At a Glance

Expert’s Rating

Pros

• Fast speeds
• Compact design
• Very consumer pleasant

Cons

• Ethernet solely on gateway
• Handover occasions

Our Verdict

The Eero 6 presents quick Wi-Fi speeds and strong whole-home connectivity for a really engaging worth. Incredibly straightforward to arrange and use with a lot of helpful options by way of the well-made app.

Price When Reviewed

From $129

Best Prices Today: Amazon Eero 6

$199.99

$199.99

$209

$223.62

The Eero 6 is a whole-home mesh Wi-Fi system from the Amazon-owned house networking firm.

The original Eero made waves when it arrived, because it provided prospects scuffling with wi-fi not-spots of their house a easy and efficient answer — a number of hubs offering blanket protection whereas utilizing the identical community identify. 

While a lot of different networking units have provided this very same service lately, Eero’s proprietary TrueMesh expertise, which goals to redirect connections to units as and when required, and the clear and user-friendly interfaces, to not point out engaging costs, made the primary technology of Eero stand out.

One factor that was lacking was help for Wi-Fi 6, which is quicker and presents extra dependable Wi-Fi connections than the Eero’s Wi-Fi 5. As its identify suggests, the Eero 6 addresses this. 

Another good addition is an built-in Zigbee hub, which makes it simpler to make use of Alexa to attach with appropriate good house units — beforehand, in the event you needed to do that with an Eero, you’d want to purchase a separate hub. 

Is the Eero 6 nonetheless value shopping for?

With loads of different Wi-Fi 6 mesh techniques in the stores now, the Eero 6 has some stiff competitors. However, nothing modifications the truth that any Eero mesh system continues to be amazingly straightforward to put in and handle utilizing the Eero app.

The indisputable fact that some options are locked away behind a subscription is a frustration that may nearly definitely by no means go away, and it’s one motive to look elsewhere as loads of rivals don’t have any type of subscription: You purchase your mesh package and it’s yours to maintain and use.

That doesn’t actually reply the query right here, in fact. So, to maintain it easy, sure, Eero 6 continues to be an ideal purchase. In truth, on the time of scripting this, it was ranked third in our UK sister web site TechAdvisor’s best mesh Wi-Fi systems.

The different potential motive you’re right here studying it’s because you’ve noticed the Eero 6 in certainly one of Amazon’s common gross sales and are questioning whether or not it’s a greater purchase at a lower-than-usual worth. Again, the reply is simple: Yes, and particularly sure in the event you’re shopping for the three-pack since you’re saving on all three items.

The solely wrench within the works is that you just may take into account choosing the Eero 6 Pro as an alternative whether it is equally discounted in a Prime Day or Black Friday sale. After all, in the event you had been contemplating shopping for the Eero 6 at full worth, the tri-band Eero 6 Pro is a greater all-round system that might be on sale for across the similar kind of worth you had been going to pay anyway.

Eero 6 design and construct

The Eero 6 items don’t appear like your typical house networking gear. Instead of blocky, angular shapes with large antennae poking all over the place, these units are stout little cuboids with mild curves and glossy white plastic jackets. 

Measuring a mere 3.9 x 3.8 x 2.4 inches (99.4 x 97 x 61.4mm) every, they’re dinky little issues that hardly take up house in your desk. They look extra like good plugs with out the pins.

Like all mesh Wi-Fi options, the Eero 6 {hardware} consists of a most important unit — the Eero 6 router system — and several other satellites, or extenders. The solely bodily distinction between the router and the extenders is that the router has two Ethernet ports, whereas the extenders have none. 

As the identify implies, the router is the system you’ll hook up with your present modem with an Ethernet cable, and for all intents and functions, can act as a standalone router. The extenders are those you’ll dot round your private home after you’ve completed establishing the router, permitting you to increase protection to these elements of your private home the place higher Wi-Fi protection is required.  

The overview unit I used to be despatched was a three-pack, consisting of 1 router, and two extenders. 

Eero guarantees us that this setup is highly effective sufficient to supply stable Wi-Fi protection throughout roughly 4950 sq. toes (or 460 sq. meters) of house house, whereas a single unit will cowl round 1500 sq. toes (140 sq. meters). Interestingly, this is similar stage of protection that the unique Eero system offers you as nicely. 

The system is ready up so as to add extra routers to your private home community in lieu of extenders, do you have to want extra Ethernet connections, which means they act like wi-fi powerline adapters.

If you need to use a wired connection on your TV set-top bins, video games consoles, desktop PCs, NAS drives, and the like, you’ll want to contemplate getting an Ethernet bridge too — or decide up a mesh Wi-Fi system that provides you extra ports.

Check out TechAdvisor’s roundups of the best mesh Wi-Fi kits and the best routers to see how the Eero 6 compares.

Eero 6 setup and options

The Eero 6 makes use of the identical easy setup course of that the unique Eero does. This is sweet information, particularly in the event you’ve by no means put in any house networking tools earlier than. 

You’ll must obtain the Eero app (iOS, Android) to get began. This guides you thru each step of the method, with clear directions and useful animations. 

Setting up a house community isn’t precisely what I’d name “fun” however Eero has finished a very good job of creating it type of satisfying — a cartoon canine will enable you to “sniff out” good spots for Wi-Fi protection, and the app will cheerily inform you in the event you’ve picked good areas for all the things.

You’ll be requested to pair every Eero system together with your cellphone by way of Bluetooth throughout setup, but when that doesn’t work for no matter motive, you possibly can manually enter the serial variety of every unit. 

Once the Eero router is up and operating, you’ll have the ability to give the community a reputation, in addition to create a password for the community (so folks can hook up with it) and the admin password (so you possibly can log in from a desktop system to configure settings sooner or later). 

You’ll additionally want to inform the software program which room in your home you’re establishing the Eero router in, i.e. your lounge. When it’s time to arrange the satellites, you’ll do the identical factor — kitchen, examine, bed room, and so on. 

This helps you see at a look, which units are related to the web all through your home while you’re utilizing the app. 

From right here, you possibly can faucet on a particular system, like “Tom’s MacBook,” see which entry level and radio frequency it’s utilizing, and if wanted, assign every system to a private profile. This permits you to apply content material filters to particular units, and schedule pauses, if you wish to do issues like implement homework hours (assuming no web is required). 

Setting up a visitor community for when you might have guests can also be a breeze, as is doing basic items like altering the community identify and password. 

Features embrace a utilization dashboard that permits you to see which units in your community are probably the most data-hungry — helpful in the event you’re eager to know which of your roommates has been caning your reference to Steam downloads. 

The previous Eero Secure and Secure Plus subscriptions have been dumped in favor of a single one referred to as Eero Plus. This supplies options you’d see in parental management software program or different apps, corresponding to content material filters and advert blockers.

The dearer Plus possibility used to throw in extras like an account for password supervisor service 1Password, the Encrypt.me VPN, and Malwarebytes anti-spyware software program. But that is all now included within the single Eero Plus subscription. 

If you’ve obtained any Alexa-compatible units, you can too handle them by way of the Eero app too, due to the Eero 6’s built-in Zigbee hub. I wasn’t in a position to check out this specific characteristic in my overview, as I don’t have any voice-activated {hardware}, Alexa or in any other case, at house. 

Finally, you possibly can play about with additional options within the Eero Labs part of the app.

How does the Eero 6 carry out? 

Here’s the place you’ll see the primary distinction between the Eero 6 and the Wi-Fi 5-only Eero {hardware}. 

I carried out a number of velocity exams all through my house with two units, a Huawei Mate 10 Pro, and a RealMe X50 Pro — telephones with Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 antennas, respectively. The outcomes under are imply averages, rounded up. I’m utilizing a Virgin Media Super Hub 3 (which I’ve set to modem mode when utilizing the Eero 6) for comparability.

While it’s not an apples-to-apples comparability — the Super Hub 3 is only one dual-band router versus a mesh Wi-Fi product — the numbers reveal the advantages of utilizing a multi-hub system as an alternative of a standalone system:

As increasingly units hitting cabinets now characteristic Wi-Fi 6 radios, your greatest guess is to take a look at the Wi-Fi 6 set of scores – something new you purchase this 12 months cellphone or laptop-wise will doubtless be Wi-Fi 6-compliant. All your older units with Wi-Fi 5 radios will nonetheless have the ability to hook up with the Internet by way of the Eero 6, they’ll simply achieve this at slower speeds, so seek advice from the Wi-Fi 5 desk. 

It’s value noting that the primary two velocity exams right here had been taken whereas I used to be related to the primary Eero 6 router, which I’d arrange in the lounge. The drop in speeds may be attributed to the truth that there’s a brick wall between the router and the check units, and the truth that I used to be, in each instances, switched to the two.4GHz radio band.

The third check consequence was recorded whereas related to the Eero arrange within the workplace, in the direction of the again of the home related to the 5GHz band, whereas the backyard check, taken whereas standing 10 toes away from the closest entry level within the kitchen, noticed me default to the two.4GHz band once more. 

I actually like that the Eero 6 in a short time strikes you to whichever radio frequency is probably the most acceptable, relying on the place you’re in relation to an entry level — the 5GHz radio frequency is notoriously not nice at reaching by way of partitions, whereas the decrease 2.4GHz frequency is. 

It’s slower, nonetheless, at handing over between the person factors themselves. For instance, when strolling into the kitchen from the lounge — in different phrases, strolling from one room with an Eero into one other — I’d discover that wi-fi speeds would drop and I’d nonetheless be caught on the lounge entry level, regardless of standing actually inches away from the kitchen entry level.

The switchover would occur naturally after a minute or so, however in the event you’re a bit impatient like I’m, you’ll discover it’s quicker to easily disengage Wi-Fi in your cellphone, and switch it again on — your system will then hook up with the closest entry level.

Eero 6 worth and availability

Buyers within the U.S. can get a single router instantly from Eero for $89.99, or $199.99 for one router and two extenders. Alternatively, if you’d like extra Ethernet ports, you will get three routers for $249.99. You also can get it from Amazon US and Best Buy. 

You should purchase single Eero 6 routers from Amazon within the UK, for £109.99, in addition to single extenders for £64.99.  

The Eero 6 three-pack costs £299.99 from Amazon (initially £279.99 at launch).

On Amazon’s Australian site, a single Eero 6 router prices $199.99, whereas individual Eero 6 extenders are $179.99 apiece. A pack with one router and two extenders costs $499 — once more, less expensive than shopping for all the things individually.

Should you purchase the Eero 6?

The Eero 6 presents quick Wi-Fi speeds, supplies glorious whole-home protection, works proper out of the field, and is competitively priced. 

It’s a easy and efficient answer, aimed toward individuals who don’t need to spend eternally tinkering with Wi-Fi extenders and community names. Extra options, like Eero Secure safety software program, are there and prepared do you have to need to use them, including worth to patrons who need to have the ability to safe their house community with minimal fuss. 

You can get cheaper standalone Wi-Fi 6 routers however that’s not going to offer you whole-home protection in something however a small flat or house. The lack of Ethernet ports on the extenders means this isn’t appropriate for everybody, and in the event you do want these, take a look on the Linksys Atlas 6 system. 

This overview initially appeared on techadvisor.com.