If you are a user who has several Amazon devices in your home, it is very possible that you will be able to take advantage of this new proposal. Because it turns out that there is a trick with which you can turn your Amazon Echo smart speaker into a device that serves to amplify your home’s WiFi connection. Now we explain how to do it.
In order to carry out this project for which you do not have to be any handyman, what you are going to You need two Amazon devices. The first of them is the Echo that you are thinking of converting into a WiFi repeater. The second, meanwhile, will be one of the Amazon eero WiFi mesh systems.
Amazon takes advantage of the eero
Several years have passed since Amazon took over the eero company and integrated them into the family of devices that carry its brand. Since then, little by little, the manufacturer has been looking for a way to connect these mesh devices that allow bring WiFi connection to the entire home and thus not leave any corner of the house without coverage.
One of the ways it has found to achieve its objectives has been to facilitate compatibility between the eero and the Echo. The bad news is that Not all Echos offer this support, since it is something relatively recent that Amazon is now integrating into its terminals. Therefore, in addition to the eero, what you will need to have will be one of the compatible Echos. The list currently includes both the fourth generation Echo Dot (normal model and the one with a clock), the fifth generation Echo and the Echo in its fourth generation version.
How to configure it?
The good news is that, although this compatibility requirement is put on the table on the Echo side, with the Eero there is practically no problem. Its support rate is such that there is only one eero model that does not work with Echo. And it is one so old that it is very likely that it will not be a problem, being exactly the first generation eero Home Wi-Fi System that was marketed in 2016. Once this has been explained, we can now proceed to the configuration.
To get started, you need to connect your eero and Amazon user accounts. Although it has not become mandatory even though these network devices are already owned by the company, it is true that, when connecting the accounts, you get major improvements in usability. In this case, it will be something you will need so that both devices can connect. On the other hand, you will also need the Alexa account you are using to be the same. Make sure that you are logged in to all three services with the same registration and, on the other hand, do not forget that they must also share the same WiFi connection.
Next, check that you have all three services updated to the latest version. You can update the Echo by telling Alexa to check for updates for it with one of its voice commands. For its part, the eero is updated by entering Settings and checking, in the software section, that there is no update available. In the case of Alexa, the application is updated as any other app you have on your mobile. It is common for updates to be downloaded automatically, but if you do not have this function activated you will have to go to the store of your operating system, App Store or Google Play, and check if there is a new version available.
If you already have everything updated, it’s time for the next step. You have to do it in the eero application. Open the tool and tap the option called “Discover.” Now choose Amazon Connected Home and activate the option in which “Eero Built-in” is indicated. This is the name of the service that Amazon has incorporated into the Echo models that we have mentioned and that enables connectivity between the two devices. When you activate it, you will see how, on the screen, a list of the Echoes you have that provide compatibility appear. From there you just have to activate the Echo that you are going to transform into WiFi extenders.
Top recommendations
Amazon gives several tips that you should take into account. One of them is that you do not put two Echos converted into WiFi repeaters. if they are very close each other. That would make them lose the objective with which you are configuring them, since you must leave space between the terminals.
Another tip is that you do not use more than four Echos as repeaters. If you do so, you would not be achieving the best performance and you could even end up affect speed and stability of the connection. At the end of the day, this system has been thought of as a way to provide an extra function to your Echo, but not as a substitute for a better solution such as increasing the number of eero repeaters you have at home.
