Amazon announces updated Eero mesh WiFi routers with support for WiFi 6 and Zigbee, available for $129.99 and $229.99
Amazon Introduces All-New eero 6 Series Mesh Wifi Systems Starting at $129 Tweets: Dan Seifert / @dcseifert : Amazon provided basically *no* details on the new Eero 6 routers other than they support Wi-Fi 6, so I'm very eager to test these out: https://www.theverge.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Eero arrived as a premium mesh-router startup, then spent three years adding software layers: the Alexa integration and TrueMesh rerouting update, followed by the $9.99/month Eero Plus subscription. Amazon bought the company in early 2019 explicitly to make connecting smart home devices easier — the acquisition announcement framed the router as the connective tissue of its device ecosystem.
The Eero 6 line is the first clear product of that ownership: Wi-Fi 6 radios at $129.99 and $229.99 put mesh networking well below eero's original premium positioning, and built-in Zigbee turns the router itself into a smart home hub. The later Eero Max 7 shows where this ladder eventually leads.
First-order effects
- At $129.99, Amazon undercuts what standalone Wi-Fi 6 mesh systems typically cost while bundling a Zigbee radio — buyers get smart home hub functionality without buying a separate hub.
Second-order effects
- Dedicated Zigbee hub makers lose their simplest sales pitch, since the router most smart home households already need now absorbs their function — and every Eero sold deepens a customer inside Amazon's Alexa-controlled device stack.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, home networking hardware consolidates around platform owners who can subsidize routers as ecosystem gateways — the arc from Eero 6 through the Max 7 and Outdoor 7 suggests Amazon treats routers as long-lived infrastructure, not one-time gadget sales.
The trend: Home routers are shifting from standalone gadgets to platform-owned smart home hubs, with Amazon's Eero line leading the fold of wireless standards into a single Amazon-gated device.