Review: Eero Pro 6E

No brand has done more than Eero to popularize mesh systems. The Amazon-owned company is on a mission to make Wi-Fi as simple as possible for folks who don’t care to screw around with settings. Simplicity is key, so Eero systems are easy to set up, straightforward to use, and backward-compatible with previous generations.

For the average family seeking a secure, hands-off mesh system that serves reliable Wi-Fi, it is impossible to overlook Eero. Having tested every other offering in Eero’s range, I was curious to try the top-of-the-line Eero Pro 6E. This tri-band system is its first to support Wi-Fi 6E, enabling access to the 6-GHz band for the speediest possible connections (at least until Wi-Fi 7 lands).

Setup is deliberately swift and straightforward. Each Eero unit is an identical shiny white rounded square that blends in easily on a shelf or cabinet. Sadly, they are limited to two Ethernet ports rated at 2.5 Gbps and 1 Gbps. That may seem like good news if you are lucky enough to have a multi-gig internet connection, but the Eero Pro 6E has a maximum output of 2.3 Gbps, and that’s combining 1.3-Gbps wireless and 1-Gbps wired connections. It does support wireless backhaul, but it’s limited to 1 Gbps. In other words, folks with multi-gig internet coming into the house should look elsewhere. The power cable is USB-C, and that’s it for ports.

Photograph: Eero

Each Eero Pro 6E router can connect at least 100 devices and should cover around 2,000 square feet. These tri-band routers support 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, and 6-GHz connections. Eero’s wireless backhaul picks the appropriate band for traffic between the main router and any nodes. If you want to encourage it to use the 6-GHz band, place them close together, ideally with a clear line of sight.

One advantage of testing the Eero Pro 6E a year after its release is that Eero has worked out the kinks, and performance has been silky smooth. Closing in on a month with this mesh system, I’ve yet to encounter any issues. No drops, no pixelated video calls, no buffering, just reliable, speedy Wi-Fi.

The Eero Pro 6E surprised me in some of my speed tests. It proved the fastest mesh I’ve tested at copying a file from a PC connected to one node onto another PC connected to a different node, sending a 2.2-GB file in one minute and 14 seconds. Testing the 6-GHz band with my Pixel 6 Pro, the Eero Pro 6E easily bested the Wyze Mesh Router Pro and the Nest Wifi Pro (7/10, WIRED Recommends) at all distances (though both are significantly cheaper). And it turned in a solid performance on the 5-GHz band, pushing higher than many competitors at close range on my iPhone 14 Pro, but dropping down at mid and long range.

Coverage is solid, with a 2-pack easily blanketing my 1,600-square-foot two-story home and extending to the front driveway and backyard. But the range of the 6-GHz band is limited. Testing with my Pixel 6 Pro, I recorded some of the top speeds I’ve seen at close range (within 10 feet of the router). But, like every other Wi-Fi 6E system I have tested, it drops off rapidly when there’s a wall or floor between you and the router.

Eero Pro 6E routers also double as smart-home hubs, supporting Zigbee and Thread. You must dip into the network settings in the Eero app to turn Thread on, but it’s well worth doing if you have a lot of smart home devices. I noted much faster response times from my Nanoleaf smart lighting and Eve devices. You can also use Alexa voice commands with your Eero, which is handy if you have child profiles set up and want to pause their internet to get them downstairs for dinner. Matter support is also on the way.

After a year on the market, Eero has reduced the price of the Pro 6E. The 3-pack has fallen from $700 to $550, the 2-pack from $500 to $400, and a single router from $300 to $250. Unfortunately, Eero has also changed its subscription model, doing away with the cheaper option (Eero Secure was $3/month or $30/year) in favor of a single subscription called Eero Plus, which costs a hefty $10 a month or $100 a year.

Without that Eero Plus subscription, you miss out on several handy features. You can still schedule Wi-Fi downtime for the kids, set up a guest network, and enjoy the smart-home hub functions, but you must subscribe to get advanced security, historical data, internet backup, ad blocking, content filters, app blocking, and VIP support. Eero Plus also bundles in Encrypt.me, Malwarebytes, and 1Password membership.

For parents, the enhanced controls make the Eero Plus subscription essential. It’s difficult to assess the value of advanced security, as it simply lists numbers of blocked threats and scans without giving you any detail. It’s an easier sell if you plan to use the bundled software, but I still feel that Eero Plus is too expensive, and I’m disappointed the cheaper Eero Secure is no longer available.

Eero via Simon Hill

That said, the Eero app is a pleasure to use. It is clearly laid out, tracks the speed your ISP is delivering, and does a solid job of correctly identifying devices on your network. (Some routers are very bad at this.) It’s easy to set up profiles and group devices, and if you subscribe to Eero Plus, the parental controls are comprehensive.

This accessibility comes at a cost, which is that you can’t split bands. (The router decides which band to connect nodes and devices on.) That can be an issue for smart home devices that can only support the 2.4-GHz band, but Eero does offer a workaround in the troubleshooting section of the app. There’s also no quality of service (QoS) for prioritizing traffic, which is a standard feature on most routers, although you will find a toggle to optimize for conferencing and gaming in the Eero Labs Beta section on the Discover tab.

As a cloud-based mesh, Eero collects lots of data—ostensibly to improve network performance. But as an Amazon company, this could be a privacy concern for some folks. For what it’s worth, Eero says, “Customer trust is our number one priority. Eero software does not track your internet browsing activity.”

My modestly sized home is full of smart home devices, and my family of four is always watching movies and playing games. We have switched to a new router or mesh roughly once a month for the last three years, and one of the biggest compliments I can pay the Eero Pro 6E is that it has been trouble-free. For busy families in small to average-sized houses or groups in apartments, with no time to fiddle with settings and at least a few devices capable of connecting to the 6=GHz band, the Eero Pro 6E could be ideal.

Folks upgrading from an older Eero system, or with Echo speakers with Eero Built-in, can use them to extend the coverage. That could prove crucial for people with large properties, because range is one of the main weaknesses of this system.

The chief competition comes from Eero’s own lineup. Most people will find that the more affordable Eero Pro 6 ($300 for a 2-pack) performs equally well. While you might squeeze an extra 100 Mbps at close range from the 6E, there isn’t much real-world advantage to it. Perhaps you can download a game or another large file slightly faster, but even then, only if you have 6-GHz devices. If you don’t have anything to take advantage of the 6-GHz band, and if the router and nodes are too far apart, the Pro 6E may end up using the 5-GHz band to send traffic back and forth. In that scenario, the Eero Pro 6 (with its two 5-GHz bands) will perform far better.

The Eero system is also expensive. Anyone determined to buy a Wi-Fi 6E mesh should look at TP-Link’s Deco XE75 ($300 for a 2-pack) for a cheaper option that performs similarly, or the Deco XE200 ($700 for a 2-pack) for something faster. If you’re not dead set on Wi-Fi 6E (and with the vastly superior Wi-Fi 7 approaching, I don’t think you should be), you can find many other options in our Best Wi-Fi Routers and Best Mesh System guides.

Ultimately, there are routers with better hardware and more features, but what you’re paying for with Eero is ease of use and peace of mind. For busy families who don’t have the time or patience to dig into network settings, and who prize convenience over cost, the Eero Pro 6E with an Eero Plus subscription delivers everything you need.