Tri-band Wi-Fi 6
Eero Pro 6
From $229 on Amazon
Pros
- Tri-band Wi-Fi for greater consistency and speed
- Wi-Fi 6 offers greater speeds
- Excellent support for Amazon Alexa
- Easy setup
- Lots of expansion options
Cons
- More expensive
- Requires a subscription fee for some features
Eero Pro 6 takes speed to the next level with an AX4200 connection. Its tri-band Wi-Fi 6 hardware means more consistent speeds throughout your home, it integrates very readily with Alexa, and eero’s subscription service offers many neat features. You can also extend your mesh with any generation or model Eero.
Simple and powerful
Nest Wifi Router
$169 on Amazon
Pros
- Integrates seamlessly with Google Home and Google Wifi
- Nest Points double as smart speakers
- Powerful onboard hardware
- Easy setup
- Easy expansion options
Cons
- Dual-band only
- No support for Wi-Fi 6
There’s a lot to love about the Nest Wifi Router. It’s both powerful and easy to use, offering fast and seamless connectivity throughout the home. Nest Wifi is limited by its Wi-Fi 5, and the Nest Wifi points are much slower than the main router. Luckily, you can expand your Nest Wifi mesh with more routers.
The Eero Pro 6 is a significantly faster router than Nest Wifi, though it has the price tag to support it. If you’re looking to support gigabit speed on a mesh, the Eero Pro 6 is going to be one of your best options. Nest Wifi is still a sensible option with its AC2200 speeds capable of supporting several devices at once. Expansion is similarly easy on both devices though eero has a wider range to choose from. Both systems have a great app that’s easy to use and reasonably powerful for the average user as far as setup and management.
Nest Wifi vs. eero Pro 6: Do you need Wi-Fi 6 speeds?
Nest Wifi is fast at AC2200. Depending on the device, this is enough for gigabit speeds on the 5GHz band with around 1733 Mbps possible; however, when Nest Wifi is part of a mesh, that speed must be shared between the device and the mesh connection, essentially cutting it in half. Still, this is fast enough for 4K streaming and browsing, and many people might not even notice the speed reduction.
Eero takes it to the next level by adding another 5GHz band. This allows the router to dedicate an entire band’s speed to the device. With 2402 Mbps on the high 5GHz band and 1201 Mbps on the low 5GHz band, this router will shine with a gigabit connection.
These high 5GHz speeds really only come into play when using multiple devices or running a mesh since most devices are limited to 2×2 connections. This means 867Mbps on Wi-Fi 5 devices and 1201Mbps on Wi-Fi 6 devices. Both of these routers will handle 4K streaming with ease, and you won’t find too many sites that offer download speeds to keep up with either connection.
There’s no doubt that Eero Pro 6 is faster, and as file sizes increase and gigabit internet reaches more people, this extra capacity will be worth it to some. With so many stellar Wi-Fi 6 mesh options and many of the best Android phones supporting it, Wi-Fi 6 is the best way to add some longevity to your network.
| Bands | Tri-band (2.4GHz and 2x 5GHz) | Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) |
| Wireless Standard | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) |
| Speed | AX4200 | AC2200 |
| Beamforming | Yes | Yes |
| Bluetooth LE | Yes | Yes |
| Processor | 1.4 GHz Quad-Core | 1.4 GHz Quad-Core |
| Gigabit Ports | 2 | 2 |
| Memory | 4 GB | 4 GB |
| RAM | 1 GB | 1 GB |
| Coverage per node (sq. ft.) | 2000 | 2200 |
| Security | WPA3 | WPA3 |
Of course, there are a few things neither router does particularly well. One of our biggest gripes with both systems is that they sport only one spare gigabit port. If you want to connect more than one device via Ethernet, you’ll need to check out one of the other best mesh wireless routers, connect your devices to a mesh node with Ethernet, or add in an Ethernet switch.
Nest Wifi router vs. Eero Pro 6: The Eero software extra
Some of the Eero Pro 6’s extra features, which are only available via subscription, are nice to have, including a robust security solution. However, they probably represent the product’s most significant advantage over Nest, especially if you’re privacy-conscious. Generally speaking, an Eero subscription (either Eero Secure or Eero Secure+) is meant to give you more control over your network, your data, and privacy.
Eero Secure provides safe search, content filtering, network-wide ad blocking, and priority technical support. Eero Secure+ further sweetens the deal with accounts for encrypt.me VPN, Malwarebytes anti-malware, and 1Password. If you’re concerned about protecting your network and data, this subscription alone could make the Eeo Pro 6 worth your while.
Nest Wifi router vs. Eero Pro 6: How do you expand your mesh?
There’s also the fact that if you buy extenders for either router rather than buying the routers themselves, there are a few drawbacks. In the case of Nest WiFi, the Nest Wifi Points don’t offer anywhere near the same connection speed as the primary router, in addition to not having an Ethernet port. While this probably won’t bother most people, you may notice a bit of slowdown if you have any network-intensive systems far away from your router. This is mitigated somewhat by each Point also doubles as a Google Nest smart speaker, with full Google Assistant functionality.
The best speeds for your eero mesh will be achieved with multiple eero Pro 6 routers. If you’re willing to give up a bit of speed, the Eero 6 also makes a solid choice and should be able to handle more than 500Mbps with ease. Eero has maintained compatibility with all of the eero routers, including the Wi-Fi 6 routers. If you have an older eero router, you can add it in but keep in mind that you may end up losing more speed than it’s worth with the dual-band Wi-Fi 5 eeros.
Nest Wifi router vs. Eero Pro 6: Which should you get?
With Nest Wifi, Google has made an impressive Wi-Fi system with easy coverage expansion and enough speed for most people. When Nest Wifi was first released, Wi-Fi 6 was a rarity, only included with the most expensive device. Now, Wi-Fi 6 is the standard for wireless communication, with most new phones supporting it. Even for those that don’t, the Eero Pro 6 will have a fast connection between the mesh points allowing for greater speeds on Wi-Fi 5 devices connected to a node. In the end, both routers are fast enough for most people, but the Eero Pro 6 can help you make the most of your new devices and fast internet connection.
Tri-band Wi-Fi 6
Amazon eero Pro 6 tri-band mesh Wi-Fi 6 router
Wi-Fi 6 for your mesh
From $229 on Amazon
$229 on Best Buy
$230 on Dell
Wi-Fi 6 takes speed and consistency to the next level on the Eero Pro 6 while keeping compatibility with older devices.
Simple and powerful
Nest Wifi Router
Plenty of speed for many people
$169 on Amazon
$169 on Best Buy
$169 on Dell
Nest Wifi strikes the right balance between speed and functionality with easy setup, security, and plenty of expansion options.
