As someone who has worked from home for the past 15 years, there aren’t many things more frustrating than my internet connection going down in the middle of a work day. Yes, my kids act like it’s the end of the world when it happens after school, when they’re trying to unlock some forbidden fruit on Roblox or whatever, but it’s nothing compared to the internal rage I feel when I see my camera feed stutter on a video call.
My current Internet Service Provider (ISP) has gotten more reliable, but there was a period of time where I had complained about them so much on Twitter that I had four technicians and their boss randomly show up at my house asking if they could run a whole new service line in an attempt to fix my problems.
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Then I found Eero Signal
I currently use one of Eero’s mesh Wi-Fi systems, so when Eero announced its latest product, the $99 Eero Signal, my interest was piqued.
The small device, which looks like a wireless charging stand for your phone, connects to a compatible Eero router. When your primary Internet connection drops, your Eero system automatically switches to the LTE connection provided by Signal. (There is a 5G model coming later this year that I would instantly upgrade to.)
I’ve had Signal up and running in my house for several weeks now, and I have to admit – I’m thrilled. It perfectly captures where my service provider has failed me.
Setup was easy and it has deep controls
After unpacking the Signal and a 45W power adapter, I immediately connected it to my Eero system and the included power supply. The rest of the process required a few taps on my phone, adding the device to my home system, ensuring I had an Eero Plus plan for the basement, and I was good to go.
Eero offers two plans. You can pay $99.99 per year for 10GB of data per month, while $199.99 gets you 100GB of data per month through Signal’s connection.
To test Signal, all I had to do was temporarily disconnect the wired internet connection going to my Eero system and it switched to Signal almost instantly.
Hassle free internet backup achieved.
The final step to complete setup was to review the list of devices in the Eero app, allowing or denying access to data when Signal is active. It’s a quick and easy way to ensure your laptop or home alarm system and cameras stay connected to the internet during a power outage, but prevents your streaming devices from eating into your data allotment.
Recent maintenance put Eero Signal to the test
My home network setup is complex and in addition to the previously mentioned work video calls being a priority, all the self-hosted websites and services I have running are also personal and business websites from my basement. When my pages go down, I get sad. I don’t like being sad.
However, since installing Eero Signal, my sites have had virtually zero downtime due to lack of internet.
The reliability and speed of Signal was put to the test a few weeks ago when my ISP announced routine maintenance in my area that would take my connection offline for the day.
bring it on I said to myself as I read the email.
On the morning of the scheduled downtime, while I was out of town and away from the house, I received a warning that my connection had dropped and my network switched to Signal and then… nothing. I didn’t get a warning that any of my sites were down, and I was able to pull up a live stream of my Ring security cameras.
Several hours later I received another warning that the work was done for the day but they were unable to finish everything and expected a lengthy outage the next day.
The second day came and went much like the first — Signal started up and took over, delivering data to my home network and self-hosted services, all while I was able to call into a Teams meeting. The signal’s LTE connection averages 50Mbps down and 10Mbps up for me, which isn’t super fast compared to my standard connection, but it’s enough for short periods.
Internet interruptions are a thing of the past
I had gotten so used to dealing with sporadic internet outages that I didn’t realize how much time I spent worrying about it. Then again, being connected to the internet during the day is how I do my work, and without it I’m not very productive, so that makes sense.
It also makes sense that after setting up Signal and realizing that it lives up to its promise, I’ve felt relieved. A few months ago, the messages warning me of upcoming maintenance would have stressed me out for days.
Instead, all I did was get excited because it was supposed to be a stress test for Signal – and it passed easily.
That relief alone is worth the price. Now I can use that energy for something productive.
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