Eero Pro 6E and Eero 6 Review: Fast and Easy(evanmccann.net)
evanmccann.net
Eero Pro 6E and Eero 6 Review: Fast and Easy
https://evanmccann.net/blog/2022/4/eero-6-plus-and-eero-pro-6e-review
58 comments
I use Eero Pro, don't use any of the content filtering or anything, and would still say it's the best WiFi experience I've ever had, far better than the Unifi network it replaced.
However, I do wish it had battery and 4G backup. I know that sounds pretty niche, but nowadays with regular consumer security cameras, alarm systems, smoke detectors, thermostats, etc. all running on WiFi with built-in battery backups, it would be very nice if I could still connect to them all if the power or internet drops out.
Interestingly my Ring alarm has battery and 4G backup, and that's also owned by Amazon. Supposedly there's a Ring Alarm Pro Base Station which is a sort of Eero/Ring hybrid device, but that doesn't exist in the UK, and is equivalent to the non-Pro Eero anyway.
I might add a Firewalla Gold and a UPS, but it's a lot of hassle and negates some of the value of Eero.
However, I do wish it had battery and 4G backup. I know that sounds pretty niche, but nowadays with regular consumer security cameras, alarm systems, smoke detectors, thermostats, etc. all running on WiFi with built-in battery backups, it would be very nice if I could still connect to them all if the power or internet drops out.
Interestingly my Ring alarm has battery and 4G backup, and that's also owned by Amazon. Supposedly there's a Ring Alarm Pro Base Station which is a sort of Eero/Ring hybrid device, but that doesn't exist in the UK, and is equivalent to the non-Pro Eero anyway.
I might add a Firewalla Gold and a UPS, but it's a lot of hassle and negates some of the value of Eero.
Eero isn't the best I've ever had, but I partly work on enterprise wi-fi for a living, so I'm biased. I think wi-fi is about on par with the Amplifi HD (maybe a little better).
To jump off your point, if people want zero hassles and zero insight into traffic, an Eero Secure subscription is worthwhile, otherwise you're better served by using NextDNS.io or something reputable.
NextDNS is dirt cheap, and if set up right, provides you with per-device traffic logs.
To jump off your point, if people want zero hassles and zero insight into traffic, an Eero Secure subscription is worthwhile, otherwise you're better served by using NextDNS.io or something reputable.
NextDNS is dirt cheap, and if set up right, provides you with per-device traffic logs.
I also set up enterprise WiFi at work, but at home I just want WiFi that works with as little involvement on my end as possible. Traffic logs would be wasted on me because I'd never look at them.
The (iOS) app is pretty flakey when it comes to syncing the state of the router vs what you see in the app
Part of the problem is that there are three different ways to pause a user (by pausing an individual MAC, pausing a group that the MAC lives in, or the group's bedtime going active). And they overlap in some unknown pattern, which the app can't track well.
Part of the problem is that there are three different ways to pause a user (by pausing an individual MAC, pausing a group that the MAC lives in, or the group's bedtime going active). And they overlap in some unknown pattern, which the app can't track well.
Isn't it the case that you can use Eeros in bridge mode? Like, you could still use OPNsense and Eeros together, if you wanted.
https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/207621056-How-do-...
https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/207621056-How-do-...
You could but eero doesn't support manual channel selection and automatic channel selection is one of the things that gets disabled in bridge mode:
https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000825206-What...
https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000825206-What...
I received an Eero 6 (free loan) from my ISP and it seems decent so far. Howevet, the lack of webUI, being forced to do the configuration entirely through a mobile app, and being forced to authenticate through an Amazon account to do anything in there rubbed me the wrong way. It's good enough for the average consumer.
Yep, and 100% of their focus is the average consumer.
Eg. they are not going to add SNMP, no matter how many times you ask.
This isn't a slam about CEO Nick and co., it's just not their market focus.
Eg. they are not going to add SNMP, no matter how many times you ask.
This isn't a slam about CEO Nick and co., it's just not their market focus.
A webUI IMO seems a reasonable feature though. My mom doesn't have a smartphone, only a laptop. She'd have to return it since she would have no way of configuring it.
Picking up a 3 pack of Eeros ~ 18 months ago was probably the best tech purchase I've made in years. Incredible coverage for 2k sqft split-level home, including the yard.
Management of our children's devices (both content and screen time) is incredibly simple with profiles. Even their security features have come a long way and provide significant value to us.
I always recommend Eeros to any of our friends or family looking for networking suggestions.
Management of our children's devices (both content and screen time) is incredibly simple with profiles. Even their security features have come a long way and provide significant value to us.
I always recommend Eeros to any of our friends or family looking for networking suggestions.
> If you want to plug it in and forget about it, eero is one of the best vendors for that kind of solution.
That has been our experience with a fleet of the original eeros and, for the past year or so, eero 6s. And that's in a relatively large urban home with many devices and lots of nearby networks. Our setup currently uses a wired backhaul, which helps with speed, but the wireless backhaul worked pretty well, too.
Also, for what it's worth, no hardware issues across the 8 or so eeros total (1st gen and 6) that we've had.
That has been our experience with a fleet of the original eeros and, for the past year or so, eero 6s. And that's in a relatively large urban home with many devices and lots of nearby networks. Our setup currently uses a wired backhaul, which helps with speed, but the wireless backhaul worked pretty well, too.
Also, for what it's worth, no hardware issues across the 8 or so eeros total (1st gen and 6) that we've had.
I've been using consumer/home WIFI hardware pretty much from the time it was cheap enough that people started using it broadly (2001?). As the "computer guy" I've also dealt with so many brands I can't even remember them. If they are not garbage when you buy them, use it for a year until the warranty expires.
The Eero is the only wireless hardware I've purchased in my life that was easy to setup and doesn't need to be rebooted every month. Plus, all the pieces in the whole mesh are still working well after the warranty period is over.
The Eero is the only wireless hardware I've purchased in my life that was easy to setup and doesn't need to be rebooted every month. Plus, all the pieces in the whole mesh are still working well after the warranty period is over.
it doesn’t need to be rebooted every month because it automatically downloads and installs updates and forces a network reboot without a notification, warning, or the ability to schedule, defer, or opt out.
more than once now, i’ve been up late doing some work and had my whole network drop out without notice or explanation. it turned out to be from the eero doing a update. they say they do this because of liability from security vulnerabilities, or something, but it is supremely annoying.
more than once now, i’ve been up late doing some work and had my whole network drop out without notice or explanation. it turned out to be from the eero doing a update. they say they do this because of liability from security vulnerabilities, or something, but it is supremely annoying.
I don't think I've had to regularly reboot any of my access points since before I got my first draft N device in...2007?
I'd love to say that I had some weird or crazy network and that was the cause. But it was all the usual stuff. 1 TV, a few phones, a few laptops, a printer, etc. Probably less than 15 devices, some of which were only occasionally active (e.g. printer) at any given time.
I bought a 3-pack of Eero 6s for use in a Manhattan apartment where I had been struggling with interference of various kinds, and it works perfectly. Really a 15 minute setup and I haven’t thought about it again.
The most convenient thing is that placing one of the Eeros next to my desktop meant that I could run ethernet to it; I thought that this would be awful because of the wifi hop in between but surprisingly I had very consistent ~20ms ping (iirc).
The most convenient thing is that placing one of the Eeros next to my desktop meant that I could run ethernet to it; I thought that this would be awful because of the wifi hop in between but surprisingly I had very consistent ~20ms ping (iirc).
I have two Eero Pro 6s. The network works very well in crowded Brooklyn, with great speed and no interference issues. Overall I love the product.
Sharing in case you've got HomePods, but one caveat about the simplicity is that their client steering feature / setting bundles both the band switching and station switching behaviors. I have 6 original HomePods and they can't handle the band switching at all — they will constantly drop out and fail to AirPlay. The issue is not unique to Eero, but unfortunately with client steering off I'm stuck toggling wifi when I move through my apartment on my laptop or phone.
The issue with the HomePods is certainly an Apple bug (reported to them several times in great detail after hours of debugging) but naturally they don't care to support their $350 "hobby".
Sharing in case you've got HomePods, but one caveat about the simplicity is that their client steering feature / setting bundles both the band switching and station switching behaviors. I have 6 original HomePods and they can't handle the band switching at all — they will constantly drop out and fail to AirPlay. The issue is not unique to Eero, but unfortunately with client steering off I'm stuck toggling wifi when I move through my apartment on my laptop or phone.
The issue with the HomePods is certainly an Apple bug (reported to them several times in great detail after hours of debugging) but naturally they don't care to support their $350 "hobby".
Just throwing an idea out there, I wonder what would happen if you forced the HomePods to connect under 2.4ghz — would that reduce the issue?
FWIW, I have a pair of HomePods and haven’t noticed any issue with them dropping off the network, when enabling band steering.
FWIW, I have a pair of HomePods and haven’t noticed any issue with them dropping off the network, when enabling band steering.
Cannot vouch for Eero Pro 6E, but I can for the Eero Pro 6. I no longer wanted to waste time troubleshooting network issues at home for insignificant performance gains concerning my use, so I purchased several Eero Pro 6s to cover my house and property perimeter. I bought them in Dec. 2020 and have had zero problems. No more long trouble shooting sessions putting a damper on my day.
I've been increasingly tempted to switch to one of these consumer mesh setups from my current Unifi. I just pick up two new Unifi Wifi 6 APs(A U6-Pro and a U6-Mesh) and the performance is just poor. I don't know whats going on. I'm lucky to get 300mbps with a Wifi 5(3x3) or Wifi 6 client.
I'm pretty sure there's something physically wrong with the U6-Mesh as it gets scolding hot in use and seems to throttle between 30-300mbps. I ended up reverting back to the Wifi 5 APs while I figure out what to do.
I'm pretty sure there's something physically wrong with the U6-Mesh as it gets scolding hot in use and seems to throttle between 30-300mbps. I ended up reverting back to the Wifi 5 APs while I figure out what to do.
That hasn't been my experience with the U6-Pro and U6-Mesh. Are you running 80 MHz channels? Do you have a lot of 5 GHz interference around you? I'm typically seeing 500-800 Mbps on the top end, from close range, with those APs. That's with a relatively clean 80 MHz channel though.
Yea, I have 80 MHz channels on with one AP at 36 and the other at 149. I live in a suburban area and the channels definitely aren't perfect. My closest neighbor seems to have quiet a few Google Wifi APs with pretty strong signal at my house.
Did you ever notice your U6-Mesh running hot like really in an alarming way?
Did you ever notice your U6-Mesh running hot like really in an alarming way?
You might have more reliable results with 40 MHz then, or with moving to a DFS channel. The U6-Mesh definitely does run hot, but most UniFi APs do. The U6-Mesh does seems the hottest-running of the dozen plus models I've used though. I know some people have had to RMA them, but it's too early to know if that's a real problem or not.
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I switched my family from AmpliFi to Eero —- drastically more reliable. Few firmware update hiccups but they’ve been great so far. Better speeds.
Only thing missing is good QoS —- the “SQM” they advertise doesn’t work nearly as well as true SQM on OpenWRT. In fact I was never really able to see Eeros SQM doing anything on multiple connection types.
Only thing missing is good QoS —- the “SQM” they advertise doesn’t work nearly as well as true SQM on OpenWRT. In fact I was never really able to see Eeros SQM doing anything on multiple connection types.
I wish eero's sqm was more configurable and adequate statistics were available. sch_cake, as used on the eero 5, and in the modern openwrt SQM world, is definitely proving out better for many workloads.
I had a eero 5 before upgrading to the 6 -- found the traffic shaping pretty useless on both to be honest. "CAKE" or not, didn't do much for me on two connection types that absolutely need shaping -- local cable and local DSL.
Had a OpenWRT box as well, and shaping with CAKE was night and day better. Trick is I can't remotely manage OpenWRT for family. Eero is so much better for that. (so stable I don't have to manage it, it just works)
I agree they need for knobs, but that doesn't seem likely.
Had a OpenWRT box as well, and shaping with CAKE was night and day better. Trick is I can't remotely manage OpenWRT for family. Eero is so much better for that. (so stable I don't have to manage it, it just works)
I agree they need for knobs, but that doesn't seem likely.
Note: Eero is owned by Amazon
(The review mentions this, but only in passing, near the end of the very long first page.)
(The review mentions this, but only in passing, near the end of the very long first page.)
I've been a huge fan of my Eero Pro 6s - we've got two in our home.
My single annoyance with them has been that the router will, without warning or the ability to wave it off, occasionally install updates at ~ 2-3 AM PST. Which is probably fine for most people, but is often in the middle of my workday. There's no apparent ability to override or change this.
My single annoyance with them has been that the router will, without warning or the ability to wave it off, occasionally install updates at ~ 2-3 AM PST. Which is probably fine for most people, but is often in the middle of my workday. There's no apparent ability to override or change this.
I like the tests - easy to read and compare.
As someone who just spent a bunch of time trying to read and get comparisons on a 6e setup, I think my biggest complaint is that it's testing against older models.
The ASUS ET8 and Deco XE5300 are closer 6E comparison devices than the models tested. I believe both would probably outperform, one of which being half the price.
As someone who just spent a bunch of time trying to read and get comparisons on a 6e setup, I think my biggest complaint is that it's testing against older models.
The ASUS ET8 and Deco XE5300 are closer 6E comparison devices than the models tested. I believe both would probably outperform, one of which being half the price.
Thanks! I haven't gotten my hands on those two yet, and in general haven't spent enough time with 6 GHz to say much more than I did in this review.
I have 2 of the Pro 6 and a ton of wifi devices (lots of ESP32s temperature sensors, tablets, laptops, etc.) and they've kept up really well. I have a VM running pfsense and just have the units set up in bridge mode.
They try to phone home like crazy and use their own DNS servers, so I just blocked them from accessing the network unless I want to do an update, which I unblock it for a bit and then re-block traffic. I got them to compete against my entire apartment complex screaming at 2 & 5 GHz and they've done the job.
I kept my expectations tempered with this because I just want wifi to work and no have to mess with it. I eventually plan on getting a couple Unifi APs to replace them if Amazon does anything really stupid with the product.
They try to phone home like crazy and use their own DNS servers, so I just blocked them from accessing the network unless I want to do an update, which I unblock it for a bit and then re-block traffic. I got them to compete against my entire apartment complex screaming at 2 & 5 GHz and they've done the job.
I kept my expectations tempered with this because I just want wifi to work and no have to mess with it. I eventually plan on getting a couple Unifi APs to replace them if Amazon does anything really stupid with the product.
I'm always curious how many users use the smart queue management feature (being one of the authors of fq_codel), or are aware that's also the default on the wifi?
My understanding is Cake was used for the 1st and 2nd generation, but all the Wi-Fi 6 models of eero (6, 6+, Pro 6, Pro 6E) use fq_codel. It’s optional, off by default, and hidden under eero labs as a beta feature under the name “optimize for conferencing and gaming”
No idea what usage of that feature is like, but there’s a lot of chatter about it on r/eero, mostly positive. That subreddit is probably more technical than the average eero user though.
No idea what usage of that feature is like, but there’s a lot of chatter about it on r/eero, mostly positive. That subreddit is probably more technical than the average eero user though.
google wifi also has the same option, using fq_codel, almost as equally hidden. IMHO having it on by default would improve both products out of the box experience. UBNT now does it by default, at least.
Happy to have seen both cake and fq_codel stablize in mikrotik in the past month: https://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?t=179307
Happy to have seen both cake and fq_codel stablize in mikrotik in the past month: https://forum.mikrotik.com/viewtopic.php?t=179307
I've been using Gen1 eeros since they were first released in around 2016. They're still getting software updates and they're still rock solid.
I'll be first in line to purchase a new set if they offer a model that supports PoE here in Europe.
Disclaimer: I've done a bunch of work with the Eero team from 2015/2016 til present day. Their team has an extremely high concentration of very smart and talented people, they are great to work with.
I'll be first in line to purchase a new set if they offer a model that supports PoE here in Europe.
Disclaimer: I've done a bunch of work with the Eero team from 2015/2016 til present day. Their team has an extremely high concentration of very smart and talented people, they are great to work with.
As soon as they add support for putting wireless networks on VLANs, I'm buying.
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> Like most 6E devices, the eero Pro 6E has a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port, which is paired with another 1 Gbps port. This is a limitation of the Qualcomm chipset eero are using, which can’t provide 2.5 Gbps connectivity on both ports. This means that either your WAN connection or your LAN connection can break the gigabit barrier, but not both.
But you could just plug the 2.5 port into a switch connected to a router, no? Surely the eero doesn't have to be your router?
But you could just plug the 2.5 port into a switch connected to a router, no? Surely the eero doesn't have to be your router?
yes, that's right. i run OpenBSD on an ODROID-H2 which has rge(4) nics, and connect eeros directly to it and via a QNAP QSW-1105-5T switch. (disclaimer: i work at eero)
Slightly disappointed that WiFi 6E, on 6Ghz with 160Mhz only managed ~1300Mbps. I was expecting ~1500 to 1600. And only one 2.5Gbps Ethernet Port.
I did see occasional spikes to the range, 1500-1600 Mbps, and I've seen that with the few other 6 GHz APs I've tested. The eero's performance on the top end with a very wide channel was inconsistent though. Over longer duration tests those spikes to 1.5 Gbps+ evened out to what I showed in the charts. This is early firmware though (6.9.2, the release version), so things could improve in the future.
Hopefully with Software and Firmware update we could get those figures.
They explained why there is only one 2.5 port, it's the limitation of the current chipset. Most of the current Wi-Fi 6E routers have the same limitation.
> This is a limitation of the Qualcomm chipset eero are using, which can’t provide 2.5 Gbps connectivity on both ports.
> — this is the case on the Orbi RBK960, Asus ZenWifi ET8, Linksys Atlas Max 6E, Deco X90, and many others.
> This is a limitation of the Qualcomm chipset eero are using, which can’t provide 2.5 Gbps connectivity on both ports.
> — this is the case on the Orbi RBK960, Asus ZenWifi ET8, Linksys Atlas Max 6E, Deco X90, and many others.
In the Models Tested table row Power input, it’s USB-C for all of them. How come no Power over Ethernet (PoE)?
Not cheap but there are PoE to ethernet+usb-pd splitters. You could set up your PoE & put one of these at the end[1].
The dual band all ask for "15W usb-c" and the tri band all ask for 27W usb-c, which is probably 5V3A and 9V3A respectively. I'd expect that you could _probably_ get by with a much much cheaper non-PD splitter that simply provides the expected voltage.
This feels like a pretty good compromise. USB-C PD is, per watt, often half the price or less, and it's convenience imo cannot be beat since it's such a common power delivery system. Small GaN based adapters with multiple ports are abundant and cheap (<$0.50/watt) versus more specialized, less common gear that's more expensive (often >$1.00/watt).
It does feel great having one and only one cable! Right now PoE is the winner here, especially because it has range. I'd love to see USB try & compete a little more. I'd create a USB long range standard- target 5Gbps (or 2.5Gbps?) but for many meter long runs, with power-delivery. Now that we have (on paper) extended-power USB-C with 48V power, restricting ourselves down to 1A would still be quite useful (48W)!
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Compliant-Microsoft-Surface-M...
The dual band all ask for "15W usb-c" and the tri band all ask for 27W usb-c, which is probably 5V3A and 9V3A respectively. I'd expect that you could _probably_ get by with a much much cheaper non-PD splitter that simply provides the expected voltage.
This feels like a pretty good compromise. USB-C PD is, per watt, often half the price or less, and it's convenience imo cannot be beat since it's such a common power delivery system. Small GaN based adapters with multiple ports are abundant and cheap (<$0.50/watt) versus more specialized, less common gear that's more expensive (often >$1.00/watt).
It does feel great having one and only one cable! Right now PoE is the winner here, especially because it has range. I'd love to see USB try & compete a little more. I'd create a USB long range standard- target 5Gbps (or 2.5Gbps?) but for many meter long runs, with power-delivery. Now that we have (on paper) extended-power USB-C with 48V power, restricting ourselves down to 1A would still be quite useful (48W)!
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Compliant-Microsoft-Surface-M...
PoE isn't used much in home networking.
Especially in mesh kits which are usually operated without Ethernet backhaul. eero themselves claim 90% of their deployed networks don't use any Ethernet. Hence, almost all mesh kits use USB-C or a DC barrel connector.
Does anyone have any sense how the pro 6e will perform in the city with interference vs something like google home Wi-Fi? I’m having a lot of issues on video calls and hardwiring is not a good option.
If you have a 6E / 6GHz capable client, a 6E router will help a lot with interference. The 6GHz band is new enough that its not likely to be crowded.
However, since its so new, you're unlikely to have a 6GHz capable client... There are 6Ghz capable PCIe cards (desktop and M.2 form factors), but I haven't seen any 6Ghz wifi USB adapters.
However, since its so new, you're unlikely to have a 6GHz capable client... There are 6Ghz capable PCIe cards (desktop and M.2 form factors), but I haven't seen any 6Ghz wifi USB adapters.
I have a new Wifi6 in my laptop, but obviously dual band. I’m considering hardwiring into the nod which will be wirelessly connected to the mesh, but that may solve all issues.
That's the tricky thing. Wifi6 is not the same as 6E. The "E" means its capable of operating in the 6GHz band.
In my experience, very well. I only tested Google Wi-Fi for a few weeks, but I was unimpressed with it overall. eero does a good job at adjusting things behind the scene. It does an RF scan nightly, and adjusts channels and works around interference better than any other mesh kit I've tested. Most just pick a wide channel and broadcast as loud as possible.
For the price i like AmpliFi, its a easy to use but have great deal more features than Eero.
- There is no SNMP.
- There is no decent network monitoring at all: on the app, or available via the API, if you were to use one of the unofficial API libraries off of GitHub. At all. I've put significant effort into this and ultimately routed the Eero through a dedicated VLAN on my network switch, and have a SPAN port up to do traffic monitoring and analysis via a Linux box.
- The (iOS) app is pretty flakey when it comes to syncing the state of the router vs what you see in the app. Eg. you'll have a device paused in the app, but it's not actually paused on the router and vice versa. You end up having to toggle it a couple times until the settings are synced properly.
- The CEO/founder and engineers hang out in a certain subreddit and are communicative about the underlying technology. I get a strong sense they care deeply about their product -- with the caveat that they are entirely focused on the non-technical consumer market.
I still use Eero, because it's the best I've found for dealing with kids and Internet use. If I didn't have kids, I'd just do OPNsense on a Protectli mini-computer.