Amazon Eero Wi-Fi mesh
Amazon promises fast and simple mesh Wi-Fi from its Eero sub-brand. But does it deliver?
Eero is a mesh Wi-Fi system that promises to make upgrading your wireless network a simple process. It’s available for purchase as a single node ($199) which covers 140m2 or in a $429 three pack which covers $460m2. It promises to act as a single, stand-alone router that can connect directly to your modem. Plus, that its network is easily expandable, that it works with your existing internet service provider, that it takes minutes to set up and that it gets better over time thanks to automatic updates. The problem is that absolutely none of this is new.
Eero does have something going for it, though – the company was acquired by Amazon in 2012 and subsequently should work well with the tech giant’s other, Eero, smart-home devices. We’ve also found that there’s no allconquering mesh Wi-Fi system in the current market. Could the Eero be the one to plump for?
Our three-node system came well presented with the box containing three, smart-looking, glossy, white nodes, resting above a welcome card which describes a four-stage set-up. Each node has two Gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB-C port for power. The box also includes three separate USB-C chargers and a 1m Ethernet cable. The card told us to download the Eero app and follow the instructions. Once that was done we were promised a 10-minute setup process. Oh, if that were true!
If you don’t tick the ‘agree to be spammed with promotions’ tickbox, setup won’t progress. It took us multiple resets, form-refilling in and a frustrating 45-minutes to get past this foible. Then we finally moved onto, what felt like, a 20-step process that repeatedly asked us to activate and deactivate things. Why have we dwelled so much on this? Because there’s not much else to write about.
Once up and running the app is simple and intuitive to use, not least because there aren’t many features. One tab does allow you to enable Amazon Wi-Fi simple setup to help make Echo devices like smart speakers and Fire TV sticks connect more easily to the network, but it relies on you linking your Eero account to your Amazon account, which can’t be done through the app. An “Eero Labs” Beta program allows you to preview new features and network improvements but they’re all commonplace in competitors. There’s not much to get excited about.
We ran our performance tests in a three-storey Sydney townhouse, downloading large video files from an Synology 1019+ NAS to a Dell XPS 15 OLED laptop. Up close the Eero managed a decent transfer speed of 316Mbps but this dropped considerably to 112Mbps when one floor up and 88Mbps two floors up – speeds are in-line with many rivals.
At $199 for a single node and $429 for three, it’s very pricey, especially when compared to the Officeworks-supplied rival from Tenda which costs just $196 for three nodes. In the face of all this, we can’t recommend the Eero, it will only suit buyers who are already heavily invested in Amazon hardware.
Expensive, mediocre performance, limited features and a promise of an easy setup that doesn’t hold true. Disappointing.
“Once that was done we were promised a 10-minute setup process. Oh, if that were true!”