With the Pro 6E devices I saw speeds of 273 Mbps down and 341 Mbps up, whereas on the Pro 6 devices that don’t have the extra spectrum band, I saw speeds of 94 Mbps down and 104 Mbps up in the same location. However, when testing speeds on the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 in my dining room about 30 feet from any of the Eero routers I did notice a difference. However, in my tests, this only resulted in a roughly 20 Mbps capacity difference when speed testing my gigabit network between the Pro 6E routers and my older Eero 6 Pro routers. Technically, because the Eero mesh also has 6 GHz-capable radios, the connection between the different routers that are part of the Eero mesh also can backhaul data using the 6 GHz spectrum. This means it’s the only device riding on that pristine 6 GHz highway. I have dozens of devices in my home but only one of them - a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 phone - has a Wi-Fi 6E-capable radio. So with all of this backstory in place, let’s talk about Eero’s Pro 6E routers. And to ride on that new highway both the device and the router have to support the new band. A prior guest on my podcast compared it to opening not just another lane on the information superhighway, but an entirely new highway.īut, for most consumers updating their routers in search of new, pristine megahertz is silly, because today there are few devices that use the 6 GHz spectrum. Why am I giving you a history lesson before I dig into a product review? Because the launch of tri-band routers happening this year is a huge victory for technology, especially technology that is almost “free” for users. It’s difficult for the government to give up billions in potential revenue, and yet, Wi-Fi is one of the greatest success stories for unlicensed connectivity of our time. Unlike the spectrum used for cellular connectivity, where a company will pay for the rights to exclusively use the spectrum, unlicensed bands have been a harder sell. The last time we got a new band of spectrum for Wi-Fi was in 2009 when the first routers that used available 5 GHz frequencies came out.īut in our tech-heavy world, we’re sending more and more data over Wi-Fi networks, which means that there’s an unending demand for more airwaves over which to send those bits. In the midst of the pandemic, the FCC approved the use of the so-called 6 GHz spectrum band for unlicensed use, a decision that was contested and later found valid by the courts in 2021. The biggest story in Wi-Fi has been half a decade in the making. The latest Eero routers open an entirely new spectrum band. ![]() More on the Eero Pro 6E devices in a bit, but first let’s talk about how freaking awesome it is that we’re getting a whole new 1,200 megahertz of spectrum available for Wi-Fi. They aren’t as expensive as some of the other 6E routers out on the market either at $499 (2-pack) or $699 (3-pack). Eero, which is owned by Amazon, has also released a system of mesh routers called Eero 6+ which is cheaper, but I didn’t review those, because I’m most interested in Wi-Fi 6E.įor consumers upgrading from a Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) or earlier iteration, or if you’re a small office planning on an equipment refresh this year or next to computers or phones that will support Wi-Fi 6E, it makes sense to invest in the most advanced router that you can buy, and the Eero Pro 6E devices are pretty solid. I’ve been spending a few days testing Eero’s latest Pro 6E Wi-Fi system and I can tell you I see a significant speed increase over my existing Eero Pro 6 routers.
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