Video review: eero mesh Wi-Fi system is perfect for large homes, but max speed is an issue...

AppleInsider · March 31, 2017 2:57AM

Following up on AppleInsider's review of the eero mesh Wi-Fi product, we dive deeper into the system's strengths and foibles with this in-depth video review.

For more reviews, news, tips, features and more, subscribe to AppleInsider on YouTube.

Make sure to read our full review of the eero Wi-Fi system, which we found to be a bit finicky and, at times, slow. That said, the setup is easy to install and solves the problem of Wi-Fi dead zones.

We're also interested in your questions! If you want to know anything about the eero system, chime in on our forums and we'll address it.

To find the lowest price on the eero and other mesh Wi-Fi products, please visit our Whole Home Wi-Fi Systems Price Guide.

adrayven · March 31, 2017 4:33AM

Highly suggest and recommend you do a comparison to Ubiquiti's - Amplifi HD mesh wifi router.

Guaranteed it will preform better.

https://store.amplifi.com/ ;

Its cheeper, supports AC 1300, and uses a separate link backbone from router to mesh point.

LOVE MINE!!

vmarks · March 31, 2017 5:21AM

adrayven said:

Highly suggest and recommend you do a comparison to Ubiquiti's - Amplifi HD mesh wifi router.

Guaranteed it will preform better.

https://store.amplifi.com/ ;

Its cheeper, supports AC 1300, and uses a separate link backbone from router to mesh point.

LOVE MINE!!

We've requested this from Amplifi and will report on it as soon as we have it.

mikeymike · March 31, 2017 5:31AM

Happy to see all kinds of info and comparisons on 'all' mesh systems.

lordjohnwhorfin · March 31, 2017 5:56AM

Same request for Portal mesh router. I'm extremely pleased with it and I'm curious to find out how it compares with the competition. I heard your coverage of the eero in the podcast and... Sounds like the Portal would trounce it.

jackeebleu · March 31, 2017 11:33AM

I just bought the Orbi. And let me tell you good people, on a wireless iMac 5K w/a 150Mbps Xfinity connection, from Florida to Georgia, just oh my goodness!

Image: https://forums.appleinsider.com/uploads/editor/sj/y3esr70nr0xx.png

kbeat · March 31, 2017 12:15PM

I'm with Jackeebleu. The Orbi is hands down the best router system. It's so much faster than the Eero, and the two Orbi routers offer the same coverage. It's so much easier to set up as you simply place the satellite in the center of your home, and you're done. We have a 3 story home and get phenomenally fast coverage from end to end, top to bottom.

We have NextLight gigabit internet, so speed is critical to me. With the Orbi, I get around 500 Mbps down on my iPad Pro and Apple TV, and around 450 Mbps down on my iPhone 7 Plus (upload speeds are more or less the same). I get around 550 Mbps down on my MacBook Pro, with an insane 600 Mbps upload.

By comparison, I get around 900 Mbps down and 900 Mbps up when connected via Ethernet. Getting over 500 on my devices is insanely fast for wifi, with little drop off in speed no matter where I am in the house.

Do a little research before buying, and I think you'll go Orbi. The way it handles backhaul is so much faster than Eero or other mesh systems, that they simply can't come close in terms of speed. It's also very reliable, without a down moment since I first installed the system.

edited March 2017

macpro · March 31, 2017 12:29PM

jackeebleu said:

I just bought the Orbi. And let me tell you good people, on a wireless iMac 5K w/a 150Mbps Xfinity connection, from Florida to Georgia, just oh my goodness!

Wow indeed although it has to be said, what crappy upload! In this day and age we should expect synchronicity. I'll take my 75/75 over that for now as I do a of of uploading. Of course it's horses for courses.

mike1 · March 31, 2017 12:38PM

jackeebleu said:

I just bought the Orbi. And let me tell you good people, on a wireless iMac 5K w/a 150Mbps Xfinity connection, from Florida to Georgia, just oh my goodness!

Agreed. I've had my Orbi for about a month now and it is has been great. Haven't needed to reboot since day 1.

edited March 2017

mike1 · March 31, 2017 12:40PM

MacPro said:

» show previous quotes

jackeebleu said:

I just bought the Orbi. And let me tell you good people, on a wireless iMac 5K w/a 150Mbps Xfinity connection, from Florida to Georgia, just oh my goodness!

Wow indeed although it has to be said, what crappy upload! In this day and age we should expect synchronicity. I'll take my 75/75 over that for now as I do a of of uploading. Of course it's horses for courses.

That has nothing to do with the router, it's the service he's paying for. Not everybody needs to do a lot of uploading.

macpro · March 31, 2017 1:10PM

mike1 said:

» show previous quotes

MacPro said:

jackeebleu said:

I just bought the Orbi. And let me tell you good people, on a wireless iMac 5K w/a 150Mbps Xfinity connection, from Florida to Georgia, just oh my goodness!

Wow indeed although it has to be said, what crappy upload! In this day and age we should expect synchronicity. I'll take my 75/75 over that for now as I do a of of uploading. Of course it's horses for courses.

That has nothing to do with the router, it's the service he's paying for. Not everybody needs to do a lot of uploading.

Yep I should have been clear, my wow was at his download speed not referencing the router per se. Sorry, perhaps 'horses for courses' isn't a phrase you know? I forget and use English idioms and phrases now and then even after 30 years in USA. It means what you said

edited March 2017

tdeprenda · March 31, 2017 2:14PM

We currently have FiOS Quantum Setup for TV and Internet. I tried the Linksys Velop and it was easy to setup but I experienced 2 issues right away. First, we could not stream FiOS TV through the iOS app. To do so, you had to be on the FiOS generated wifi. Second, experienced frequent dropouts on our Sonos speakers. Ended up sending it back. So I'm curious. Does any have either the Eeros or Orbi Mesh Routers with these setups and how are they responding? We have a 3 story home and currently have the FiOS extender with the router but coverage is still not that great or speedy. The Velop did exactly what it said it would do regarding coverage and speed but with eh 2 issues mentioned, it wasn't for us.

mike1 · March 31, 2017 2:28PM

tdeprenda said:

We currently have FiOS Quantum Setup for TV and Internet. I tried the Linksys Velop and it was easy to setup but I experienced 2 issues right away. First, we could not stream FiOS TV through the iOS app. To do so, you had to be on the FiOS generated wifi. Second, experienced frequent dropouts on our Sonos speakers. Ended up sending it back. So I'm curious. Does any have either the Eeros or Orbi Mesh Routers with these setups and how are they responding? We have a 3 story home and currently have the FiOS extender with the router but coverage is still not that great or speedy. The Velop did exactly what it said it would do regarding coverage and speed but with eh 2 issues mentioned, it wasn't for us.

Those are two proprietary systems. I'm on cable with a provided modem and my own router. I have heard that FiOS locks you into their router. That could very well be the reason it won't let you stream through any other router. Sonus sets up it's own type of WiFi connection. I would suggest a call to them. I do know my AirPlay devices through an ATV and stand-alone speakers have been rock solid with the Orbi. Not sure that is relevant to the Sonos situation.

tdeprenda · March 31, 2017 3:04PM

mike1 said:

» show previous quotes

tdeprenda said:

We currently have FiOS Quantum Setup for TV and Internet. I tried the Linksys Velop and it was easy to setup but I experienced 2 issues right away. First, we could not stream FiOS TV through the iOS app. To do so, you had to be on the FiOS generated wifi. Second, experienced frequent dropouts on our Sonos speakers. Ended up sending it back. So I'm curious. Does any have either the Eeros or Orbi Mesh Routers with these setups and how are they responding? We have a 3 story home and currently have the FiOS extender with the router but coverage is still not that great or speedy. The Velop did exactly what it said it would do regarding coverage and speed but with eh 2 issues mentioned, it wasn't for us.

Those are two proprietary systems. I'm on cable with a provided modem and my own router. I have heard that FiOS locks you into their router. That could very well be the reason it won't let you stream through any other router. Sonus sets up it's own type of WiFi connection. I would suggest a call to them. I do know my AirPlay devices through an ATV and stand-alone speakers have been rock solid with the Orbi. Not sure that is relevant to the Sonos situation.

Yes, Verizon setup is a router and not a modem. Tried just turning off the wifi radio on the router but still needed it on to stream video from the Set Top TV Boxes to the iOS app. As far as Sonos, did some research and others are having the same issues with Velop. Eeros tech support said that can stream to the app with no issues and the Sonos needs to be reset and should work. Just was wondering if anyone has tried and the results before I invest. Orbi said their setup works too but not sure if they test for all user setups/situations. I find users to be more informed. Thanks for your help!

edited March 2017

vmarks · March 31, 2017 10:27PM

tdeprenda said:

» show previous quotes

mike1 said:

tdeprenda said:

We currently have FiOS Quantum Setup for TV and Internet. I tried the Linksys Velop and it was easy to setup but I experienced 2 issues right away. First, we could not stream FiOS TV through the iOS app. To do so, you had to be on the FiOS generated wifi. Second, experienced frequent dropouts on our Sonos speakers. Ended up sending it back. So I'm curious. Does any have either the Eeros or Orbi Mesh Routers with these setups and how are they responding? We have a 3 story home and currently have the FiOS extender with the router but coverage is still not that great or speedy. The Velop did exactly what it said it would do regarding coverage and speed but with eh 2 issues mentioned, it wasn't for us.

Those are two proprietary systems. I'm on cable with a provided modem and my own router. I have heard that FiOS locks you into their router. That could very well be the reason it won't let you stream through any other router. Sonus sets up it's own type of WiFi connection. I would suggest a call to them. I do know my AirPlay devices through an ATV and stand-alone speakers have been rock solid with the Orbi. Not sure that is relevant to the Sonos situation.

Yes, Verizon setup is a router and not a modem. Tried just turning off the wifi radio on the router but still needed it on to stream video from the Set Top TV Boxes to the iOS app. As far as Sonos, did some research and others are having the same issues with Velop. Eeros tech support said that can stream to the app with no issues and the Sonos needs to be reset and should work. Just was wondering if anyone has tried and the results before I invest. Orbi said their setup works too but not sure if they test for all user setups/situations. I find users to be more informed. Thanks for your help!

Fiber tends to be a modem-router connected with Ethernet to an ONT where the fiber converts to Ethernet.

ATT and Google Fiber both require you to use their modem-router rather than letting you plug in your own router directly to the ONT. They send authentication packets and if your modem-router isn't connected to authenticate, the connection drops. Similarly, they do different routings for the TV boxes. It is possible to do some funky stuff with VLANs to bypass the modem-router, use your own, and still get TV.

jbdragon · April 1, 2017 12:15AM

This systems also work better if you plug them into your Ethernet Network if you wired up your house. Using just wireless, the location to place these things will really matter. If they're to far away from the main one plugged into your cable modem, those will have a weak signal and will be slow.

mplsp · April 1, 2017 3:34AM

adrayven said:

Highly suggest and recommend you do a comparison to Ubiquiti's - Amplifi HD mesh wifi router.

Guaranteed it will preform better.

https://store.amplifi.com/ ;

Its cheeper, supports AC 1300, and uses a separate link backbone from router to mesh point.

LOVE MINE!!

I've been looking at the mesh systems and one thing I like about the Eero is that it allows ethernet backhaul, so for places where I have hardwired Cat5 connections I can just plug them in and take advantage of that. Orbi and Amplifi don't let you do that.

The other half of the equation for me was the software package - I'm looking for an upgrade to my 5 year old AirPort Extreme both in terms of speed/coverage throughout the house and in terms of features like parental controls, time limits, etc. The only systems that seem to have that are the Luma and the Disney Circle (not a router/mesh system but an add-on to it)

mike1 · April 1, 2017 4:11PM

MplsP said:

» show previous quotes

adrayven said:

Highly suggest and recommend you do a comparison to Ubiquiti's - Amplifi HD mesh wifi router.

Guaranteed it will preform better.

https://store.amplifi.com/ ;

Its cheeper, supports AC 1300, and uses a separate link backbone from router to mesh point.

LOVE MINE!!

I've been looking at the mesh systems and one thing I like about the Eero is that it allows ethernet backhaul, so for places where I have hardwired Cat5 connections I can just plug them in and take advantage of that. Orbi and Amplifi don't let you do that.

The other half of the equation for me was the software package - I'm looking for an upgrade to my 5 year old AirPort Extreme both in terms of speed/coverage throughout the house and in terms of features like parental controls, time limits, etc. The only systems that seem to have that are the Luma and the Disney Circle (not a router/mesh system but an add-on to it)

I don't use them, but I know the Orbi has parental controls and scheduling.

Video review: eero mesh Wi-Fi system is perfect for large homes, but max speed is an issue...

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