“With Apple reportedly discontinuing its line of wireless routers, here at Apple World Today, we’ve been testing potential replacements,” Dennis Sellers writes for Apple World Today. “One that stands out is the eero home Wi-Fi system, which is handsome, easy-to-use, pricey — and with some (self-imposed) limitations. In other words, it’s a product Apple could’ve/should’ve made.”
“The eero works fine as a single 802.11ac router, but is designed to be used as a mesh network. Traditional networks rely on a small number of wired access points or wireless hotspots to connect users,” Sellers writes. “In a wireless mesh network, the network connection is spread out among multiple wireless mesh nodes that ‘talk’ to each other to share the network connection across a large area.”
“The price is $199 for a single eero unit and $499 for a set of three. And if you’re going to use a wireless mesh network product, it only makes sense to have multiple nodes,” Sellers writes. “If you can afford it and don’t mind the feature limitations mentioned, the eero system makes it a breeze to create and manage a seamless Wi-Fi network that covers a large area with reliable Internet access.”
Tons more in the full review – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: When our Airport devices give up the ghost, eero is likely the direction in which we’ll head.
If you want better Wi-Fi, you might also want to consider Eero’s Wi-Fi solution, too.
SEE ALSO:
Mossberg: Eero makes Wi-Fi simpler and stronger – February 23, 2016
Link is bad…
GOOD LINK:
https://www.appleworld.today/blog/2016/12/14/the-eero-home-wi-fi-system-is-the-mesh-network-solution-apple-shouldve-made
The problem I have had with apple airports extending my wireless network is that the speed drops considerably if not connected by ethernet. Do the Eero have a different solution to this?
You need to place them closer apart. If you place the repeater at a distance where you already have slow speeds, it’s not going to magically increase the speed. You’ll just get more bars, at the same slow speed.
I have 3 airports in my home and had horrendous results trying to use them as range extenders. What I ended up doing is create 3 wifi networks all with same name (SSID) and password and that has worked pretty well and blankets my home in coverage and my devices just hop to the various wifi networks since they are all same name/pw. Each airport is connected to ethernet though so I’m not doing “range extension” over wifi.
Supposedly the newer mesh network solutions in the last 1-2 years like Eero, Google Wifi, etc all do a much better job at this range extension without requiring ethernet on any of them except for the main one next to your router/access point.
Yeah I had same issue. The airports do a horrible job at range extension over wifi and I ended up having to connect each to ethernet.
Supposedly the newer generation of mesh devices like Eero, Google Wifi do a much better job. You only need ethernet on your main mesh device and the others can connect, create, and extend mesh network over wifi.
I have no first hand experience how well this works though. I think there are physical limitations to how well wifi can perform given having to go thru walls, stucco, steel beams, 2 story homes, etc. I’d probably still opt to connect all my access points to ethernet if that was an option.
Well obviously I didn’t mean to reply twice lol.
Oh, I thought it was the network repeater…
This is problem which exists with Wi-Fi in general, not just Apple’s routers. When you extend a network, the repeater extends it at the strength at which it received it. So, if you put your repeater in a spot where it gets 75% signal strength, you’ll get 75% of the original speed from that access point. You’re increasing the range of your network, but the speed stays the same. So, if you’re getting 120 Megabits per second next to the main hotspot, and the repeater is getting 60 megabits per second, that’s what you’ll get from it. Ethernet on the other hand, speeds it up to the original speed, essentially setting the distance back to zero. And yes, I’m Network+ certified.
It’s amazing how much eero improved speed and removed deadspots in my house. They are as good as they advertise. You won’t be disappointed in how they solve this problem.
I love the added parental features. Being able to pause one device very easily and while remote is wonderful.
It’s extremely user friendly. My apple time capsule has been relegated to just being a time capsule and not a router.
This is my favorite new tech device of 2016
Can we not lobby (as a group of concerned Apple users, for Apple to please make continue making AirPort Extreme like products.
While everybody else is asking, “what would Steve Jobs do?” , Apple is trying its hardest to ask the opposite.
Steve Jobs specifically told Cook and other Apple employees not to ask that question, rather to find their own way. That may or may not be working. But attempting to emulate dear departed Steve Jobs is not likely the answer. Better to be the best “you” possible than a poor and flawed imitation of SJ.
Another Jobs mistake.
Steve put together a comprehensive array of products that made the Apple ecosystem quite complete. When the Mac was the center of it all, everything (except the web services) worked great together.
Now today Timmy wants the cloud rental business to be the center of the ecosystem, and has abandoned at least half of the business lines that used to just work great. Worse, Apple’s products don’t work well together anymore. How do you plug your new iPhone into your new MacBook? You pay the Apple adapter tax!
Apple needs to get back to what made them great — a cohesive set of products that worked together without renting a goddamned iCloud.
How do we know they’re not working on the next generation of Airport extreme like products with siri & home kit integration and perhaps other features? As far as I know, the news that Apple is getting out of the wireless networking business is pure speculation based on the reassignment of some staff. The wireless network is the backbone that connects all the devices in the home my guess is Apple isn’t getting out, they’re going to do it better.
if the person that commented on the article at Apple World is correct, their terms of service are quite onerous for using their devices..
I’m considering Google Wifi (mesh). Curious if anyone else has looked into this vs others like Eero mesh.
Meant to post this too:
http://nymag.com/selectall/2016/12/google-wifi-eero-luma-comparison-test.html
After a couple of decades of trying to get decent wifi throughout my L-shaped 2-story house, I thought an Airport Time Capsule and 4 Airport Express units (all devices the latest versions) was the best I could do. Wrong! I could get 100+ mbps in the same room as the Time Capsule, but the download speeds dropped to half at the nearest Express, and even more as I moved further away. I’ve got several dozen Apple devices on my LAN, and was hoping Apple would improve its Airport offerings. But when the recent news about Apple stopping development of its wireless network devices arrived, I decided to look at Eero and other “mesh” network solutions, as well as read all the reviews. I was unable to assess the new Google wifi gadgets because they hadn’t been released yet. I finally zeroed in on Eero and the new Netgear Orbi, which uses “star” or “hub and spoke” topology rather than true “mesh.” I finally decided to buy a 3-pack Orbi (ac router and two satellites) from Costco for the same money as Eero. Why? Various reviews and tests indicated a drop-off in download speeds with Eero, whereas Orbi’s download speeds were at full strength from the same locations. Yes, Eero’s little white squares appeal to my Apple-trained sensibilities, but Orbi’s book-sized router and satellites deliver the goods. Aesthetics be damned. I now get 100+ mbps everywhere on my property, even inside a car parked on the street. Ya pays yer money and takes yer choices. I made the right choice.
Running CAT6 to each of those Apple routers should have given you the same results as the mesh network if not better.
Our Apple Time Capsule works great! So good I ordered another as stand-by when and if present unit needs replacement. Feels good.
Time Capsule’s are nice, but why hasn’t Apple allowed me to back up my iOS devices to it instead of to the silly and way underserved iCloud.
Backing up my iPads and iPhones to Time Capsule should have been an easy thing to do, but Apple hasn’t done it Annoying…
Well, unless there is some new groundbreaking technology that the mesh uses extending ranges, I fail to see how its signal could be any better than the airports as far as extending ranges, unless it uses a much more powerful radio, which is probably prohibited by the FCC.
Apple could do so many things without Tim Cook.