The new Amazon Echo Dots can extend your Wi-Fi network — here's how

Echo Dot with Clock on desk
(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Amazon's eero mesh wi-fi service is going to get a bit more robust this year as the company rolls support for it out to a number of Echo devices and debuts a new backup network feature that will kick in if your Internet goes down.

These are game-changing features for the service that cement the Eero Pro 6's spot on our list of the best mesh routers you can buy. Here's what we know so far about the new features coming to eero, which were announced at the Amazon event alongside a new eero PoE 6 ($299) router and eero PoE 6 Gateway ($649).

Eero Built-In coming to Echo devices 

The big news for Echo device owners (and who among us doesn’t have at least one sitting in a closet somewhere) is that Amazon is adding support for eero’s mesh wi-fi tech to 4th and 5th generation Echo Dots (both with and without Clocks) as well as the 4th gen Amazon Echo.

When your Echo gets the feature Amazon claims it will be capable of adding up to 1,000 square feet of coverage to your network and supporting speeds up to 100 MBps, which sounds good on paper. 

Your eero network is about to get a bit more robust if you own an Echo Dot. (Image credit: Amazon)

The feature is slated to arrive on 5th Gen Echo Dots and 4th Gen Echos on October 20th. Amazon says 4th Gen Echo Dot owners can expect it to arrive “in the coming months” but did not provide a specific date. When it does, you can enable it through your eero app. 

Eero Internet Backup kicks in when your Internet drops

Also, Amazon announced that select ISP customers and eero Plus (formerly known as eero Secure+) subscribers will also get a new feature in the months ahead called eero Internet Backup.  

Eero Pro 6 review

Eero's unobtrusive little boxes will soon offer select customers the option of designating a set of backup networks that can include mobile hotspots - -for all those times your ISP drops the ball. (Image credit: Eero)

In short, it does what it says on the tin by letting you designate up to 8 wi-fi networks (or mobile hotspots) as backups, making it easy to switch to one if your primary network loses Internet access. When the problem is fixed, eero Plus automatically switches back. 

 Outlook 

With these upgrades Amazon just made eero a lot more appealing to those of us who own Echos. While it’s a little frustrating that the new Internet Backup tool isn’t available to all eero users, it sounds like more of a “nice to have” than a must-have feature for the service. 

Alex Wawro
Senior Editor Computing

Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than a decade of experience covering both for outlets like Game Developer, Black Hat, and PC World magazine. A lifelong PC builder, he currently serves as a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering all things computing, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.