eero‘s new mesh router wants to be your internet watchdog. But, it also wants to get all your gadgets online. And it wants to do this with the addition of new security tools to the company’s eero Plus subscription service. Launched alongside the second-generation eero system earlier this year the eero Plus started out with two of the users biggest demands. These were a whole-home network security and parental controls with content filtering.
At the launch, the promise was always that eero would add more features over time. eero chief executive officer and co-founder Nick Weaver compared it to Amazon Prime at the time.
He said that just as Amazon had built up its subscription service with new features, so eero Plus will gain added functionality as it is ready.
The initial functionality was centered more around everyday security. Now, the new enhancements look to more advanced technology. Courtesy of Malware bytes, eero Plus now offers users an enhanced anti-malware protection along with antivirus software. An ad-blocking beta cuts all adverts on every device connected to eero’s WiFi, with a master toggle in the company’s app.
Elsewhere, 1Password is being offered for password management and finally, there’s VPN or virtual private network access from encrypt.me. The VPN offers a private tunnel that can be used both through eero and while away. eero Plus was initially described as the company’s push to make router software the next big Operating System platform. But, most of these new additions do not actually run on the network hardware by themselves.
The VPN access, for instance, is basically five licenses that can be installed on your devices. The Malwarebytes support is not antivirus and anti-malware running on eero, which would have been preferable, but instead, its three licenses for the local software. And, it is the same with 1Password. The eero Plus partnership is fundamentally for an account that lets you share usernames and passwords with up to five family members.
Only the ad blocking beta is actually running on the eero itself. And this could be a significant drawback, all depending on how many devices you have frequently used your network. Maybe if the new eero Plus services ran on the routers, every computer, phone, and IoT device would come under their umbrella of protection.
As it stands, the user is still responsible for installing the apps and deciding what devices to load them on to. This is not quite the ‘take away all networking headaches’ pitch eero has always made. eero Plus’ ad blocking launched from Thursday, while the remaining features will be added next month. Existing and new eero Plus subscribers will get them automatically. And if you’re looking for a price, the service is charged at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year.
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