Verdict
With support for the in style Wi - Fi monetary standard , including 6GHz networking , the Eero Pro 6E is a fast and well - priced internet system . The power to desegregate with other Eero system also makes this a flexible upgrade option . It ’s also keep company by an first-class app , plus optional pay - for surety and web filtering , too . For all the positives , the lack of a consecrated Wi - Fi backhaul , few Ethernet ports and the relative lack of 6GHz client gimmick make the standard Eero Pro 6 a better bargain for most .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Having been a little slow to free new models in the UK , Eero has now upped its game , with the preceding few month encounter a smattering of new mesh organization from the company . Here we brush up the vainglorious mathematical product , the Eero Pro 6E , which uses Wi - Fi 6E including its novel 6GHz channel .
Speeds are impressive , as is the feature set ; but the overall package is a little lacking , and this product does n’t quite feel ready for mainstream use .
Design and Features
Externally , the Eero Pro 6E could be mistaken for the Eero Pro 6 system of rules . The Eero units appear identical , front like individual Francis Scott Key value off a giant keyboard . compare to a lot of other mesh systems , the relatively little satellites here are exceptionally easy to place and are n’t particularly noticeable .
The Eero Pro 6E is sold as a single machine or as a three - pack . The latter makes common sense if you ’re starting from scratch , delivering whole - home coverage with backup for up to 100 devices .
The single pack has two United States . First , to expand an exist Eero Pro 6E web ; and secondly , to enlarge any Eero meshwork . Unlike most other mesh topology manufacturers , Eero has smartly enabled all of its devices to run with one another , so you do n’t have to replace everything to add a satellite with raw features .
There is one caveat : the Eero Pro 6E support 160MHz networking on the 5GHz circle . If you establish the Pro 6E satellite into a system that does n’t support this , then Pro 6E will run at the received 80MHz . That may not be quite the issue it sound .
While dropping down to 80MHz in effect halve the bandwidth available , 160MHz is n’t well supported by clients and , because it uses a huge amount of the available tuner spectrum , interference from neighbouring networks can squeeze the Eero organization to hightail it at 80MHz anyway . In my base , the Pro 6E ran at 80MHz only .
For the use of this followup , I ’ve installed the Eero Pro 6E as a accomplished mesh system . This demand fructify up one of the satellites as the router , and plugging it into a modem . On the back of each satellite are two Ethernet port : one Gigabit Ethernet and one 2.5 Gb Ethernet .
It ’s nice to see the faster internet criterion on the rear , in particular since it ladder over standard Cat 5e cable television , so you’re able to get a speed boost without stimulate to replace any fixed wiring . Yet , there are take .
While connections in the UK do n’t need 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet at the moment , it ’s only a matter of time . If you use this connection from the Eero , then you ’re left with only a single Gigabit Ethernet porthole . Either way you edit it , two Ethernet ports is n’t a generous allowance , with many the great unwashed likely ending up having to buy a switch to increase mental ability .
Once the primary gadget is set up , other Eero satellites can be added to the mix . The default option agency to do this is via a wireless connection ( a wireless backhaul , as it ’s known ) . TheEero Pro 6comes with a dedicated 5GHz line for this purpose , but the Eero Pro 6E does n’t ; its 6GHz epithelial duct replaces this dedicated link . Instead , all available wireless networks can be used for communicating between artificial satellite .
The choice is to utilise a wired backhaul , with Ethernet cables between the satellites . That eliminates the government issue of share bandwidth and deliver more image – say , stretching to an outbuilding .
Once configured , the only way to contain the internet is to habituate the Eero app , which communicates through the swarm . There ’s no local port here ; and what the app offers is n’t particularly innovative , either .
Every electronic web band ( 2.4GHz , 5GHz and 6GHz ) is lay out under one web name , and the Eero Pro 6E system steer clients towards the best band for them . That ’s the idea , at least , but that 6GHz internet can be problematic .
With my Windows 11 PC , I had to forget the internet inside information , set the Wi - Fi circuit card to prefer 6GHz , and then reconnect to get 6GHz to work . With theOrbi RBKE963life is easier , since the 6GHz internet can be present as its own trenchant internet .
There ’s no alternative to change the wireless channel , either : the Eero system will pick the channel that it feels is best . The only advanced lineament are to alter the nonpayment DNS host and set up port forwarding .
Every Eero machine acts as a Zigbee hub , provide you connect it to your Amazon account . you’re able to optionally turn on the Thread connection , which will become more important once the Matter standard launches .
Connecting your Amazon accounting should also sprain on voice services , enable control via Alexa . I should say that it prove flaky in my experience : I could toggle the status fire up on and off with my voice and pause a profile , but I could n’t turn on the invitee connection . Eero has confirmed that this is because the full integration works in the US only .
visibility are a very useful tool for controlling the mesh . Each person in your household can be allocated a profile , which arrest all of their twist . Manually , or on a docket , you could pause a visibility , which stops that person from accessing the cyberspace .
If you want more ripe feature , including parental controls , extra protection and ad block , then there ’s an spare thrill for Eero Secure , which costs £ 2.99 a month or £ 29 per twelvemonth . There ’s Eero Secure+ above , which cost £ 9.99 a month ( £ 99 a year ) and tote up a three - equipment edition of Malwarebytes , and five - substance abuser versions of 1Password and Encrypt.me VPN . The standard tier up is better economic value , particularly if you ’re in a plate with tike that you want to protect .
Performance
Internally , each Eero Pro 6E satellite includes the same specification , with a tri - band web . This consists of a two - current 2.4GHz electronic internet ( 600Mbps ) , two - stream 5GHz internet ( 2400Mbps ) and two - watercourse 6GHz internet ( 2400Mbps ) . This system does n’t have a consecrate wireless connection for the backhaul in the same fashion that the Eero Pro 6 does .
In cosmopolitan , speeds are impressive . At skinny range to the router , I saw throughput of 703.93Mbps , which is pretty much the same as with the Eero Pro 6 . Moving to the second floor , throughput dropped to 402.57Mbps , and 228.18Mbps – just behind the Pro 6 . The lack of the dedicated backhaul channel does seem to make a difference , even slightly . At range , nothing can concern the Netgear Orbi RBKE963 .
6GHz performance , measure out using a gimmick wired into the 2.5Gbps port was 933.33Mbps : the same kinds of speeds that I ’d expect from Gigabit Ethernet and very like to the speeds from the Orbi RBKE963 .
The carrying into action here , is in reality very good , but the far meretricious Eero Pro 6 surrender slightly practiced operation on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band in my trial , and it cost less .
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Should you buy it?
If you require 6GHz Wi - Fi but do n’t require to pay wallet - busting total , then the Eero Pro 6E is a good system .
If you do n’t have 6GHz devices , there are flash mesh topology systems that will perform as well for you .
Final Thoughts
The first Wi - Fi 6E interlocking system that I reviewed was the Orbi RBKE963 , which be almost twice as much as the Eero Pro 6E. However , that organization is in full kitted out with the top - end of everything : 16 - streams of Wi - Fi per artificial satellite ; 10 Gigabit Ethernet internet ; lots of Ethernet ports ; and the choice to split the 6GHz web . Although expensive , it ’s the top of Wi - Fi web systems .
The Eero Pro 6E , on the other hand , is a system of compromise . It ’s flash than the Orbi , and can present the same form of 6GHz speeds , but few the great unwashed have these machine right now . presently , most devices are 2.4/5GHz only , and if you ’re calculate for a cheaper mesh system , then the Eero Pro 6 is a good choice . Plus , you could always corrupt an Eero Pro 6E planet in the future , if you need it , and bring that into an exist Eero system .
Trusted Score
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Unlike other sites , we test every wireless router we reexamine thoroughly over an extended period of time . We use industry standard tests to liken feature in good order . We ’ll always say you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to review a product .
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FAQs
Yes , it will work with any subsist Eero satellites , although it may not be capable to run at 160MHz if other orbiter do n’t affirm this .
It can give Gigabit Ethernet swiftness with compatible clients .
