![]() It passed my informal throughput saturation test, in which I used four computers at once: one playing the BBC World Service audio feed, two playing YouTube videos, and the fourth moving data onto and off a networking storage device. My dwelling's older construction often foils even the strongest Wi-Fi router, and the Eero three-pack left several portions of the home unconnected. The devices had a range of 65 feet, which is second best behind the Nest Wifi's 80-foot range. I installed the router in the middle of the main level and placed the extensions on floors above and below. These results were mirrored when I set up the Eero system at my 3,500-square-foot home. That's less than a quarter of the 400.7 Mbps available from the Nest Wifi system under the same conditions. We set the router and client up with three walls and 40 feet between them to test how well the router handled common obstructions (like walls) it again disappointed, with only 84.0 Mbps of bandwidth available. At this location, the router provided only 50.6 Mbps, versus 211.4Mbps for the Nest Wifi system. ![]() We then added the second extension at a right angle 50 feet away. In our single-hop mesh test, where the extension was set up 50 feet from the host, the Eero proved less than stellar, delivering 169.1 Mbps of bandwidth, about one-third of the throughput of the Nest Wifi's 480.1 Mbps. The new Eero's performance dropped off to 319.8 Mbps, 285.7Mbps and 213.9Mbps at 15-, 50- and 100-foot measurements, scores that were at least 100 Mbps less than what the Orbi RBK50 and Nest Wifi were capable of. This performance puts the Eero well behind the Google Nest Wifi' and its 653.2 Mbps, the original Eero and its 573.7Mbps, and the Orbi RBK50 and it 552.1Mbps. ![]() The router hit its peak at 5 feet from the client, with 342.2 Mbps available. To see how well the Eero devices work, we set the system up at the Tom's Guide open office. The Eero has 512MB of RAM and 4GB of flash storage space for its firmware and settings. Eero Mesh review: Performanceīased on Qualcomm's ubiquitous IPQ4019 Wi-Fi chipset, the Eero devices use a 700-MHz quad-core processor that's half the speed of the Nest Wifi's CPU. This system tops out at a maximum throughput of 550 Mbps, far below the Nest WiFi's 2.2-Gbps rating. The host base station, which Eero calls a gateway, acts as the network's router to set up a daisy-chain or hub-and-spoke topology with its extensions. ![]() The Eero system uses a dual-band design, which is a step down from the Orbi and Eero Pro systems, which use a tri-band design. Eero uses beamforming to tailor the transmitted data and Mu-MIMO to maximize bandwidth, but this router lacks the latest, Wi-Fi 6 technology. Each unit has three built-in antennas and Bluetooth 5.0 for use during setup and when communicating with household devices. Small and unobtrusive, the Eero devices are stuffed with powerful wireless technology. That's much larger than the typical home, making the Eero three-pack an inexpensive way to fill a house or apartment with Wi-Fi. Each device can cover 1,500 square feet, while the three-pack is good for a 5,000-square-foot home. According to the company, there's no limit to the number of Eero devices on a network, although the returns will likely diminish at five or six extensions. A reset button on the bottom of the device lets you wipe it clean of settings.ĭespite being new and fresh, the current gear can work with older Eero units. The Eero units can connect either wirelessly or with an Ethernet cable and are perfect for plugging in a printer or network storage device. The Eero devices I looked at had a pair of gigabit RJ45 Ethernet ports, which is a step forward compared to the Nest Wifi extensions, which are wireless only. The company also sells the Eero Beacon ( $119 (opens in new tab)), a plug-in, wireless-only extension the tri-band, high-performance Eero Pro ( $199 (opens in new tab)) and the Eero Pro 6 ( $229 (opens in new tab)). That's more than half off the price of the previous iteration and a bargain compared to the $349 Nest Wifi three-pack. While the three-pack of devices costs $169, individual extensions are $69 each. It's not an Alexa endpoint, but if you have an Echo speaker, it can respond to commands like "Alexa, turn off Eero's LED."Įach Eero can act as a router or extension, depending on how it's configured. The Eero device also misses the opportunity to double as a smart speaker or house-wide sound system, because it lacks the speaker, microphone and audio amplifier that Nest Wifi and Orbi Voice have. Eero is available in any color so long as it's white, making for a rather plain contrast with the Nest Wifi's pastel color choices.
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