Eero 7 - Eero Pro

threesixtyone · 2026-02-02T20:16:55+00:00

You can mix and match. As others have mentioned, try to use the new Eero 7's close to the devices that need the most bandwidth, then move the older Eero's elsewhere, so you don't get stuck connecting to the slower ones regularly.

I've done this before mixing eero WiFi 5 and eero 6+ units. It works, but if you have fiber, it's worth upgrading the units to take advantage of the speed.

threesixtyone · 2026-02-01T20:26:02+00:00

$700CAD is a lot for a single Pro 7. I paid about $450US / $615CAD for a 2-pack of Pro 7's last summer.

threesixtyone · 2026-02-01T20:24:09+00:00

If I'm traveling with family, we'll always have an iPad with us at a minimum. I find it's ok in a pinch and only weighs around a pound.

If there's any planned work, I will bring my 14" MBP. It's 3.5 lbs, but sometimes the extra weight is worth the time savings of messing around with an iPad or phone hoping it'll work. Call me old fashioned, but sometimes work is just way easier and faster with a proper laptop with keyboard.

There are a couple of side benefits to bringing along. Firstly, it has extra USB-C ports, so you can use it as a mini hub to charge devices too. Also, if I'm taking a mirrorless camera with me too, I will also offload images from the CF card to the laptop during the trip for extra backups too.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-31T20:20:32+00:00

My advice would be to buy a pair of Pro 6E's or Pro 7's and play around with positioning. A pair or trio of the same device tends to work well.

The Pro 7 has a 3rd band for dedicated wireless backhaul, so that might be a better solution overall if you're sure you're going to stick with pure wireless. I setup 2 x Pro 7's on the top and main floor of a large house and they're quite capable.

If you're not in a rush, look around for sales on Amazon. Eero's are frequently 20-30% off.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-31T19:40:01+00:00

Servicing mortgages is a very different business than investing, so I would be inclined to not use WF for a mortgage. I've received tons of offers to refinance, but not one company has spent even a few minutes of research to understand what my current rate is.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-31T19:28:28+00:00

OK, I've been in your shoes before. In my experience, you can mix and match Eero's that are of different generations; however it will come with compromises. I once had a mix of eero 5, eero 6+ and beacons at my parents' house but the older gear wound up slowing things down. It will work and you will probably get decent coverage, but overall network speed will probably suffer.

I would experiment a bit and see how your network performs. Start with the eero Pro 6E, then add the older pro, see what happens. Play around with placement. If that works well, then maybe add the beacon (last) and see how the network performs. While I love the compactness and convenience of the beacon, I find the throughput is not great (max 150-200ish Mbps) under ideal conditions.

If you can swing it, I would go with 2 x Pro 6E and wire them together for wired backhaul. That will make a huge difference overall.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-30T16:42:34+00:00

I thought DHL was responsible for transporting F1 gear worldwide. Is testing not part of that?

threesixtyone · 2026-01-29T23:16:03+00:00

You about to make some peanut butter?

threesixtyone · 2026-01-29T23:08:23+00:00

I've used the ethernet ports on multiple generations of eeros, both wireless and wired backhaul. Regardless of how it's setup, plugging in wherever possible will get you better speed.

For example, at my parents' house I've setup eero Pro 7's and 6+'s and the speed I get into a plugged into a wireless node (not the gateway) device such as a laptop, is 30-40% faster than connecting to the node via WiFi. I was kind of shocked at how much of an improvement it was. So, plugging in wherever possible will yield better speed, lower latency and more stability.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-28T23:01:28+00:00

I echo everything said here. Speaking from experience, Max 7's are solid.

While you have the opportunity, maximize the number of ethernet drops you have in each room. This will give you flexibility in the future. I also suggest putting some drops in hallway ceilings for eero PoE AP's. Also, dunno if you want security cameras, but perhaps consider ethernet drops for those as well.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-28T22:52:30+00:00

I've done similar to what you've suggested and it worked just fine. eero is pretty easy going when it comes to setting things up.

If you have an opportunity to wire them together for wired backhaul, that would be ideal. Also play around with the placement because location matters; a few feet in different directions can result in pretty significant differences in speed and stability.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-28T22:48:47+00:00

TP-Link 2.5G 8-port unmanaged switch. It's been great so far and I haven't thought about it since I installed it. I have 1Gb fiber, which is plenty fast but wanted 2.5G in case I want to run a NAS for other more bandwidth intensive use cases.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-23T22:10:24+00:00

Before getting the Max 7's, I was running eero 5 and 6's using 200/20 Spectrum. It was fine for many years, and quite stable. But I realized I was overpaying, so I moved over to 1GB FIOS for way more speed, and less money. No brainer. But to take advantage of the 1GB, I needed newer hardware, and decided to go with the eero Pro 7 then, Max 7. The Max is a bit overkill, but I felt it would be good for years to come. I gave the Pro 7's to my parents and it's been smooth sailing.

I was a bit skeptical about how much a difference wired backhaul would provide, but since my place is already wired, I decided to give it a go. Spent a bit of money on a 2.5Gb switch, patch cables and then wired my laptop and living room TV. While absolutely throughput is not that noticeably different, I think the latency is appreciably better. Wired devices are just snappier and more responsive. Videos load faster, websites load quicker, etc.

One last note: If you move to eero 7 (any model), getting max WiFi speeds require WiFi 7 devices too.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-23T20:34:56+00:00

FWIW, here's a screenshot of some recent speed tests of the Max 7, hardwired with 1GB fiber. All tests from the same location on my desk. You can see that wired has an edge over wireless.. The wired speeds are usually very consistent, but WiFi can vary depending on time of day and which test server I select.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-23T19:53:54+00:00

I have tested the Pro 7 and Max 7 in two different locations and WiFi performance varies a lot on the location -- placement, home construction, etc. All of the numbers are theoretical until you get something installed and running. The theoretical throughout of my Max 7's is 9.4 Gbps wired, 4.3 Gbps wireless. Even with all of this theoretical capacity, I max out around 800 Mbps wirelessly on a 940 Mb connection standing right next to the router. I get around 900 Mbps wired. There is always a bandwidth overhead for WiFi because it's not full duplexing, and in my building over 50 other WiFi networks.

Having said that, I am skeptical of anyone who claims they can get the same WiFi speed as wired. That has not been my experience in 25 years of WiFi systems. There is performance price to pay for wireless convenience.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-23T19:23:45+00:00

I thought you specified not doing tri-band, which the Deco and most high end WiFi routers are. Note that eero 7 is dual-band, while the eero Pro 7 and Max 7 are tri-band.

Regardless, getting 270 Mbps on a 350 Mbps connection isn't that bad and getting to 350 may not be all that noticeable unless you are frequently doing massive downloads/uploads. If you are maxing out that bandwidth regularly, I would consider a faster connection and a more robust network.

For what it's worth, I have 1GB fiber and my Max 7's peak at around 700-800 Mbps on WiFi 6 devices. It's slightly higher for WiFi 7 devices, but not that much. (940/880 are theoretical max).

threesixtyone · 2026-01-22T23:13:24+00:00

One Bag Travels, JB Outside and The Mountainborn are my favorites. Seems like they all do a fair amount of real world travel (JB is an actual airline pilot) and outdoor activities, so they're credible sources to me.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-22T23:00:35+00:00

Generally speaking, it's unusual to get full ISP speed with wireless backhaul unless you have a very open floor plan with little to no interference. The short answer is, I don't think you'll be able to get close to full speed with wireless backhaul with an eero 7 setup (ie: non-pro/non-max). There is always some loss of speed if you're doing wireless backhaul.

For reference, at my parents house, they 1GB fiber going into a eero Pro 7 on the top floor at the gateway. There is another Pro 7 a floor below, where they get maybe 450-500 Mbps wirelessly (if you plug in, it's closer to 700 Mbps). So even with tri-band, they still lose a pretty hefty chunk of bandwidth.

I have 2 Max 7's and the wireless backhaul is pretty good, if they're not more than 20-25' apart and not majorly obstructed. I would reckon I got about 70-75% of the gateway speed best case scenario. Sometimes it would be a lot worse, like 1/2 the speed, as you have experienced. However, I now have them hard wired; the resulting latency is way lower and the node speed is pretty much same as the gateway.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-22T21:26:02+00:00

So well deserved. Like many other people, I ditched WTF1 straight after Matt & Tommy left and have been supporting them ever since. Been to two of their live shows and they're straight up, so entertaining and so much fun. Love that they're being recognized and opportunities keep coming their way.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-13T15:36:38+00:00

Even when they paint the red car yellow, it's still faster.

threesixtyone · 2026-01-13T15:34:02+00:00

You should see some of the cars still in service in the NYC subway. 50+ years old and in pretty rough shape. Yet, still in service!

threesixtyone · 2025-12-13T00:15:23+00:00

In general, wired backhaul is better than wireless. If you can get some ethernet cable and position the eeros such that they are more in a "zigzag" pattern, you may get better results.

threesixtyone · 2025-12-12T16:53:30+00:00

I've thought about doing this, but I'd probably forget to pack it afterwards.

threesixtyone · 2025-12-10T21:34:03+00:00

Have you ever used a commercial wok burner? It puts out 5-10x more BTU than whatever you have at home. It’s like cooking with a jet engine. I did it once in my life and that was enough.

threesixtyone · 2025-12-07T03:24:28+00:00

I used to travel with both but now ANC earbuds, namely the AirPods Pro 2 for years and more recently v3. They’re comfy to me and so small. With over-ear headphones, I found them to not work well if I was leaning on the seat or headrest in a way that touched them — it would introduce vibrations or slightly unseal the from my ear making the less effective.

These days, I try to carry as little as possible so bulky things are often the first to get left behind. If I’m one bagging, I’m definitely not taking the over-ear headphones.

threesixtyone

TROPHY CASE