What you need to know
- Eero is rolling out a new update that adds DFS and WPA3 support.
- Update 3.19 will be automatically installed for all Eero routers.
- Additional stability improvements and bug fixes included.
Eero is rolling out a new software update to its series of mesh Wi-Fi routers that adds support for the latest security protocol and channel selection technology. The 3.19 update which applies to all of eero's routers, is only available through automatic updates for now due to the influx of network usage and new users over the past few months.
Security improvements in the new update include support for Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) under a beta label found in the Eero Labs portion of the company's app. WPA3 was introduced in 2018 as the successor to the entrenched WPA 2 standard and adds stronger security through encryption upgrades, and makes connections to devices without a display easier to manage.
Wi-Fi Protected Access 3 (WPA3) is the latest standard for wifi encryption. Enabling WPA3 on your Eero network provides added security for devices that support the WPA3 standard. This includes a new encryption method, SAE (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals), and MFP (Management Frame Protection).
Many modern smart devices, including Apple's iPhones, and iPads running iOS 12 and later, already support the standard. eero's implementation of the feature comes in the form of a "transition mode" which allows compatible devices to use the new standard, while older devices can still remain on WPA2.
The new update also adds Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) for owners of Eero Pro systems. DFS enables Eero routers to search for and operate over 5ghz Wi-Fi channels that are used by other industries, such as Radar.
Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) allows Eero to operate in channels shared with RADAR that are typically much less congested than other 5 GHz channels. Less congestion means better performance and reliability for your network.
Eero Pro routers will automatically switch to these channels which are often less congested, and does not require any user intervention. As with most updates, version 3.19 also includes several stability and bug fixes, which include HomeKit Secure Router updates, Port Forwarding and UPnP.
While Eero has provided a small recap of the changes via a support document, a developer from the company has shared a more detailed list via Reddit:
- Major new features:
- DFS support for Eero Pro in US and Canada; this provides access to tons of almost entirely unused channels
- WPA3 Transition Mode support in Eero Labs
- Major bug fixes:
- Fixed UPnP and port forwarding (port mappings should no longer go missing when upstream IP addresses change)
- Several memory leaks whomped
- Mesh stability improvements
- Channel selection improvements
- iPhone 10 compatibility workarounds
- Better throughput through code improvements
- Fixes to internal stuff to improve memory usage
- Better automatic channel selection improves channel selection, automatically
- Tons of fixes to HomeKit Router
- Also lots of fixes to the client management service, improving accuracy of app device information
- Race conditions in client roaming fixed
- mahoosive updates to DNS and Eero secure, including some I'm not allowed to talk about yet
- literally several dozen other bits and pieces, none of which are individually sufficiently important to call out, but all of which go towards making this a substantial update
New security, new channels
The Eero Pro Mesh WiFi System has everything you need for a reliable, whole home, network that can be set up in minutes. This router supports WPA3 (in beta) and Apple's HomeKit for enhanced security, as well as DFS for a congestion-free connection.
