Amazon has agreed to buy eero, a specialist in home mesh wireless that was an early mover in the mesh router space.

Like other providers, the company uses multiple access points to create a customisable Wi-Fi ‘blanket’ for the home, creating a system that is performing, reliable and simple.

Amazon was already selling eero products and services from its online store and has now made a deeper commitment by getting into the hardware. The WiFi mesh market for payTV providers is relatively competitive and presumably Amazon will use the capability for its own products and services, including Alexa devices.

Amazon says buying Eero will allow the company to “help customers better connect smart home devices”, as it already has millions of Echo speakers and third-party devices tied to its Alexa ecosystem in homes.

"We are incredibly impressed with the eero team and how quickly they invented a WiFi solution that makes connected devices just work," said Dave Limp, senior vice president of Amazon Devices and Services. "We have a shared vision that the smart home experience can get even easier, and we're committed to continue innovating on behalf of customers."

Like its acquisitions of Ring and Blink in home automation, it is expected that initially at least Amazon will retain the eero brand. Whatever happens, the move is seen as strengthening the retail heavyweight's smart home offer, including access to user data.

With the eero app, customers can set up a system under 10 minutes, according to Amazon, adding that they can share their network, programme parental controls, and run speed tests on demand. Eero can also communicate with the cloud to receive instructions and updates, meaning the systems are self-updating, self-fixing, and self-improving all the time.

The transaction - the value of which was not disclosed - is subject to the usual closing conditions.

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