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

One of many largest selections 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 least a obscure sense of why they’d need 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 could be costly sufficient? And naturally, we have all been conditioned to assume the next Wi-Fi spec is mechanically an important factor. While you’re on the retailer, choosing up a single Wi-Fi 7 router could seem 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 making an attempt to endorse Amazon or Eero as a model, or the Professional 6E as a mannequin — I simply thought it would be price speaking about why I would purchase the identical system at present, 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 house

Once I was an Austin apartment-dweller, Wi-Fi protection was a non-issue. I am positive some rooms had higher reception than others, however no system ever struggled a lot, at the same time as 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 house equipment, and a few of these simply didn’t behave as anticipated. The problematic ones had weak efficiency, or bought kicked off Wi-Fi solely occasionally. It was driving me up the wall. It is one factor in case your telephone quickly loses Wi-Fi, since it could possibly at all times connect with mobile. In case your doorbell goes down, you may miss an necessary package deal — or robbers.

That is once I realized our house possible had useless zones, or at the 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 arduous to overstate how necessary mesh tech could 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 wonderful, after all, however something that is bandwidth-hungry or on the perimeter might be going to undergo. Actually, I would not wish to strive 4K streaming or on-line motion video games if a standalone router was each a flooring down and on the other aspect of my home — Wi-Fi wasn’t at all times excellent on my gaming PC, even when it was a number of toes away.

The Nest Wifi did not make things better fully. 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 answer 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 house is totally lined, and the one sensible house points I’ve are associated to particular units and platforms. Apple HomeKit specifically appears to resolve at a whim which units it should see and when, even if my spouse and I’ve collected a number of Residence Hubs within the type of HomePods and Apple TV 4Ks. Amazon Alexa and Google Residence just do wonderful, as do apps like LIFX and Philips Hue.

I purchased the Professional 6E with the thought of creating my house as bulletproof as attainable, 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 system, so there should not be any concern with increasing my sensible house equipment, aside from HomeKit help.

Are there any downsides to mesh programs 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 in the event you do not want the additional protection mesh programs present, you might be unnecessarily sacrificing efficiency to search out an inexpensive bundle. One of the best standalone routers max out a Wi-Fi spec’s bandwidth, and provide a wholesome choice of ports, together with 4 or extra Ethernet jacks for wired web entry. Every of my Eero routers is restricted 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 wonderful for me — however you may be disenchanted in the event you 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 likely 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 situations, 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 sensible house equipment. Standalone routers provide the selection of separate SSIDs for various bands, and also you may get a extra dependable setup in the event you can power your entire units onto the bands they’re most suited to. I ought to notice that bother is not assured, it is simply one thing to be ready for.

In the end, then, how are you aware which path to take? I would counsel condo dwellers mechanically go the standalone route. Past that, a mesh system ought to at the least be in your shortlist, since even a bungalow could profit if its flooring plan is extensive sufficient. I additionally discover that apart from excessive situations like downloading a 50GB PC sport, I do not want the height bandwidth trendy routers have to supply — it is extra necessary to have a persistently current connection. So far as ports are involved, Ethernet switches are filth low-cost today.