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

One of many largest selections you will make when establishing a house community is selecting whether or not to go the mesh route or with a standalone Wi-Fi router. I believe lots of people have no less than 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 might be costly sufficient? And naturally, we have all been conditioned to assume the next Wi-Fi spec is routinely a very powerful factor. Whenever you’re on the retailer, selecting up a single Wi-Fi 7 router could look like 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 would be value speaking about why I might purchase the identical system at this time, even with some high-quality standalone Wi-Fi 7 routers hitting cabinets.

How I turned a mesh Wi-Fi die-hard

Dealing with the realities of a full-sized dwelling

Once 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 sensible TVs into the combination, 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 anything 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 sensible dwelling equipment, and a few of these simply didn’t behave as anticipated. The problematic ones had weak efficiency, or bought kicked off Wi-Fi fully now and again. It was driving me up the wall. It is one factor in case your telephone quickly loses Wi-Fi, since it might probably at all times hook up with mobile. In case your doorbell goes down, you may miss an vital bundle — or robbers.

That is once I realized our dwelling doubtless had lifeless zones, or no less than areas which may as effectively be lifeless. 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 turned sufficiently old to grasp “OK Google” instructions (and stopped saying “Gooble”).

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

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

Once 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 dwelling is totally lined, and the one sensible dwelling points I’ve are associated to particular units and platforms. Apple HomeKit specifically appears to determine at a whim which units it is going to see and when, even though my spouse and I’ve collected a number of House Hubs within the type of HomePods and Apple TV 4Ks. Amazon Alexa and Google House do exactly tremendous, as do apps like LIFX and Philips Hue.

I purchased the Professional 6E with the thought of creating my dwelling as bulletproof as doable, and certainly, I can not see myself upgrading to a brand new system for a number of 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 sensible dwelling equipment, other than HomeKit assist.

Are there any downsides to mesh methods versus standalone routers?

It is not 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 could be unnecessarily sacrificing efficiency to search out an inexpensive bundle. The perfect standalone routers max out a Wi-Fi spec’s bandwidth, and supply a wholesome choice 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 one in every of which is rated at 2.5Gbps as an alternative of 1Gbps. That is tremendous for me — however you is likely to be disenchanted if you happen to had been trying to make use of USB drives or printers, or keep away from shopping for a change to deal with a number of units in the identical room.

Mesh routers additionally are likely to merge all of their wi-fi bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz, and/or 6GHz) beneath 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 typically get misplaced within the shuffle, particularly older sensible dwelling equipment. Standalone routers supply the selection of separate SSIDs for various bands, and also you may get a extra dependable setup if you happen to can power all your units onto the bands they’re most suited to. I ought to notice that hassle is not assured, it is simply one thing to be ready for.

In the end, then, how have you learnt which path to take? I might recommend house dwellers routinely go the standalone route. Past that, a mesh system ought to no less than be in your shortlist, since even a bungalow could profit if its ground plan is broad sufficient. I additionally discover that aside from excessive eventualities like downloading a 50GB PC sport, I do not want the height bandwidth trendy routers have to supply — it is extra vital to have a persistently current connection. So far as ports are involved, Ethernet switches are dust low-cost as of late.