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

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2021
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.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    adrayvenadrayven Posts: 460member
    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!!
  • Reply 2 of 17
    vmarksvmarks Posts: 762editor
    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.
    TomEroundaboutnow
  • Reply 3 of 17
    MikeymikeMikeymike Posts: 102member
    Happy to see all kinds of info and comparisons on 'all' mesh systems.
  • Reply 4 of 17
    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.
  • Reply 5 of 17
    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! 



    kbeatmike1
  • Reply 6 of 17
    kbeatkbeat Posts: 48member
    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 mike1
  • Reply 7 of 17
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    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.  
  • Reply 8 of 17
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    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 jackeebleu
  • Reply 9 of 17
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    MacPro 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.
    jackeebleu
  • Reply 10 of 17
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    mike1 said:
    MacPro 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 jbishop1039
  • Reply 11 of 17
    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.
  • Reply 12 of 17
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    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
  • Reply 13 of 17
    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!
    edited March 2017
  • Reply 14 of 17
    vmarksvmarks Posts: 762editor
    tdeprenda said:
    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.


  • Reply 15 of 17
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    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.
  • Reply 16 of 17
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    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)
  • Reply 17 of 17
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    MplsP said:
    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.
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