Amazon eero Pro mesh WiFi system (1 Pro + 2 Beacons)

I have tried so hard to like eero but there are serious flaws with the product and support. My first impression was outstanding, with nicely packaged products and a clean user interface. However, it’s been all downhill from there. I tried eero with a large installation and devices kept failing. They would have either intermittent failures or permanent failures. I’m knowledgeable with networking and these were real issues. Support wouldn’t respond to emails for well over a week! I called and they answered the phone, which was good, but they were rude and only told me to wait for a response to my email ticket since that had already been started. So I am supposed to just wait forever for email replies that never come? I think they know they have problems with their firmware and they are struggling behind the scenes to figure things out. Another problem is that there is no log for me to review and I also have no control over if/when any firmware updates will occur. For all I know, it will update in the middle of something important. It’s a very, very closed system where the manufacturer can see everything going on in my network (which is a little eery – not eero), but I cannot. Between that, the constant product failures, and the terrible support, eero is huge disappointment. At the very least, don’t buy this product until the manufacturer lets you have access to your own error log and choose if/when you want firmware updates to occur so it won’t go offline for 15 minutes for an update in the middle of your Superbowl party. These guys still think they own the devices that we have purchased and they should have full control over the data, the logs, the updates, etc.; it’s a big miss, technically and ethically.

This is long updated review on 6 different wifi systems and why we picked and are still using Eero. We were very happy with the 1st Gen Eero system and just upgraded to 2nd Gen with 2 beacons and wanted to share our experience to end wifi issues/dead spots in our home. This is our overall experience and perhaps it will help you with your decision.

WIFI SYSTEMS PURCHASED:
Orbi, Velop, Amplifi HD, Google Wifi, 1st Gen Eero and 2nd Gen Eero with 2 beacons

LOCATION:
3000Sq Ft Townhome with at least 45 devices connected at any time. 3D printers, Sonos players in every room and outdoors, Phillips Hue, Amazon Dots, Ooma, Smart TV’s, IOS/Android phones, tablets and computers, Apple Tvs, 10+ POE 4MP Security cameras, Ring/Chime devices and the list goes on. Work remotely so lots of video calls, exchanging, uploading, downloading and working on design files online. My Little Pony and a bevy of others streamed for the little one via Netflix/Hulu etc. ISP is Comcast with 200mbps down and 10mbps up. Wifi dense community of townhomes with lots of interference which affect signal penetration. This was the place where Wifi went to die!

SITUATION:
Started with Comcast router/modem then tried Comcast modem with Netgear X6, Comcast modem with Netgear X8, Arris SB6190 with Netgear X8 and Netgear extender. Signal was great close to the modem/router but the further away you moved service degraded quite rapidly in our home. Also multiple SSID were a huge pain. Enter the wave of Wifi systems. We researched different products and read reviews on multiple sites. Reviews were too close so we bought the top 6 systems for real life testing in our home.

CRITERIA:
We bought these test systems with no promotions and no promises of a good review. We established simple criteria for our testing:
1) Product design
2) System setup
3) Ethernet wired backhaul
4) Firmware updates
5) System app
6) Customer service
7) Seamless roaming
8) Throughput/signal strength
9) Conclusion
We ranked the systems from 1st to 6th under each criteria. Here are our results.

PRODUCT DESIGN:
The designs are in different directions. The Orbi is the largest with an industrial design direction. Eero is the shortest an has an Apple-lesque minimal design. The new beacons are much better designed and inconspicuous when compared tot he Amplifi beacons. The nightlight is a welcomed additional feature. The Amplifi main units has a cool techy feel to it with a main unit with a bright LCD screen but thats where the design stopped because the satellite units have a quirky magnetic design – A child magnet because my daughter was always trying to adjust them for us. Google was just simple and quite unassuming. Velop had a modern feel/look to it. We found ourselves drawn to the simple clean design of the Eeros because they blended easily with our decor. (See images) However design is so subjective that it depends on what you like.

Ranking: (1st) Eero 2nd and 1st Gen (2nd) Velop (3rd) Google (4th) Orbi (5th) Amplifi

SYSTEM SETUP:
We set them up using an iPhone 7 Plus except for the Orbi which we used an iMac. We maintained the same room/general location main/satellite units for testing. Orbi setup is through the internet and that was easy and fast and it found the satellites with no issues. Eero set up was easy via the app and it found the satellites with no issues. We had to reposition the Google, Amplifi and Velop satellites during the initial setup for the main units to “see” them – (See Customer service section). After setup we plugged ethernet cables into the Velop, Google and Eero satellites to maximize performance. Orbi and Amplifi do not have this feature. Overall the setup for each 3 unit pack took less than 10mins for Eero/Orbi and less than 30mins for the rest. The 2nd Gen Eero with the updated software have the quickest setup till date. Even better than the previous Eero. Standouts here are Orbi and Eero because set up was simple and straight forward. However the edge goes to Eero due to how simple it was to set up with the app.

Ranking: (1st) Eero 2nd and 1st Gen (2nd) Orbi (3rd) Velop (4th) Google (5th) Amplifi

ETHERNET WIRED BACKHAUL:
The best connection is a wired connection so we wanted a system with the opportunity to hard wire the satellites. Orbi and Amplifi HD don’t support wired backhaul. Amplifi HD uses a portion of its bandwidth to communicate between router and satelllite. Orbi has a dedicated band for its communication. Google Wifi, Velop and Eero support ethernet backhaul so you can hardwire all the units. These systems also work wirelessly. With the 2nd Gen Eero you can only have a wired connection with the main unit. The beacons only work wirelessly. Surprisingly the 2nd Gen beacons work better than the 1st Gen – Much better.. (See throughput/Signal section)

Ranking: (1st) Eero 2nd and 1st Gen (2nd) Google (3rd)Velop. Other 2 systems do not offer ethernet backhaul

FIRMWARE UPDATES:
This is the method employed by the manufacturer to improv and add features to your wifi system. With all the systems you have to update them with the latest software out of the box. Orbi was the most difficult because We had to download the update then apply it – It did not work for us the normal way. Velop, Amplifi and Eero worked in the normal way through their respective apps. After the initial firmware update they all updated automatically. This a splendid feature and how new and improved services are added to your wifi systems. Firmware notes and descriptions are always available on the manufacturer website.

Ranking: Even across the board

SYSTEM APP:
The app is where you interact with and glean all the information about your network and devices. Orbi has an app but its basically worthless and you have to use a net based portal to really access and customize the system. Next is the Amplifi app which at the time of testing wasn’t so great. Google, Velop and Eero have the most user friendly apps. You can access your system remotely to control all available features. We are not complex users so advanced features like port forwarding etc etc were not a huge selling point to us. Features we looked for in the app were quality of service, devices connections, which nodes were connected to what device, signal strength to each device, guest access, network diagnosis, number of devices connected (easy way to see what device is actually on your network and what device should not be on your network), pausing internet/blocking devices, built in speed tests, device priority setting and device seamless roaming from node to node. With all this in mind Eero App was the winner hands down. The app was well laid out, information was easily visible and accessible and that made it a joy to use

Ranking: (1st) Eero (2nd) Google (3rd)Velop (4th) Amplifi (5th) Orbi

CUSTOMER SERVICE:
With new tech there is always the possibility of issues so going in we knew we might have to deal with potential issues and were ready. We had to spend a couple of hours with each companies customer service for different issues even after the set up process went well. Velop and Orbi customer service appears to be offshore and we had a difficult time explaining and understanding what they were saying and it sounded like they were reading from scripts. Amplifi customer service was through chats and that really did not help much. Google Wifi customer was decent and they are in the US. We were unable to improve the performance in our home and they were sold out so we could not get a replacement. Eero service was and is still light years ahead of the others and they are in the US. We were able to speak with, understand and formulate a plan for our specific situation. It did not feel as if they were reading from scripts but more trying to understand our issue, troubleshoot and resolve. They followed up with calls and emails to make sure our issues were addressed. We felt that if we had any issues in the future we knew who to call. With the 2nd Gen we did not need to contact customer service as everything went smoothly.

Ranking: (1st) Eero (2nd) Google (3rd)Amplifi (4th) Orbi (5th) Velop

SEAMLESS ROAMING:
A major selling point of Wifi systems is seamless roaming/handover between nodes. Basically as you move through your home/office the systems connects your device to the node that is closest or the one that gives it the best signal. Its actually fun to watch the switch offer through the app. Theoretically Orbi, Amplifi and Velop state that your devices switch between nodes for best service but offer no way to view the transitions. No way for you to see what node you a device is connected to at any time. This is another area where Google and Eero outshine the competition. Both apps tell you which node your device is connected to. However Eero goes a few steps further and shows you what band is being used, signal strength of connected node and activity levels. As the signal strength weakens (goes from 5 green bars to 1 red bar) you can watch as the devices switches to the next node. Eero unleashed new software and it shines with the 2nd Gen. The switches are quicker and smoother. It was fun watching as Eero switched nodes as we moved from room to room. We actually turned that into a game to see which node would step up and take over.

Ranking: (1st) Eero 2nd Gen (2nd) Eero 1st Gen (3rd) Google. Other 3 systems did not offer the ability to monitor

THROUGHPUT/SIGNAL STRENGTH:
With our old units we had lots of inconsistent signals and loss of speed. We pay for 200 down and 10 up and old systems never even got close. All 5 systems tested improved upon our situation. From last to first we would rank them as follows. 5) Google Wifi never gave us more than 50% of upload speeds. 4) Amplifi gave us about the same as Google wifi. 3) Velop was not consistent and varied between 50% and 96%. 2) Orbi was also inconsistent and varied between 70% and 100%. 1) Eero provided 100-120% consistently however the new system with the beacons provided 110 – 135% consistently. Even though we got signal improvements with all the units the differentiator was “consistency of signal, speed and connection”. Hands down best performer were both Eero systems. We got consistent speeds at each node and at all corners of our home. The Eero system with the beacons connected slightly faster. Unlike Orbi and Velop the Eero systems did not cut in and out or have lapses of slow speed. They were also consistently faster than all the other units.

Ranking: (1st) Eero 2nd and 1st Gen (2nd) Orbi (3rd) Velop (4th) Amplifi (5th) Google

EERO VS EERO
The 2nd Gen was slightly faster, smoother, quicker to set up. However the main difference here is ethernet ports. The first generation 3 pack has a total of 6 ports – 2 on each unit. The newer system has just 2 ports on the main unit and no ports on the beacons. If you need ports at ever Eero location the new version with beacons will not work for you. If most of your devices are wired and you need a stronger consistent Wifi signal then the newer units perform better than the first and will be great. The Eero pro with 3 units would be the best of both worlds and we have that on order and will update the review when we get that. We switched from the 1st Gen to the 2nd Gen because we have most of our devices wired and just needed a strong wifi system. The new system with the beacons are much stronger than the old 3 pack system. In our home the beacon system is so strong that we won’t need to add more whereas we added extra units of the 1st generation

IMAGES:
We have switched from using our 5 1st Gen to 3 2nd Gen Eeros (Eero and 2 beacons). We included images of our Eero locations (Gen 1 and 2) as well as size compared icon for the beacons and the night light feature. We also included images showing the differences between the 1st and 2nd Gen main units. 2nd Gen has a physical reset button and now charges with USB C. The beacons once plugged in are basically inconspicuous. We now only use 1 main unit and 2 beacons. Awesome!

CONCLUSION:
For our home we ended up with an Eero system because it won in all the categories that mattered to us. We loved the minimal design, easy set up, wired ethernet backhaul, fluid app, seamless roaming and customer service Eero provided. In real life use in our home Eero (1st or 2nd) just worked with no complications. This is our Eero experience in our setting. Now all of us can do what ever we want with wifi anywhere in and outside our home. We hope the review will help you and we will help with questions you may have. Eero gets a full recommendation from us. Hands down the best overall system out there by far. Great job Eero!!