Amazon's Eero Max 7 Mesh Router Adds Wi-Fi 7 - For a Whopping $600 30
Simon Hill, reporting for Wired: Every new hardware announcement is always described as "the best ever," but Amazon's new Eero Max 7 mesh might just be a real leap forward. This is Eero's first tri-band mesh router that utilizes the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard, promising roughly double the speeds of its previous flagship system up to 4.3 Gigabits per second. Theoretically, you can download a 4K movie in 10 seconds. The router has a larger design than its predecessor, which allows for more antennas, cooling without the need for a fan, and space for four Ethernet ports. But all this comes at a hefty price -- a single Eero Max 7 costs a whopping $600. It's early days for Wi-Fi 7, so as new models come out, we'll see these prices dramatically drop.
The Eero Max 7 supports the 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, and 6-GHz bands and is fully backward compatible with all previous Wi-Fi versions; it runs the same TrueMesh software and app as other Eero systems, so it can be mixed and matched with any existing Eeros you have. However, you won't be able to take advantage of those Wi-Fi 7 upgrades and speeds without a Wi-Fi 7-supported device, which there are very few of right now. A common criticism of Eero routers (and most mesh Wi-Fi systems) is the lack of Ethernet ports. The Eero Pro 6E only offered two ports rated at 2.5 Gbps and 1 Gbps. Despite the Eero Max 7's larger size, it's still recognizably an Eero finished in shiny white plastic, but it's much larger than previous releases. That allows for four Ethernet ports, two rated at 10 Gbps and two at 2.5 Gbps. Accounting for packet overhead, tethered speeds max out at 9.4 Gbps.
The Eero Max 7 supports the 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, and 6-GHz bands and is fully backward compatible with all previous Wi-Fi versions; it runs the same TrueMesh software and app as other Eero systems, so it can be mixed and matched with any existing Eeros you have. However, you won't be able to take advantage of those Wi-Fi 7 upgrades and speeds without a Wi-Fi 7-supported device, which there are very few of right now. A common criticism of Eero routers (and most mesh Wi-Fi systems) is the lack of Ethernet ports. The Eero Pro 6E only offered two ports rated at 2.5 Gbps and 1 Gbps. Despite the Eero Max 7's larger size, it's still recognizably an Eero finished in shiny white plastic, but it's much larger than previous releases. That allows for four Ethernet ports, two rated at 10 Gbps and two at 2.5 Gbps. Accounting for packet overhead, tethered speeds max out at 9.4 Gbps.
LOL Nope (Score:1)
.... up to 4.3 Gigabits per second. Theoretically, you can download a 4K movie in 10 seconds.
Only if you have an Internet connection that is also that fast.
Idiot.
Re: LOL Nope (Score:2)
WiFi has at worst less than 10% overhead, but you only get maximum speeds in ideal conditions - low noise, line of sight, aligned antennas. So the answer is that it depends on the particular case. Lack of signal is not overhead.
Internal case is good... (Score:3, Interesting)
Only if you have an Internet connection that is also that fast.
A very fast WiFi has some pretty good uses for just in the home, without a fast external connection.
For example an in-home backup or media server - especially for backup, those kinds of speeds would be very useful and make a networked backup unit practical when it might not otherwise be.
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Chances are your media server and backup aren't able to put through anywhere near 4.3Gbps.
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Over 10G, my server puts through around 300 MB/s sustained which is 2.4 Gbps. And that's using hard drives, not SSD's which would bring it closer to 10 Gbps.
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Over 10G, my server puts through around 300 MB/s sustained which is 2.4 Gbps. And that's using hard drives, not SSD's which would bring it closer to 10 Gbps.
You're getting 300 MB/s sustained from HDDs?! That's super impressive and very hard to attain. Most HDDs aren't even spec'd for 300 MB/s transfer rate. Even with a unit that supports > 300MB/s, you'd have to write very large files to a pristine disk and file system. Even then, 300 MB/s is super impressive for a real file system.
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Those video files don't change much once created. If you've done it correctly, the only thing that should wind up on the spinning rust disk in the first place is the highest quality rip you can make (and that you are comfortable with) for your client devices. Client devices don't change all that often and even when they do, they still need to work with everything else on the network at once
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It's only about 570MB/sec, easily achievable with an SSD.
Re:Internal case is good... (Score:4, Interesting)
That is the maximum speed spread across all devices. Each device won't be able to hit 4.3gbps. That means all your cameras, locks, tvs, phones, and whatnot are all sharing that limit. They are not all talking to the Internet and are often talking to each other.
Then there is the fact that it is a mesh router which means it is using the same radio to talk to a satellite eero somewhere else in your home to extend coverage.
The reason Orbis are so expensive is because they have a dedicated radio for backhaul, this is also why they are so fast. Eero will attempt to make up the difference by using faster radios. This Eero still sounds cheaper than current gen Netgear Orbi 6E.
If you have a lot of devices on your network it will be an improvement even if those devices are not Wifi 6E as I don't think there are really any devices that will do 7 yet save a few phones. The additional processing power will allow for more devices to reliably remain connected which I believe is the real argument over single metric speeds.
Eero 6 is targeted for 30 devices [eero.com] which is relatively easy to exceed if you have family.
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I've found WiFi to always be unreliable at range. The only time it's solid is when you have an AP nearby in 5 or 6GHz.
It probably depends on what clients you have, and what your neighborhood is like. Some clients are better than others, with better selection of networks and more aggressive roaming.
My ideal future at l setup is to have wired APs in certain rooms with 6GHz and low power 5GHz. 2GHz is mostly a write-off and I'll probably turn it off.
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If you are downloading or streaming on your local lan, this could be useful and eliminate running ethernet wires everywhere.
Now for $600 with very little device support, that seems less useful unless each 5g connection can now each hit the max.
Re:LOL Nope (Score:4, Informative)
I live in the suburbs (Orange County, CA - Not the really rich part, either), and have a 5GB fiber option available at my home for less than $250/month. We also have 2 other fiber providers available, one "only" offers 2GB, the other a lowly 1GB synchronous connection.
So yeah, a lot of people either have access to this capacity now, or will in a short time.
Not to mention the benefits of intranet traffic, like if you have a media server or file server on your home network.
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Re:LOL Nope (Score:5, Insightful)
Have a 100Gig connection at home. More than fast enough to utilize such.
This router is in-line in terms of price of Wifi 7 routers from others like tp-link and others on the market now. Having said that, I'm not using an Amazon router and letting them log all my activity. Same for Google routers. Hard pass.
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Eero? Stopped reading. (Score:4, Interesting)
Eero is complete shit.
I got an eero 6e pro as default from Metronet.com my isp. Metronet I'm otherwise basically happy with... but the eero is the worst fucking part. And it's bad enough that it is certainly downvaluing that ISP as well.
Hardware, it's an Apple-design-simping white puck. This is bad enough but they clearly intend you to basically leave it sitting somewhere like a piece of techno art. There are no holes, no countersinks for hangers, nothing you can use to hang it on a wall or in any orientation than 'sitting upright on something'. Oh, and curvy-top and 'slightly sloped' means you literally CAN'T just tip it on its side (stably) nor upside down nor stack it in any way.
Why would you want to do this, you ask? Because it has no antennas. None. It projects (as I understand) basically a dome of wifi signal. Again, the assumption is sitting on a piece of furniture, I guess. But in my case, my home is more or less a cube, with the best location for wifi on the middle floor in the center. Which means that lacking any way of shaping the field, I get medium-bad signal in half the house. Not everyone's problem but a significant one for me.
Oh yeah....ONE ethernet port. I'm not saying that every router needs to be a 32 port switch, but even a half-dozen ethernet ports would let me hard-wire a few high-bandwidth items. As it is, I have to now send anything I want to cable to my switch first. Too bad for that tv conveniently about 3' from the router. :|
Further there is NO meaningful managment possible. I'm serious - this isn't hyperbole.
First, I can't telnet into it or even maintain it from a desktop with a web interface at all.
The ONLY "management" are some basic settings available via a phone app.
Want to see DHCP? Want to see DNS requests? Want to install maybe a DD-WRT firmware? NOPE.
Unfortunately, Metronet is ...unclear... on what alternative routers I can use in lieu of this neutered piece of crap.
I don't care if the next eero also gives me a comfortable handjob, I'll *never* buy an eero product. Run away from this, and from ISPs that require it.
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Good news, metronet lets you bring your own router. So go get one that meets your needs. For an average homeowner eero is great. I personally use 3 of them in my home, but if I wanted advanced features I'd just replace it. I am also a metronet customer. In fact, I didn't rent my eeros from them. I bought the 6Es.
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If you are in the USA it's your legal right to install whatever hardware you want (within certain limits), the ISP cannot force you to use their gear. That covers modems as well as routing and wireless.
https://www.ecfr.gov/current/t... [ecfr.gov]
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Obviously it must have antennas. I thought the context was clear.
Will it be obsolete by the time I can connect? (Score:3)
It's hard to predict the future, but is there a chance that the 7 standard will have changed enough in two years that these devices can't support it?
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If there isn't stable OpenWRT support, no sale. (Score:2)
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It's the first thing I look for in a router. You can keep your proprietary network stuff.
Agreed. Last weekend I setup a buddy with two new TP-Link AX23 routers for €75/each, in a Wi-Fi extender / repeater / bridge configuration [openwrt.org]. It was easy to buy modern hardware off this list [openwrt.org], while looking for local sales options. (Use the availability option to filter for the current year!) The project worked out well, and there's good internet all over his house and yard. The two units use the AC channel to talk to each other, with great bandwidth.
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Correction: the two OpenWRT units use an AX channel for back-haul using that recipe, not an AC channel.
I should have looked up the two different protocols before I last posted.
Wired Connections (Score:2)
I got a quote for about $700/room to run Ethernet.
Forget wireless backhaul. Just pay someone to run a hard line. I did that to my condo and my mom's house on my own. It was a pain in the ass full-day project and I would recommend people just paying someone to do it for them but it's so so so so much better than mesh networking even with Ubiquiti Access Points.
I still have a "Mesh" wifi network but the backhaul is all hardwired and can go up to 40gbe someday theoretically (CAT8) and it's POE so I can just