The way forward for Wi-Fi is pricey

I am a sucker for thrilling new tech. One space during which I’ve a specific curiosity is healthier Wi-Fi speeds. There’s an argument to be made that after a couple of hundred megabits, pace actually would not matter. Nonetheless, there’s admittedly one thing actually cool about crazy fast Wi-Fi.

After I initially tried Wi-Fi 6, I used to be disenchanted to search out it did not make a noticeable enchancment to my community. Then, I attempted Wi-Fi 6e. Accessing the 6GHz band supplied dramatically higher speeds, typically double what I used to be getting beforehand. So, as Wi-Fi 7 has been creeping onto the scene, I have been eyeing it intently, ready to improve upon Apple transport a appropriate machine.

I had the pleasure of interviewing a member of Eero’s product team a while again. Following that dialog, the corporate supplied to ship me a three-pack of Eero Max 7 nodes, together with a few of their new CAT 6a ethernet cables. For over a month, I have been utilizing this top-end Wi-Fi setup with an iPhone 15 Pro, M4 iPad Professional, M1 MacBook Professional, and over 100 HomeKit gadgets.

The timing could not be higher, as Apple just lately shipped its first Wi-Fi 7 gadgets with the iPhone 16 lineup. After every week of experiencing what Wi-Fi 7 brings to my iPhone and my community extra broadly, I am unable to await Apple (and different corporations) to ship extra Wi-Fi 7 gadgets.

Worth, availability, and specs

You could be rolling your eyes on the considered one other new Wi-Fi customary. I get it. However Wi-Fi 7 brings a bunch of thrilling advantages. Pace-wise, Wi-Fi 7 could be as much as 4.8x sooner than Wi-Fi 6e, confirmed by the Eero Max 7’s theoretical high supply of 4.3 Gbps wirelessly and 9.4 Gbps wired. These speeds are insane, particularly given houses are unlikely to get speeds from web service suppliers wherever close to that. The Max 7 has 4 ethernet ports, two 2.5GbE and two 10GbE, to assist ship this unimaginable pace. I am a large fan of getting 4 ethernet ports. The Eero Professional 6 and 6e solely have two ports every, making a change completely essential when you want a wise house hub or straight wire a couple of machine.

Wi-Fi 7 additionally touts decrease latency, enhanced effectivity, particularly in dense community environments, and elevated connection stability and reliability. One other neat function is assist for Multi-Hyperlink Operations (MLO), which permits a tool to concurrently leverage the bandwidth of two.4, 5, and 6GHz networks to get the very best pace and efficiency. For avid gamers, Wi-Fi 7 guarantees improved AR and VR experiences, together with lowered lag for cloud gaming.

The Eero Max 7 is accessible on Amazon beginning at $599.99 for a single node and going as much as $1,699 for a three-pack. Every node covers about 2,500 sq. ft, that means a three-pack can assist as much as 7,500 sq. ft and over 200 gadgets. Every node is powered by a 45W USB-C energy brick, making it simply replaceable ought to one thing occur to your cable. On high of all that, you continue to get an extremely performant tri-band mesh Wi-Fi router with free buyer assist.

What I favored about Eero Max 7

Quick, smooth, and straightforward to arrange

Proper off the bat, Eero’s setup expertise is unmatched. I deeply miss Apple’s AirPort wi-fi routers due to how simple they have been to arrange. Whereas I am a nerd, I admire simplicity. I’ve at all times admired Eero’s dedication to having a easy onboarding expertise. Each Eero setup expertise I’ve had felt easy sufficient that my mom may do it. Swapping out my Eero Professional 6e nodes for the Max 7s was equally easy, with the Eero app guiding me by way of and atomically configuring the brand new nodes.

Since establishing my Max 7s, I have been pleasantly stunned at how performant they have been. With my iPhone 15 Professional, M1 MacBook Professional, and iPad Professional, I used to be already pulling in spectacular speeds of 300-400Mbps. Excitingly, with my new iPhone 16 Professional, I am getting 600-700 Mbps. I’ve gigabit fiber coming into my house. Whereas I respect and admire the advantages of utilizing ethernet, I dwell a wireless-driven way of life. I need the very best Wi-Fi expertise I can get regardless of having 5 sensible house hubs creating their very own networks.

Within the subsequent part, I am going to dive deeper right into a irritating expertise I initially had with a lot of my HomeKit equipment being sluggish to reply and having connectivity points after switching to the Max 7s. Luckily, that problem seemingly resolved itself. I swear my sensible house has by no means been higher. It is quick, dependable, and seemingly extra responsive than ever.

The Eero workforce additionally despatched alongside a few of their new braided CAT 6a ethernet cables. It will’ve been cool in the event that they have been CAT 7 or greater. However, they’re nice cables, being superbly designed, performant, and hard. The Eero Max 7 three-pack comes with a single white cable, and Eero additionally despatched me black and blue cables. Eero’s CAT 6a cables promote for as little as $4.99 on Amazon for half a foot and as excessive as $9.99 for a 10-foot cable. There’s further saving available when ordering a 5-pack. The pricing for these cables could be very aggressive, notably for the standard and presentation they ship.

What I did not like in regards to the Eero Max 7

Eero’s e-mail assist was lackluster

I have been an Eero buyer for a number of years, proudly owning the Eero Professional 6 and 6e earlier than reviewing the Max 7. Having a home with over 100 sensible house gadgets, I get pressured about gadgets not correctly reconnecting when the facility goes out. So, swapping my wi-fi entry factors worries me to a complete different degree. Now, studying this, chances are you’ll assume that swapping mesh Wi-Fi nodes is straightforward so long as you retain the identical SSID and password. Plus, the Eero app is extremely user-friendly.

Sadly, for a minimum of a couple of days, a lot of my HomeKit devices grew to become sluggish to reply or unresponsive after I switched out my Eero Professional 6e nodes to the Max 7. It was irritating to go from my HomeKit gadgets working quick and reliably to consistently disconnecting and timing out. I am unable to inform you precisely when, however after a couple of software program updates and a while, all my HomeKit points simply went away. As I write this, they’re seemingly working higher than after I used my Eero Professional 6e.

Earlier than my HomeKit connectivity points resolved themselves, I used to be experiencing mounting frustration from not simply myself but in addition my associate. Much more annoyingly, the worst a part of this expertise was after I tried to achieve out to Eero for assist.

Like most corporations, Eero first makes an attempt to get you to learn assist articles earlier than offering you with a solution to converse to a human. That have has at all times been and can at all times be annoying. Ultimately, I despatched Eero an e-mail explaining how my HomeKit gadgets had connectivity points. My guess was that this drawback was associated to the two.4GHz community. It took me three emails to assist the agent perceive that my drawback wasn’t that I used to be on the lookout for a HomeKit Secure Router however that I wanted assist with a connectivity problem. I needed to inform the agent, not as soon as, however twice, to return and skim my earlier e-mail as a result of they seemingly solely learn the phrase “HomeKit” and determined I have to’ve been questioning why my model new Eero wasn’t appropriate with Apple House as a HomeKit Safe Router. I used to be, actually, not questioning that.

When an issue happens whereas reviewing a product, it may be tempting for reviewers to achieve out to their press contacts to resolve an issue rapidly. I can perceive why reviewers might do that. I hope to by no means want to achieve out to an organization’s assist workforce. I anticipate a product to only work. However after I do want to achieve out, I need to have the identical expertise as everybody else. Frustratingly, it was a depressing expertise. I am lucky that my connectivity problem resolved itself moderately rapidly. In any other case, I most likely would’ve swapped again to my Eero Professional 6e nodes earlier than lengthy.

Do you have to purchase the Eero Max 7?

For many of us, most likely not proper now. See, the Eero Max 7’s best benefit can be its best weak spot. With the Max 7, you get the newest wi-fi networking expertise, all bundled right into a single smooth package deal that is simple to arrange and extremely performant. Suppose you are an individual who enjoys the newest expertise and has the disposable earnings to improve their community setup. In that case, the Eero Max 7 (and its premium price ticket) is ideal for you. With the Max 7, you are getting tomorrow’s expertise as we speak.

Tomorrow’s expertise as we speak is the important thing, although. Exterior of some top-end smartphones just like the iPhone 16 lineup and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely, there aren’t actually any gadgets out that assist Wi-Fi 7. There have been laptops introduced at CES, and Apple will certainly embrace Wi-Fi 7 in its future MacBooks and iPads. Nevertheless, you’d nonetheless be spending some huge cash for little profit — a minimum of at this second.

Exterior of future-proofing your wi-fi community, you’re nonetheless gaining access to 4 performant ethernet ports, an unimaginable mesh Wi-Fi community, and spectacular Wi-Fi protection for as much as 7,500 sq. ft. That is to say, the Eero Max 7, together with its superbly braided ethernet cables, is a superb mesh Wi-Fi setup. Within the meantime, nevertheless, it is most likely extra for the nerds and fanatics on the market, like myself, earlier than being the nodes of your grandmother’s Wi-Fi. Nonetheless, Eero has many nice choices for that, too. So, it is arduous to complain.

Highly effective however costly

Eero Max 7