Considering the almost-$600 price tag of my eero Pro 6 mesh networking system, I found it unlikely that the $59 Vilo system would be able to compete. For just a tenth of the cost, how could this 3-pack of mesh networking gear even stand a chance? Boy was I wrong.
After using a Vilo mesh network in my home, I was shocked to see good network coverage and speeds. Even though some advanced features from my eero Pro 6 aren’t available in Vilo’s product, this mesh product is well worth the look for someone who wants an upgrade from a single-router system and doesn’t need a lot of bells and whistles.
I tested the $59.99 3-pack which includes a trio of Vilo access points, three power cords, and a single ethernet cable. Any of these units can be set up first as the main router, with the additional two acting as mesh access points.
The devices are small and light, with a nice bonus over some competing products: There are two Gigabit Ethernet output ports on each of them in addition to the Gigabit ethernet input jack. Most mesh routers only have one, if any, ethernet port to hardwire a connected device. So that’s an immediate win for Vilo in my book.
However, this budget-friendly system does make some compromises: Unlike more expensive models that support tri-band WiFi 6, the Vilo units use a dual-band system.
That means there’s no dedicated 5GHz network devoted solely to piping a wireless signal between the router and the access points. Additionally, the maximum theoretical throughput for 2.4GHz devices is 300MHz while 5GHz devices top out at speeds of 867MHz.
Yes, I did notice these lower speeds, both on my WiFi 5 and WiFi 6 devices. I tested indoors and out, on various devices in many locations.
To be honest though? It equated to roughly a 20% decline in speeds. And when you think that this total package costs a tenth of my current mesh network, that’s still quite a good value proposition.

My average wireless downloads during the tests of my eero Pro 6 averaged around 450Mbps with 11 seconds of latency. Testing in the same location with the same devices on the Vilos averaged around 325Mbps with 14 seconds of latency.
Uploads on both systems were roughly the same as the download speeds. And none of my smart home devices seemed to perform any differently on the Vilo network.
To be fair, the Vilo system doesn’t compete against the eero Pro 6, but against the standard eero 6, Google Nest WiFi, and entry-level mesh systems from other more recognizable brands.
The competition uses a similar dual-band approach. So I’d expect a very similar performance to what Vilo offers. Those all cost more too, anywhere from $150 to $200 or so.
Speaking of cost, it’s only $19.99 for each additional Vilo access point if you decide to purchase more than three. You can buy a single unit at that price if you don’t really need a mesh network, but for a total of around $40, I’d recommend two for any home more than 1,200 square feet.
Another surprising experience was setting up the Vilo system. I’d say the company nailed it.
Yes, you do have to register for a Vilo account to use these devices, but aside from that, I was able to set the main router up in under five minutes. Even better: The access points are self-configured based on the main router settings, so you just plug them in and they connect themselves. That part takes all of a minute.
The only caveat is that this “plug-and-play” configuration is for the three-pack. If you buy individual Vilo devices, there are a few more steps involved. I was unable to test this since I reviewed the 3-pack.
During my testing, I wanted to see how Vilo handles 2.4GHz-only devices, which are unfortunately all too common in the smart home. Typically, these can be difficult to connect to a mesh network that integrates both 2.4GHz and 5GHz into a single wireless network. Yet again, Vilo surprised me. I connected three 2.4GHz devices (2 cameras and my Nest Connect) to the Vilo-powered network without any issues.
While nearly everything I mentioned so far is pretty positive, there are a few missing advanced features typically found on more costly mesh networking systems.
While you can set up a Guest Wi-Fi network and set up limited parental controls in the Vilo app, you don’t get much more than a basic per-device bandwidth report. There’s no malware or device threat protection included either. Then again, there are no subscription fees for any such services either, at least not currently. The Vilo app does support scheduled router restarts, which is nice.

Even without some advanced features and options, the Vilo delivers on its promise of broad wireless coverage. In fact, it even handled device “handoffs” between the access points better than my current system.
When I walk around my home with the three eeros, for example, my phone will often stay connected to the same access point instead of hopping over to the nearest one. On the Vilo network, my phone did make those hops, possibly because I enabled the “band steering” option, which is also enabled on my eeros.
Long story short: You get a really great mesh networking solution for a low cost with Vilo. Sure, this might not be for someone with hundreds of smart home devices, needs dedicated wireless backhaul between access points, or who wants to set up virtual networks.
For those new to mesh networking or those on a budget that want broader coverage though? I can’t see how you go wrong by dropping $60 on a Vilo three-pack.
Thanks for a great report on the Vilo mesh system, Kevin! I’m intrigued!
This 3 unit Vilo system costs less than I would pay to add just one more Eero unit to my Eero 6 system!
So a (possibly silly) follow-up question: As an owner of an Eero 6 (not Pro) mesh system, would you see any advantage to adding a Vilo system to the house rather than 1 more Eero unit and, if so could they be integrated in some way with the existing Eero system?
While you couldn’t add a Vilo device as an Eero network AP, you could connect one to create a second wireless network. I doubt that’s the kind of functionality you’re looking for but it is an option. Cheers!
Thanks, Kevin!
You’re right!
There was no mention if one of the Ethernet ports can be used as a backhaul connection or not. I want to get coverage to the other side of the microwave oven, so a wired backhaul seems like the way to go. (I know it’s only temporary, but it seems to interrupt at the most inopportune times.)
Yes, you can use the Ethernet ports to hardware two Vilo devices together for that, and similar situations. However, Vilo’s support page says this works best with single units, i.e.; not the 3-pack because the 3-pack is pre-configured for wireless backhaul. See: https://support.viloliving.com/hc/en-us/articles/4402996998167-Does-Vilo-support-Ethernet-backhaul-Can-I-connect-two-Vilos-in-the-same-network-with-an-Ethernet-cable-
Thank you. It’s just the one on the opposite side of the microwave that I would want to backhaul, so this looks positive.
Take care.
From what I’m hearing, the vilo is a good budget choice if your Internet speed is 150 Mbps or less and you just want to get rid of WiFi dead zones in your house. So useful for those work at home/school at home situations. But people with high speed high volume applications like streaming 4K video or serious gaming will probably be disappointed by the speed at satellite locations. So it depends what issues you’re trying to address.
I’ve tested 4K video in my office, which has a wireless Vilo access point in it. No issues, even when all of my other devices are on the network. You only need about 25 Mbps maximum throughput for a 4K video stream, depending on the provider/content source. I’ve also used the network for Stadia game streaming; with only 3ms more latency in my testing, I didn’t notice any difference from my prior network setup.
This discussion is making me want to buy the full set and set it up just for the heck of it alongside my Eero 6 mesh, and then try to think of something to do with it later! LOL!
Maybe switch some of my automation devices over to it. 🙂
Cheap entertainment.
The only thing that gives me pause is weighing the terrible reviews on Amazon against Kevin’s rather positive and likely more objective report, as my hunch is that many of those reviewers would likely struggle with any router that wasn’t placed by their ISP. 🙂
Appears to only available in the USA as far as I can see, shame!