eero Max 7

BE20800 on paper splits into 11,520 Mbps on 6GHz and 8,640 Mbps on 5GHz, numbers that read as competitive with the Deco BE85 and Orbi 970. Independent testing found actual throughput came in below a Gigabit on the bands that did connect, and devices frequently failed to connect to 6GHz at all.

That gap between advertised speed class and measured performance is worse here than on any other WiFi 7 mesh system we've reviewed. Treat the headline number as aspirational, not a guarantee.

eero requires a cloud account and the eero app before you can complete setup, there's no local-only management option. Firmware updates install automatically and reviewers found no way to disable them.

Basic features other mesh systems include for free, like parental controls and dynamic DNS, sit behind the $9.99/month eero Plus subscription. At $99.99 a year on top of the hardware cost, this materially changes the real cost of ownership versus its competitors.

Winner, clearly not the eero Max 7. The TP-Link Deco BE85 costs about the same for a 2-pack and delivers the multi-gig ports and WiFi 7 performance the Max 7 promises but doesn't consistently deliver, without a required subscription.

The ASUS ZenWiFi BQ16 Pro and Netgear Orbi 970 both cost more but at least deliver on their spec sheets in independent testing. If you specifically want deep Alexa and Thread smart-home integration, that's the one legitimate reason to consider the Max 7 over these alternatives, otherwise we'd steer you elsewhere.