Eero can nix your nagging Wi-Fi woes
How much is fast, reliable Internet coverage at home worth to you?
After all, when the Wi-Fi hiccups or is exceedingly poky it seems you could drive to the multiplex to watch a movie faster than it takes to stream or download a flick to your living room. Even basic Web browsing can be slow and painful, much less anything involving video.
For the past few weeks I’ve been testing a solution called eero, from a San Francisco startup of the same name. And while $499 for the basic eero package strikes me as a bit much, I indeed consider it a worthy investment.
Eero is billed as the world’s first home Wi-Fi system. It consists of what are essentially three identical Internet routers, but to call them routers shortchanges their capabililities. They effectively provide wireless access points and Wi-Fi extenders, too. Each is compatible with modern dual-band Wi-Fi specification standards. You’ll still use the modem supplied by your provider.
These small square 1.34-inch white boxes have no antennas sticking out, and only a single light on the front — you don’t mind placing them on a shelf or desk where they can be seen.
Rounding out the eero system, you’ve got a single Ethernet cord, three power cords and an app you must grab for your iPhone or Android device. Setup through that app is a relative breeze. There’s no complicated wiring either.
The first eero plugs via Ethernet into your existing cable or DSL modem, or in my case the Fios modem in my basement. (There are two Ethernet ports and one USB connector on the back.) I placed the second and third eeros in strategic locations on the first and second floors of my house, essentially extending Wi-Fi coverage to the upper bed- rooms where robust Wi-Fi has been hit or miss.
Under ideal circumstances, you’re advised to place eeros within 40 feet of one another without obstructions, obviously not always possible.
I’ve employed different routers and solutions through the years, including the $219.99 Google/ Asus OnHub router I reviewed positively recently. But eero has worked better than anything I’ve tried to date.
Most routers, including OnHub, are meant to work solo, unless you spring for Wi-Fi range extenders that offer their own complications, including cutting into available bandwidth. The three eeros work in tandem to form what is known as a “mesh” network that can smartly distribute Wi-Fi signals throughout the home. For larger homes, additional eeros sell for $199 each.
Via the eero app you get to name your eeros ( bedroom, downstairs, etc.), establish account and network passwords, and if you choose, create “guest” network access. You can also see how many and which devices are connected to your network, though for the moment you cannot prioritize one device over another as is possible with OnHub. Inside the app, you can muck with more advanced configuration settings, though I suspect the average user won’t bother.
You can test connection speeds from within the app too, and the speeds I’ve gotten, while they jump around, are sometimes in the ballpark of what Fios promises under my plan, something approaching 100 Mbps. But I didn’t need the stats to tell me I was experiencing really fast Internet in all corners of my home, whether firing up a movie inside Netflix or whizzing through cyberspace.