Amazon’s take on wireless networking is joining the world of WiFi 7, as the future-friendly wireless networking tech is unleashed with a hefty price tag.
The latest technology is invariably well-priced and often comes with a slightly heftier price tag than everything else, and that appears to be consistent when it comes to wireless networking.
WiFi goes through changes every now and then, but the major leaps seem to arrive every few years, and if you want to be ahead of it all, be prepared to spend up.
When the blazingly fast wireless gigabit speeds of WiFi 7 started popping up, that was definitely something you could see, and now that WiFi 7 is getting married to mesh, that trend of high-priced wireless networking continues, as more companies dabble in the “what’s next” of WiFi.
First it was Netgear with the $4,000 Orbi, and it appears Amazon is on the cards next with its Eero brand of mesh networking gadgets, launching the Eero Max 7. This model is a tri-band mesh WiFi 7 system that will start at $1099 for a single Max 7 mesh gadget, while a three pack will undercut Netgear by a grand, costing $3K for the three units.
Make no mistake, $3K for wireless networking is not inexpensive either, but it might just be more compelling for some than spending $4K on a WiFi 7 mesh trio, which we suspect is what Amazon and Eero are playing at.
The hardware itself uses mesh networking to send people to the right network, and like all mesh devices, creates a sort of Venn diagram of network activity around the home, so that everywhere is supported and dead patches are much rarer.
With 802.11be WiFi 7 onboard, the Eero Max 7 is essentially supporting three wireless network bands using the 2.4, 5, and 6GHz connections used for both WiFi 6E and WiFi 7, but deliveirng more wireless speed than 6E, supporting up to 4.3Gbps connections over wireless and up to 9.4Gbps over wired. It has two 10Gbps wired Eternet ports and two 2.5Gbps wired ports, too, so you can hit some high speeds regardless of whether you’re wired or wireless, though wireless support is the main point, and each Max 7 unit can provide up to 230 square metres of coverage, so you may only need one dependent on the size of your home.
It also supports smart home technology to a degree, with support for Matter and Zigbee, as well as being able to work with Thread systems, too.
It’s worth noting that while the Eero Max 7 is a WiFi 7 router, it doesn’t mean you have a device that supports WiFi 7 and will make use of those high speeds. There aren’t a heap of those yet and more are coming, however, the list includes select devices from this year and last, including the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, Google’s Pixel 8 Pro, as well as some new computers such as the Acer Swift Go 14, too.
Most devices being released should support WiFi 6E, the sort of step release before WiFi 7, boasting fast wireless over three bands, even if it’s not the same level of speed as WiFi 7.
With that in mind, the Eero Pro 6E will also be made available, offering wireless speeds of up to 1.3Gbps and wired of up to 2.3Gbps, with a single Eero Pro 6E mesh router covering up to 190 square metres (three can handle up to 560).
The price difference between the Pro 6E and the Max 7 is not insignificant, however, with a single Pro 6E mesh device costing $449.99, while a three pack is $949.99 in Australia. In short, the Pro 6E is roughly a third the speed at a third the cost, which when you think about it makes sense.
The Eero Max 7 and Eero Pro 6E devices are available now across JB HiFi, Officeworks, Amazon, and internet service providers across the country.
