Apple HomeKit Routers: Explained! 

One of the things I wanted to add here for clarity that I forgot to mention in the video is that some HomeKit accessory brands won't work at all in "Restrict to Home" mode. I've heard the following brands mentioned around the internet already as having issues: Eufy Homebase 2, MyQ garage door, iDevices, DLink HomeKit cameras, Ecobee thermostat

Apple needs to get back into the router business rather than relying on third party router manufacturers

Thanks for this video, Eric. It is the first video I've seen that deals with some basic use applications without slipping into a long list of enabled devices in a Homekit home.

Thanks for the video Eric. You didn't touch on something I think is worth noting. If you don't remove and re-add a HomeKit accessory, eero will still separate the device and block traffic based on your per device settings, but if you remove and re-add a device, the eero will give that device a per-device PSK, so it will not have credentials to the network that anyone else can use. That makes it more secure than just enabling it without re-building your HomeKit home.

Great video Eric. I’ve heard some cases where people have had to re-add all their HomeKit accessories. Glad to hear you had a smooth experience. Now if Netgear will bring this to the Orbi mesh system I’ll be happy!

Great explanation Eric. Sounds much easier than I previously thought. It’s been years since I’ve updated my routers so once the dust settles and other brands chime in, I’ll have to upgrade. It will be great if Apple gets back into the router game but I don’t have high hope for them.

I enabled this a while back, but never knew the benefits...this was great!

Forces the industry to higher standards that’s why Apple does so well in different areas, pushing those previously approved standards to new highs! Thanks 🙏🏻 great honest review!

Great video Eric, I just enabled this on my Eero and I think the first place I will use it is with my LG TV. I’ve heard a lot of TV manufacturers send data about what you watch back to home base. This seems like a perfect use of this feature. For everything else I think Automatic is good and I’m glad that’s the default. As a manufacturer ourselves we want to be able to provide security and stability updates to our devices and in Home only customers won’t get those updates.

I’m planning to invest in a Mesh Network system and was looking into NETGEAR NightHawk WiFi 6 MK63, when I realized it was not communicating around this HomeKit integration capabilities while Linksys or Eero were… I really wanted to buy Netgear and at the same time I would hate to have a system which would not integrate the best of Apple security protocols. Thanks for the explanation vidéo ! I need to make up my mind now ;)

Do you have any experience with TP-Link (Specifically the Deco M5 Mesh) and Homekit? I am brand new to Homekit/Smart Homes, and i am having issues connecting Accessories (such as the Aqura Hub, Phillips Hub etc). I have to configure a separate AP only broadcasting 2.5GHz to connect the accessories but that creates a whole other issue.

That was an excellent simple review. This is my first time on your channel. Kudos!!

Hey Eric, great channel. I have a old school apple airport extreme and it works great... mind you I have maybe 8 smart devices on so there is minimal load. My interest in updating my router would be increased security and to accommodate future growth in the smart home world. Very good video well explained as always.

I would love my Netgear Orbi mesh network to be updated with Apple HomeKit secure router 😍

Wow, this was really informative. I’ve wanted to use HomeKit for a while now but I’ve built my network and security with Orbi, Nest and Google Hubs. It has been a great experience but I really like how the HomeKit simplifies everything into one app. The device for $89 you recommend on the other video is something I’m going try first before reinvesting a whole new system. Thank you for this, it’ll be great to see future videos 👍🏾.

Convenient timing. I was trying to research this yesterday haha

Thanx for explanation. Have had eero mesh for a long time, just implemented Homekit for Velux wifi solar skylights.

I’ve noticed that most HomeKit routers are not WiFi 6. Advertisements for WiFi 6 boast 4 times the capacity of WiFi 5 allowing up to 50 devices. That means that current HomeKit WiFi 5 routers top out at a paltry 12.5 devices! What’s to point of that? Even 50 devices is a bit limited. A smart home likely has multiple door/window sensors, motion sensors, gaming consoles, laptops, smartphones, tablets, smart TV’s etc.

Ubiquity AMPLIFI Alien router just added this today simple setup 👌🏽

Very informative Eric. I'm just planning my home network on which I primarily want to control smart devices. I'd like to summarize your key points and ask you to confirm if I fully understood or correct what I didn't. Fair? I think that I understand the benefit use of the wifi mesh routers that are compatible with Apple HomeKit. That network provides secure access to the HomeKit enabled devices, broad coverage and manages traffic. I am not sure though if one of those routers needs to be hard connected to internet (via my ISP) or if they can all be 'satellites' of my existing ISP moden/wifi router. I also now understand the differences between the functions of hubs and routers. I still need to place an Apple hub (I'm going to go with the iPod Mini) to set up rooms, scenes, scenarios, etc into my network. It is not clear to me where I need to place that hub in the network. Anywhere? I'm going now to subscribe. Cheers.

@Eric Welander, do you plan to upgrade to Eero Pro 6?

Great explanation and video. I didn't buy Eero because it belongs to Amazon and I don't trust Madame A at all. And as a father of 2, security is key for me. So I bought the Gryphon Router. Not sure if you know about it. It has all kinds of security built-in, parental control, and so on. But your video just made me second guess my 3 months old purchase :)

Hi Eric, new subscriber here with a quick question: Currently, I turn on some of my HomeKit devices before arriving home, while I'm still outside. Will I be able to do that, using a HomeKit router? (of course I have a Home-Hub).

Can you please do a video specifically on routers and mesh networks supporting "Wifi 6" and their Apple Homekit compatibility

This is so odd, Eric. I never saw this video show up in my feed nor in my notifications. I have subscribed with the bell enabled for all on your channel. Good thing I was looking in your channel if you uploaded anything new.

I only see one accessory listed: Signify Netherlands B.V. Bridge which I think is the Philips Hue hub even though I have other accessories like Smart TVs and Sonos Speakers

Eric. Have a Home kit system in my house. One of the main WiFi items is several Apple Extremes as I am sure your aware apple no longer make or support these devices. At what point should I be worried about these devises I have been waiting the Velop IP 6 with Home kit support to come out. What are your thoughts. And maybe a show the focus on when it is time to upgrade your device like routers and switches IE 10 baseT, gig a bit and 10 giga bit Maybe it might depend on the ISP speed of your supplier. Thanks Jim

How does the Starling HomeBridge interact with a HomeKit router? Any issues there? You do have both installed in your home, so you should have noticed if there is an issue or not

Great explanation... well expressed ! Thinking upgrading my airport extreme (the flat one... not the tower) I get message on iOS14 that my wpa2 is not that secure and that wpa3 would be better... loking to Homekit as well... what is your recommandation for secure compatible wifi router ?

Thanks for this very in depth discussion.

Thanks. 2 questions: 1. can I use my Aqara hub as the alarm system in homekit when restricted mode is on?(because I have to use the aqara app to tell which devices should trigger the hub...) 2. when I use a Fritzbox for internet connection and disable the wifi of it and only use it as a bridge:which connects per Lan to the eeros acces points, am I able to use Homekit Router? Thanks so much!!

Such a great video of breaking down what this networking means. I was wondering if you can do a video about how to work with these eero routers when your ISP forces you to use eero as a bridge. Can you take advantage of these options and are there ways to work around it.

You have an aeroplane on the shelf behind you. Can you please let me know where you got that from? Cheers

Hello, do you recommend the Linksys Velop 4200 or the Eero 6 pro for a 1,500 sq for home? The office is on one side of the house and is the only room with a hoax and ethernet ports. I was thinking of just getting one router since my current Eero 6+ two pack setup doesn’t support HomeKit. I also noticed the wireless backhaul Eero 6+ in the living room gives me slower Wi-Fi speeds of 270 mbps using wireless backhaul Eero 6+ in living room vs. 420 mbps using ethernet wired office Eero 6+ Wi-Fi speeds.

Have you tried the Starling home network hub ( allows nest integration with HomeKit ) and the eero?

so the eero has to be the network gateway for this to work, not just wireless ap with a dedecated non-homekit router/gateway?

Would the device at 9:06 of your video work with the Eero HomeKit enabled router? What is that device? Thanks for the info!

Thanks Eric!! Another great video. How do you feel that Amazon owns eero and sharing my data?

We’re you able to access all of your smarthome outside of the house while on restricted mode?

Hi Eric, is Eero HomeKit router configurable as a “standard router” (I think for example at options like Mac filtering, dhcp static reservation, ecc ecc)? Thanks.

I heard that the Linksys Velop will be having the HomeKit supported. I wonder if this is real or it will be released this 2020?

Nice video Eric and thanks for the breakdown of whatHomeKit routers are and aren't. I'm hoping that Netgear enables the Orbi with HomeKit. If Netgear doesn't jump on this train, I'll be looking for alternatives. My hope is that the rumored HomePod mini might also be wireless access points for a larger HomeKit wifi system... well I can dream!

Nice video Eric. It should be noted that this feature will not work with Eero routers set in bridge mode.

I’ve tried the Linksys mesh routers and they couldn’t handle dual bands. Long story short, I’m back using Apple Airports in a mesh environment and they work perfectly. I’m receiving 500mbps up and down a good distance from the routers and hopefully there secure. Haven’t had any problems as of now with security and don’t need to restart often like like I did with other routers. I have over 50 devices on the network. Apple really should get back into the game with routers, plus with Time Capsule built in, perfect. Don’t give use these half baked routers‼️

how many devices can be connected to this router? I am having issues with my Apple Extreme router saying 54 devices connected, now I'm having issues connected new devices.

Just Use Home Assistant and locally controlled devices. There's also no reason you can't set up a separate VLAN for your IoT devices or create firewall rules to lock them down.

You forgot to mention WiFi 6 (802.11ax). I prefer to use the up-and-coming WiFi 6, but you don't mention it, especially if it's a router!

I thought devices have to be remove before protected by homekit router. But now it sound very easier 😍 pairing them with devices made by China manufacturer may be a good idea

Is it possible that having a HomeKit secure router with the feature turned on would block me from adding a third party hub to HomeKit?

Are there any WiFi 6 HomeKit enabled routers?

5 months later, still no HomeKit router update promised for Linksys Velop.

OK… so does anyone have any experience with this using HomeBridge? Does it make it go all wonky or anything, or can you just disable it for those devices without issues?

Great info Eric! Do you see a future where a HomeKit enabled router (or similar device) will also serve as a cross platform Bridge? I’ll be surprised if Apple ever allows a 3rd-party device to operate as a Hub, but having a ‘generic’ bridge would be SO nice. Personally, I’m hesitant to go buy products from multiple manufacturers because I just don’t want to deal with the hassle of having multiple Bridges - plus I (almost exclusively) use the Home App for controlling all of my smart devices. I don’t want to have to use other Apps (read as ‘manufacturer App’) once a device is added to my system. Thanks again Eric. Good stuff.

would this disable homebridge ?

I could be in the minority, but I’d rather have higher-end gear and deal with setting up firewall rules on whatever kit I’m using. HomeKit routers do seem convenient for people who don’t know or don’t want to deal with whitelisting certain sites. I doubt HomeKit functionality will make its way to more SMB-oriented solutions like Ubiquiti’s Unifi lineup or anything from Ruckus.

Apple makes it seem easy for everyone to take care their own home network.

Its probably not the first time youve heard this but you sound like Owen Wilson😂

do you use arlo cameras? this was a total mess for me...connected eero to homekit and everything blew up...constant internet drop off, arlo bridges knocked off, hue bridge knocked off and I couldn’t even connect to the app store on my devices...I went through every toggle of security, Arlo bridges would simply not stay connected...I removed the routers from homekit 2 days ago, rebooted the network, everything came back up no problem...won’t be using homekit support period...it’s a shame because I bought the router for that...I have 1 password and 2 factor on everything, I’m starting to believe this extra network protection is all hype to buy more crap

Very informative, thank you.

So they are basically useless. If they'd work as home hubs at least that would be useful.

A router isn't a "command center". It does not command network traffic. It routes. Route..r