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Please explain: eero speed vs competition

Not that this is a vs thread per se but for my own personal technological knowledge, can someone please explain why eero’s capped speed on its routers are actually lower than the competition?  I ask this because since everyone is using tri bands, 2ghz, 5ghz x 2, why is it other manufacturers have higher rated speeds and the Eros are significantly lower with similar hardware and antennas. 

 

In the real world, I know those speeds are all theoretical and my ISP is nowhere near those speeds but Im just curious.  Velop, AMPLIFI HD, t-link, I believe they all have higher rated speeds.  Are the eeros actually capable of it and it’s their software that caps them out?  

7 replies

    • cMoo92
    • 5 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    In my opinion, it's just all just marketing hype. In the real world, you're never going to see the 867Mbps throughput that Velop claims (and the other guys probably say they're even faster). eero doesn't claim they *can't* hit the theoretical limit of 867Mbps per radio (their radios even broadcast that as being the max rate), but eero is honest enough to publicly state that 600Mbps is about the max you're actually going to get--even though that's also about what you'll also get with the other competitors (and actually you often won't even see that, because of all the nuances of wifi). I don't think eero is capping the speed artificially through software. The ~600Mbps statement takes into account everything else the eero is doing (most of which is probably the TrueMesh magic). All the extra stuff that the eero handles (TrueMesh, profiles, local DNS caching, Smart Queue Management, etc) takes processor power and so while I have no idea what the actual impact those features have, they do have to impact the eero system performance to some extent.

      • Chi7
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      cMoo92 thanks for the detailed information.  Makes sense and like I said, I’m no where near those speeds with FIOS, and just curious.  Like hardware wise, why choose eero over the competition if everyone is basically using the same or similar hardware.  For me it came down to software and customer support.   But information you gave is still good to know.  Thanks. 

      • cMoo92
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Chi7 speaking of hardware comparison, I think eero is the best from an aesthetic perspective. All the other competitors are obnoxiously large and obtrusive compared to the slim and compact eero design.

      • Chi7
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      cMoo92 agreed.  Definitely the nicest, minimalist of them all.   

      Youre an IT guy.  Why did you chose eero with their radios, etc.  AMPLIFI uses 3x3 dual band though, Velop 2x2, and orbi I think has 4x4 for their backhaul.  Orbi btw, complete nightmare all around. 

      • cMoo92
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Chi7 

      1. The original reason I chose eero was that I was one of the original Kickstarter backers, so I've had eero since day one. There were no other competitors at the time.
      2. I have no personal experience with the other competing products, but I hear plenty of horror stories and read about people who have switched from those products to eero because of the issues. I have zero interest in trying or recommending anything but eero.
      3. I really don't care that much about specs when it comes to my technology. What I care about, when it comes to the products I own, is making sure it meets my needs, reliability, stability and real-world performance. Having eero in my home means one less network in my life that I have to troubleshoot and maintain. Sure, it may not be the fastest on paper, but it does exactly what I need it to do: handle 20-30 various devices (including security cameras), stream 4k, etc. And it does all that just fine. I don't care how fast my network is, I just want it to do what I need it to do. And eero does precisely that.
      4. eero is aesthetically nice enough that my wife doesn't mind them being out in the open around the house. I know she wouldn't have the same opinion about the competitor products :)
      • Chi7
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      cMoo92 thanks brother and totally agree.  All my tech, I buy based on my needs.  Like I don’t need the power of an iMac pro.  

      I do swear by AMPLIFI HD’s range and power but unfortunately running nearly 50 devices, its dual band performance is taking a hit., especially when streaming videos or when my son is on PS4.  Honestly, if AMPLIFI had a tri-band, I wouldn’t leave them but app wise, and ease of use, Eero is quite similar and their tri-band fits the bill.  

      • Steve1963
      • 5 yrs ago
      • Reported - view

      Chi7 I do agree Amplifi makes a great system in terms of app usability, stability and polish, and from that perspective, it would easily be my second choice after Eero.  If they ever make a tri-band mesh system, look out.  One Amplifi HD was stellar with just a few devices in terms of speed and range at a computer 45 ft away through two or three walls, where I was getting nearly 300 Mb/s (what I was paying for at the time).  However, I tried a three Amplifi HD mesh setup (three of the 3x3 routers) and with a bunch of devices loaded onto the network (maybe 60 then), it really suffered from a throughout standpoint, going into the low 100's at the same computer.

       Eero is just a better performer in handling a complex network setup with a heavy device load.  Would you believe between all my devices and switches I now have >110 clients attached?  And I STILL get in the 300's Mb/s on my iPad and >400 on my wireless laptops everywhere across the whole house with my hardwired Eeros.  Even when meshed wirelessly, I would get >200 everywhere.  And NO crashes or stability issues.  It's just a phenomenal piece of engineering - nothing comes close.  And Netflix and Amazon video never buffer, unlike with my Linksys router even though it showed better wireless speeds in speed tests.  Those are the things that set Eero apart from the others that may have more brute horsepower, like Orbi and Velop.  I add more and more stuff over time with all the gadgetry out there, and just can't crash Eero - and everything works with it, which I can't say about most other router systems where there was always a compatibility or connectivity issue here and there.

Content aside

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