An Echo Dot Can Extend Your WiFi (But Should You?)
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- With Eero Built In WiFi extender, an Echo Dot or Echo smart speaker can now extend your WiFi (for free). An Echo Dot can act as a full Mesh WIFi Extender using Eero Built In. However, there is good and bad with this new feature and I'm not sure that you're going to want to do this. I'm pretty sure this is one of the best wifi extenders out there and it's also one of the cheapest, but maybe you just want to look at a standard Eero extender or router pack? PS. I'll show you why.
I'm going to compare Eero Built-In with Echo and Echo Dots to the standard Eero systems and show you the good, the bad, and the ugly with this new WiFi Extender you have in your home.
Buy an Eero 6 like I did here: geni.us/Eero6AYL (Amazon affiliate link)
Buy an Echo Dot 5th Generation here: geni.us/EchoDo... (Amazon affiliate link)
Buy an Echo 4th Generation here: geni.us/Echo4t... (Amazon affiliate link)
Buy an Echo Dot 4th Generation here: geni.us/EchoDo... (Amazon affiliate link)
But remember, the feature isn't yet available on the Echo Dot 4th generation, so wait until it does show up!
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Thanks for watching, and Don't Hate, Automate.
Brian
Buy an Eero 6 like I did here: geni.us/Eero6AYL (Amazon affiliate link)
Buy an Echo Dot 5th Generation here: geni.us/EchoDot5WClock (Amazon affiliate link)
Buy an Echo 4th Generation here: geni.us/Echo4thGen (Amazon affiliate link)
Buy an Echo Dot 4th Generation here: geni.us/EchoDot4thGen (Amazon affiliate link)
But remember, the feature isn't yet available on the Echo Dot 4th generation, so wait until it does show up!
Want to see how Eero works and how to set up your system? ua-cam.com/video/_uUdOoQ1pCs/v-deo.html
Great information! Also, When you have one of these Echo Dot's to close to an Eero Router the echo dot's capability to extend wifi coverage is automatically disabled by the Eero Router. When you open the Eero app you'll see the following example message when you tap on a specific echo dot, in my case, Family Room Echo Dot. The message reads: "Family Room echo dot is not extending wifi" - "You already have great coverage at this location and eero Built-in has been automatically disabled".
Oh nice! That might not have been something it did when I first got it
Very interesting observations! The device limitations, speed and placement would be enough of a deal breaker to just spend a little more for a full mesh network
We've got the eero 3 pack which has been working great for us.
Great content
Thanks sir! Yeah it's an interesting option, but I'm not sure many will use it now
They must have updated these echo dots since this video already because I am extending my Wi-Fi and at the same time using it as a home theater speaker
Nice! That's great news!
I was hoping the Alexa extenders would make this a no brainer for me. The speed, inability to daisy chain the speakers, and inability to decide what devices connect to them makes this a no-go for me. If I do an eero, it will have to be with the multiple native device configuration. Wonder how eero compares to Wyze’s new offering?
I'm gonna find that out actually :) Wyze has said they'll send me a pack!
Excellent as always, Brian! I had an issue when I tried it as I already have good coverage throughout my house...too good for this, in fact. I didn't write down the exact message, but it basically told me my coverage was already good and I didn't need the Echo Dot's coverage help. I can see one possible use case that some folks might have. It might be useful to put a Dot in your garage if you have a WiFi camera watching your driveway or perhaps a WiFi irrigation system, or even a garage door opener and the coverage isn't "solid." I use Eero and have one already in my garage for all the stuff I have there. Thanks again, Brian.
Yeah that's a really great use case I think. It's that last mile approach and I think it can be useful for that situation. I was impressed with the stability on high bandwidth devices too, so I think your spot fits well.
Would be great if they do this to Echo Flex.. it is much sleeker and more convenient and not taking up spaces
Question, does the wifi extender make the wifi better and faster on phones also or is it just other alexa’s in the house?
A Wifi Extender provides benefits to any connected devices. So phones too!
Ahhh, it’s only available in the US & Canada! I’ve been messing around for days trying to enable Eero built-in, I’m my house in Spain.
Thanks for clarifying, Brian!
Awwww man, you could always try and put them on US accounts. Sign up for an Amazon com and find a fake address to use. You'd need a number to verify the account but it can usually be done.
But that speaker would be American then ...
@@AutomateYourLife I think I’ll probably bide my time until the European release. I had another Eero 6+ delivered today, and that’s working fine. Although, I’m a little disappointed with the range between access points. I had an Echo Dot series 5 arrive on a Black Friday deal too (approx 25€), in the vain hope that Eero Built-in would spring into life. But, alas no…
Thanks Brian, really appreciate your help mate. (Long term viewer and subscriber.)
I'm in the UK and I've installed 3 eero 5's which I'm quite happy with. Two are ethernet wired. They give me up to 300mbps wifi which is extremely good. I'm looking to upgrade my bedroom echo dot 3rd gen to a 5th simply because it has a better sound and features a visible clock. Can I use it not as an extender just as a smart speaker? I wouldn't like it to slow my speeds down.😊
@@fus149hammer5, don’t worry. Like so many other things in the UK, it doesn’t work over here.
@@fus149hammer5 the Echo devices don't have the extender functionality in Europe yet. And, where they can be used as extenders, it's optional to do so.
Thank you! I am using both the echo 4th gen and 2 5th gen as WiFi extenders You answered my questions. Also you can’t put a speaker too close to the eero router. Don’t know why. But I had to move a speaker further away (10 feet) from the router. 😮😂 but thank you again. 😊
Thank you for that bit about the speaker! Good luck!
You highlighted all the important aspects of using the echo dot as part of your mesh network. Thanks for the video. Have you compared Eero to any of TPlink'ss mesh offerings?
Not TP Link personally, but Nest and now Wyze. All very comparable
Kool, I wonder if Google thought ahead and secretly made their Hub Maxs and Hub Minis into extenders, and are just waiting for Matter to fully roll out before they turn that capability on.
Watch it only be in the 2nd gen versions which would force to buy 5 all new Nest Hub Minis and 1 new Nest Hub Max
Would you do it for that performance though!?
@@AutomateYourLife YES! lol
@@1MarkKeller Shiny Things Anonymous..
@@rosiehawtrey Why?
This review was exactly what I was looking at! thx!
Glad I could help!
Sadly, the Echo Dot 5 isn't quite set up to be future-proof. I just replaced our old FiOS router with an Eero 6E (our house is small enough to only need the one) and unless they plan on either a firmware update to add 6GHz to the ED 5's WiFi extender (best case scenario IF the hardware already supports it) or a new ED 5E (not quite best case scenario as it's doubtful to come out in the near future with the 5 just recently having been released), I'll wait until I actually need an extender to shop for one that will hopefully then include tri-band offerings.
Yeah you're not going to find that on these Echo Dots for sure. They did do the 5 GHz but no 6.
I have a very new and capable Mesh system here at home. Not sure if I should play around with it.
Doubtful! If you're happy with your mesh, leave it 😃
How is security? I always worry when Amazon, Google etc…manufacture devices like these. I did read I can put Express VPN in place
Tough to tell exactly how security is with these. I'm not trying to break them, but it's the same as Eero as far as I can tell security wise. I think that makes it as good as any consumer level product out there.
Brian you crushed this! Informative and entertaining! It's almost as if Amazon is building sort of a walled garden with Eero. Let the IoT wars begin again
The war's on!
Quick question. I've a TP-Link router and I'm using Smartlife/broadlink/Switchbot with a mix of WiFi and Zigbee stuff. Echo Flex x 2 and a Nest Mini for voice. Would it be worth putting the WiFi stuff on the guest 2.4Ghz network as opposed to the private network? What advantages or disadvantages?
I had to answer that with a video: ua-cam.com/users/shortsmoZoZVVZ1nQ?feature=share
Thanks for this review! Very informative and complete 👍🏻
Thanks for watching!
Any idea how well these work outside? Our home is small 1850sq ft, looking to get the 6 plus, but we more so need it for the wifi outside. Our ring cameras barely make it on our cheap system now, and we also have a tv we just added to our patio. Other than that all we use the wifi for really is our phones and tvs. No computer no gaming no speaker systems. Wondering if the concrete walls in our garage/patio area would reach on this? Ty!
You're using all the highest streaming devices, so it doesn't reaaaaaaalllyyy matter that you're not using the other things.
I wouldn't try to stream cameras, TV, or much through this system. Get a better mesh system! I'll demo one this weekend!
Now if you're going to just use Eero and the 6 Plus, I think you'll be just fine!
Hey Brain, do you think using an Echo Dot gen 4 would be just as effective as the 5s as a network extender?
It seems like it. I see no real changes in terms of networking hardware in specifications.
So if I want to connect like 15 smart devices more or less, and 8 to 10 devices (phones and laptops) this would be a great option?
Not to these no, but with an Eero router and these yes. But you can't connect more than 10 devices to each of these WiFi extending speakers, for sure
Today in what other countries are available?
Don't know, you'll need to check with Amazon's support pages for this feature
This may be a dumb question, but can you limit a dot to just 2.4ghz extension? I wouldn't want any device that needed high throughput to connect to the dot, I'd prefer directly to the Eero or hard wired. But for smart home products, such as lights that only use 2.4ghz, the dot would be ideal in my use case to eliminate a few dead spots. If you could use the preferred frequency to filter what devices connect to the dot, this maybe a solution for me.
Sadly, no. You can kinda do it through distance from the speaker. It's not hard to keep something outside of the 5Ghz range
Do ISPModems on the other site of the Pond not have any Wifi Router? In Germany its common that every ISP Modem has a Switch an Router incudet. Some like Vodafone even offer own Mesh Extenders.
Yeah they do! That's a modem/router combo, but you can switch it out if you want. For smart homes you kinda prefer your own mesh usually though
@@AutomateYourLife Yes,i bought my own Router Modem Combo crap thing for 500 bucks and use Tp Link for Wifi an the 500€ thing only as a Modem (I dont wanna change it, because Vodafone Customer service is so BAD that they can charge me 10€ more an i will not call them.)
It's simple really : wired is best and highest speed. One wifi router = best speed but not best coverage. Each daisy chain hop you add is worse and worse wifi speed but better coverage. Star topology with 2 hops to the outside world is maybe at least 30% or maybe 50% drop in wifi speed depending on your speed, hop speeds etc.
Basically mesh will cover but at loss of speed.
I have an echo dot with clock 5th gen and it does not extend the network. I have 2 eero pro 6E and wanted to add extra coverage but it was impossible. They need to make it easier to setup and remove the option that prevents it from working outside of the US or Canada.
Might make sense to attach those things to an American Amazon account if you're not too far out :)
You can change the location of your account, but watch it...it does some wild things. So maybe just make a new one in the US
@@AutomateYourLife Yes, my account is based in the US but I live in Panama. I have tried to use VPN to pretend I am in the US but nothing. I believe eventually they will roll that feature everywhere else and make it easier to understand / setup
Thanks for thr advice.. I think i will leave it out of my shopping cart
Will this feature ever work outside the US, like in the UK
I'm sure it will. It always takes longer though!
I'm in the UK too. I'm not sure if I want it to act as an extender if it slows down the speeds.
Can these new dots be used as wifi extenders for non-eeros routers or is it limited to Amazon's eeros ecosystem?
Totally limited to eero
That's not good!
Any known insider coming Black Friday deals?
No sorry. I'm not thrilled with what I'm seeing yet
Thank you sir.
Thank you sir!
Cool idea but not worth it especially since you only get 100MBPS sure that's enough for Browsing the Web or doing basic things but if your gonna try to Download a lot of things or Stream in 4K or anything like that then that's not gonna work out too well. My Mom has a Echo Dot 4th Generation and I thought about trying it with that but I thought better of it because I don't really need to do it since I have the Amazon Eero Plus Mesh WiFi System I got it on Sale on Black Friday and I've been very happy with it and I only use 2 of the Extenders I have 1 Upstairs and 1 Downstairs and that's enough Coverage for our House I might use the 3rd Extender out in the Garage I'm not in the Garage much but it would be nice to have good WiFi Coverage out there.
Ya and so maybe it works for the garage eh? That's a good use case.
Just when I thought about going back to Amazon. Thanks for the advice. Might look into the Google WiFi system instead.
The Eero routers themselves are great for wifi. Just the dots aren't amazing extenders
Now, Dot is a mesh!?:)
It can be!
@7:10 40 gigabytes? 🤔
UA-cam video raw footage...or the latest video game
Great content but no thanks. I just switched to a Deco mesh setup. Rock solid and fast. I pay for 400 down/20 up and I can't believe that I'm actually getting 90% of that speed on wifi.
Edit: Since having smart devices I've gone from Netgear router to Amplifi/Ubiquity and now Deco/TP Link and the switch to the Deco is the 1st time that everything connected up automatically. In the past I've had about 25% of my devices that had to be reset and reinstalled.
Thanks for sharing! Good to hear about that experience. Deco's just been very good for everyone who's talked to me.
Echo dots are TERRIBLE if you have dead spots in your home. Mine automatically turn off the mesh extension because the Dot has a good connection but a few feet away wifi can't connect at all which is why I bought this. You cannot force it to stay corrected so it's useless
Something is off there Steve. I didn't have that kind of an issue. I'm not sure what it is, but maybe a little testing of a few different spots in your home or checking other wifi signals in the spot might help
Thanks!
Oh you're too kind Big Bear!