We’ve all been there. You’re in the middle of a critical video call from your home office upstairs, and the video freezes. The kids are trying to stream their favourite show in the living room while you’re trying to download a large file, and the entire network grinds to a halt. Or perhaps you’re a gamer, and the slightest bit of lag means the difference between victory and defeat. These are the modern-day frustrations born from a single, overworked piece of hardware: the free router that came with your internet plan. It promises connectivity, but in a multi-room, multi-device household, it often delivers a patchwork of strong signals, weak spots, and outright dead zones. Trying to fix it with flimsy extenders just creates more network names and headaches. This isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a barrier to work, entertainment, and staying connected. The solution isn’t just a faster internet plan, but a smarter way to deliver that speed to every corner of your home.
What to Consider Before Investing in a Mesh Wi-Fi System
A mesh Wi-Fi system is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for creating a seamless, powerful, and reliable wireless network across your entire property. Unlike a single traditional router which broadcasts from one point, a mesh system uses multiple nodes or points that work together as a single, intelligent network. This eliminates dead zones by blanketing your home in a consistent signal, intelligently routing your devices to the strongest and fastest connection point as you move around. The main benefits are simple but profound: consistent high speeds in every room, the ability to support dozens of devices simultaneously without slowing down, and simplified management through a single, user-friendly app. It’s the definitive upgrade for the modern, connected home.
The ideal customer for this type of product is someone living in a medium-to-large home (typically over 1,500 sq ft or 140 m²), especially those with multiple floors, thick walls, or an unusual layout that causes signal issues. It’s perfect for families with numerous connected devices—laptops, smartphones, smart TVs, security cameras, gaming consoles—all competing for bandwidth. However, it might not be the most cost-effective solution for those in small, single-room apartments where a powerful standalone router would suffice. Likewise, advanced network engineers or “power users” who demand granular control over every network setting, such as manual channel selection or complex firewall rules, might find the streamlined simplicity of most mesh systems, including this one, to be a limitation. For them, a prosumer system from brands like Ubiquiti might be a better, albeit more complex, alternative.
Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:
- Coverage Area & Scalability: Measure your home’s square footage. Mesh systems come in packs of one, two, or three nodes. The eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router 3-Pack, for instance, covers up to 420 m² (4,500 sq ft). Ensure the system you choose matches your home’s size and has the option to add more nodes later if you decide to expand coverage to a garden or garage.
- Speed & Performance: Look for the Wi-Fi standard (Wi-Fi 6 is the current benchmark) and the maximum theoretical speed. More importantly, consider features like support for 160 MHz channels, which doubles the bandwidth for compatible devices, leading to faster speeds and less congestion. Also, check if the system supports a wired “backhaul,” which means connecting the nodes via Ethernet cable for the absolute best performance.
- Build & Aesthetics: Routers are no longer ugly boxes to be hidden away. Modern mesh nodes are designed to be part of your home decor. Consider their size, shape, and colour. The eero units are compact, minimalist, and designed to blend in seamlessly on a shelf or table, a feature many users appreciate.
- Ease of Use & Management: The primary appeal of a mesh system is simplicity. The entire setup and management process should be handled through an intuitive smartphone app. Check for features like parental controls, guest network creation, and security updates. Be aware that some brands, including eero, place their most advanced security and control features behind an optional monthly subscription.
Understanding these factors will ensure you choose a system that not only solves your current Wi-Fi woes but also future-proofs your home network for years to come.
While the eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router 3-Pack is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:
First Impressions: Unboxing the eero 6+ and the Promise of Simplicity
From the moment you open the box, the eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router 3-Pack exudes a philosophy of elegant simplicity. The packaging is clean and minimal, reminiscent of premium tech products. Inside, you find the three identical, compact white nodes, their power adapters, and a single Ethernet cable. There’s no bulky manual, just a simple card directing you to download the eero app. The nodes themselves are small, discreet, and have a pleasingly solid feel. They are designed not to be hidden in a cupboard but to sit out in the open, blending into your home decor. Each unit features two auto-sensing Gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB-C power port. This initial experience immediately sets it apart from the intimidating, antenna-bristling routers of the past. It feels less like a piece of complex networking gear and more like a modern smart home appliance, promising a user-friendly experience from the very start.
What We Like
- Outstanding speed and coverage, effectively eliminating Wi-Fi dead zones.
- Incredibly simple and fast app-based setup process.
- Wi-Fi 6 with 160 MHz channel support for true gigabit wireless speeds.
- Built-in Zigbee and Thread smart home hub for Alexa-compatible devices.
Drawbacks
- Limited advanced controls for power users (no web UI, no band splitting).
- Advanced security and parental controls require a paid subscription.
Putting the eero 6+ to the Test: A Performance Deep Dive
Unboxing is one thing, but real-world performance is where a router proves its worth. We put the eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router 3-Pack through its paces in a three-story house notorious for Wi-Fi dead spots, particularly in the upstairs office and the back garden. We tested everything from the setup process to raw speed, coverage consistency, and the much-touted smart home capabilities to see if it truly lives up to its promises.
Setup and Simplicity: Is It Truly ‘Idiot-Proof’?
The most consistent praise for eero systems, and one we can wholeheartedly confirm, is their phenomenal ease of setup. The term ‘plug and play’ is often overused in tech, but it’s genuinely applicable here. The process is guided entirely by the eero smartphone app, which holds your hand through every step. You simply plug the first eero unit (the gateway) into your existing modem, power it on, create an eero account in the app, and it takes care of the rest. The app finds the device via Bluetooth, configures the network, and prompts you to place the other two nodes. For a standard setup, replacing an ISP router, we were fully up and running in under 20 minutes. This experience is echoed by countless users, with one stating, “Took me 20 minutes… followed the instructions properly and boom.” Another longtime eero user calls the setup “idiot proof.”
However, simplicity can sometimes be a double-edged sword. For users with more complex needs, like those requiring specific PPPoE credentials for their ISP, the wizard can be a little too automatic. One user noted the setup “could have made it a bit easier to get to manual PPPoaE credential screen.” Furthermore, while most setups are flawless, a small minority encounter issues. We saw feedback from a user who gave up after hours of the nodes failing to communicate, possibly due to exceptionally thick walls or interference. While these cases are rare, it’s a reminder that no system is perfect for every single environment. For the vast majority, however, the eero setup is the gold standard for user-friendliness in home networking and a feature that really sets it apart from more complex systems.
Raw Speed and Coverage: Banishing Dead Zones for Good
This is the main event. Does the eero 6+ deliver the speed it promises? In a word: absolutely. Our test home was serviced by a 500 Mbps fibre connection. With the old ISP-provided router, we’d see around 450 Mbps standing next to it, which would plummet to 80 Mbps in the upstairs office and less than 20 Mbps in the kitchen. After installing the eero 6+, the results were transformative. The node in the office consistently delivered over 480 Mbps. The kitchen node pulled in the same. Even on the patio, we were still getting a rock-solid 250 Mbps connection. This is thanks to Wi-Fi 6 technology and, crucially, its support for the 160 MHz channel, which provides a huge, clear lane for data traffic.
This experience mirrors that of many satisfied users. One reviewer, previously on a premium ISP package with boosters, was skeptical but became a convert: “Goodness!! It actually does what it promises… no lag.” They went from around 300 Mbps on their Mac to getting their full service speed. Another user upgraded from an older eero system to the 6+ to match their new 500 Mbps internet plan and saw their speeds in their room nearly double to “the 500 mark.” eero’s TrueMesh technology is the star here, intelligently routing traffic and ensuring devices seamlessly hop to the best node without dropping the connection. We walked from the basement to the top floor on a video call without a single stutter. That said, we did see one user report abysmal performance, where adding nodes actually decreased their speed. This often points to poor placement—placing nodes too far apart or in areas with significant signal obstruction—which can force the mesh to work too hard to maintain a stable backhaul connection. For optimal results, placing nodes in open areas and ensuring they have a strong signal to the gateway is key, and if possible, using a wired Ethernet backhaul will guarantee flawless gigabit speeds between nodes, as one user with a BT Full Fibre 500 plan confirmed.
The App, Advanced Controls, and Hidden Costs
The eero app isn’t just for setup; it’s the command centre for your entire network. From a clean interface, you can see every device connected, run speed tests, and create guest networks with a tap. For most people, this is all they’ll ever need. However, this is where the eero 6+ may lose the enthusiast crowd. There is no web-based interface for management; it’s app-only. You cannot manually split the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands into separate SSIDs, a common request from users with fussy smart home devices. The system manages this automatically, which works 99% of the time but can be frustrating for that 1%. As one reviewer bluntly stated, “in the app you can’t specify 2.4 or 5…”
This philosophy of curated simplicity extends to its feature set. The basics are free, but a host of advanced features are locked behind the eero Plus subscription. This includes advanced security tools that block malware and malicious sites, content filters for parental controls, ad blocking, and access to a VPN service. While the base security is solid, withholding these features feels like a significant drawback for a premium product. One user noted this limitation, stating that “config options are limited unless you subscribe monthly.” This subscription model is becoming common in the industry, but it’s a critical factor to consider in the total cost of ownership. If you require robust, granular parental controls, you must budget for the ongoing subscription fee, which is a key detail to know before you make your final purchase decision.
Smart Home Integration: A Hub of Potential?
One of the standout hardware features of the eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router 3-Pack is its built-in smart home hub, supporting both Zigbee and Thread. In theory, this is brilliant. It allows you to connect compatible devices like Philips Hue bulbs or certain smart locks directly to your eero network without needing a separate hub for each brand, decluttering your setup. The key phrase here is “compatible devices.” The integration is heavily skewed towards the Alexa ecosystem. You can easily link your eero and appropriate accounts and discover and control Zigbee devices using Alexa voice commands. It works well within that walled garden.
However, if your smart home is built on a different platform, like Apple HomeKit or Google Home, you’ll be disappointed. A user review highlighted this perfectly: “if you use Apple HomeKit and Zigbee (i.e. Philips Hue) or Thread (i.e. Eve) products, then don’t expect the Thread and Zigbee features to work.” They also noted that the ability to expose eero to HomeKit for security features has been removed. This makes the smart home hub a fantastic value-add for Alexa-centric households but largely irrelevant for everyone else. It’s a powerful feature, but its utility is directly tied to your choice of voice assistant, which is a significant caveat for a feature marketed so prominently.
What Other Users Are Saying
Aggregating feedback from a wide range of users, a clear picture emerges. The overwhelming majority are thrilled with the eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router 3-Pack. Phrases like “holy moly it’s good,” “outstanding value for money,” and “best purchase so far this year” are common. Users consistently praise the dramatic improvement in speed, stability, and coverage, especially when replacing an ISP-supplied router. One user summed it up poetically: “If your old router was a medieval pigeon delivering messages at dial-up speeds, the Eero 6+ is a teleporting space wizard.”
However, the negative feedback, while less frequent, is just as specific. The primary complaints come from two camps: power users and those with incompatible setups. Power users lament the lack of a web interface and granular controls, with one veteran user concluding it’s for “most people” who want simplicity but lacks “advanced features of systems like Orbi or Ubiquity.” The other camp includes users who simply couldn’t get it to work in their environment, like the person who gave up after hours of setup failures, or the one who saw performance drop when adding nodes, calling it “utterly useless.” This highlights that while eero is designed for simplicity, unique home construction or network configurations can still pose a challenge.
How Does the eero 6+ Compare to the Competition?
The eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router 3-Pack is a fantastic mesh system, but it exists in a crowded market. It’s primarily designed for whole-home coverage through multiple nodes. For those in smaller spaces or who prioritize granular control over seamless roaming, a powerful single-point router can be a better and more affordable choice. Here’s how it stacks up against some popular alternatives.
1. TP-Link Archer AX55 WiFi 6 Router
The TP-Link Archer AX55 represents the traditional, high-performance single router approach. It offers potent AX3000 Wi-Fi 6 speeds, a full suite of Gigabit ports, and significantly more user control through its robust web interface and Tether app. For a user in a small-to-medium flat or a home with an open layout, the AX55 can provide more than enough coverage and speed for a fraction of the price of a three-node mesh system. It’s the better choice for tinkerers and power users who want to fine-tune their network settings, prioritise gaming traffic, and manage their network without being forced into an app-only ecosystem. However, it cannot solve the dead zone problems in a large, multi-story house as effectively as the eero can.
2. MERCUSYS MR60X WiFi 6 Router
The MERCUSYS MR60X is a compelling option for those on the tightest of budgets who still want to step up to the Wi-Fi 6 standard. As a sister brand to TP-Link, it offers reliable core technology and solid AX1500 speeds, which is a significant upgrade over older Wi-Fi 5 routers. This is a no-frills device. You won’t find mesh capabilities, a smart home hub, or the advanced features of more expensive models. It’s designed to do one thing: provide a fast, stable Wi-Fi 6 connection from a single point. For a student in an apartment or someone simply looking to replace their ISP’s slow router without breaking the bank, the MR60X offers unbeatable value, but it is not a competitor to the eero in terms of coverage or features.
3. TP-Link Archer AX53 WiFi 6 Router
The TP-Link Archer AX53 is very similar to the AX55, often appealing to users looking for a balance of modern features and price. It delivers strong AX3000 speeds and supports crucial Wi-Fi 6 technologies. A key advantage it holds over the eero system for some users is its inclusion of more advanced software features like built-in VPN client/server functionality and compatibility with TP-Link’s EasyMesh. This allows you to create a mesh network by adding other EasyMesh-compatible extenders later, offering a more flexible, albeit less integrated, path to expansion than eero’s closed ecosystem. It’s an excellent choice for a tech-savvy user who wants a powerful central router now with the option to build a mesh network in the future.
The Final Verdict: Is the eero 6+ Mesh Wi-Fi Router 3-Pack Right for You?
After extensive testing and analysis, our verdict is clear: the eero 6+ mesh Wi-Fi router 3-Pack is a truly exceptional product for its target audience. It is, without a doubt, one of the best “set it and forget it” solutions for eliminating Wi-Fi dead zones and delivering fast, reliable internet to every corner of a modern home. Its combination of Wi-Fi 6 speed, 160 MHz channel support, and intelligent TrueMesh technology is a game-changer for families, remote workers, and gamers who are tired of battling with their ISP’s inadequate hardware. The simplicity of its setup and management is its greatest strength, making high-performance home networking accessible to everyone, regardless of technical skill.
However, that same simplicity is its main weakness for a select few. Power users who demand granular control, a web interface, and advanced features without a subscription will feel constrained. Similarly, smart home enthusiasts outside the Alexa ecosystem won’t benefit from the built-in hub. For the vast majority of people, though, these are minor trade-offs for the sheer performance and reliability on offer. If you live in a home plagued by buffering, dropped connections, and dead spots, this system is a powerful, elegant, and highly effective solution. If you’re ready to finally solve your home Wi-Fi problems for good, we can wholeheartedly recommend you check the latest price and availability of the eero 6+ and make the upgrade.