When you dwell in a bigger dwelling with a number of tales, upgrading to a mesh router that makes use of a number of gadgets to relay a greater Wi-Fi sign all through your house is fairly near a no brainer at this level. You have acquired plenty of choices, together with two notable methods from Google and Amazon: the Nest Wifi Pro and the Eero Pro 6E, respectively.
Every system guarantees top-of-the-line mesh efficiency due to the addition of Wi-Fi 6E, a brand new designation for current-gen, Wi-Fi 6 gadgets which are outfitted to ship indicators within the recently opened 6GHz band. Each promise to quarterback your good dwelling, too, with full help for the business’s new common good dwelling normal Matter and different options aimed toward dwelling automation fanatics.
So which system is the higher of the 2? Positive sufficient, we have simply completed testing them out side-by-side, and we have loads of information to share. Let’s take a better have a look at how every system carried out, and what separates them. (For extra, take a look at how to set up your mesh router for the best performance, and the best location for your Wi-Fi router.)
Nest Wifi Professional
Google’s latest, strongest mesh router
Google’s Nest Wifi Professional builds on the earlier model of Nest Wifi by including in considerably sooner speeds with full help for Wi-Fi 6E. That signifies that it may well join different Wi-Fi 6E gadgets over the newly unlocked 6GHz band along with the present 2.4 and 5GHz bands. That is a superb factor — the 6GHz band options greater than twice as a lot bandwidth because the 5GHz band, with room for a number of 160MHz channels of visitors, and with no previous-gen Wi-Fi gadgets within the combine, that visitors will take pleasure in a major discount in interference.
The opposite large change with Nest Wifi Professional is that there are not Google Assistant good audio system constructed into the extenders. The truth is, the Nest Wifi Professional does not characteristic separate extender gadgets in any respect. Not like the unique Nest Wifi, every Nest Wifi Professional system is an identical and interchangeable, so any of them can function the principle router of the system. Read our Nest Wifi Pro review.
Pace score: AXE5400
Construct: Tri-band (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz)
Wi-Fi normal: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E)
Vary: 2,200 sq. ft
Processor: Twin-core 64-bit ARM CPU
Reminiscence: 1GB RAM, 4GB flash
Encryption: WPA3
Ethernet jacks: Two
Ethernet/WAN pace: 1Gbps
Dimensions (WHD): 4.61 x 5.12 x 3.35 inches
Constructed-in Thread radio: Sure
Constructed-in Zigbee radio: No
Constructed-in good audio system: No
Backwards compatibility: No
Colours: Snow, fog, linen, lemongrass
Worth: $139 (1-pack), $300 (2-pack), $346 (3-pack)
CNET overview rating: 7.7
…Learn extra
Eero Professional 6E
Amazon’s top-of-the-line mesh router
Launched in 2022, the Eero Professional 6E is the quickest and most succesful mesh router the Amazon-owned model has ever launched, and it is the one one which provides Wi-Fi 6E help into the combo. Starting at $250 for a single system, $400 for a two-pack or $550 for a three-pack, the Eero Professional 6E actually is not low-cost, but it surely nonetheless prices significantly lower than top-of-the-line Wi-Fi 6E mesh choices just like the Netgear Orbi AXE11000 or the Linksys Velop Atlas Max 6E. The Eero Professional 6E stored up with methods like these in our at-home exams, and even outperformed them by some metrics.
With help for Amazon’s Alexa and built-in radios for Zigbee and Thread, the Eero Professional 6E is positioned properly to function a wise dwelling centerpiece. That is notably true in Alexa households, however the Zigbee radio lets it join with all kinds of devices like smart lights and smart locks no matter which voice assistant you favor, and the Thread radio permits it to facilitate transmissions between Thread-based devices that help Matter. All of that, plus backwards compatibility with older Eero gadgets and a multi-gig WAN port that enables for wi-fi speeds in extra of a single gigabit, make this method an interesting and forward-looking dwelling networking improve. Read our Eero Pro 6E review.
Pace score: AXE5400
Construct: Tri-band (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz)
Wi-Fi normal: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E)
Vary: 2,000 sq. ft
Processor: 1GHz dual-core processor
Reminiscence: 1GB RAM, 4GB flash
Encryption: WPA3
Ethernet jacks: Two
Ethernet/WAN pace: 2.5Gbps
Dimensions (WHD): 5.5 x 1.9 x 5.5 inches
Constructed-in Thread radio: Sure
Constructed-in Zigbee radio: Sure
Constructed-in good audio system: No
Backwards compatibility: Sure
Colours: White
Worth: $250 (1-pack), $400 (2-pack), $550 (3-pack)
CNET overview rating: 8.0
…Learn extra
Them’s the specs. Now, let’s dive slightly deeper into how these two methods actually stack up.
The brand new Nest Wifi Professional mesh router is available in your alternative of 4 colours.
Design aesthetics: Nest notches a colourful win
Mesh routers are supposed to be positioned out within the open all through your house, as a result of wi-fi efficiency plummets when you stuff the factor in a closet or the again of a junk drawer. When you’re utilizing them proper, you are going to be seeing this stuff, and that signifies that the aesthetics matter.
Within the case of Nest and Eero, the aesthetics actually come all the way down to minimalist versus tremendous minimalist. Neither one bombards you with antennas or flashing lights. As a substitute, they each cover the {hardware} on the within, which makes every of the designs so much much less conspicuous. Nest gives your alternative of 4 colours, although, whereas the all-white Eero Professional 6E sticks to the identical protected, considerably bland design playbook of each Eero technology that got here earlier than it. It is not an eyesore by any stretch, but it surely is not doing as a lot to justify a spot out within the open in your front room or bed room as Nest is.
Winner: Nest Wifi Professional
Every Eero Professional 6E system comes with an Ethernet jack that is able to dealing with incoming wired speeds as excessive as 2.5Gbps. That makes it a greater decide than Nest Wifi Professional for multi-gig web plans.
{Hardware}: Eero’s backwards compatibility and multi-gig jack give it the sting
Splashy colour selections apart, let’s speak in regards to the insides of those mesh methods. With matching AXE5400 builds providing high speeds of two.3 gigabits per second (2,300Mbps) on the 5 and 6GHz bands, plus a 2.4GHz band with high speeds of 800Mbps, the Eero Professional 6E and Nest Wifi Professional appear comparably quick, however there are some finer factors price inspecting.
For starters, every Eero Professional 6E system comes with an Ethernet jack that is able to accepting incoming wired speeds as quick as 2.5Gbps. With Nest Wifi Professional, each of the Ethernet jacks on every system will cap your incoming wired speeds at 1Gbps, which is not ultimate when you’re paying up for a multi-gig internet connection, or planning to improve to at least one anytime quickly. Thoughts you, Eero says that you simply should not anticipate to see wi-fi speeds any sooner than 1.3Gbps, however nonetheless, if you wish to surf at faster-than-a-gigabit speeds, Eero is the clear alternative right here.
One other key level of consideration on the {hardware} entrance: Backwards compatibility. The Eero Professional 6E gives it, the Nest Wifi Professional doesn’t. With backwards compatibility, present Eero customers might buy a single Eero Professional 6E system and add it into their present setup with older-gen Eero gadgets. You may’t do this with Nest Wifi Professional — the system will not work with present {hardware} from the original Nest Wifi system, nor can it join with first-gen Google Wifi hardware.
“To try this with Google Wifi and Nest Wifi generations that do not help 6GHz was not going to be a superb expertise for customers,” mentioned Ben Brown, Google Nest’s director of product administration for vitality and connectivity.
The back and front of the Nest Wifi Professional mesh router. Every system comes with two Ethernet jacks, so not like the unique Nest Wifi, you’ll be able to wire them collectively for sooner efficiency. Nevertheless, Nest Wifi Professional gadgets will not be backwards appropriate with the unique Nest Wifi or Google Wifi mesh gadgets.
That is truthful sufficient, but it surely signifies that present Nest Wifi customers will not be capable of improve their setups one system at a time. It is also noteworthy as a result of the Nest Wifi Professional not options extenders with built-in good audio system such as you acquired with the unique Nest Wifi. When you wished to make use of these older, Google Assistant-equipped extenders with the brand new Nest Wifi Professional, you are out of luck.
One final word: Amazon not too long ago introduced that you can use choose Echo and Echo Dot good audio system as Wi-Fi extenders for Eero networks. We have not examined that out simply but (keep tuned), however as pitches go, it appears like an interesting and cost-effective solution to give your community a minor pace enhance at vary — and the Nest Wifi Professional does not provide something prefer it.
Winner: Eero Professional 6E
Watch this: Google Nest Wired Doorbell and Nest Wifi Professional Palms-On
Speeds: Eero will get the sting, however Nest scores for stability
The Nest Wifi Professional is the latest mesh router in the marketplace, however we had been capable of take the system for a take a look at journey at our lab in current weeks. We examined it in opposition to a handful of different methods that help Wi-Fi 6E, together with the Eero Professional 6E, so let’s check out how the 2 in contrast. Chart time!
Up first, some scatter plots. Particularly, the 2 scatter plots beneath, every of which is exhibiting you the entire completely different obtain speeds logged whereas we examined two-piece Eero Professional 6E and Nest Wifi Professional mesh methods in our five-room, 1,350-square-foot take a look at atmosphere, the place we now have a gigabit reference to obtain speeds that high out at 940Mbps. Throughout all exams in all rooms, the Eero Professional 6E got here again with a mean obtain pace of 586Mbps, greater than 100Mbps sooner than the Nest Wifi Professional common of 482Mbps. In 4 out of 5 rooms, the Eero Professional 6E was capable of hit obtain speeds as excessive as 750Mbps throughout some take a look at runs, which is an excellent end result and, once more, higher than we noticed from the Nest Wifi Professional.
Every dot in these scatter plots represents the obtain pace throughout a single pace take a look at to a Wi-Fi 6 laptop computer on a gigabit community with the Eero Professional 6E and the Nest Wifi Professional working the connection, respectively.
Nevertheless, whereas the Eero Professional 6E was capable of hit larger highs than the Nest Wifi Professional, it additionally noticed decrease lows. It is plain as day within the chart on the left, with pace ends in the lounge and kitchen dropping down as little as 150Mbps throughout some exams. The primary router sits in the lounge throughout these exams and the kitchen is the subsequent room over, so these are close-range Wi-Fi speeds that must be so much larger. What provides?
To reply that query, I want to elucidate my take a look at process a bit. For every router I overview, I run a number of collection of pace exams throughout morning, afternoon and night hours. For every set of exams, I run three pace exams in every of the 5 rooms, beginning near the router in the lounge and ending removed from it within the storage. Then (and that is the vital bit), I run all of these exams once more, besides this time, I begin my Wi-Fi connection from afar within the storage and work my method again in direction of the router.
It was in these back-to-front exams that the Eero Professional 6E noticed slower speeds close to the router, and that is as a result of once I began my connection from far-off, the system acknowledged that and routed my connection by the satellite tv for pc extender (which we at all times place within the children’ room). That is the correct strategy at first, however as soon as I moved again into the lounge, the system continued to route my connection by the extender, so it was virtually as if I used to be sitting even farther away from the router than the storage. Within the exams the place speeds dropped beneath 200Mbps, it might need been that Eero was routing me to the slower 2.4GHz band as a result of it perceived me to be a number of rooms away from the extender, all with out realizing that I used to be, in actual fact, sitting in the identical room as the principle router.
That is not an uncommon end result — I see back-to-front routing points like that with mesh routers on a regular basis — so it is not a significant ding on the Eero Professional 6E. As a substitute, I have a look at that end result as a extremely good one for the Nest Wifi Professional, which did not see any inconsistencies in speeds from take a look at to check. In consequence, the dots within the Nest Wifi Professional scatter plot are all fairly shut collectively, which tells you that it is about as steady and dependable as mesh routers get. That is a superb end result right here, even when it is not the quickest mesh system we have examined.
These graphs chart the latency outcomes throughout the entire pace exams we ran, at all times to the identical take a look at server. Each methods held to a baseline of about 20ms, which is what we anticipate to see with this server, however the Nest Wifi Professional additionally noticed a number of extreme spikes, one as excessive as 150ms. That is the type of factor that would trigger an annoying delay throughout a video name.
One final level of word on efficiency: Along with speeds, we at all times regulate every system’s latency, as properly. Every pace take a look at that we run goes to the identical take a look at server positioned a number of hundred miles away in St. Louis, and with many of the routers we have examined right here, the latency per take a look at usually comes again at proper round 20ms — the time it takes our sign to achieve that St. Louis server and make it again to us. The Eero Professional 6E held tight to that 20ms baseline throughout all of our exams, with just a few tiny latency spikes up round 25ms. However the Nest Wifi Professional? It routinely noticed spikes as excessive as 150ms after we examined it. You may see for your self in these radar graphs above — and word that I truly wanted to zoom the dimensions out on the Nest Wifi Professional graph with a purpose to present the complete extent of the problem.
These latency spikes might trigger delays throughout a video name or a web based gaming match, so they don’t seem to be ultimate. I am doing slightly extra digging on this quirk to see what the precise subject was, so I am going to replace this publish if I’ve extra to share, however Eero was the clear latency winner between the 2. Between that and the upper (if much less constant) common speeds, Eero will get the sting, general, as properly.
Winner: Eero Professional 6E
The Eero app makes it straightforward to arrange and handle your house community, but it surely does not provide the identical degree of good dwelling management because the Nest Wifi Professional’s Google Dwelling app.
Ease of use: Eero and Nest each make Wi-Fi lifeless easy
From Google Wifi to Nest Wifi to Nest Wifi Professional, Google has a superb observe report within the mesh class, as does Eero, which has a number of generations of mesh {hardware} on its resume over the previous decade or so. Every firm locations a robust emphasis on the software program working their respective mesh methods, and every has a robust historical past of dependable efficiency in CNET exams.
You may management the Nest Wifi Professional alongside all types of different good dwelling devices within the newly revamped Google Dwelling app.
That software-heavy strategy to mesh networking extends to the apps that you will use to manage every system, as properly. No matter whether or not you are organising a mesh router from Eero or from Nest, you’ll be able to anticipate the expertise to be fast and simple due to simplified app controls that stroll you thru every step of the method, together with placement tips that will help you place every extender in an optimum location. From there, every system’s app does a superb job of providing fast entry to widespread dwelling networking options. That signifies that neither system has an actual edge over the opposite so far as simplicity is worried.
The one factor I would word is that Google moved its predominant dwelling networking controls into the newly revamped Google Dwelling app, the place they sit alongside different controls for including and controlling devices like cameras, audio system and good lights. When you’re already a wise dwelling fanatic — notably a Google-minded good dwelling fanatic — then that all-in-one strategy could be precisely what you need. If not, and also you simply desire a router app that sticks to routers, then maybe the Eero app is a greater match.
Winner: Tie
Sensible dwelling: Each help Matter, however Eero’s Zigbee radio places it excessive
Talking of the good dwelling, it is a central a part of the pitch with each Eero and Nest. For starters, every system consists of built-in radios for Thread, a low-power protocol that transmits as an additional layer to your present Wi-Fi sign. That is vital, as a result of Thread is an enormous a part of the pitch for Matter, a brand new common good dwelling normal backed by Amazon, Apple, Google and many others. A number of Matter gadgets will use Thread to relay their indicators backwards and forwards, and each the Nest Wifi Professional and Eero Professional 6E mesh routers are absolutely outfitted to quarterback these indicators and maintain Matter good houses working easily.
Thread apart, every system has its personal distinctive strategy to courting good dwelling fanatics. On the Nest aspect, you will not discover Google Assistant good audio system constructed into every extender such as you acquired with the unique Nest Wifi, however it is possible for you to to manage the Nest Wifi Professional alongside your whole different related dwelling gizmos within the Google Dwelling app, which guarantees to function a one-stop-shop for good dwelling administration. Eero does not have that — the Eero app is strictly a router app, and when you can sync your Eero up with Amazon’s voice assistant, the networking controls within the Alexa app aren’t sufficient to place it on the identical all-inclusive degree as Google Dwelling.
For its half, the Eero Professional 6E encompasses a devoted Zigbee radio along with the Thread radio, which is one thing you will not get with Nest. Zigbee is one other low-power wi-fi protocol, however not like Thread, it is completely separate from Wi-Fi. Loads of related locks, lights and different good dwelling devices use Zigbee to ship their indicators, and pairing gadgets like these with your house’s Wi-Fi community usually requires you to attach a Zigbee hub to your router to behave as translator. With the Eero Professional 6E, that hub comes in-built, which frees up considered one of your valuable Ethernet jacks and makes it potential to pair Zigbee gadgets immediately together with your router.
This one’s shut, however for me, the mixture of that Zigbee radio with the characteristic that permits you to use Echo audio system as Wi-Fi extenders provides Eero a barely extra compelling case as a wise dwelling dream router. Benefit Amazon.
Winner: Eero Professional 6E
Worth: Nest Wifi Professional is considerably cheaper
This one was once a draw, however the Nest Wifi Professional has come down considerably in worth because it launched. Obtainable at $139 for a single system, $300 for a two-pack or $346 for a three-pack, the Nest Wifi Professional is lots of of {dollars} cheaper than the Eero Professional 6E, which rings in at $250 for a single system, $400 for a two-pack or $550 for a three-pack.
Nonetheless, each the Eero Professional 6E and Nest Wifi Professional are two of the very best values within the Wi-Fi 6E class, interval. They’re a number of the solely Wi-Fi 6E routers so far that you could get for lower than $200 with out a large sale. That’ll place each routers fairly properly as folks proceed upgrading to telephones, laptops and different major gadgets that help Wi-Fi 6E. It could be sufficient for customers to forgive Nest’s lack of backwards compatibility or multi-gig help.
Winner: Nest Wifi Professional
The decision
This can be a shut one, as each methods are fairly interesting for anybody trying to improve their dwelling community. Eero’s largest benefit is on the {hardware} aspect — particularly, the truth that it features a multi-gig Ethernet jack, a built-in Zigbee radio, sooner common speeds and backwards compatibility with earlier-gen Eero gadgets. You do not get any of that with Nest.
However, loads of good houses have already got a Zigbee hub of some type (the Philips Hue Bridge, the SmartThings Hub and the Amazon Echo Plus are only a few that’ll do the job). Others might not want one in any respect. In the meantime, Eero’s multi-gig help is sweet to have in a forward-looking sense, but it surely does not provide quick relevance to the overwhelming majority of us dwelling with sub-gigabit web speeds.
Ultimately, each methods are recommendable at their costs. I just like the Nest Wifi Professional higher as type of an entry-level Wi-Fi 6E decide, and one that would get higher with time as Google continues tweaking its mesh components. The Eero Professional 6E appears like extra of an improve to me, and a extra absolutely featured system given the additional {hardware} packed inside. Each are positioned to be succesful good dwelling centerpieces — the Eero could be barely extra interesting on that entrance due to the built-in Zigbee radio, however the Nest Wifi Professional’s integration into the all-encompassing Google Dwelling app has some enchantment of its personal, particularly in good houses which are already centered round Google {hardware} and Google Assistant voice instructions.
I give the Eero Professional 6E a small edge right here, general, however each methods are fascinating picks right here in 2024.
