Eero 6: Amazon announces new Wi-Fi 6-enabled mesh routers

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it portion of this year’s Amazon Devices and Services livestream (which took place, as most presentations have, behind closed doors), Amazon announced a new pair of mesh Wi-Fi units, the Eero 6 and Eero 6 Pro. Information is still a little scarce at the minute, but we’ll try our best. 

One thing’s for certain: the Eero 6 and Eero 6 Pro are distinct inasmuch as they cost different amounts. The Eero 6 will set you back $129.99, and the Eero 6 Plus, $229.99; unfortunately, at the time of writing, prices for countries outside the US remain a mystery.

So what else do we know? The headline feature here – and indeed, one of the few that Amazon touched on in the presentation – is that both Eero devices support Wi-Fi 6, the latest and fastest wireless standard. The Eero 6 and Eero 6 Pro can support up to 75 devices on their network and feature two ethernet ports and a built-in Zigbee Smart Home Hub (for compatibility with other smart home devices).

The Eero 6 Pro is a tri-band router, meaning it broadcasts a single 2.4GHz channel and two 5GHz channels – which in short means less congestion when lots of devices are connected simultaneously. The Eero 6 is a dual-band router, and as you’ll see below, is slightly less powerful than its “pro” sibling.

Here’s how effective the mesh networks are, according to Amazon:

Eero 6

• 1 Eero 6 router = 1,500 square feet
• 2 Eero 6 routers = 3,000 square feet
• 3 Eero 6 routers = 5,000 square feet

Eero 6 Pro

• 1 Eero 6 Pro router = 2,000 square feet
• 2 Eero 6 Pro routers = 3,500 square feet
• 3 Eero 6 Pro routers = 6,000 square feet

Amazon recommends the Eero 6 for homes with broadband speeds of up to 500Mbits/sec, and the Eero 6 Pro for homes with Gigabit internet (1Gbit/sec and over). Both models are completely backwards compatible with previous generations of Eero mesh routers. 

As for availability, I’m afraid that’s a little unclear at the minute. Amazon says both models are available to preorder now, but this is seemingly only true if you live in the USA, where your order will arrive by 2 November; otherwise, it looks like you’re going to have to wait.