Here is why I selected an Eero mesh over a standalone router

One of many greatest choices you will make when organising a house community is selecting whether or not to go the mesh route or with a standalone Wi-Fi router. I think lots of people have at the very least a obscure sense of why they’d desire a mesh system, however then see the costs on the market and keep away from trying into issues additional. Why purchase a two- or three-pack of routers when one may be costly sufficient? And naturally, we have all been conditioned to assume a better Wi-Fi spec is routinely crucial factor. Once you’re on the retailer, choosing up a single Wi-Fi 7 router might appear to be the wisest transfer.

I have been firmly within the mesh camp for a number of years, although, first with the Google Nest Wifi, and now the Eero Pro 6E. I am not attempting to endorse Amazon or Eero as a model, or the Professional 6E as a mannequin — I simply thought it might be price speaking about why I would purchase the identical system right this moment, even with some high-quality standalone Wi-Fi 7 routers hitting cabinets.

How I grew to become a mesh Wi-Fi die-hard

Dealing with the realities of a full-sized residence

After I was an Austin apartment-dweller, Wi-Fi protection was a non-issue. I am certain some rooms had higher reception than others, however no gadget ever struggled a lot, whilst I added units like good TVs into the combo, and my now-wife moved in. If something, I used to be extra involved about web suppliers — there was extra affect in switching from Time Warner Cable (now Spectrum) to Grande Communications than the rest I used to be doing on my community. I caught with standalone routers for some time.

The turning level got here when my spouse and I purchased our first home. Concurrently, I began testing good residence equipment, and a few of these simply didn’t behave as anticipated. The problematic ones had weak efficiency, or bought kicked off Wi-Fi totally on occasion. It was driving me up the wall. It is one factor in case your telephone quickly loses Wi-Fi, since it may possibly at all times hook up with mobile. In case your doorbell goes down, you would possibly miss an essential bundle — or robbers.

That is after I realized our residence seemingly had useless zones, or at the very least areas that may as nicely be useless. Enter the Nest Wifi, which ensured that each flooring of our home had respectable sign. As a bonus, the system’s satellite tv for pc router doubled as a Google Assistant speaker. Our son completely beloved messing with this as soon as he grew to become sufficiently old to grasp “OK Google” instructions (and stopped saying “Gooble”).

It is laborious to overstate how essential mesh tech may be in a multi-floor home. There’s simply no getting across the sign drop altering flooring appears to trigger. Some units might proceed to work high quality, after all, however something that is bandwidth-hungry or on the perimeter might be going to undergo. Actually, I would not wish to attempt 4K streaming or on-line motion video games if a standalone router was each a flooring down and on the alternative aspect of my home — Wi-Fi wasn’t at all times good on my gaming PC, even when it was a number of toes away.

The Nest Wifi did not sort things utterly. As I found, as a result of the product was based mostly on Wi-Fi 5, it was periodically kicking units offline anyway to create space for brand spanking new connections. The one answer was to improve to one thing with Wi-Fi 6 or 6E, which might tolerate much more simultaneous visitors.

After I purchased the Eero Professional 6E in 2022, it was ludicrously costly. It nonetheless is, actually — a two-pack is $400, and a three-pack is $550. However now my residence is totally lined, and the one good residence points I’ve are associated to particular units and platforms. Apple HomeKit particularly appears to resolve at a whim which units it is going to see and when, although my spouse and I’ve gathered a number of Residence Hubs within the type of HomePods and Apple TV 4Ks. Amazon Alexa and Google Residence just do high quality, as do apps like LIFX and Philips Hue.

I purchased the Professional 6E with the thought of constructing my residence as bulletproof as doable, and certainly, I am unable to see myself upgrading to a brand new system for just a few extra years. Every router even acts as a Matter controller and a Thread border gadget, so there should not be any concern with increasing my good residence equipment, aside from HomeKit help.

Are there any downsides to mesh methods versus standalone routers?

It isn’t simply the value tag

I’ve already addressed the problem of price, however an adjunct to that’s that if you happen to do not want the additional protection mesh methods present, you might be unnecessarily sacrificing efficiency to seek out an inexpensive bundle. The perfect standalone routers max out a Wi-Fi spec’s bandwidth, and provide a wholesome collection of ports, together with 4 or extra Ethernet jacks for wired web entry. Every of my Eero routers is proscribed to a single USB-C port for energy, and two Ethernet jacks, solely considered one of which is rated at 2.5Gbps as a substitute of 1Gbps. That is high quality for me — however you may be disenchanted if you happen to have been trying to make use of USB drives or printers, or keep away from shopping for a swap to deal with a number of units in the identical room.

Mesh routers additionally are inclined to merge all of their wi-fi bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz, and/or 6GHz) underneath a single SSID (community ID). That is preferable in most eventualities, because it permits units to float seamlessly from router to router. “Most conditions” is the operative time period, although — 2.4GHz-only units can generally get misplaced within the shuffle, particularly older good residence equipment. Standalone routers provide the selection of separate SSIDs for various bands, and also you would possibly get a extra dependable setup if you happen to can pressure all your units onto the bands they’re most suited to. I ought to be aware that bother is not assured, it is simply one thing to be ready for.

Finally, then, how have you learnt which path to take? I would counsel residence dwellers routinely go the standalone route. Past that, a mesh system ought to at the very least be in your shortlist, since even a bungalow might profit if its flooring plan is extensive sufficient. I additionally discover that apart from excessive eventualities like downloading a 50GB PC recreation, I do not want the height bandwidth trendy routers have to supply — it is extra essential to have a persistently current connection. So far as ports are involved, Ethernet switches are filth low cost as of late.