Amazon has unveiled its brand new Eero mesh router with Alexa controls, making it the first Eero product released since it acquired the maker of mesh home routers in February this year. Priced at $99, the new Eero router is available in the United States starting today, and will arrive in Europe later this year.
Amazon boasts that its new Eero router offers hassle-free usage, allowing for setup of 10 mins or less. The router packs a dual-band radio system, as well as deeper integration with Alexa controls. With advanced Alexa integration, it allows users to control their network via voice commands. For instance, users can turn on or off guest Wi-Fi with voice commands, or pause Wi-Fi access to a specific device on the network (such as a video game console or any other device such as a tablet or a smartphone).
Such advanced features are currently not available for third party devices, though Amazon announced its plans to make an API so that other companies can use these advanced features. Routers from the likes of TP-Link, Asus, Linksys, and Arris will get support for these features later this year.
As already mentioned, the new Eero router will cost $99. However, it’ll also be offered in a pack of three which costs $249. According to Amazon, the three-pack can cover a house of up to 5000 square feet, and offer speeds of up to 350Mbps with dual-band 2.4GHz and 5GHz, and supports 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 LTE.
To recall, Amazon announced its Eero acquisition, manufacturer of mesh home routers back in February this year. Amazon stated that acquiring Eero will allow them to help customers connect their smart devices better, with Alexa-powered devices which will be easier to set up and manage. The latest Eero router marks the first new product from the mesh networking company since Amazon acquired it earlier this year.