Using Circle with Eero

Doug
8 yrs ago
124replies

Is anyone using the Circle device with Eero to manage children's devices on a home network? I like Eero's ability to "turn off" devices, but Circle seems to allow you to set filters on a per-device basis. Just not sure how well Circle works in general -- and, in particular, if it works with Eero.

- eero Community Manager
- Jeff_C
- 6 yrs ago
- Official response
- Reported - view
Hi everyone —

I appreciate everyone's patience and cooperation here. We're happy to provide this space for eero customers to share troubleshooting ideas with other members of this community who are in a similar situation as others here.

I'm sorry to hear that many of you are continuing to experience trouble with the Circle devices on your network. It sounds like many of you have already engaged with our support team, which is always the best route for escalating any problem you may be running into.

While I don't have any update to share, one thing I'd like to make sure is that for anyone here currently looking to use a Circle on their eero network, that they have the Circle hardwired directly to their gateway eero.

Thanks again!
- Mark.2
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Jeff C.
  
  I’m not sure what the point of your message was. All of us like our Eeros. None of us want to spend more money to duplicate what we already have. Circle used to work with Eero. It would appear that an Eero firmware update broke it. We’ve had no assistance from customer support. Is you reply asking us to stop complaining or offering us some hope that this may be addressed in the future?
- eero Community Manager
  
  Jeff_C
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Official response
  
  Reported - view
  Mark sorry for any confusion or if my response gave off that impression as that wasn't my intent.
  
  I wanted to check-in because I know there has been an increase in discussion within this thread and wanted to ensure that everyone knew that we are continuing to follow and investigate the reports of this matter.
  
  While I wish I had an update to share, I don't have any news at the moment. However, I was informed that users have seen better results with Circle on their eero networks when it is directly connected to their gateway eero via Ethernet. If that hasn't been tried, we recommend doing so to see if it delivers better results.
  
  For what it's worth, we haven't made any changes in the eero OS software since the reported start of this issue that would have an affect on how eero would work with Circle. But as mentioned, it is something we are continuing to follow, and as soon as we have any updates to share, I will pass them along here.
  
  Thanks again.
- skyfranks
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Jeff C. No news has been the line given for months and months. Roblox issues were the first thing that I experienced so I couldn't manage my daughter's laptop anymore. Your website acknowledges this issue but every several weeks I would call in with "no new news on a fix". Then, xbox live was killed on Eero with Circle hooked in. Worked with support on the phone and couldn't find a fix. That was several weeks ago. So, I unhooked the Circle but now I'm done. Eero obviously doesn't have any motivation to find a solution and the sheer amount of time you allow to go by with no "news" on a solution is unacceptable. I just hit submit on my order for the Velop. My Eero is going on ebay. I've never been so disappointed at such an expensive purchase I've made. It's clear this is not going to be fixed.
- Ben_B
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Thank you Jeff C. - Your comment about having the Circle plugged directly into the Gateway Eero is a really big issue as I have my NAS, Printer, EtherNet connected PC, and other wired devices in the same room that my ISP Modem and tap are. The other port left on the Gateway Eero after plugging in the connection to the modem is the port that my GB Ethernet switch is plugged into that supports all of my wired connections in that room. That switch also happens to be where my Circle is plugged into. Are you saying that the other physical port on the gateway Eero must be solely taken up with the Circle for the Circle to have a chance at working?
- eero Community Manager
  
  Jeff_C
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Ben B via a switch should be OK. However, if you'd like to see if the Circle connected directly to your eero without anything between makes a difference, that would be helpful for us to know.
- Ben_B
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Jeff C. I will give that a shot when I get home from work tonight so that you have that datapoint.
- lance_circle
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Jeff C. weaves
  
  We began hearing from eero & Circle users experiencing this issue in October. At Circle, we were able to replicate these issues in testing, so we reached out to eero’s team. The eero team were very responsive, and asked us to send their customers back to the eero support team. However, since we first made contact with eero on these issues, it’s our understanding that it has been difficult for others to replicate the issues we’ve seen.
  I want to reiterate my invitation for our team to work with eero to resolve these incompatibilities and communicate clearly with the users of both of our products. Both I and our CTO Tiebing Zhang will be in San Francisco next Monday, and would be happy to meet with the eero team if there is an opportunity.
  
  - Lance C.
- jay_mitchell
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Jeff C.
  
  Hi Jeff C.
  
  How well does the Circle work while plugging it in directly to the gateway eero via ethernet?
  
  I can spare the only open ethernet port.
  
  Is this a perfect work around or are there still issues?
  
  Thanks
- Ben_B
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  Jeff C. It's been 4 weeks since the last post from Eero on this issue. Is the close of this issue that you must plug your Circle directly into the Gateway Eero and that is that. I wanted to give Eero a fair shot at resolving this with Circle before I parted the Eero ecosystem. I really really really want these two devices to work together but if the issue is still not resolved I will have to stay with Circle and find a different router system; Circle's functionality is just too good to move on to something different at this point and my family's safety is paramount. Thank you in advance for any updates you might have.
- If there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it.
- zaydon
- 8 yrs ago
- Reported - view
I'm using it with Eero and it seems to be fine. The engineers at eero and others are not big fans of the device.

Here is a brief description of how Circle works. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARP_spoofing
- eero Community Manager
- Jeff_C
- 8 yrs ago
- Reported - view
Thanks for chiming in, zaydon !

Doug — if you wish to use Circle on your eero network and run into any issues, please feel free to contact our support team.
- Doug
- 8 yrs ago
- Reported - view
I'm now using CIrcle with my eero and everything seems to be working well. While some of the Circle functionality duplicates eero (such as the ability to pause wifi to certain devices), Circle provides added functionality (such as the ability to create filters for certain devices), which I like. Too bad eero doesn't offer all of this -- yet?!
- ksupersano
- 7 yrs ago
- Reported - view
Hey folks. I tried Circle recently and while the setup was simple and it discovered my devices quickly, the moment i applied a filter at any level to a particular device, that device would not connect to the internet at all. Went through a few gyrations with Circle support, like disabling ipV6 on my Xfinity Gateway, but that seemed to only work on some devices and not all.

Any thoughts?

My basic setup is attached for reference.

network-backbone_redacted
- eero Community Manager
- Jeff_C
- 7 yrs ago
- Official response
- Reported - view
Hey ksupersano —

Thanks for chiming in. Sorry to hear the issue you are experiencing with Circle on your eero network. Our tech support team didn't see anything that would stand out from your topology. Mind getting in touch with support so they can take a look?

Feel free to give us a call at 1-877-659-2347 or email us at support@eero.com. We'll look to get this sorted out for you!
- TahoeGator
- 7 yrs ago
- Reported - view
I just spent 1.5 hours with Eero tech support trying to figure out why ethernet connections through a switch connected to the gateway Eero would not work. A process of elimination led to the conclusion it was quite probably the Circle. The tech said the Circle would need to be connected to the gateway Eero directly and not via a switch. Problem is I need the switch and the Eero has only 2 ports, so it's switch or Circle (or ditch Eero for another system that has more than 2 ports). I'm dubious to reconnect the Circle and risk recreating the same problem. I plan to try Eero's features that might be similar to Circle, but what I definitely do not want to is pay the $10 per month for their content filtering service that is included in Circle, so if I don't use the Circle I give that up. I might try putting the whole Eero system (in "bridge" mode) behind another router that has more than 2 ports that itself can have both the Circle and switch connected to it. Net net, I'd be very wary of buying an Eero system if you enjoy using Circle. To the Eero engineers: please build a unit with more than 2 ports!
- CEO & Co-founder
  
  weaves
  
  7 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  TahoeGator Nick, eero CEO here. To add a little more color, even if we had more than 2 Gigabit ports, the Circle would still cause major issues. The biggest problem here, is that Circle uses ARP poisoning as a way of enforcing the content policies you set. What that means in practice is every request gets re-routed through their little box. This creates a huge amount of overhead for sending every packet and significantly decreases the performance of your network.
  
  Personally, I really like the Circle UX, but since it's not running natively on the network hardware you end up with the problems you've experienced. Give eero Plus a try, and if there are features from Circle that you miss after a week or two, let us know back on this thread. We're always adding new features to the eero Plus suite and would love your feedback.
- rayburnc
  
  7 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  weaves big thumbs up for responding directly to the issue. Happy to see you monitoring the threads on a holiday weekend. Not many CEOs would do that.
- Jacob2877
  
  7 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  weaves Hi. I am a long time eero user, right after kick starter and I have also been a Disney circle user as well. I have been experiencing issues with my network because of circle. weaves I agree with your statement. If you want to know my input I can tell you three major things that we want from eero plus.
  
  1. Time management
  
  Allow profiles to track total time used and the ability to pause based on time. For example, User has 2 hours total for the day.
  
  2. Better filtering.
  
  Allow the the ability to filter more than just safe searches but maybe youtube or other apps.
  
  3. Out of home?
  
  This is the biggest and most difficult one. Circle has circle Go. This allows an iPhone to still be filtered when on cellular. And it tracks total time.
  
  Bottom line weaves I really want to use the eero plus and ditch the Disney circle. But how???
  
  I am frustrated because I spent so much money on 6 eeros yet with circle my network doesn't work I still need the functionality
- lance_circle
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  weaves
  
  Hi Nick & the eero Community, this is Lance, CEO of Circle, chiming in.
  
  It might be helpful to note that the Circle device does not actually re-route every request (unmanaged devices, no download traffic touched). While the performance impact of adding the Circle device to a home network is dependent on the configuration, our testing does not support the claim that Circle “creates a huge amount of overhead.” Additionally, when Circle’s software is integrated into a router, the software does not depend on ARP spoofing (http://www.netgear.com/landings/circle/).
  
  Routers must be reliable and fast. Eero has demonstrated leadership in resetting expectations of what the Wi-Fi experience should be. My mission and focus of Circle’s product development is to provide all families with the tools to thrive in a digital world, as children connect at home, at their friend’s house, and through 4G.
  
  Habits start young and impact a child’s path to adulthood. Every child has the need to be safe and find the best version of themselves. The child’s needs must inform the experiences that technology companies deliver. This challenge is the exclusive focus at Circle.
  
  I am happy to work with Eero, as I do with many other companies, to ensure families have the best possible experience with their products.
- skyfranks
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  lance_circle So, will you work with Eero to resolve the issues? My Circle is sitting in a bin right now because the Eero I paid a ton of money for has issues with it. Issues that are "on their list to fix" but have no timeline and no real idea of a solution. I need both Circle and Eero as I have an 11 year old. Your filtering is the best I've found, but I need it to work with Eero. It seems both companies are not interested in working this out and that is a loss for the consumer, me and others on here. Technology becomes more fractured by the day, instead of easier to use and more reliable.
- ericben
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  lance_circle Great response - can we now please fix the problem? I've disconnect my Circle as well because it stopped working. I'm thinking seriously of going to Google, or another mesh system so that I can use Circle again. It's far better than the eero parental monitoring.
- skyfranks
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  ericben I was looking at Velop today. I may Ebay this thing and switch. Especially since I had to swap units and reset Eero today because my connection kept dropping.
- Ben_B
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  weaves Sad day today. :-(
  
  Hi Ben,
  
  I have initiated a cancellation that takes place immediately, and refunded you for the most recent charge made.
  
  Now that your Go subscription has stopped, you may wish to remove the Circle Go mobile device management profile from your device permanently. To do so, we have created a support article walking through the steps here.
  
  Hopefully our compatibility with Eero will return soon, but I completely understand your need to find another solution until then.
  
  Best,
  
  Circle Support
- jay_mitchell
  
  6 yrs ago
  
  Reported - view
  lance_circle
  
  Hi Lance,
  
  Where you able to meet with Eero on Monday when you where in town?
  
  As stated above, if I plug the Circle directly into my gateway Eero, Jeff C. from Eero stated it would work. Is this the case? If so I will go out and purchase Circle tomorrow.
  
  With all my experience, reading reviews, purchasing products, and unfortunately returning some products. The dream setup would be Eero and Circle working seamlessly.
  
  Most consumers that purchase Eero have families, and most families need to make the internet safe for their kids.
  
  Thanks in advance for your reply.
  
  Jay

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