[dfhjr]

I’ve heard a lot of good things about eero mesh routers on Kim’s show and think I like the concept. My ASUS RT-AC88U is approaching EOL and will need replacement.

My home network is configured in a non-vanilla flavored manner. I am an amateur radio operator with IP (some static, some DHCP assigned) connected radios and control devices. There are also other IoT devices on the network. Of all the devices, some are wired, some are (2.4 and 5 GHz) WiFi, some are ZWave, and some are Zigbee. For separation, I have some of the IP devices running on guest networks. I usually manage these networks and the router via its web interface, accessed through my wired PC desktop.

The deeper I dig into eero information (articles, support community, reddit) available on the Internet, the more it appears I won’t be able to gain the access and control I need from my desktop PC. It isn’t clear the app interface will allow me to do what I need either. I checked with eero tech support and got an “I’m not an eero network engineer, but your network probably can’t be configured on an eero.”

I got the impression Kim uses eero at home, and I would guess she has a less than standard network configuration. Other users out there might have experience, too.

I would greatly appreciate any recommendations you might have. One option I am considering is to replace the AC88U with a newer one and configure the current AC88U as a mesh extender.

Thanks in advance,
don

[TeamKomando:John]

Hello dfhjr,

Regarding your Zigbee and Zwave devices, all of your Zigbee & Zwave devices should be connecting to a hub which then connects to your network. Whichever wireless router you use should not be an issue. Regarding Eero, you are correct. Guest network devices are segregated not only from the main network, but also from each other; the only thing they can access is the internet. They can’t even see the Eero itself, technically.

I would stick with what you are familiar with Asus, take a look here for the new Wi-Fi 6 Tri band Mesh solution. If you do go with this then I would ditch your existing router or just configure it to handle all of your IOT devices since most of them are only capable of 2.4 Ghz.

[dfhjr]

John,

I ended up with another ASUS and mesh’d it (router) with my old ASUS (node). I do have the ZWave and Zigbee devices on their own hub which is networked through the ASUS (router) IoT guest network. I was able to maintain my previous configuration (same SSIDs and passwords so all clients required no changes) and extend my WiFi network. I discovered the mesh node does not extend the guest networks so the IoT devices still run through the main router.

I mostly liked what I saw in the eero implementation, so will likely recommend it to friends who don’t have special requirements.

Thanks for your response.

Take care and stay well,
don

[Author]

Replies