Cut price Wi-Fi 6 mesh system put to the test
While the big change in the Eero 6+ is its 160MHz 5GHz support, whether or not you get this will depend on many factors, and there’s no way to force the system into using them. That doesn’t make this a product to avoid. In fact, the Eero 6+ proved to be more reliable and faster at range than the Eero 6, and if everything is right in your home, its wider channels will deliver faster speeds for devices that support 160MHz. For those with an existing Eero 6 system, there’s not enough here to warrant an upgrade, but the Eero 6+ is a great choice for new buyers. Costing a small amount more than the original, it’s additional money well spent for the latest technology. If you’re after super-simple and reliable mesh networking, this is a great product.
Pros
- 160MHz channel support
- Easy to set up
- Reliable and fast
- Easy-to-use app
Cons
- Extras require a subscription
- Canu2019t override automatic settings
- Alexa hit and miss
Amazon may have been going all out for speed with its Eero Pro 6E, but that doesn’t mean that it has ignored its lower-end products.
Now, with the Eero 6+ we have an upgrade to the entry-level mesh Wi-Fi system that introduces 160MHz Wi-Fi 6 channels that can, theoretically, provide double speed.
How, when and if this is possible depends on your home, neighbouring networks and even the clients that you use. Truth is, many of us won’t be able to use the full capabilities of this system.
That could be seen as a shame, yet the overall quality and low price of this system mean that it shines regardless of whether 160MHz is useful to you or not.
If you’re confused what all that means, check out our comprehensive guide to Wi-Fi mesh systems and also have a read up on exactly what Wi-Fi 6 is.
Read on for our Eero 6 Plus review…
Eero 6+: Setup and specs
As with all Eero mesh systems, the Eero 6+ is available as a single device or as a three-pack.
At £319 / $299 for a 3-pack, the system is exceptionally well priced, making it a great budget choice for those that want stable Wi-Fi without the high cost of rival systems.
All Eero devices are identical, with two Gigabit Ethernet ports on the rear. The first device you plug in must be wired to your internet connection, leaving just one Ethernet port spare.
If you’ve got more devices that you want to connect via Ethernet, you’re going to need a switch.

Additional Eero devices can connect wirelessly, or you can use Ethernet instead. The advantage of the latter is twofold here. First, you can put a satellite at longer range, say in a garden building.
Secondly, as the Eero 6+ system doesn’t have a dedicated wireless channel for communication between satellites, using Ethernet means that Wi-Fi is only used for client devices.
Once again, the Eero 6+ devices can be mixed and matched with any other Eero system. That’s great for flexibility, although it may negate the main selling point of this model: if you connect a 6+ satellite into a system that doesn’t support 160MHz network channels, then you can’t use the technology.
See also: Use Echo Dot as Eero Wi-Fi extender
Currently, only the 6+ and Pro 6E devices support 160MHz, and Eero doesn’t recommend mixing them with non-160MHz devices.
The system uses AX3000, which is a combination of a 2×2 2.4GHz network (600Mbps) and a 2×2 5GHz network (2400Mbps). That’s quite the step up from the original Eero 6, which was an AX1800 system (600Mbps 2.4GHz and 1200Mbps 5GHz). On paper, at least, the 6+ has double the speed on the 5GHz network.

Eero 6+: Features
Regardless of the underlying technology, Eero systems have the same app and the same interface to configure them. This is a system that’s been designed to be as easy to use as possible, but it also means it’s fairly dumbed down.
There’s no web interface for advanced features, no option to select which wireless channels you want and no option to split the 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks.
These limitations felt like a bigger issue on the high-end Eero Pro 6E, but are less of an issue here where the system is aimed at people that just want more reliable W-Fi.
Well, aside from one potential problem: 160MHz channels. To get the fastest speeds, the Eero 6+ needs to use 160MHz channels on its 5GHz network. There are only two such channels available and no way to force the Eero 6+ system to use them. In my home, the Eero system was frequently run with an 80MHz channel width.
In addition, you need a device that will support the 160MHz channel width, and these aren’t that popular.
Based on your, client device and neighbouring networks, there’s a chance that you won’t be able to use 160MHz channels, and the mesh system will default back to 80MHz channels: the same as the original Eero 6 used.
If you link your Eero system to your Amazon account, then it will turn on the Zigbee hub and it should also enable voice commands.
The latter seems to be a feature that works in the US; in the UK, I found that I also had to enable the Eero Skill manually and, even then, I couldn’t get the guest network to turn on or off, although I could pause and resume profiles.

Profiles can be created for all of your family members. Each profile should have a person’s devices attached, giving you the ability to pause the internet (scheduled or manually). It’s a great way to control when kids can and can’t use the internet.
For advanced web filtering, security and ad blocking you need an Eero Secure subscription (£2.99/$2.99 a month). Eero Secure+ (£9.99/$9.99 a month) also adds in a subscription for 1Password Family (five users), Encrypt.me (five users) and Malwarebytes (three devices).
The more basic subscription feels like better value, and you can add on your own choice of anti-virus protection with a different choice of product.

Eero 6+: Performance
What the Eero 6+ is capable of and what it actually delivers will depend on interference and the ability of the device that you use. But, even without 160MHz support, this is a great entry-level mesh system.
Testing throughput, I found the Eero 6+ to deliver very similar results to the Eero 6 at close range, but it did better at range by a fair amount.
It’s likely that the improved networking kit inside the satellites provides a more stable experience, regardless of whether 160MHz wide networks are at play or not.