Even though the Wi-Fi router space has seen its fair share of newcomers who claim to know how to build a better mousetrap, a new slick Wi-Fi router from Eero is turning heads.
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A single eero sells for $125. (Image source: Eero's website) |
Eero this week started selling on pre-order a single Eero for $125, with shipping set to begin this summer. But while Eero claims its box can outperform routers from other companies, most people likely will need three of its routers to cover their home. The company is offering a package of three for $299, The Verge reports.
The first router plugs into a cable or DSL modem, then launches an app on a smartphone to communicate using Bluetooth. It then guides the user to the best spots in the home to place the other two Eeros, which automatically configure themselves as wireless access points, explains TechHive. When it's done, the user has one SSID, one password and one contiguous Wi-Fi and Bluetooth network throughout the entire home, Eero CEO and co-founder Nick Weaver told TechHive.
Guests can access the network either by using the log-in data from the smartphone app or with a Eero app on their device and a touch of a button granting access.
According to the company's website, Eero nodes each have two radios--one for communicating with iPhones, laptops and other devices and one for communicating with the other Eeros that make up the mesh network. Depending on the current network conditions, Eeros will automatically tune their radios between the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency bands to avoid interference.
The big question is: How is Eero able to operate a mesh network with hardware that looks similar to others out there? Weaver told TechHive it's because his team wrote all of the software, including the firmware, device drivers, quality-of-service instruction set, parental controls and the Android and iOS apps, from scratch.
The industrial designer behind the Nest Thermostat did Eero's industrial design as well, so "you don't have to hide Eero in the closet," the company says.
For more:
- see the TechHive article
- see this TechCrunch article
- The Verge has this article
- see this Gigaom article
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