Five Ways to Make the Most of Your Eero Wifi Network
Keep the wifi flowing at top speed.
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Credit: Amazon
One of the main selling points of Amazon's Eero wifi devices is that they provide a home wireless network that's easy to set up and easy to manage. The Eero app for Android or iOS can guide you through the process of getting your Eero units online, positioning them in the right spots in the place where you live, and keeping everything running smoothly.
Once you're through that initial setup phase and your wifi mesh system is humming along nicely, the Eero app also offers a number of useful features for managing your network—managing speeds, user access, device connections, and more.
Turn on guest access
Guest access can be easily managed. Credit: Lifehacker
If you often have visitors around who need to use your wifi, turning on the guest network is recommended. It means they can get online on their devices, but they don't have full network access—they can't see your printers or your smart home devices, for example, or start beaming videos to your Chromecast. It keeps the data and devices on your network safe, while still giving them internet access.
To do this inside the Eero app, tap Settings and then Guest network. You can set the name of the network and a password, and then you get options for sharing these details with other people—you can either send them directly through an app on your phone (Share Wi-Fi details) or create a QR code (Share QR code), which your guests are then able to scan with their smartphone cameras.
Protect the kids
You can assign certain devices to certain family members. Credit: Lifehacker
Eero lets you manage family members on the network: From the Home tab, tap the + (plus) button up in the top right corner, then choose Add a profile. Give the profile a name, then pick the devices linked to it (the gadgets your kids use), and tap Done. The profiles you've made show up on the Home tab—tap on any of them to make changes.
From an individual profile page, you're able to add more devices, and temporarily stop this person from getting online. To control the times they're able to access the network, tap Add a Scheduled Pause and choose the timings. Other parental controls, including app and website blocks, need an Eero Plus subscription ($9.99 a month).
Customize your devices
Your connected gadgets can be managed individually. Credit: Lifehacker
On the Home tab the Eero app shows you all the phones, laptops, and other devices currently connected to your network units. Tap on any device to make changes and see more information: You can change the name it's given in the Eero app and specify what type of device it is, you can see the internet activity it's responsible for, and you can see which of your Eero nodes it's currently connected to.
There's also the option to assign the device to a particular profile (see the previous tip). If you want to temporarily restrict this device's access to the network, tap Pause; if you want to block it permanently, tap Block this device and confirm your choice. To unblock a gadget you've previously booted off the network, go to the Home tab, then select the device under Blocked and tap Unblock this device.
Device notifications
Get alerts whenever new devices connect. Credit: Lifehacker
We get it if you already feel overwhelmed by the notifications hitting your smartphone, but the ones delivered by Eero can actually be useful. Head to Settings then Notifications, and you can set which alerts are allowed—they include notifications about the network status and software updates needed by your Eero units.
One type of notification worth turning on is New devices, so you get a heads up every time a new device goes online for the first time—you can also restrict this notification to unrecognized devices that don't have a name the Eero network has seen before. These alerts will abide by the general notification settings on your phone, of course.
Network management
More advanced options are also available. Credit: Lifehacker
You can apply all kinds of tweaks to the boxes on your Eero network: Just tap on them on the Home tab. If you've got an Eero unit in a room where someone is trying to sleep, for example, use the Status light option to dim the LED light or turn it off altogether. You can also run speed tests on your boxes, see which devices are connected, and assign them to different rooms in your home from the same page.
Head to the Settings tab for more network management options—under Network settings you can customize your DNS, and manage the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) protocol that some games consoles and media streamers rely on. You can also restart the network right from the app on this page, saving you from having to wander around your home turning all your Eero boxes off and back on again.
