Wi-Fi Frustration

[Hawk_4shur]

My Wi-Fi is fine really - not even something that I should be concerned about. My computer normally speed tests at 125-175 Mbps and my phone about the same or better. I'm not a gamer, so I don't really need super high speed. But my smart TV's still spool every once in a while, which is annoying.

So, when Mediacom (Xfinity) said they were raising my speed from 400 to 600 Mbps, It made me wonder if things really should be working faster.

So, I bought a new Arris 3.1 DOCSIS router and a eero 6+ Mesh Wi-Fi and figure I was ready to see what fast speeds would be like.

However, the speed increase was negligible. Computer at 175, phone at 210.

Called Mediacom and they said my device speeds should be more like 550. Had a tech come out and check it out - the speed to the house was 800 and the eero wi-fil was picking up 800. I can see the 800 speed on my eero app.

Called eero and they said that if your getting 200+ on your devices that's about as good as you can do on a wireless wi-fi.

That's nonsense - internet speeds in some places are over 1 gig. What's the point if devices are going to stay at 200 anyway?

So, what am I missing?

I know there are plenty of tech guru's out there - but if you want to help please try to dumb the explanations down a smidge.

Need your help HROT!

 

[thewop]

My understanding... If you have 600 going to the house, all your connected devices are basically sharing that 600, so no device will actually see near that, unless you have 1 device connected.

Even then, that device has to be capable of the speeds available to it.

I'm no expert though.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

My understanding... If you have 600 going to the house, all your connected devices are basically sharing that 600, so no device will actually see near that, unless you have 1 device connected.

Even then, that device has to be capable of the speeds available to it.

I'm no expert though.

Yes, I think that's right. But, it's not simple division is it? 600 over 4 devices = 150 each?

 

[thewop]

Yes, I think that's right. But, it's not simple division is it? 600 over 4 devices = 150 each?

That's where I'm lost, because if I add up the speed test results from all my connected devices it's more than the total.

 

[bhawk24bob]

Yes, I think that's right. But, it's not simple division is it? 600 over 4 devices = 150 each?

Unless all devices are literally using it at the same time, not just connected to it but actively up/down, they're not sharing it to the detriment of others

That said, you shouldn't notice any difference between 150 and 600 unless you're trying to download something extraordinarily fast. Nothing you can do on a laptop or streaming is going to get you anywhere near 150 down. If you're using the wifi for work and are behind a vpn, you will lose a significant portion of your bandwidth.

You could try plugging directly into the router if you want to see how much you're losing on the wifi.

 

[Flie]

Often the limitation is on the client side. Not every device will support the later wifi standards which are required to get the higher speeds. My PC and my iphone will get close to 1 Gb/s on wifi based speedtests at the house but older devices will get anywhere from 50-300 Mbps.

The newer WIFI routers/APs will also have multiple standards enabled at the same time and devices will auto negotiate whatever speed/standard works best for the distance and interference they have. To get the 500+ Mbps the client device needs to support 802.11 AC and get a good connection to the access point. Most of your devices are probably using either 802.11 G or N which are slower speeds.

As for the bandwidth sharing, the total bandwidth isn't divided by the number of devices and each device gets a dedicated slice of that bandwidth. i.e. 4 devices on a 100 Mbps internet connection don't each get a dedicated 25 Mbps

If a device negotiated 802.11 AC with a good signal strength and starts a big download, it will max out the available bandwidth until it finishes its download. Other devices on the network can still get bandwidth but they will notice some latency while that one device hogs the bandwidth.

You could have 50 devices sharing a single 1 Gbps connection and each one of those devices could theoretically get a near max speed speedtest result if you ran the tests one by one. If you kicked off the speedtest at the same time, one or two devices would probably get a good result and the rest would suffer.

On enterprise networks there are tools to control and reserve bandwidth so that one device can't hog it all. Home networks often don't have those features although some do. If you are interested in that, look for something resembling QoS (quality of service) in your router's admin tool. It may let you prioritize certain types of traffic like streaming video or games.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Often the limitation is on the client side. Not every device will support the later wifi standards which are required to get the higher speeds. My PC and my iphone will get close to 1 Gb/s on wifi based speedtests at the house but older devices will get anywhere from 50-300 Mbps.

The newer WIFI routers/APs will also have multiple standards enabled at the same time and devices will auto negotiate whatever speed/standard works best for the distance and interference they have. To get the 500+ Mbps the client device needs to support 802.11 AC and get a good connection to the access point. Most of your devices are probably using either 802.11 G or N which are slower speeds.

As for the bandwidth sharing, the total bandwidth isn't divided by the number of devices and each device gets a dedicated slice of that bandwidth. i.e. 4 devices on a 100 Mbps internet connection don't each get a dedicated 25 Mbps

If a device negotiated 802.11 AC with a good signal strength and starts a big download, it will max out the available bandwidth until it finishes its download. Other devices on the network can still get bandwidth but they will notice some latency while that one device hogs the bandwidth.

You could have 50 devices sharing a single 1 Gbps connection and each one of those devices could theoretically get a near max speed speedtest result if you ran the tests one by one. If you kicked off the speedtest at the same time, one or two devices would probably get a good result and the rest would suffer.

On enterprise networks there are tools to control and reserve bandwidth so that one device can't hog it all. Home networks often don't have those features although some do. If you are interested in that, look for something resembling QoS (quality of service) in your router's admin tool. It may let you prioritize certain types of traffic like streaming video or games.

Helpful.

My phone is A Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G bought last spring, and my computer is an HP Envy 64 bit with an i7 processor. The computer internet protocol is Wi-Fi 5, 802.11 AC.

My wife's (no pics) is an Apple 13 and her computer is an Apple Mini-Mac, both purchased this past summer.

So, a few of the devices are "new" - my computer isn't exactly old.

It feels like I'm missing a setting on the Wi-Fi or the device. The Mediacom guy couldn't figure out why we weren't getting more speed, but the eero rep seemed to think it was normal for wireless wi-fil. Who's right?

 

[TJ8869]

My Wi-Fi is fine really - not even something that I should be concerned about. My computer normally speed tests at 125-175 Mbps and my phone about the same or better. I'm not a gamer, so I don't really need super high speed. But my smart TV's still spool every once in a while, which is annoying.

Even if you’re streaming at 4K you only need about 50 Mbps, so I doubt that your router is causing the smart TV’s to spool. Is your streaming being controlled by an external device such as a Roku or Firestick? I would start by checking to make sure the tv and anything connected to it have the latest software updates.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Even if you’re streaming at 4K you only need about 50 Mbps, so I doubt that your router is causing the smart TV’s to spool. Is your streaming being controlled by an external device such as a Roku or Firestick? I would start by checking to make sure the tv and anything connected to it have the latest software updates.

Yes, a Roku. I'll check it. Thx

 

[Flie]

Helpful.

My phone is A Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G bought last spring, and my computer is an HP Envy 64 bit with an i7 processor. The computer internet protocol is Wi-Fi 5, 802.11 AC.

My wife's (no pics) is an Apple 13 and her computer is an Apple Mini-Mac, both purchased this past summer.

So, a few of the devices are "new" - my computer isn't exactly old.

It feels like I'm missing a setting on the Wi-Fi or the device. The Mediacom guy couldn't figure out why we weren't getting more speed, but the eero rep seemed to think it was normal for wireless wi-fil. Who's right?

Try a speedtest on one of your 802.11 AC devices right next to an access point. Disconnect/reconnect wifi right before you run your speedtest. Any device that negotiates 802.11 AC should get pretty close to wired speed in the same room as an access point.

If you go through a wall to get to an access point, expect to get lower speeds. Even the lower speeds should be more than adequate for streaming video.

Some of the home mesh networks let you run connection quality tests to the individual devices where they check speed and signal strength. It's possible your video streaming devices are getting low signal strength. We had that issue with the master bedroom roku until I put a mesh unit in the same room.

Android phones have good wifi testing utilities that let you map out your home wifi signal strength. Check out netspot or wifi analyzer for android.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Try a speedtest on one of your 802.11 AC devices right next to an access point. Disconnect/reconnect wifi right before you run your speedtest. Any device that negotiates 802.11 AC should get pretty close to wired speed in the same room as an access point.

If you go through a wall to get to an access point, expect to get lower speeds. Even the lower speeds should be more than adequate for streaming video.

Some of the home mesh networks let you run connection quality tests to the individual devices where they check speed and signal strength. It's possible your video streaming devices are getting low signal strength. We had that issue with the master bedroom roku until I put a mesh unit in the same room.

Android phones have good wifi testing utilities that let you map out your home wifi signal strength. Check out netspot or wifi analyzer for android.

Good advice.

So, I moved my laptop to the closest mesh hub, shut down and restarted the internet and ran the speed text.

Next to the mesh unit 215
In my office (40 ft away) 188

The difference between 215 and 188 is completely understandable.

The difference between the speed getting to the mesh at 800 and delivering to my computer at 215 is not.

Other ideas?

 

[ANYCHawk]

too much porn, Medicom throttled your speeds.

 

[fredjr82]

Good advice.

So, I moved my laptop to the closest mesh hub, shut down and restarted the internet and ran the speed text.

Next to the mesh unit 215
In my office (40 ft away) 188

The difference between 215 and 188 is completely understandable.

The difference between the speed getting to the mesh at 800 and delivering to my computer at 215 is not.

Other ideas?

For the Envy, what is the date on the driver for the wireless NIC?

 

[Hawk_4shur]

For the Envy, what is the date on the driver for the wireless NIC?

Is this what you are looking for?

Device: Intel(R) Wireless-AC 9560 160MHz

PNP ID: PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_9DF0&SUBSYS_00348086&REV_30\3&11583659&2&A3

Guid: {889BA7F9-04A2-4525-B790-044776FC34D9}

Current driver version: 22.110.0.2

Driver date: 11-28-2021

DevNode flags: 0x180200a

 

[bunsen82]

I have been running on internet through the telephone line for the last 15 years. I am on a lifetime rate. They have gradually raised the speeds, but it is nothing really high, it can support 4 Ipads going and 2 of those streaming and 1 to 2 on Youtube. Sometimes it will act up a bit and buffer. However for me I am willing to deal with that minor inconvenience for the locked in price. I expect the speeds to continue to increase. We also got a better modem, the old one was 9 years old, I thought we would see a massive increase in performance, saw a slight improvement but nothing major.

 

[fredjr82]

Driver date: 11-28-2021

That's a pretty old driver. I would bet there is a new version. If you jump to the HP website and give them your device information, you should be able to see the installation files for a new driver if there is one. I would start there as your driver is a year old today.

 

[Flie]

Good advice.

So, I moved my laptop to the closest mesh hub, shut down and restarted the internet and ran the speed text.

Next to the mesh unit 215
In my office (40 ft away) 188

The difference between 215 and 188 is completely understandable.

The difference between the speed getting to the mesh at 800 and delivering to my computer at 215 is not.

Other ideas?

It's possible your AP to AP connection (the mesh network) is the issue. The eero admin interface probably has a way to run a speed test on the mesh network to check AP to AP speed and quality. That could be a bottleneck if the APs aren't connecting to each other with good strength.

Try the same test next to the core AP unit so the unit that plugs directly into your cable modem. Before you do your test, disconnect/reconnect wifi from your laptop so it connects to the core AP. You should be able to see what AP your laptop connects to in the admin tool to confirm you are connected to the core unit. That should give you max possible speed since you are eliminating the mesh network and walls/interference from the equation.

If your laptop has 802.11 AC and you are connecting with a good signal, you should get close to wire speed to the internet. Most 802.11 AC networks can operate faster than 1 Gb ethernet so faster than your wired network speed. Your internet connection and the 1 Gb wired connection from modem to router will be the bottleneck in that scenario.

This is what the mesh test looks like with google wifi which is similar to eero.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

That's a pretty old driver. I would bet there is a new version. If you jump to the HP website and give them your device information, you should be able to see the installation files for a new driver if there is one. I would start there as your driver is a year old today.

All the drivers are up to date .... apparently

 

[Hawk_4shur]

It's possible your AP to AP connection (the mesh network) is the issue. The eero admin interface probably has a way to run a speed test on the mesh network to check AP to AP speed and quality. That could be a bottleneck if the APs aren't connecting to each other with good strength.

Try the same test next to the core AP unit so the unit that plugs directly into your cable modem. Before you do your test, disconnect/reconnect wifi from your laptop so it connects to the core AP. You should be able to see what AP your laptop connects to in the admin tool to confirm you are connected to the core unit. That should give you max possible speed since you are eliminating the mesh network and walls/interference from the equation.

If your laptop has 802.11 AC and you are connecting with a good signal, you should get close to wire speed to the internet. Most 802.11 AC networks can operate faster than 1 Gb ethernet so faster than your wired network speed. Your internet connection and the 1 Gb wired connection from modem to router will be the bottleneck in that scenario.

This is what the mesh test looks like with google wifi which is similar to eero.

I'll do that. But first -

My computer (that is on the main level and 35 ft from the eero unit) is actually connected to the Gateway eero hub downstairs. Direct line it's probably a little closer (maybe 30 ft) but it has to travel through the floor.

The Gateway eero says the wired rate is 1 gbps.

Still think I should do the test you suggested?

 

[Flie]

I'll do that. But first -

My computer (that is on the main level and 35 ft from the eero unit) is actually connected to the Gateway eero hub downstairs. Direct line it's probably a little closer (maybe 30 ft) but it has to travel through the floor.

The Gateway eero says the wired rate is 1 gbps.

Still think I should do the test you suggested?

Yes you want to be in the same room as the gateway eero hub and make sure you are connected to that device vs one of the mesh units. That should give you the maximum possible speed for your speed test. If you get a near wire speed result from your speed test then that probably narrows it down to the mesh network as the main bottleneck. If your speed test is still 200-300 Mb range but you get 1 Gb when connecting with a cable then it's something with your laptop's wireless card or maybe the eero device itself.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Yes you want to be in the same room as the gateway eero hub and make sure you are connected to that device vs one of the mesh units. That should give you the maximum possible speed for your speed test. If you get a near wire speed result from your speed test then that probably narrows it down to the mesh network as the main bottleneck. If your speed test is still 200-300 Mb range but you get 1 Gb when connecting with a cable then it's something with your laptop's wireless card or maybe the eero device itself.

Whoa .... 768 wirelessly.

Moved back upstairs and tested it again - 301, but connected to the upstairs hub. Checked it again and it's 140.

I haven't found anything that will tell the speed between the gateway and a hub.

 

[Flie]

Whoa .... 768 wirelessly.

Moved back upstairs and tested it again - 301, but connected to the upstairs hub. Checked it again and it's 140.

I haven't found anything that will tell the speed between the gateway and a hub.

It sounds like the AP to AP mesh connection speed is the issue. Think of the mesh APs as wireless clients to each other with similar limitations of any other wifi client. The AP to AP radios are supposed to be beefier and directional but I find they still have similar limitations going through floors and walls. You can try moving them around to adjust the signal quality but you are flying blind if you can't see the mesh signal strength.

 

[coasterhawk75]

I tried Mesh WiFi (EERO) briefly and just wasn't happy with it. Went back to my TP Link Wireless Gaming Router and everything works much better. I have one WiFi Extender downstairs to help with patio/deck wireless and wireless speeds stay at a consistent 500mbps throughout the house. (We have Metronet 500mb fiber) At least half the devices in my house are wired, with phones, tablets, cameras, etc. on wireless. Works out well.
It does sound like the OP is having an issue with at least one his mesh units receiving or transmitting properly. I assume everything has been reset with no better results? Have you tried swapping Mesh units from location to location?

 

[Gimmered]

too much porn, Medicom throttled your speeds.

Great porn moves way too fast for people to enjoy properly ate 600 MB/s Medicom is doing people a favor.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

It sounds like the AP to AP mesh connection speed is the issue. Think of the mesh APs as wireless clients to each other with similar limitations of any other wifi client. The AP to AP radios are supposed to be beefier and directional but I find they still have similar limitations going through floors and walls. You can try moving them around to adjust the signal quality but you are flying blind if you can't see the mesh signal strength.

Just wanted to follow-up with you since you were kind enough (and smart enough) to give me some advice.

I decided to use Mediacom's Wi-Fi equipment, which is exactly what I was using. I figured maybe I set it up wrong or did some other dumb thing. Or, maybe the mesh wifi I bought (eero 6+) was defective.

They installed it this morning. The tech didn't think anything would change but told him to do it anyway.

Same router, mesh wi-fi units in exactly the same locations.

Computer 407 mbps
Cell phone 353 mbps.

Huge increase from where I was, presumably with identical equipment - almost double. I don't get it.

🤷‍♀️

 

[Flie]

Just wanted to follow-up with you since you were kind enough (and smart enough) to give me some advice.

I decided to use Mediacom's Wi-Fi equipment, which is exactly what I was using. I figured maybe I set it up wrong or did some other dumb thing. Or, maybe the mesh wifi I bought (eero 6+) was defective.

They installed it this morning. The tech didn't think anything would change but told him to do it anyway.

Same router, mesh wi-fi units in exactly the same locations.

Computer 407 mbps
Cell phone 353 mbps.

Huge increase from where I was, presumably with identical equipment - almost double. I don't get it.

🤷‍♀️

So you swapped out the eero for mediacom mesh units and overall speed increased?

 

[tarheelbybirth]

That's a pretty old driver. I would bet there is a new version. If you jump to the HP website and give them your device information, you should be able to see the installation files for a new driver if there is one. I would start there as your driver is a year old today.

 

[Jimmy McGill]

Mediacom has went to shit. I log my laptop into my phone hotspot. 100x faster

 

[Hawk_4shur]

So you swapped out the eero for mediacom mesh units and overall speed increased?

Yes - and Mediacom used the same eero mesh wifi.

 

[Flie]

Yes - and Mediacom used the same eero mesh wifi.

Strange. It's possible they have some upgraded radios or maybe even just newer firmware. There's also a chance that you have radio interference from an outside source that either fluctuates or isn't always present.

On my home system my uplink/mesh connection quality on the master bedroom mesh AP will vary between weak and good and the speed of devices connected to the mesh unit varies with it. The uplink connection has to go through two walls. Enterprise mesh networks have wired connections to each AP so this issue doesn't exist in those environments. Home mesh networks use radios for the AP to AP uplinks.

One of those android apps I referenced earlier can help find interference from other wifi signals. It looks like you can get netspot for windows and Mac OS now too.

 

[Joes Place]

Good advice.

So, I moved my laptop to the closest mesh hub, shut down and restarted the internet and ran the speed text.

Next to the mesh unit 215
In my office (40 ft away) 188

The difference between 215 and 188 is completely understandable.

The difference between the speed getting to the mesh at 800 and delivering to my computer at 215 is not.

Other ideas?

Run https://www.speedtest.net/ on your device directly wired to the modem; bypass the router.

If you get what Mediacom says, then it's the router settings (newer routers can default to maximize speeds and throttle for certain devices for sharing, and that's somewhere in the settings)

 

[Joes Place]

My Wi-Fi is fine really - not even something that I should be concerned about. My computer normally speed tests at 125-175 Mbps and my phone about the same or better. I'm not a gamer, so I don't really need super high speed. But my smart TV's still spool every once in a while, which is annoying.

So, when Mediacom (Xfinity) said they were raising my speed from 400 to 600 Mbps, It made me wonder if things really should be working faster.

So, I bought a new Arris 3.1 DOCSIS router and a eero 6+ Mesh Wi-Fi and figure I was ready to see what fast speeds would be like.

However, the speed increase was negligible. Computer at 175, phone at 210.

Called Mediacom and they said my device speeds should be more like 550. Had a tech come out and check it out - the speed to the house was 800 and the eero wi-fil was picking up 800. I can see the 800 speed on my eero app.

Called eero and they said that if your getting 200+ on your devices that's about as good as you can do on a wireless wi-fi.

That's nonsense - internet speeds in some places are over 1 gig. What's the point if devices are going to stay at 200 anyway?

So, what am I missing?

I know there are plenty of tech guru's out there - but if you want to help please try to dumb the explanations down a smidge.

Need your help HROT!

The spooling is latency in Mediacom's lines OR in their connections/at the stream source.
>100 Mbps is more than fast enough for multiple HD or 4k streams.

You can try to optimize your mesh network all you want, but you only need 25 Mbps per 4k streaming device. And you can allocate that for specific devices on your network.

The latency has nothing to do with Mediacom's speeds; it has to do with congestion for certain streaming services.

And, yes, eliminating Net Neutrality will only make this worse, when ISPs can throttle streams they don't "own" the rights on, and they preferentially speed up their own.

 

[Joes Place]

Also, FWIW, 4k bandwidth requirement is pretty high (20+ Mbps); anytime you stream from somewhere, it has to get that data from the cached source. The initial buffering is how long it take to route that data from the source thru Mediacom's servers. And they DO need to buffer a few seconds of the stream data to avoid having cut-outs during your streaming show/program. So, a few s or more (5s?) of initial buffering for high-res streams is pretty much the norm, particularly if you are far from the source of the data. They do this to ensure a steady stream even if bandwidth gets clogged along the route, so that your streaming device always has a few seconds of "buffer" in case the stream is briefly interrupted. Mediacom likely does the same at their servers to ensure they always have enough buffered data to keep the stream to your device "steady".

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Strange. It's possible they have some upgraded radios or maybe even just newer firmware. There's also a chance that you have radio interference from an outside source that either fluctuates or isn't always present.

On my home system my uplink/mesh connection quality on the master bedroom mesh AP will vary between weak and good and the speed of devices connected to the mesh unit varies with it. The uplink connection has to go through two walls. Enterprise mesh networks have wired connections to each AP so this issue doesn't exist in those environments. Home mesh networks use radios for the AP to AP uplinks.

One of those android apps I referenced earlier can help find interference from other wifi signals. It looks like you can get netspot for windows and Mac OS now too.

It's possible I suppose that something was going on in my neighborhood causing some interference, but we speed tested dozens of times with the eero I installed, and dozens on times now with the mediacom eero installed. We are getting higher speeds now every time.

Just tested my laptop - 435. Phone 305.

I have to believe that the problem was with the installation of my own eero. I struggled with it somewhat and probably screwed something up. Either that or the equipment I bought was not working correctly.

It's weird.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Run https://www.speedtest.net/ on your device directly wired to the modem; bypass the router.

If you get what Mediacom says, then it's the router settings (newer routers can default to maximize speeds and throttle for certain devices for sharing, and that's somewhere in the settings)

I didn't attached the device, but I set my laptop right next to the hub and got a speedtest of 760. So I don't think it was the router.

Anyway, problem now solved by switching my own eero mesh 6+ with the same equipment from mediacom with professional installation. I must have bungled the install.

 

[alaskanseminole]

I'm about to pull the plug on a 3-pack of eero, but trying to decide if I should go with the 6 or 6+. I have AT&T GB service and the following are all connected via ether through my netgear switch:

• Home PC
• Roku
• Bluray
• PS4
• Current AT&T Mesh system

Question is, for the remaining IoT devices, iPad and our phones, do I really need the advertised 1GB speed I'd get from the 6+ vs the 6?

 

[Joes Place]

I'm about to pull the plug on a 3-pack of eero, but trying to decide if I should go with the 6 or 6+. I have AT&T GB service and the following are all connected via ether through my netgear switch:

• Home PC
• Roku
• Bluray
• PS4
• Current AT&T Mesh system

Question is, for the remaining IoT devices, iPad and our phones, do I really need the advertised 1GB speed I'd get from the 6+ vs the 6?

What's the speed difference between the standards?

I'd also look at how many prioritized "streaming" devices each protocol can handle; that's one of the key elements of newer WiFi standards, to minimize buffering for those specific connections.

You don't need a ton of bandwidth for HD or 4k (as fractions of 1GB/s), but if you run out of prioritized channels for streaming, something will be slowed down you don't want throttled.

 

[alaskanseminole]

What's the speed difference between the standards?

I'd also look at how many prioritized "streaming" devices each protocol can handle; that's one of the key elements of newer WiFi standards, to minimize buffering for those specific connections.

You don't need a ton of bandwidth for HD or 4k (as fractions of 1GB/s), but if you run out of prioritized channels for streaming, something will be slowed down you don't want throttled.

6+ = Up to a gigabit

6 = Up to 500 Mbps

 

[Joes Place]

6+ = Up to a gigabit

6 = Up to 500 Mbps

So, add up bandwidth you need for how many streams (currently)

~5 MB/s per 1080 stream
20 MB/s per 4k stream

You could probably support >20 4k streams with the slower router 500/20=25

If the price difference isn't obscene, you'd probably get longer usable life out of the 6+ (7 is now being phased in). But for a large difference in cost, may not be worth it unless you have extreme bandwidth needs for one of your connections.

And I think there are differences in how many prioritized "streams" the different wifi protocols are capped at, which is the other consideration.

I might pay an extra $20-50 for the faster model; probably not 2x cost, though.

If you have ethernet in the house, you can spare a ton of wifi bandwidth by "backboning", if the ethernet cabling is 1GB/s or better. This means wiring each of your router units thru the ethernet; otherwise, you are having to route all traffic thru one 500 GB/s unit (~166 GB/s per unit-ish for connections). When those speeds get split up, you can reach your "cap" a lot quicker if a bunch of your stuff is all trying to connect to one Eero.

 

[alaskanseminole]

So, add up bandwidth you need for how many streams (currently)

~5 MB/s per 1080 stream
20 MB/s per 4k stream

You could probably support >20 4k streams with the slower router 500/20=25

If the price difference isn't obscene, you'd probably get longer usable life out of the 6+ (7 is now being phased in). But for a large difference in cost, may not be worth it unless you have extreme bandwidth needs for one of your connections.

And I think there are differences in how many prioritized "streams" the different wifi protocols are capped at, which is the other consideration.

I might pay an extra $20-50 for the faster model; probably not 2x cost, though.

If you have ethernet in the house, you can spare a ton of wifi bandwidth by "backboning", if the ethernet cabling is 1GB/s or better. This means wiring each of your router units thru the ethernet; otherwise, you are having to route all traffic thru one 500 GB/s unit (~166 GB/s per unit-ish for connections). When those speeds get split up, you can reach your "cap" a lot quicker if a bunch of your stuff is all trying to connect to one Eero.

about $100 difference in cost, but I think it'd be worth it to just get the 6+. I've got WAY TOO many IoT devices, plus 2 phones, 3 iPads, 3 Roku devices, 3 PCs, Doorbell Cam, Security Cam, etc. etc.