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eero 2 and speed comparisons to eero 1

Jeff C. Hey Jeff, with the announcement of the version 2 eero, your website is suggesting double the speed of the first generation units.  Can you please expand upon what that really means as a gen 1 owner.  Right now with two units my "tested" speed goes is usually anywhere from 50 - 70mbs depending on proximity of the two devices.

Now understanding that I am certainly not expecting that with version 2 units that "magically" I am going to now see 100 - 140mbs being reported.  So my question comes down to you're claiming double the speed but what does that really mean? 

For Instance is it:

  • Better throughput between wireless devices or wireless to wired devices?
  • Better sharing of available Internet bandwidth so that my wives video streaming to her phone doesn't kill my 4K streaming?
  • Other or future capabilities that will require version 2 units?

I realize us Gen 1 owners you're offering priority ordering and next day shipments, which is fine and candidly doesn't make me feel much love, but here's the real question.  So I decide to unload another $400-500 with eero and order these puppies for next month.  What happens if I get them home, turned on, and don't see any difference to my experiences today?  What is your return policy?  Thanks

10 replies

    • cMoo92
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Skeeter what is the bandwidth you're supposed to be getting? I have no problem maxing out my 200Mbps internet connection with my gen 1 hardware.

    • eero Community Manager
    • Jeff_C
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Official response
    • Reported - view

    Thanks for reaching out  Skeeter — I'm more than happy to provide some clarity.

    First—if you are happy with the performance of your 1st generation eeros, there is no need to update today. Our 1st-gen product is still great, and as you've seen mentioned elsewhere, we will continue to support it. It will also continue to get better with our updates, as both 1st and 2nd generation hardware will share our ongoing updates.

    With regards to speeds, as you mentioned, the 2nd generation eero isn't going to make your speeds any different than the ones you are paying for. However, with 2nd-gen hardware, you may see improved performance both between eeros and from your eeros to your devices. With that said, exactly how much better ultimately depends on your home, setup, and overall environment (as it was with 1st-gen as well).

    The improved speed and performance are due to the 2nd-gen eero having tri-band radios. In non-technical terms, this means we're widening the pipe for the amount of traffic a 2nd-gen eero can handle. This is both beneficial to your additional eeros and your devices, as it can handle more connections and help reduce interference. You can also always swap out any 1st-gen eero with a 2nd-gen device—whether it be an eero or eero Beacon. If you just wanted to swap out your gateway eero with a 2nd-gen eero (not an eero Beacon), you could do that, and it would be pretty similar to an eero and eero Beacon configuration. The eero Beacons do have improvements in overall performance as well, but they are dual-band like the 1st-generation eero.

    With regards to future capabilities limited to 2nd-gen eeros, this will mostly be around Thread. Both 2nd-gen eeros have Thread capabilities, which will make eero the only hub you need for low powered Thread-enabled devices. You can actually get Thread capabilities by just adding an eero Beacon to your network. We will have more to share on this in the coming weeks.

    As for our return policy, it is 30 days from purchase (or in this pre-sale period, 30 days from shipment).

    I hope this helps, Skeeter. Please let me know if I can provide any further clarity.

    • Skeeter
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    cMoo92 Unfortunately here in Rochester, NY the best speed with can get right now is 70mbs with Spectrum.  Not great but that's it! 😀

    • cMoo92
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Skeeter So it sounds like you're already getting that speed from your eeros. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're speed testing, gen 2 won't make a difference :)

    • Skeeter
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Jeff C. Jeff - thanks for the clarity and that makes good sense and  I did notice when comparing eero 2 to beacon the reference to 2 verse 3 bands which certainly should improve coverage and potential throughput on devices.  Now Threads a different story but seeing that Beacons will support them that's a good alternative.  Thanks. 

    On one other note - is Plus available to order yet or will you make that an in-app APP store purchase?

    • eero Community Manager
    • Jeff_C
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Official response
    • Reported - view

    Skeeter eero Plus will be available in the coming weeks and will be available to purchase directly in the eero app.

    • Skeeter
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    cMoo92 With the exception of "Threads" I tend to agree with you.  What I honestly long for is more around QoS by device.  In one of two working scenarios:

    1. Be able to set max bandwidth at the device level regardless of what user is doing.
    2. Re-prioritize internet speeds by device dynamically through the app given bottleneck issues.

    Why I started the thread and am asking go back to a scenario I run into almost nightly which is as follows:  My wife will be in living room on her iPhone and happens to live a series of videos on YouTube which she prefers to watch on phone.  I will try to stream content to 4K TV from say Netflix or other sources.  Playback will pause or stop and when I got into eero app my TV is averaging 10-15 down, and my wife's iPhone is showing 35-40 down and she drowns out the TV.  

    Once highly secret technique I was ably to deploy thanks to Jeff C. was to turn on profiles and scheduling so from 9pm - 10pm her internet magically goes off-line and streaming works fine, she doesn't really notice as her cell plan picks it up.  By the time 10pm hits she's either done and headed to bed or there is enough buffer the problem is solved.  Yes I know not the good answer if she caught-on but for the time being its better than asking her to stop and getting told "our internet sucks"  LOL

    • cMoo92
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    Skeeter That seems odd. Streaming 1080p from YouTube will only use around 5Mbps, and Netflix Ultra HD (4k) only needs 25Mbps (according to Netflix). Sounds to me like your wife's phone is doing other downloading (like updating apps or syncing data like from Dropbox or something).

    Could you hardwire your TV to one of your eeros? That would help alleviate some wifi congestion and maybe improve your experience. The other to check in the app too is that your TV is connected to the closest eero. If it's not, rebooting the farther away eero can fix that.

    • Skeeter
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    cMoo92 Those numbers are based on what the eero app is reporting back and you're correct it makes no sense her phone reports its use 40mb down for just YouTube.  Right now if I move the eero closer than I run into signal issues but perhaps if I put a third unit in place that would solve this.  Thanks.

    • jrayyan03
    • 6 yrs ago
    • Reported - view

    cMoo92 I actually had the same problem, my TV which does not have an ethernet port was connecting to the eero downstairs instead of the one upstairs. I have 3 total.  I restarted the one downstairs and then it connected to the one upstairs.  However, it actually reverted.  I do not know when it reverted to the 1 (of 2) eeros I have downstairs but last night I checked and sure enough it did.  

Content aside

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