Eero Mesh vs Eero Pro: What are the differences and which should you buy?

Technically speaking, the Eero Pro is the better product, but at double the price of the base Eero, it's not worth it for most people. With tri-band support and greater overall Wi-Fi capacity, the Pro is a good choice for people that need more than 1Gbps on their devices. Most people won't need that much internet speed. For most people, the base Eero with be fast enough and the lower price leaves room for more units which could result in more flexible and extensive coverage.

An extra band

Comparing the specifications of these two routers shows how much they have in common. The main thing that stands out on the Pro is the tri-band Wi-Fi. This will mainly help the router keep speeds high, which helps it be consistent across multiple devices connected and active. Both routers use 2.4 and 5.2Ghz, with the Eero Pro adding in another channel at 5.8Ghz.

Source: Eero

The standard Eero is no slouch, though. Both routers support 2x2 MU-MIMO, which can quickly manage traffic with multiple connections, as well as the same CPU and RAM figures. You can safely expect the software experience on the two devices to be very similar. This is nice since the software is one of the strongest parts of the Eero experience.

	Eero	Eero Pro
Wi-Fi standard	802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5)	802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5)
Bands	Dual-band	Tri-band
LAN ports	2 per unit 1 used for WAN	2 per unit 1 used for WAN
Frequencies (Ghz)	2.4 and 5.2	2.4, 2x 5Ghz
MU-MIMO	2x2	2x2
Dimensions	98mm x 98mm x 60mm	121mm x 121mm x 32mm
CPU	700Mhz quad-core	700Mhz quad-core
RAM	512MB	512MB

The software

The software experience is going to be largely the same no matter which Eero device you have. You absolutely need access to an Android or iOS device to set up and configure your Eero network. Make sure to grab the app on the Google Play Store or iOS App Store before you disconnect your old equipment.

Internally, the Eero routers will update themselves when new software is available, so you shouldn't need to worry about that aspect. As you would expect from an Amazon product, both of the Eero routers are Alexa compatible. Even the older Eeros can use Alexa.

But what about the speed?

Eero isn't terribly thrilled to disclose the raw speed capabilities of its routers. While this isn't ideal for making a comparison, from Eero's perspective, it does make some sense. Eero recommends the base Eero for internet speeds up to 550Mbps. This is faster than a lot of people's internet and is fast enough that most users won't notice much difference in a faster connection. The Eero Pro is recommended for internet connections of 1Gbps. This near doubling of speed comes down mainly to the extra 5Ghz band available on the Pro.

If you want to make sure your connection will stay fast, it'll be more important to make sure that the Eeros are placed within good range of each other so the mesh connection stays strong. That's the connection between the Eero routers not connected directly to the router. It can be tempting to try to stretch your mesh as thin as possible but for best results, the mesh routers will need to be able to consistently talk to each other.

Expansion

Source: Eero

One nice thing about being part of the Eero ecosystem is that all of the Eero devices will be compatible with each other. If you want, you could buy both of these products and use them together. If you're looking at these devices for expansion, it's a good idea to put the most powerful device at the center connected to your modem. Your entire network will only ever be as good as the main router.

If you intend to upgrade an older model Eero or the current Eero to the Pro, keep in mind that the benefits will only be apparent when you are closest to the main router. If you want to simply add range, the Eero will be the best way to do so since it provides the same specifications as the Eero Beacon at a lower price.

Both the Eero and the Eero Pro have two gigabit RJ45 Ethernet ports as well. Keeping your wired devices connected will be easier than ever since you can just plug into the nearest router.

The housing

Source: Eero

Lastly, the new Eero has a slightly smaller physical footprint than the Eero Pro, though the increased depth makes the total volume larger. Both Eero products are small enough to conceal nearly anywhere but with decreased length and width of the base Eero, hiding it should be even easier.

What should you get?

For the needs of most consumers, the standard Eero with be the better fit. While the Eero Pro will be able to handle more devices, unless you have a full house with data hungry users, the standard Eero should be plenty.

If you are building a mesh to solve a speed and capacity problem, the Eero Pro is the better move but if you want Wi-Fi that's good enough for pretty much any standard usage, from streaming to gaming, the standard Eero is a better value. Plus you can get more units to further improve coverage for the same budget.