Date: Dec 31, 2020
Before WiFi Mesh Routers era, I was using Apple Airport Routers to create a single SSID Wifi Mesh at home. Unfortunately, Apple is not well known to be a Networking company, and thus, the Airport routers kept giving out problems, and from time to time affected my home network because of unexpected errors from the Wifi router itself. That was before 2016.
In 2016, then comes the WiFi Mesh routers era. Eero is one of them, and Luma is another. I evaluated both Mesh routers and concluded that Eero is my choice of Mesh routers in my home. This is way before Google mesh, Linksys mesh, Netgear mesh, etc etc. I also have a Netgear Orbi which I think is a crap in my humble opinion. Why it is a crap? Because it requires some network knowledge to configure it and from time to time, I see there Orbi has some error doing the meshing. Hahahaha to be frank, I did not spent a lot of time to do the testing, but the first half hour trying to configure it has already turned me off. So, I kept that as my “backup Mesh routers”. When my Eero ever breaks down, I will then turn on the backup Mesh routers. But I got a strange feeling that I will never have to turn on these three Orbi mesh routers. hahahaha
Here are the previous blogs regarding WiFi Mesh and related topics.
My First Eero: https://miniliew.org/2016/04/17/gadget-notes-smart-wi-fi-eero/
I gave the Luma to office but was later uninstalled: https://miniliew.org/2016/10/30/gadget-notes-luma-mesh-wireless/
Then, in Sep 11, 2017, I upgraded to second generation Eero Pro: https://miniliew.org/2017/09/11/gadget-notes-eero-2nd-generation-upgraded-from-1st-gen/
Then, I bought the RF meter for Jay to measure the WiFi signal and other wireless signal at home… https://miniliew.org/2019/06/05/how-strong-is-wireless-signal-around-you/
Then, I wrote about how I set up my Internet at home. Why you need to hard wired (ethernet wired connect) your Mesh router instead of using their Wireless Mesh Mesh technology which is a crap.. https://miniliew.org/2020/06/20/how-good-is-my-internet-at-home/
Today, is the story of my next upgrade of Eero since 2017. FYI, Amazon has bought over Eero. Which I think it is a good buy. It makes Amazon become a WiFi networking company too, to run all its Amazon Echo.
This is my New Eero. I bought 4 of them, but I think, I only need to use 3. But may be put the last one upstairs.
IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You buy Eero from Amazon! And they DO NOT SHIP to SINGAPORE.
So, you have to ship it to your VPost or like me, I ship to my Stackry.Com US Address. And then, you re-route it back to Singapore.
Take note also, depends on how many you buy, you may need to pay local tax (depending on your US Address), and you may need to pay GST when you re-route it to Singapore.
Below is the Amazon.Com site on Eero. And at present they run out of stock. I bought the last 2 sets of 2. hahahahahahaha Still out of stock as I just checked.
My existing Eero pro Gen 2 still working fine. So, why do I upgrade to Eero Pro 6?
Because I “hiaw”. No lah, because it is Wifi 6 standard. And all newest Apple products supports Wifi 6 too. And my Gen 2 is already 3 years old. Btw, I also still using some Gen 1 Eero too. And just in case you want to street ultra 4K onto your iPad Pro, you may do so now.
Here is the new Eero Pro 6.
The new Eero Pro 6 is very heavy compared to the previous generations of Eero Pro. I guess either 2 or 3 times heavier. May be due to the heat sink. But my feeling is that this new Eero Pro 6 is much cooler than the previous generations.
Again, similar design with 2 Network port and the charging is via USB-C port.
It can covers up 2,000 sq. ft.
The boxing is nice. Good quality. But the Ethernet cable is way too short. Luckily I got Jay can make network cable now. hahaha
Very strong and confident marketing message. “Never think about wifi again.” wahahahaha.. and it is very true. Every since I switch to use this Eero back in 2016, I seldom need to reset routers or Wifi routers, etc etc.
Another Warning here. If you are a person that likes to configure things, sorry, THIS EERO product is not for you!!! You will sure complaint. Because, there is hardly anything you can configure, and you sure need not to trouble shoot anything at all. Everything is done for you, they will self-correct if there are errors. And you won’t know about it. Wahahahahahahahahahaha
Fortunately I am a very lazy person. I like to configure the thing and forget about it. And this Eero is really made for me. And for the past 4 years, I have good Internet every where at home for Park West Condo (1,950 sq ft) and now The Madeira (3,000 sq ft).
Good Internet –> Happy Me –> Happy Wife –> Happy Kids –> Happy Maid == Happy Family!!
And the set up of these new routers are Incredibly easy and fast.
I am doing migration now. So, will be retiring some of my Eero Pro Gen 2. And sorry, I have allocated these to my friends liao. (that attic suppose to be on wired Ethernet connection too, but Jay has invaded my living room, and steal the network port from my attic for his high speed gaming experience. hahahahahaha)
Again, I want to stress, the app is very simple app. It can only do very simple config. If you are thinking to setup the radio channels, signals, tech, etc. Not available. The Eero router will decide what to use, how to use, and it is all based on AI.
Let’s run the first speed test on this Eero Pro 6.
And wow!!! I can achieve 735Mbps download speed on my iPhone.
Of course I did a couple of speed test BEFORE I installed the new Eero Pro 6. It was around 467Mbps up and down. So, after I installed the new Eero, the speed on iPhone or mobile devices went up to > 700Mbps.
OK, now, the RF engineer come in play.
Daddy, we need to check how safe is this new Eero Pro 6. If I put it in the living room at the TV console there, how far away we need to sit. Wahahahahaha
OK, he checking the RF signal.
Compared to the old one, Gen 2 Eero Pro. The new Eero Pro 6 definitely generate more radio signal. So, RF engineer concluded that we should be safe to sit on our bean chair when watching TV. Wahahahaha
OK, once every thing is in place…
Let’s upgrade all routers firmware. It is making sure the new Eero Pro 6 can work with the old 2nd-gen Eero Pro. Less than 5 min, all done.
As a conclusion.
- I used what I believe it is the best. After 4 years all tech company sure has already catch in mesh technology. So, I still love to keep using my Amazon Eero.
- I think Amazon make darn good decision buying Eero. Just like they bought the Alexa technology vs. Siri.
- They do not sell to Singapore. So, you need to buy in US and ship to US and reroute to Singapore.
- Depends on where is your US address, there may be local tax.
- Depends on total value of your package, there may be GST applicable to your goods.
- Since they don’t sell to Singapore, so, you need to provide a US phone number to setup the App. But you can change the OTP to sent to your email instead. For this, please go Google how you should do it.
- If you want to know what are the benefits of Wifi 6, read here. https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/21/18232026/wi-fi-6-speed-explained-router-wifi-how-does-work
- Do you really need Wifi 6? My guess is no need. But it is good to always use the latest technology if possible.
- Do you really need a Mesh Wifi? I think it is good, instead of having only one powerful Wifi Router at home and you have blind spots here and there, why not have 2-3 less powerful Wifi Mesh Router and covers all the blind spots. You decide.
- Can I work without Ethernet connected or Wired to my Mesh Wifi Router? In my humble opinion, it is best if you can plug your mesh router into a Ethernet port back to your router via cabling. Like this, all your mesh router will have a consistent UPSTREAM speed to Internet. If not, and if you really using the Mesh Wifi Tech to mesh all your router, the farther the Mesh router, its UPSTREAM speed will be much lesser and the connecting speed will be much lesser. That will make your Wifi Network inconsistent, some location is stronger, some is slower.
- Do I really need to concern with RF signal?? Well, that is Jay’s toy. It is a toy. So to make him understand how RF signal works. But In general, don’t place strong Wifi router in your bed room, don’t put strong wifi router beside your work station, desk top, Don’t put your head too near to the Wifi rotuer. And I don’t put Wifi in kids bedroom.
- Which ISP is good? It is up to you. You will never get a good answer from me. Because I do not want to take the responsibility to answer your After-Recommendation questions like, why it does not work, why mine never get up to 700Mbps speed, why my cannot do this, why my cannot do that. My blog is to provide you information, and you need to google and make your research and decide what you need to do. And decisions are all yours. All I can tell ya is, mine have been working for 4 years without any issues, and I have happy wife, happy kids and happy maid. But then, I make my own custom lenght Ethernet cables.
- This blog is about Eero. Don’t ask me if Cisco is good? TP link is good or not? etc etc. All I can tell you is, Apple Airports cannot make it, I like Eero over Luma, I definitely don’t like Netgear Orbi, but I still keep it as backups. And I love my newest generation of Eero. And Amazon bought Eero. And I have 5x Amazon Echo at home.
That’s all for now. Happy 2021.