Introducing TrueMesh™, Alexa Skills, and new app features
Modern life runs on WiFi. From binge watching Stranger Things to checking Instagram from bed to working from home, we rely on it as a core utility. Yet, decade-old traditional routers just aren’t prepared to handle the number of devices we own, or the high bandwidth that we demand from them. That’s why it takes a system — multiple eeros connecting wirelessly to deliver fast, reliable WiFi to every corner of every room. Not only is eero the world’s first home WiFi system, we’re also the best-reviewed.
Something that’s been unique to eero from the beginning is the promise that it gets better and better. It’s easy to forget that most networking equipment becomes obsolete the minute it leaves the factory. And while meaningful over-the-air (OTA) updates are something we’ve come to expect from our phones — and, increasingly, our cars — routers have typically offered little more than an occasional, difficult-to-install security patch.
eero owners, in contrast, have seen an update about every other week: improving speed, reliability, and interoperability; or adding new features like Family Profiles. And we’re ready to announce our biggest OTA update yet.
Introducing TrueMesh
Today, we’re releasing TrueMesh — it’s the next generation of eero mesh technology, built from the ground up to work perfectly with eero hardware. At the core of this update are significant improvements to our mesh routing algorithms, enabled by the learnings we’ve gathered through having networks up and running in homes around the world. Overnight, eero customers will see up to 2x the speed within their network, far greater intelligence in how their network adapts to their home, and flexibility to add even more eeros to their system. This is an entirely free update — every eero system will be upgraded automatically.
Overnight, eero customers will see up to 2x the speed within their network, far greater intelligence in how their network adapts to their home, and flexibility to add even more eeros to their system.
Up to 2x the network (LAN) speed, overnight
With TrueMesh, the speed at which data is transmitted between eeros (the Local Area Network, or LAN) will increase by up to 2x. While every network is unique, we saw over 40% improvement on the average network in our beta program. TrueMesh uses advanced protocols to ensure that the link between every eero is stronger than ever before, which means that data can move through your home at even faster speeds.
What does doubling the data speed between eeros mean in practice? Well, if you have a 100Mbps download speed with your internet plan — a typical high-performance plan in most US cities — you’ll be able to confidently stream 4K UHD video in the farthest corners of your home. On multiple devices, simultaneously. And regardless of your internet plan, you should notice even snappier WiFi connections everywhere in your home.
Intelligent WiFi that adapts to your home
While our mesh technology has always automatically switched between the 2.4GHz and 5GHz radio bands to find the clearest channel, with TrueMesh your network becomes even more intelligent. TrueMesh understands your network’s full topology — how all of your eeros are connected to each other and to all of the connected devices in your home — in real time. It always finds the best route for data through your network, and quickly switches paths to avoid any interference.
Dynamic rerouting means that data can take multiple pathways to reach a device, optimizing for the fastest, most reliable path.
The flexibility to add as many as you need
With TrueMesh, data ‘hops’ through as many eeros as you need. At roughly 40 feet per hop, that means you could easily deliver enough bandwidth from one end of a football field to the other, and still be able to stream 4K Netflix in the end zone. TrueMesh also makes it possible to Ethernet-wire additional eeros to any eero in your network if you need to expand to hard-to-reach places like a garage, tool shed, or pool house.
At roughly 40 feet per hop, that means you could easily deliver enough bandwidth from one end of a football field to the other, and still be able to stream 4K Netflix in the end zone.
Alexa, manage my WiFi
We’ve always strived to ensure eero works well with every connected device in every home. Partnering with the Alexa team at Amazon, we’ve reimagined how a customer can control WiFi throughout their home, using just their voice. While Amazon’s Echo is a relatively new product, nearly one in five eero customers have at least one on their networks, which is similar to the number of eero homes that have a Sonos or Nest device.
In the coming days, eero customers who own an Echo will be able to:
- Find your devices, throughout your home, based on which eero the device is closest to.
- Pause the internet for dinner or other family moments.
- Turn off the LED lights for bedtime (which you’ll now be able to do from the app, as well).
New app features: a better view of your network
It’s hard to convey how frustrating it is to experience a connectivity issue and not have any clue what’s going on. WiFi shouldn’t be a black box. Over the coming weeks, we’re rolling out new app features that provide a better view of what’s happening on your network. From being able to see how much data your connected devices are currently using to understanding the connection strength of a particular eero, the app will not only give you information, but also suggest ways to optimize your network through better placement. It’ll even be able to detect if there’s an issue with your modem or Internet Service Provider.
A preview of new app features that provide a better view of what’s happening on your network.
As always, customers can use the app to manage and check the status of their networks remotely, from anywhere in the world.
The virtuous cycle of data-driven innovation
The development of TrueMesh, the Alexa skills, and the new app features all depended on the robust data infrastructure that we’ve put in place. Our cloud securely ingests anonymized, aggregated performance and diagnostic data — readings from temperature sensors, WiFi spectral scans, speed test results, bandwidth usage, and link quality between eeros — from every active eero around the world. It’s by far the largest data set from consumer mesh networks ever compiled. Not even wireless researchers at MIT have access to such diverse data. We’ve used the data to understand and optimize for the types of network topology, WiFi traffic patterns, and client devices on eero networks.
It’s by far the largest data set from consumer mesh networks ever compiled.
The great thing about a data-driven product development process is that it’s a virtuous cycle. The more network performance and connected devices we’re able to analyze, the faster we’re able to iterate and innovate. In turn, that means a better product — via OTA updates — for existing customers, and a more attractive product to new customers. The more eeros there are in the wild, the better all eero systems become. It’s this data-driven process that made it possible to ideate, build, and launch TrueMesh within a year of launching eero to the world.
The more eeros there are in the wild, the better all eero systems become.
What’s next
This is the beginning of a massive WiFi upgrade cycle — potentially on the scale of SD to HD TV a decade ago — that we’ll continue to lead. We’ve invested heavily — in cloud and data infrastructure; a full-stack, passionate team; and an evergreen beta program — to innovate at a rapid pace. We’re just scratching the surface of what we could do with the connected devices in our homes and with services like Alexa. Core to our DNA as a company is a focus on great design and integrated hardware/software solutions, and we spend a lot of time brainstorming everything we want to make possible in our homes. We couldn’t be more excited to turn those ideas into reality.
More to come.
-Nick
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