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This eero Pro 6 vs. eero 6 matchup is a guide on getting the most out of these new Amazon Wi-Fi 6 mesh routers for those who can't resist their shininess or the insidious marketing hype.
If you've read my reviews on them—if not, check the related box below—you'd know that I don't recommend either of the two or any eero for that matter. But, at the same time, neither is completely bad.
In any case, other than the performances and hardware designs/specs, the rest of this post is applicable to all eero variants and not just the two models mentioned here.
Amazon eero Pro 6 vs. eero 6: Similarities and differences
These two are almost the same.
The only difference is the Pro 6 is a higher-end, more expensive device. It has an extra 5GHz band and more storage space. It might also have more features, as shown in the current eero Labs (beta) section.
So, either one you pick, you'll get the same easy app-based setup process, spartan Wi-Fi and network settings, and an almost-zero feature set. And your network will be attached to an eero account which translates into privacy risks.
In return, you'll get a reasonable, reliable, simple, comparatively slow, and low-maintenance Wi-Fi solution.
However, which to get, how many, and how you link the hardware units together will make a big difference in your Wi-Fi experience. First, let's see how the two differ in hardware specifications.
Amazon eero Pro 6 vs. eero 6: Hardware specifications
Apart from having an extra 5GHz band, the eero Pro also has double system memory. And those are the only things different between these two.
| Full Name | Amazon eero Pro 6 Tri-band AX4200 Wi-Fi 6 Mesh Router | Amazon eero 6 Dual-band AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 Mesh Router |
| Model | eero Pro 6 | eero 6 / eero 6 Extender |
| Wi-Fi Designation | AX4200 | AX1800 |
| Mesh Availability | 3-pack (three routers) | 3-pack (three routers) 2-pack (router + Extender) |
| Dimensions | 5.3 x 5.3 x 2.1 inch (134.49 x 134.63 x 52.6 mm) | 3.91 x 3.82 x 2.42 inch (99.4 x 97.0 x 61.5 mm) |
| Weight | 1.49 lbs (676 g) | 0.64 lb (292 g) |
| 5GHz-1 Wi-Fi Specs | 4x4 Wi-Fi 6: up to 2404 Mbps | 2x2 Wi-Fi 6: 1201 Mbps |
| 5GHz-2 Wi-Fi Specs | 2x2 Wi-Fi 6: 1201 Mbps | None |
| 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Specs | 2x2 Wi-Fi 6: 574 Mbs | 2x2 Wi-Fi 6: 574 Mbs |
| Mesh Backhaul Band | 5Ghz | 5Ghz |
| Wired Backhaul Support | Yes | Router: Yes Extender: No |
| Channel Width Supported | 20Mhz, 40MHz, 80MHz | 20Mhz, 40MHz, 80MHz |
| Backward Compatibility | 802.11ac/n/g/a/b | 802.11ac/n/g/a/b |
| Wi-Fi Security | WPA2, WPA2/WPA3 | WPA2, WPA2/WPA3 |
| Mobile App | Eero | Eero |
| Web User Interface | None | None |
| AP (Bridge) Mode | Yes | Yes |
| USB Port | None | None |
| Gigabit Port | 2x Auto-Sensing | Router: 2x Auto-Sensing Extender: None |
| Link Aggregation | No | No |
| Multi-Gig Port | None | None |
| Dual-WAN | No | No |
| Processing Power | 1.4 GHz quad-core processor, 1024MB RAM, 4GB flash | 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB flash |
| Suggest Retail Price | $229 (1-pack) $599.99 (3-pack) | $129 (1-pack) $199 (2-pack) $279 (3-pack) |
It's important to note that you can mix these two in a single mesh system—eero variants are known to be flexible. You can use either as the primary router and the rest will work as satellites.
When using only the router units, you can link them up using network cables—you can daisy-chain them. Apart from a router, the dual-band eero 6 has an Extender version with no network port, so it can only work as a wireless satellite.
The tri-band eero Pro has no extender unit. That's a bit of irony since tri-band is more helpful when you can not use network cable as a backhaul—a tri-band extender makes a lot more sense than a dual-band one.
As you can imagine, the dual-band (eero 6) and tri-band (eero Pro 6) have enough differences to deliver different performances.
Amazon eero Pro 6 vs. eero 6: Ratings and performance
Amazon eero Pro 6's Rating
Pros
Easy to set up and use, especially for iPhone users
GooWi-FiFi speeds
Compact design
Comparatively affordable
Cons
Wi-Fi range could be better
Internet and login account required for setup and ongoing management
Minimum ports, no Dual-WAN, Link Aggregation, or Multi-Gig
Online Protection and Parental Control require a monthly subscription
Home automation feature requires Amazon integration
No web interface, spartan Wi-Fi, and network settings
The eero app for Android is a bit buggy
As expected, the eero Pro 6 is faster than the eero 6 on all counts. However, neither can deliver Gigabit-class Wi-Fi rates.
Also, note that the eero 6 Extender has terrible performance due to signal loss.
In a wired backhaul setup, you can expect the satellite unit to deliver the same performance as the router. In other words, you'll get the same performance (as fast as that of the router) throughout the mesh system.
Amazon eero 6's Rating
Pros
Compact, esthetically pleasing design
Easy to use
Relatively affordable
Cons
Slow speed, the range could be better
Minimum ports, no Dual-WAN, Link Aggregation, or Multi-Gig
No wired backhaul option on the Extender
Online Protection and Parental Control require a monthly subscription
Home automation feature requires Amazon integration
No web interface, spartan Wi-Fi, and network settings
Amazon eero Pro 6 vs. eero 6: How to get the most out of them
The eero Pro 6 and eero 6 work interchangeably. You can use them seamlessly with one another. Pick one as the primary router, and the rest will work as satellites.
Purchasing options for Amazon Wi-Fi 6 eero (subject to availability):
- A single eero Pro 6 tri-band router ($229).
- A 2-pack eero Pro 6 that includes two identical units ($399).
- A 3-pack eero Pro 6 that includes three identical units ($599).
- A 3-pack eero 6 that includes three identical router units ($349).
- A 3-pack eero 6 that includes one router and two extenders ($279).
- A 2-pack eero 6 includes one router and one extender ($199).
- A single extender unit ($89).
- A mix of one router and other units that sings your heart's desire.
The Extender unit can only work as a wireless satellite—it has no routing function or network port. But when you use a router unit as a satellite, you can use it via a wired backhaul.
That said, if you need a single router, the eero Pro is the way to go. It has more power, faster performance, and a better range. As a mesh system, the following is the best usage.
For a home without network cables (wireless setup)
Go with the eero Pro 6.
A 2-pack or 3-pack can deliver quite good coverage for a large home. And the tri-band means you expect sustained speeds of up to around 500Mbps.
The dual-band eero 6 works, but you likely won't get more than 250Mbps, possibly worse if you use three or more units.
For a wired home (wired backhaul setup)
Go with the eero 6 routers. It'll give you the same performance as the Pro units while paying less. Link a couple together, and you'll get a network of about the same speed as the router unit, as shown in the chart above, around 500Mbps.
But in this case, you can also mix the eero Pro 6 and eero 6. Don't use the eero 6 Extender—a mix of wired and wireless backhaul is possible but not ideal for performance. However, again, the use of the Pro is unnecessary.
One thing to note about wired backhaul: You can easily switch from wireless to wired. Just plug the cable into the hardware units, and the system will automatically switch to wired backhaul. The other way around, you'll need to restart the hardware unit.
How to mitigate the privacy risks
One of my biggest concerns about the eero is the privacy risks it might cause. To avoid that, follow the following:
- Create a new, random email address for your eero account. One that you don't use for anything else.
- Refrain from linking your eero with an Amazon account. If you want to use Zigbee, get a separate hub. (Sure, you'll lose some convenience, but we can't have everything.)
- Use the eero in the "Bridge" mode. In this case, the eero (as a single router or a mesh system) will work in the access point mode. It just provides Wi-Fi coverage and not much else. In this mode, it also has less access to your online activities. Come to think of it. This mesh system is excellent to use on top of an existing router or gateway.
Amazon eero Pro 6 vs. eero 6: The takeaway
Again, no, I don't recommend either of these two. They are just slow, limited in features, and without anything new or even noteworthy. Most importantly, they seem to work like data miners for their vendors.
But on the other hand, they can be a low-maintenance Wi-Fi solution for a sub-Gigabit home—sub-500Mbps is more like it. That said, keep the suggestions in this post in mind if you end up having one.
Looking to compare other Wi-Fi solutions? Check them all out here.
I have 5 of the Eero Pro 2nd generation. My home is combination of gigabit wired network and wireless
Due how expensive the Eero Pro 6’s are… I’m looking to maybe have a combination of the Eero 6 and Eero 6 Pro’s
My question is… If we went with 6 and 6 pro’s… Which one should be the gateway router?
Would it defeat its purpose for wireless by going with both the dual band and tri-band?
Most devices in the home ate now wireless and most devices are newer such as S20 phones… IPhone 13. Roku 4’s.
Any additional information would be awesome.
It’s too bad there is such a huge price difference between the two models… Dual band 6 and 6 pro’s
Thanks
I’d stay away from eero and alike, Terster. Don’t go looking for reasons why you should get it.
I’ve had mixed experiences in my eero pro 6 setup. I originally started with one figuring it could cover my small 1500 square foot wood and drywall house. I had to add another to get 2nd floor coverage. They have poor signal through multiple vertical stories. I couldn’t even load a web page reliably directly above the eero. If I wanted signal in the basement, I would need to add another there too. To get full speed, you want to make sure they are horizontal at a table level close to the level of other devices. The antennas seem to be pretty directional with only strong signal narrowly in the horizontal direction. Signal drops to about half through walls, so best to put them in rooms with other high bandwidth devices.
STAY WAY FROM THE 6’s!!!! I have a mixed pro 5 and erro 2019 version set up in our main house. Set up for a year now. No issues…rock solid. I just installed 2 pro 6’s in my townhome-thinking the new wifi 6 would perform better as I have a lot of wifi signals in the neighborhood. The new pro 6’s have been nothing but trouble in the 30 day they have been running. Devices that are AX capable seem to have the most issues. I have to reboot both EERO’s multiple times a week. I am now running the system in legacy mode and awaiting a reply back from EERO tech support. By the way–both of my EERO’s systems are all hardwired. At this point I am going to push to return the Pro 6’s and get either some pro 5’s or even the 2019 Erro’s.
Hi. It’s been 5 months… Any updates? Thanks
I sold my 6’s on Ebay 3 months ago–put some more Pro 5’s in–rock solid… Have a engineer friend who works for Meraki–and they also have issues with the AX6 standard.
I guess just cause something is new and supposedly improved does not mean you need to get in!
How long have you used each system before testing?
Also, the Eero’s are truly dynamic in their backhaul methodology as all three bands can be used both for clients and backhaul whenever possible. Linksys (and virtually every other mesh system) has the third high-speed band dedicated to only backhaul (even if wired backhaul is present, meaning that band is completely useless).
I am a huge lover of Eero, and I’ve tried Netgear Orbi, the old Linksys Velop, and have experience with other mesh systems as well from other friends/family. In my opinion, Eero is the best system on the market but I do also believe they’ve fallen a little flat on the Eero 6 launch as they released with brand new software and hardware simultaneously.
What I truly believe is that Eero should sell the Pro 6’s in 2-pack configurations as well as 3-pack systems. This is because I think the Eero Pro 6’s are actually really strong (double the CPU speed, double the RAM amount and frequency compared to the older Pro units) and putting all three in the same house (for most people) can create too much overlapping coverage and actually be detrimental to performance.
Here’s how I test Wi-Fi routers, David. And I’m very familiar with eero. I was one of the first, if not the first, who tested and reviewed the original. My main concern about the product is privacy.
Doug, if anyone would know, you should, is that there is little or NO privacy on the internet anymore, especially with consumer grade networking equipment.
I’ve tested at least 10 different mesh/wifi 6 setups in the last few months, and, surprisingly, the eero pro 6 3 pack has been the most stable, solid setup of them all, including asus/netgear/orbi/linksys
Privacy is a matter of degrees, Mike. Check out my full review of the eero 6 Pro for more. Also, I doubt that you tested all of them. But if you did, there was not enough time for you to meaningfully find out which was actually more stable (and not just luck), considering the number of devices and the amount of time. By the way, the name is Dong. 🙂
Sorry “Dong”, auto correct is a miserable thing!
As far as testing duration, that may be a good point, however, when you get drops almost daily, and disconnects frequently, its hard to give some of these systems a “long term” test.
I got the fastest speeds from Orbi wifi 6, and it worked flawlessly for a couple of weeks, but then the issues started. Asus Zen AX was the same way, great for a week or 2, then the problems started Velop MX10 was a problem from the starts with disconnects, and their AX4200 system was better, but the 2.4ghz/IOT devices were constantly dropping and reconnecting.
yes, I understand the issue with a single SSID combo 2.4ghz-5ghz network but these companies advertise this as a “feature” so I never wanted to bother separating them, especially with 60+ devices on my home network.
For some reason, 3 weeks into the eero pro 6 setup, not a single drop, no disconnects, and on a gig fiber connection, i get 940/940 wired, and 350-850 everywhere on wifi, using a mix of wifi5 /wifi 6 devices. I hope this continues to be the case with eero, as its nice to see the internet function seamlessly, which is all that most people really care about, isnt it?
No worries, Mike. That happens a lot.
It’s a combination of things. I didn’t have very good XP with the eero performance-wise. It wasn’t bad, but it was slow, and the range wasn’t good — the device plays safe and doesn’t support anything that’d give you fast speeds. But if you’re looking to validate the fact that you love it, you’ll see many reasons, just like everything else. (Nothing is wrong with that either). I’d take any of the other ones you mentioned over it, though. In fact, I’ve been collectively “using” them all at various locations for myself, family, and friends.
Thanks for the input.