It’s Twixmas! If like our resident Network Guru, Doug Williams – Director of Engineering and Network Operations, you’ve traded the usual socks and Lynx Africa for a gadget gift this year, then you’re likely among the many people using the downtime between Christmas and New Year to declutter – then set up our new toys!
Doug’s top tech recommendation right now has to be the Amazon Echo, which is much more than just a great little smart speaker with Alexa and access to your favourite playlists. Compatible Echo devices support something called eero Built-in. Ogi Customers on our 300Mbps and 900Mbps packages are already familiar with the impressive wifi capabilities of the eero technology. But did you know that the Echo Dot can work as an extender to your home wifi network?
With eero Built-in, you can add up to 92m² (1000 square feet) of coverage to your eero network. It’s incredibly easy to enable. For new customers, this option will be automatically added when you set up your eero and link it to your Amazon account for the first time. If, like me, you signed up a while ago and need to turn it on, just open the eero app and follow these simple instructions.
And if that wasn’t amazing enough, with the voice assistant function enabled, you can now pause the internet for the kids with a simple voice command – very handy for when dinner is ready! On the home page of the eero app, you can manage the Echo Dot just like your other eeros.
The throughput of the Echo is up to 100Mbps so not full speed, but it’s way better than no connection! Plus, the eero and Echo Dot have a little trick up their sleeve: they can tell if they’re helping or not and will prevent your phones and other devices from connecting to them if they’re not. I currently have two Echo Dots – one in the utility room boosting the wifi, and another in the lounge very close to the Gateway Eero. The Echo Dot knows when the extender function isn’t needed and turns that feature off all by itself.
This is a gadget I love: just plug it in and let it do all the clever stuff, leaving me to enjoy my Spotify playlist. Speaking of playlists, is anyone else putting together the ultimate party playlist for New Year’s Eve? I’ve just ordered a few more in the January sales to link them together for multi-room music. Here’s how.
Have an amazing New Year, and see you again soon for some helpful blogs on home tech and how to make the most of our amazing Ogi full fibre network.
