8.3

Eero 6 Plus mesh router

You are receiving worth alerts for Eero 6 Plus mesh router

Like

• 
  Easy setup and management by way of Eero app
• 
  Constant speeds and sufficient oomph for gigabit networks
• 
  160MHz channel help has a optimistic impact on efficiency
• 
  Matter help and built-in Zigbee hub are nice for sensible houses

Don’t love

• 
  Routing to the improper extender may cause slight slowdowns
• 
  No choice to restrict Eero’s knowledge assortment

Product particulars

• Wi-Fi Commonplace

  Wi-Fi 6

• Velocity Score

  AX3000

• Vary

  As much as 1,500 sq. ft.

• Wi-fi Networking Safety

  WPA2, WPA3

• Bands

  Twin-Band (2.4 and 5GHz)

Amazon’s Eero 6 had the precise elements again in 2020, as mesh routers had been beginning to surge in recognition. The design was easy and inoffensive, the app was disarmingly simple to make use of, it provided full help for Wi-Fi 6 and, at $279 for a three-pack, it wasn’t terribly costly. The one drawback I had with it was that it made an everyday behavior of routing my connection by the improper extender on the improper time throughout my battery of efficiency checks, which induced its common speeds to deflate like a defeated soufflé.

Now, Amazon is again, and it appears to have crushed the eggs a bit higher than earlier than. The brand new Eero 6 Plus system nonetheless is not good at steering connections by the perfect extender for the job, however few mesh routers are (notably dual-band programs just like the 6 Plus), and this time, the difficulty is way much less extreme. General, it is a lot improved and far simpler for me to advocate, particularly at its present worth of $255.

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A part of that’s just because it did not occur fairly so typically, however you may also thank the brand new help for 160MHz channel width, up from 80MHz final time round. That is the important thing a part of the Plus pitch, and it implies that the system can now transfer knowledge twice as effectively to 160MHz-compatible units, of which there are lots of. Even with out units like that in your community, you will nonetheless profit from the quicker connection between the Eero units themselves. That, mixed with a faster-than-before AX3000 construct, implies that your speeds will not drop as a lot if the Eero 6 Plus routes your connection by an extender that is three rooms away as a substitute of 1 that is one room away.

That was my expertise at dwelling, the place I put the Eero 6 Plus by the identical spate of checks that the Eero 6 went by two years in the past. Final time round, an enormous disparity in efficiency between the checks the place I linked near the router versus these the place I linked removed from it induced the system to return obtain speeds all through my home that averaged simply 196 megabits per second, which is not nice for a 300Mbps fiber community, the place the quickest units I take a look at are inclined to max out at about 375Mbps at shut vary. The Eero 6 Plus cranked that whole-home common all the best way as much as 304Mbps. That is high 10 among the many 30 or so mesh routers that I’ve examined at dwelling over the previous few years — and not one of the programs that beat its speeds can beat its worth.

All of that makes the Eero 6 Plus a superb selection for anybody seeking to improve to Wi-Fi 6 or to a mesh community. That is very true in the event you stay in a multistory dwelling, the place that third system would show notably helpful (the opposite noteworthy Wi-Fi 6 system I like to recommend on this $200-$300 worth vary, the TP-Hyperlink Deco W7200, solely nets you two units as a substitute of three). A robust sensible dwelling acumen by way of Amazon’s “frustration-free” setup, help for the upcoming Matter protocol and the built-in Zigbee radio for pairing issues like lights and locks together with your community are simply the icing on the cake (or the sauce on the soufflé, if you’ll). Backside line: The Eero 6 Plus retains every little thing that the Eero 6 obtained proper, and it executes on the promise of sturdy, constant speeds a lot better than earlier than.

Design, specs and app controls

Out there now at $255 for a three-pack, $204 for a two-pack or $119 for a single system, every Eero 6 Plus unit is equivalent, so you should utilize any of them as both an extender or the primary router of the system. They’re 99% equivalent to the Eero 6 units that got here earlier than them, too — the identical shiny white plastic, the identical curved design, the identical solo indicator gentle (white means all proper, blue means pairing mode and pink means “uh oh”). I would not fault anybody for calling the issues uninspired, however they don’t seem to be ugly or cumbersome or cheap-looking, and so they should not have a lot hassle mixing in with most dwelling decor.

As for the {hardware} inside, the Eero 6 Plus boasts an AX3000 construct, which is up from AX1800 with the first-gen Eero 6. The AX half tells you that the router helps 802.11ax, or Wi-Fi 6; the quantity after it tells you the mixed high speeds of every of the bands (2.4GHz and 5GHz). Although I have never had the possibility to check it out on a gigabit community but, an AX3000 pace score is greater than sufficient to high out a connection like that. In the meantime, the system powers these radios with a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage. As for vary, Amazon says {that a} three-piece setup must be sufficient to cowl as much as 4,500 sq. ft.

You will discover your ports within the again — particularly, the USB-C energy jack and two gigabit Ethernet ports on every system. These Ethernet ports set a pace restrict for the incoming connection, so in the event you’re enthusiastic about upgrading to a multigig web plan someday quickly, then you definately’ll wish to skip the 6 Plus and take into account spending extra to get the Eero Professional 6E, or one other router with a multigig Ethernet jack able to dealing with speeds like these (the Asus ZenWiFi XT8, the TP-Hyperlink Deco X90 and the Netgear Orbi AX6000 are all well-reviewed fashions that match the invoice).

This brings us to Eero’s app, which you will use to set the system up, monitor its efficiency and modify its settings. With a nice-looking design and intuitive entry to controls and settings, it is one of many higher app choices within the router class, and it makes fast work of the setup course of. Simply faucet your method by the directions, plug issues in when instructed to, pick a community identify and password and replace to the newest firmware construct, and your community will up and working in a matter of minutes.

From there, you can use the app to see which units are linked to your community, or group them into particular profiles for functions like advert blocking and parental controls. The app additionally makes it simple to trace your speeds and your knowledge utilization, which is especially useful in case your web plan comes with an information cap. You may activate WPA3 encryption within the Eero Labs part of the app for the newest in community safety and, in the event you like, you may subscribe to Eero Safe Plus for superior choices for advert blocking and risk detection, plus entry to extra providers like 1Password and the Encrypt.me VPN.

As for privateness, Eero’s help web page explains that it does not observe the web sites you go to or the contents of your community site visitors, although the corporate does gather community knowledge to assist keep and enhance system efficiency. A few of that knowledge contains private knowledge from the app, like your e-mail and system IP addresses, however the firm attracts some strains with how that data will get used.

“We do not promote our buyer knowledge, and we do not promote adverts primarily based on this knowledge,” the help web page reads. “We gather knowledge about your Eero community to assist us optimize your Wi-Fi efficiency.”

Different producers supply an choice to restrict knowledge assortment or choose out of it altogether, however there is not any such possibility with Eero. Moreover, per the corporate’s privateness coverage, you may e-mail to request deletion of your private knowledge, however doing so means you will not be capable of use your Eero units anymore. None of that will cease me from utilizing the system in my dwelling, however in the event you’re particularly privacy-conscious and making an attempt to restrict knowledge assortment amongst your units as a lot as you may, Eero most likely is not the perfect match.

Efficiency and pace

To get a way of simply how a lot “Plus” we’re speaking about right here, I examined the Eero 6 Plus at my dwelling in Louisville, Kentucky, the identical place the place I examined the Eero 6 system two years in the past. It is a 1,300-square-foot dwelling, and I examined it on the identical 300Mbps fiber web plan, although the true pace restrict appears to be extra like 375Mbps. As soon as I’ve had an opportunity to check the system out within the a lot bigger CNET Good Dwelling, I will replace this part with some extra knowledge.

With the router arrange in my front-of-house front room and a single extender connected within the back-of-the-house bed room, I spent a number of days working pace checks throughout 5 rooms, following the identical process for testing routers that I all the time use. One key level of my methodology: I run a number of rounds of checks throughout a number of days of testing, and I break up these rounds into two teams — ones the place I begin with a contemporary connection in the lounge, close to the router, and ones the place I begin my connection at the back of the home close to the extender. Doing so offers me a superb take a look at how the system adjusts my connection as I transfer from room to room.

Once I examined the Eero 6, these two units of checks produced massively totally different outcomes. My speeds had been effective once I began my connection in the lounge and labored again, but when I began at the back of the home and labored my method to the entrance, it might route my connection by the extender even after I might returned to the lounge, with the router only a few ft away. I noticed a few of that very same challenge with the Eero 6 Plus, however the ensuing slowdowns had been a lot much less drastic, and, usually, by the point I reached the lounge in these back-to-front checks, the system would notice it and start routing my connection straight to the close by router.

Consequently, the Eero 6 Plus completed with a lot stronger common speeds than the Eero 6 did. General, its common obtain pace to my Wi-Fi 6 take a look at laptop computer was 304Mbps, the place it was solely 196Mbps with the Eero 6. The system’s common add pace was barely much less spectacular at 253Mbps, however that is nonetheless a effective end result — higher than the 204Mbps I noticed from the Eero 6, and higher than well-reviewed programs just like the TP-Hyperlink Deco W7200 (248Mbps), Nest Wifi (230Mbps) and Asus ZenWiFi XD6 (224Mbps). Speeds had been predictably a bit slower however nonetheless first rate once I ran my checks to a Wi-Fi 5 shopper system, too — common downloads of 288Mbps and common uploads of 208Mbps. Solely 5 programs did higher than that in my at-home checks, and all of them are costlier tri-band programs.

What about gigabit speeds?

I not too long ago upgraded my dwelling’s fiber community from that 300Mbps connection to a gigabit connection, with max obtain speeds of 940Mbps and max add speeds of 880Mbps. These are the speeds that I will be utilizing for my router checks transferring ahead, so I made certain to retest the Eero 6 Plus.

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Testing throughout the identical 5 spots in my dwelling, the system completed with common obtain speeds of 427Mbps and common add speeds of 380Mbps. That is barely higher than the TP-Hyperlink Deco W7200, one in all my high general mesh router suggestions, however slower than fancier programs that price extra, together with the Eero Professional 6E, the Netgear Orbi AX6000 and the TP-Hyperlink Deco XE75. All three of these had been capable of push my common downloads nicely above 500Mbps.

Nonetheless, even when it is not as able to making the most of a gigabit connection as some programs are, the Eero 6 Plus nets you nice efficiency for the value — and I used to be happy that, as soon as once more, the band-steering points had been fairly restricted. It is a greater decide for, say, a 500Mbps community, however even with a gigabit connection, your own home’s Wi-Fi will really feel lots quick with the Eero 6 Plus.

Now we’re cooking

I’ve tasted the Eero 6 Plus soufflé — it is fluffy and satisfying.

Overcooked metaphors apart, this is a wonderful mesh system for the cash, and a powerful step up from what the Eero 6 initially needed to supply. Setup is a cinch because of the Eero app, and efficiency held tall throughout a number of days of checks. Good dwelling customers ought to respect the built-in Zigbee radio, and customers of every kind will profit from the system’s capability to maneuver extra knowledge directly than earlier than.

At $255 for a three-pack, there’s loads of worth right here, notably provided that a variety of different top-performing programs price extra for a two-pack. For the reason that system is backward-compatible with earlier generations, I additionally like the concept that individuals who already personal an Eero system can decide up a 6 Plus system every time these go on sale and swap it into their setup. Both method, the Eero 6 Plus is nicely value contemplating, and an excellent possibility for anybody in search of a quicker connection at dwelling.