Amazon announced today that it's buying Eero, a popular mesh router start-up that has made easy-to-setup whole home Wi-Fi without dead zones.
It's a move that "helps customers better connect to smart home devices," according to Amazon's press release, but really, it's another way to counter Google's smart home initiatives, one of the only ones Amazon didn't have an answer for in 2019.
Eero became one of the first companies to sell simple mesh routers in 2016, with identical routers hubs and beacons that could blanket Wi-Fi throughout a home.
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Later that same year, Google launched Google Wifi, a rival mesh router that worked the same way out-of-the-box. Little techie knowledge was needed to set it up, too.
Of course, pioneering mesh Wi-Fi technology is nothing when you're going against the likes of Google, so an Amazon acquisition seems to make sense for all parties.
What will Amazon do from Eero on out?
Today's press release notes that the Eero team will be "joining the Amazon family" and "bring Eero systems to more customers around the globe."
For now, it sounds like Eero will remain a separate company, sort of like Amazon did with Ring. Amazon acquired the smart doorbell maker this same month last year.
But one way for Amazon to ensure Eero's mesh Wi-Fi tech reaches the masses would be to integrate the idea into popular Amazon Echo speakers around a house.
It's not such a crazy idea. The Alexa-enabled Asus Lyra Voice is a wireless tri-band Wi-Fi router already doubles as a smart speaker and is being sold on Amazon today.
In the immediate future, you may see Amazon push the existing Eero 2nd gen router hubs and beacons, especially in the lead up to Amazon Prime Day.
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