eero (home multi node wifi)

Lazybones · February 23, 2016, 09:47:04 AM

https://www.eero.com/

Spotted a few positive reviews on this... Something to keep an eye on.

1. Multi node from the start (because you can't cover a hose well with one 5Ghz
2. Auto updates (because everyone we know remembers to update their router
3. Apple like easy setup.

Not sure about max throughput or other tech aspects but looks interesting.

Tom · February 23, 2016, 01:22:44 PM

Hm, I think I heard about this, but it looks different from what I remember. It's a really cool idea though.

It's clearly the solution for those who don't want anything super fancy (ie: Unifi and it's ilk), and want it to "just work(tm)".

That said, the new Unifi's do auto hand over and stuff. apparently lots better than the old ones ever did. The new Unifi AC Pro is basically a complete replacement for the old AP Pro, even fits the same mounts. It's also half the price. (except the cad sucks, so for me it was about the same price

) The range, speed and stability of this AC Pro is excellent.

Thorin · February 23, 2016, 02:06:21 PM

The marketing speak makes it sound like the next best thing since sliced bread, only $499 USD for three of their router/APs. I will not be surprised if it turns out to not be as good as the marketing speak.

I think the key to their tech is that they've packed two wifi radios in each unit, so a unit can be connected to another unit on one radio, then to devices on the other radio. That's probably how they get around the problem with range extenders that receive and re-transmit using just one radio cutting bandwidth in half. Even better, it can still be hardwired, which would allow two radios for devices to connect to.

The auto-updating feature is a good idea, as is having an app that you can put on your phone or tablet to control it all.

I'm not sure that this will be all that much better than the ASUS RT routers we seem to all be gravitating towards, though. I know that with just the one RT router in the front left corner of the house, we have no problems with streaming anywhere in the house, nor out on the road either in front or behind our house... The phones do report that the signal is not 100% when 35 feet away in the opposite corner of the house, but I know that the kids have started up videos while outside our back fence, which is 80+ feet away.

Lazybones · February 23, 2016, 02:21:49 PM

One router sort of covers the house but not at full signal and speed.

Three APs at this price if they also do handoff is the big feature.

Tom · February 23, 2016, 02:58:05 PM

Quote from: Thorin on February 23, 2016, 02:06:21 PM
The marketing speak makes it sound like the next best thing since sliced bread, only $499 USD for three of their router/APs. I will not be surprised if it turns out to not be as good as the marketing speak.

I think the key to their tech is that they've packed two wifi radios in each unit, so a unit can be connected to another unit on one radio, then to devices on the other radio. That's probably how they get around the problem with range extenders that receive and re-transmit using just one radio cutting bandwidth in half. Even better, it can still be hardwired, which would allow two radios for devices to connect to.

The auto-updating feature is a good idea, as is having an app that you can put on your phone or tablet to control it all.

I'm not sure that this will be all that much better than the ASUS RT routers we seem to all be gravitating towards, though. I know that with just the one RT router in the front left corner of the house, we have no problems with streaming anywhere in the house, nor out on the road either in front or behind our house... The phones do report that the signal is not 100% when 35 feet away in the opposite corner of the house, but I know that the kids have started up videos while outside our back fence, which is 80+ feet away.

The Asus routers are pretty good. I'm not using mine now though, as my Unifi seems to be more stable, even if my phone doesn't connect at as high of a bitrate (200mbps vs 400+), it may just be a power saving mechanism doing that tbh.

If these things are mesh only, they are still pretty cool. I'd love to give them a try at some point, but my one unifi ap would probably cover a 2000+ square foot house just fine. lol. and it's PoE + Ceiling mount. so double win. Triple win since it acts as a nightlight too. nice little blue nightlight on the ceiling.

Lazybones · February 23, 2016, 03:22:09 PM

Quote from: Tom on February 23, 2016, 02:58:05 PM
Quote from: Thorin on February 23, 2016, 02:06:21 PM
The marketing speak makes it sound like the next best thing since sliced bread, only $499 USD for three of their router/APs. I will not be surprised if it turns out to not be as good as the marketing speak.

I think the key to their tech is that they've packed two wifi radios in each unit, so a unit can be connected to another unit on one radio, then to devices on the other radio. That's probably how they get around the problem with range extenders that receive and re-transmit using just one radio cutting bandwidth in half. Even better, it can still be hardwired, which would allow two radios for devices to connect to.

The auto-updating feature is a good idea, as is having an app that you can put on your phone or tablet to control it all.

I'm not sure that this will be all that much better than the ASUS RT routers we seem to all be gravitating towards, though. I know that with just the one RT router in the front left corner of the house, we have no problems with streaming anywhere in the house, nor out on the road either in front or behind our house... The phones do report that the signal is not 100% when 35 feet away in the opposite corner of the house, but I know that the kids have started up videos while outside our back fence, which is 80+ feet away.
The Asus routers are pretty good. I'm not using mine now though, as my Unifi seems to be more stable, even if my phone doesn't connect at as high of a bitrate (200mbps vs 400+), it may just be a power saving mechanism doing that tbh.

If these things are mesh only, they are still pretty cool. I'd love to give them a try at some point, but my one unifi ap would probably cover a 2000+ square foot house just fine. lol. and it's PoE + Ceiling mount. so double win. Triple win since it acts as a nightlight too. nice little blue nightlight on the ceiling.

In my place floors and duct work do a good job of scattering 5Ghz in the corners of the house... My iPhone (older 5c) gets 90-99Mbps in the basement about 50Mbits one floor up and 20ish or drops out in my bedroom... With my second AP that is solved but they don't support hand-off / roaming so the phone sicks to one or the other. Real hand off between each AP is a true enterprise feature not found in many systems.

Not totally clear if these do it. However I found several glowing reviews about wifi speeds at the corners of a large house for those that have tested them.

Tom · February 23, 2016, 03:28:59 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on February 23, 2016, 03:22:09 PM
Quote from: Tom on February 23, 2016, 02:58:05 PM
Quote from: Thorin on February 23, 2016, 02:06:21 PM
The marketing speak makes it sound like the next best thing since sliced bread, only $499 USD for three of their router/APs. I will not be surprised if it turns out to not be as good as the marketing speak.

I think the key to their tech is that they've packed two wifi radios in each unit, so a unit can be connected to another unit on one radio, then to devices on the other radio. That's probably how they get around the problem with range extenders that receive and re-transmit using just one radio cutting bandwidth in half. Even better, it can still be hardwired, which would allow two radios for devices to connect to.

The auto-updating feature is a good idea, as is having an app that you can put on your phone or tablet to control it all.

I'm not sure that this will be all that much better than the ASUS RT routers we seem to all be gravitating towards, though. I know that with just the one RT router in the front left corner of the house, we have no problems with streaming anywhere in the house, nor out on the road either in front or behind our house... The phones do report that the signal is not 100% when 35 feet away in the opposite corner of the house, but I know that the kids have started up videos while outside our back fence, which is 80+ feet away.
The Asus routers are pretty good. I'm not using mine now though, as my Unifi seems to be more stable, even if my phone doesn't connect at as high of a bitrate (200mbps vs 400+), it may just be a power saving mechanism doing that tbh.

If these things are mesh only, they are still pretty cool. I'd love to give them a try at some point, but my one unifi ap would probably cover a 2000+ square foot house just fine. lol. and it's PoE + Ceiling mount. so double win. Triple win since it acts as a nightlight too. nice little blue nightlight on the ceiling.

In my place floors and duct work do a good job of scattering 5Ghz in the corners of the house... My iPhone (older 5c) gets 90-99Mbps in the basement about 50Mbits one floor up and 20ish or drops out in my bedroom... With my second AP that is solved but they don't support hand-off / roaming so the phone sicks to one or the other. Real hand off between each AP is a true enterprise feature not found in many systems.

Not totally clear if these do it. However I found several glowing reviews about wifi speeds at the corners of a large house for those that have tested them.

The whole point to a system like this would be proper hand off, or at the very least that feature that causes the ap to just boot clients that start getting a weaker signal, then the device connects to the stronger one.

Without that, its not that great

Thorin · February 23, 2016, 03:29:56 PM

Lazy: What are you using to measure your wifi speeds to your phone? And yeah, automatic AP-to-AP handoff would be awesome at home.

Tom: I agree with you wholeheartedly that your Unifi is cool.

Melbosa · February 23, 2016, 04:27:54 PM

I use UniFi at my client sites, its very kewl cost effective AP solution.

Tom · February 23, 2016, 05:00:17 PM

If the Canadian dollar didn't tank so badly, the new AP AC Pro would only be like $150. Sadly that is not the case.

Lazybones · February 23, 2016, 05:09:11 PM

Ya UniFi is great I just thought these looked more consumer friendly

Tom · February 23, 2016, 05:09:48 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on February 23, 2016, 05:09:11 PM
Ya UniFi is great I just thought these looked more consumer friendly

I agree. If they work as well as they claim, they are a pretty darn good solution for "normals".

Lazybones · February 23, 2016, 05:20:30 PM

Quote from: Thorin on February 23, 2016, 03:29:56 PM
Lazy: What are you using to measure your wifi speeds to your phone?

In this case just speedtest.net but it is only meaningful since my internet line is 120Mbit and my phones wifi performance is about equal or less.

Newer phones can probably exceed that speed.

I normally run my internal speed tests with a laptop , iperf and a known good wireless adaptor.

Tom · February 23, 2016, 05:24:34 PM

Quote from: Lazybones on February 23, 2016, 05:20:30 PM

Quote from: Thorin on February 23, 2016, 03:29:56 PM
Lazy: What are you using to measure your wifi speeds to your phone?
In this case just speedtest.net but it is only meaningful since my internet line is 120Mbit and my phones wifi performance is about equal or less.

Newer phones can probably exceed that speed.

I normally run my internal speed tests with a laptop , iperf and a known good wireless adaptor.

Sadly my laptop is maxed with wifi n

and oddly i don't seem to see very good results via iperf on my laptop either. my fastest wifi device is my OnePlus One. lol. I do actually have a wifi ac usb adapter but it was a bit flaky under linux last i tried.

Lazybones · April 18, 2016, 04:42:16 PM

Reviews have started to come in, it is just OK / SO SO

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32962-eero-home-wi-fi-system-reviewed