Should you purchase the Nest Wifi Router or the Eero Pro 6?

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. For most people, Nest Wifi has more than enough speed with AC2200 speeds. 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: How much speed is enough?

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 most people.

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, a gigabit connection will be no problem for this router.

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.

Still, 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.

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?

The Eero Pro 6 is a great router for someone that needs gigabit speeds with a great user interface and a compact design. However, for many people, the extra cost of the Eero Pro 6 won’t be worth the money. Nest Wifi has a balance of speed and coverage that will be more than enough for most people, whether they stream 4K videos or work from home.

Our top pick

Nest Wifi Router

Fast, powerful, intuitive

$169 on Dell$169 on Amazon
$169 on Best Buy

Nest Wifi strikes a great balance between speed and functionality with easy setup, security, and plenty of expansion options.

Tri-band Wi-Fi

Eero Pro 6

Wi-Fi 6 for your mesh

$230 on Dell
From $229 on Amazon
$229 on Best Buy

Wi-Fi 6 takes speed and consistency to the next level on the Eero Pro 6 while keeping compatibility with older devices.