So far in my life, I haven't needed to be “spotty”. A well-chosen and carefully placed Wi-Fi router works well in our simple spaces, but one condition militated against simple solutions until Eero released a device made specifically for the purpose in November.
This is by no means an exhaustive examination of the entire Eero ecosystem, but we wanted others who might be in a similar situation to know what worked and what didn't work.
I have the privilege of rooming out in the country here in the Pacific Northwest. Although the room is small and open enough for an ISP-supplied modem-router combo to get the job done, There is also a barn (now with a guest bedroom, even insulation) about 300 feet away from the light brush. A branch. Well outside the range of a strong multi-antenna router.
I've been thinking about connecting the barn to Wi-Fi in some way for years. Originally, the internet didn't work outside (it was in the woods, after all.) But now the kids want to be outside and watch bedtime shows or play iPad games away from the adults. Cell coverage in the area is getting better, but you really want Wi-Fi for those things.
Unfortunately, The layout and the lack of power anywhere between the two buildings contradicted the accommodation. Every solution we thought of was either a pain in the neck or simply overkill and beyond our technical capabilities. I decided the simplest way would be to run a 300 foot Ethernet cable or bury a conduit to power a larger repeater. Eero Outdoor 7 came out.
The main purpose of Outdoor 7 is; As far as I can tell, It's about blasting with Wi-Fi in your yard, so you can set aside a hammock or a treehouse or whatever. It's basically a weather-proof, weather-proof, and secure solution for your Eero network. It is a directional path. But what caught my eye in the announcement was that you could use the two as long-distance bridges. I immediately contacted the company and sent them this diagram (not remotely measured) to explain what I expected:
Green is the main indoor unit and blue is the outdoor unit. Pretty good, right?
Little did I know that their promotional materials are basically the same, but rendered with a bit more precision:
Anyway, I was sent a set to review.
Although not a Mesh man. As you can no doubt tell from my technical diagram, I've set up a few networks, but somehow never run from Eero. It can now be said that it was the easiest of the bunch by a fair margin. Build the house with a regular unit first and see the instructions for Outdoor 7.
Generally speaking, the guide You want to mount it as high as you can on an exterior wall; There should be no obstructions such as bushes and trees in the line and path to the destination. got it. Anyway, I set it up on an 8×8 block I found in the woodpile and leaned the door (always closed) against the back of the mirror. You can directly see some debris and a very nice saltpetre fan and a large tree halfway up the trail. nailed it!
I didn't do this out of laziness — yes. Not at all. But according to the layout, If installed “correctly” using an external outlet and mounting hardware, it would only be about a foot up each side. So if you can go “high” with this piece of wood and only have a piece of glass between it and the exterior it belongs to, why does it leave the exterior messy and wet (it's raining)?
I really don't know if this will work. All I know The thing is, YouTube is just embedded directly into the rocks. He asked her to leave the barn and find her partner first.
At least I had the idea to test the distance beforehand. With a default ISP router, My phone only got about 100 feet straight before it failed cellular. After replacing the Eero unit, I got to about 150 feet in the middle of the field. The outdoor unit made it more or less to the wall of the barn before collapsing in its little box. But do not go inside the door at all.
A fortunately placed outlet on the outside of the shed allows a second outdoor unit to be mounted a little further, as suggested. Several steps up, allowing you to roughly face the first one. I didn't use a mounting tool, just hung it on two nails (if the location wasn't convenient). So until it's done right, it's going to be windy. But what's important is that I was able to scan the barcode on the bottom of the device, even beyond the reliable range for my phone's Wi-Fi signal, and within minutes I was able to sync with Bluetooth and connect to my home network. Plug it in. no login 192.168.1.1, Nothing.
It was as simple as I was sure I had made a mistake somehow. But even though I'm pointing it outside, the outside unit is still spraying the inside of the barn to some extent, reaching the bedrooms with 100+ megabits. There are a couple of blob zones, but nothing major, so you could add an interior to keep the bullet out.
Obviously, this solution isn't cheap. An Eero Pro and two outdoor guys will run you north of grand, although I could easily get by with a non-Pro indoor unit or one of the latest generation. It will save me a bill or two.
But consider the alternatives: using cable would cost at least a couple of hundred dollars to rent a trencher (I wouldn't do it with a 300-foot slab), and the network hardware, not to mention the work. It will be pretty DIY done. The big repeaters we looked at were also pretty serious and showed decent visibility — however, we'd probably have to run both Ethernet outer ends to them and get another router for the barn. There are external mesh nodes like the TP-Link ones; However, they are area transmitters. Can't reach the barn due to lack of power in the field and internal field signal. This is also not an option.
I needed something simple and integrated that could signal a few hundred feet, and if you didn't want to be a sysadmin or cut grass, I was disappointed for years that such a thing didn't really exist. We may have overlooked some options, but the new Eero Outdoor fits the bill on paper, and it's easier to install than I expected; It's even easier than the blanks I have.
Honestly, I wouldn't buy one to cover a field or yard. Do you really need Wi-Fi for another hundred feet so you can watch TikTok while you brush?
To me this sounds like hell:
But the two points form a signaling bridge, simplifying the problem we've been scratching our heads at for years. I have a feeling there are tons of people out there in a similar situation – if that's you, don't think twice. It will cost you a bundle one way or another. You can also do it in an easy way.