eero - eero Max 7

I have 1gig service and with the eero pro 6 I was getting about 400meg to 500meg. Replaced with one eero 7 max and getting over 850 in some spots. I think the max 7 just has more throughput

I find the WiFi mesh capability of the eero (particularly the Max 7 units) excellent, with the routing features much as you say. Not much in the way of configuration and even then some features require a subscription. What I've done is gone with a different brand of router that has the configurability I want, run that with WiFi disabled, and use the eero system in bridge mode for the whole home WiFi.

I have the same Synology router and love it but did not find its mesh capability reliable. What I’ve done is add several eero mesh units (Max 7), turned WiFi off on the Synology and set the eeros to run in bridge mode. In this way the Synology does the routing providing me with a user interface I’m familiar with and all controls I could need (with no subscription fees) and the whole home WiFi mesh is provided by eero. It’s been working well and all users in the house have been very happy. Because you already own the Synology, which is a very good and capable router, you might want to consider doing something similar. All the eeros are connected by Ethernet so wired backhaul which is always my preference when possible. It sounds like that option will be available to you based on the wiring in your new home.

Spectrum customer here. I use the modem they supply and an eero mesh WiFi system. Very happy family with good and reliable WiFi throughout the house.

I had three Pro 6s and was hoping to replace with two Max 7s. But had too many devices slip to 2.4 GHz when I did and ended up moving to three Max 7s. Still happy with the upgrade because there is way less performance degradation when connecting to a remote eero node. I’m in a two story home with a basement with primary node in the basement due to cable modem location.

My relative got several eero 7 max routers from her internet provider. They were very easy to set up (you do need to set up an account) and extremely fast. But they are very expensive!

Ha well the eero 7 max is awesome but I don’t know if I would buy it at $600 retail for each one. They got 3 for free from their internet provider!

I just bought the Max 7 (3 unit) setup for my wireless backhaul setup. While I don’t have any WiFi 7 devices yet I wanted it to maximize the wireless backhaul and 1 GB ISP and future proof. I would think anything in the WiFi 7 family will see a good improvement on the wireless backhaul.

We started with a TP-Link BE95 setup and ended up returning them because of the device and internet drops. Seems to be a common issue with their brand and no telling if they will ever get that fixed with firmware updates. Also very confusing with multiple SSID’s for 2.4/5 GHz, 6 GHz and MLO. Felt like maybe the speed and range was slightly better than Eero but reliability was terrible. We switched over to a three unit Eero Max 7 setup and been very happy. Haven’t had any disconnects or internet drops since we switched and the system has been up for about three weeks now. While I don’t own any WiFi 7 devices we wanted to future proof plus we are running a wireless backhaul setup so figured the routers would benefit talking to each other with the better technology. BestBuy has a pretty good deal going on now. It’s on sale for $165 off of a two unit setup and $340 off the three unit setup. They also had a trade-in offer where you bring any old networking device for them to recycle and they give you a 15% off coupon. That brings the price down to $836 for a two unit setup and $1156 for the three unit.

Max 7 has better radios for wall penetration and distance so I went with those because my home is finished and I couldn’t wire it.

TP Link is having quite the (deserved) shit storm right now. FYI. They've been the subject of state-sponsored snooping/firmware related warnings & articles for years now. It's finally coming to a head. IF your criteria is solidly WiFi 7 w/wireless backhaul, if you have a higher budget, and if you don't need to create VLANs or strictly segregate clients by network, the Eero Max 7 is a phenomenal piece of hardware. 4x4 MIMO on both 5 GHz and 6 Ghz bands, 10 gig ports for future high split cable & fiber bumps, excellent hardware antenna array design. If you want to save some cash, you can use a Max 7 as gateway & get a Pro 6E as mesh node to utilize 6 Ghz backhaul. With VLAN or specific client band considerations, you'll have to look elsewhere than Eero. Just be mindful of getting at a minimum 4x4 on the 5 Ghz band. Preferably a 4x4 radio on the 6 Ghz band as well. Many "prosumer" devices cheap out on hardware with 2x2 radios only, and you really do want 4x4 in a brand new router. Even to single clients (increased range & link quality).

Works fine with two Nest cams as well. FWIW, this thing pushes 6 Ghz signal much further than other solutions I've used. Through walls at 30 ft/9m in my use case.

Edit: Max 7 3 pack would be for a very large home. You could probably get by with a Max 7 gateway & a second Max 7 satellite under 3000 sq ft. Odds are good you'll be very happy. 4x4 MIMO on 5 Ghz & 6 GHz bands increases range, and it's a beast as a gateway. One thing I will say is that while I can connect with a WiFi 7 client using Multi Link Operation enabled, I don't see much benefit from MLO enabled versus not. My network is more stable with MLO off, unless you need to push huge bandwidth wirelessly or need lower wireless latency.

Ah, gotcha. I'd still try two Max 7 to see where you're at. Gateway in the basement if that's where the fiber comes in, and a second Max 7 central in the house upstairs. Especially with a wired 10 Gb backhaul. If you're still lacking, you can get a third cheaper Pro 7 to extend. The Pro 7 SoC is very capable, with decent physical antenna & design.

For what it’s worth. The Max is worth it. I just went from a 2x mesh Linksys system that got around 300 everywhere around the house other than the room with the router and that was around 600. Now with a single Max 7 everywhere in the house is 850/900. I have a 900 down internet line so thats now my limiting factor. The Max 7 is the best piece of tech gear I’ve bought in a long time. Super impressed.

As I understand it the third band will speed up back haul and the mesh in general. One thing I’ve noticed with the max 7 is all my WiFi 5 and 6 devices are basically max speed all the time now.

I just got a Max 7 single and am blown away with the performance.

I mean, if it Ain't broke don't fix it? I had a 2 mesh Linksys Velop system about 3 to 4 years old. It got around 600-650mbps on my phone in the same way as the gateway router and pretty solid 300mbps everywhere else around the house. I got the Max 7 from eBay half price as pretty much new. I just have one and everywhere in the house gets 900mbps now. (my internet is 900 down) Well, the bathroom is through a few brick walls so is about 800-850mbps there. My network wifi was fine. Had no reason to upgrade. Just saw the Max 7 on offer and wanted to future proof.

I just replaced my Orbi seven mesh system for an EERO max seven. Same experience. Once you have reliable Wi-Fi, it’s hard to understand how we tolerated the Orbi for so long. I really wanted to make it work! Good luck with it!

16 pro max does indeed have wifi 7. The biggest difference between pro and max seems to be throughput potential - both of which will really only show if you're using wifi 7. 7 max has a theoretical 4.3gbps max throughput, the pro is somewhere in the 3 range if I reember right. Likewise the max has two 10gbps ports and two 2 gbps, pro 7 has two 5gbps only. Max claims somewhat better coverage - but I'm in around a 3000 square foot house and the 3 pack of eero 7 pro has my house blanketed with wifi (may add an outdoor one over the summer). Until wifi 7 is really 'around' at your place you're unlikely to see a huge improvement - that 503.11ab ad 6ghz is where it's going to shine the strongest. All of that having been said, if you have the 1 gig from fios, and no plans or ability to upgrade, there's really no benefit to going with the max at all - you're not going to see faster throughput than what comes into your house (obviously if you have internal resources, that may change things dramatically, but for streaming etc...you won't see a difference). For real world comparison: I upgrade from a 9 year old first gen orbi mesh to the eero 7 pro and saw my wifi speeds (on wifi 7 devices) go from around 350mbps up to 700-800. It's a SUBSTANTIAL improvement. I think price drops are unlikely since they're still relatively new devices.