder, and is shipping in a few weeks.

One eero and one Beacon retail for $299, with a package adding another Beacon selling for $399. The Pro Wi-Fi System with three eeros sells for $499.

AppleInsider evaluated the original Eero system and found it an "easy solution with acceptable range and speeds."

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,069member
    A $120/year subscription to a wifi network device? No thank you.
    djkfisherStrangeDaysjbdragonstevenoz
  • Reply 2 of 11
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,286member
    My Orbi is working extremely well. Very happy with it. They too just introduced a plug-in extender as well.
  • Reply 3 of 11
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    eightzero said:
    A $120/year subscription to a wifi network device? No thank you.
    It's not mandatory, but I agree with you.
    djkfisherSpamSandwich
  • Reply 4 of 11
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    I absolutely love my Eero!  Best piece of technology I've bought since the iPhone.
  • Reply 5 of 11
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,311member
    eightzero said:
    A $120/year subscription to a wifi network device? No thank you.
    These things are expensive enough as it is and now they want $120 a year on top of that? Everyone wants a subscription. Hey it's only $9.99 a month, start adding them all up and it's crazy. No thanks.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    macky the mackymacky the macky Posts: 4,801member
    AppleInsider said:



    The eero Plus service offers protection against phishing attacks, guards against accidentally accessing sites associated with harmful content, grants advanced parental controls, and gives users priority customer support with "limited or no wait" according to the company.

    It also can be used as a bar of soap if you're in a pinch.
    SpamSandwich
  • Reply 7 of 11
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    Goodness. These things are surprisingly inexpensive. I'd love to see more details about the hardware they use. "Tri-band" is marketing nonsense, because they only use two bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) with two radios on one of them (typically 5 GHz). Beyond that, though, I wonder about their antenna layout, transmit/receive chains, and the processor capacity.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,931member
    Many of the mesh network devices I've read about require access to an online account to be functional. For most of them it's free, which is nice, but makes me question their business model - either they're factoring years of ongoing costs into the initial price of the device, they're depending on ongoing sales to fully fund all of the costs, or they're selling your data. On some level, a monthly fee is a little reassuring to me that the plan is financially viable long term, but I totally agree; $10/month ($99 if you buy an entire year) is too much.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    jbishop1039jbishop1039 Posts: 257member
    zimmie said:
    Goodness. These things are surprisingly inexpensive. I'd love to see more details about the hardware they use. "Tri-band" is marketing nonsense, because they only use two bands (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) with two radios on one of them (typically 5 GHz). Beyond that, though, I wonder about their antenna layout, transmit/receive chains, and the processor capacity.
    Tri band routers host one 2.4 GHz network and two 5 GHz networks. If managed properly they can help speed up normally congested 5 GHz networks by splitting them into two groups and offering up more bandwidth. But, this is only beneficial to those who have a ton of devices connecting and competing and have a very fast internet connection. But, it can still be a good feature for those who can take advantage of it. 
    hmurchison
  • Reply 10 of 11
    rtdunhamrtdunham Posts: 428member
    So for a user with only himself and one other family member, no gaming, what's the better solution: the three-Eero pack, or the Eero-and-two-pucks package?
  • Reply 11 of 11
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,265member
    Subscriptions are the new App Store. Like there's an app for that, now there's a subscription model for that.
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