Eero Pro disappointment in the UK

Hardware
#5

I’m pretty certain the last BT Hub my parents had (also plastic junk) was in modem mode and we’ve put it through a variety of routers. I was planning on upgrading them to Eero next time I’m at home so haven’t tested this properly yet (I did talk to their neighbour who said he has it working, but based on previous things he’s said I don’t know how much to believe!).

This is extremely disappointing if it’s not working for you, I don’t want to waste a weekend faffing around with things only to send it all back! Hopefully another UK based person can lend an eye/ear to your cause.

#6

Check out this review on Amazon UK, which essentially backs up my findings too, kicking myself for having not read this before I ordered:

Most UK ISPs use PPPoE to authenticate users to their network, this is commonly used by DSL which if you have an OpenReach connection you will be using. Eero does not support PPPoE, which means you need to place it behind another router which leads to issues with NAT (the translation that a router carries out between public (Internet) and private (Home Network) addresses). This has stopped Sky Q from working in my house for On Demand, but I have seen vastly improved WiFi Speed and coverage in a congested WiFi area (3 story town house in city).

PPPoE support has an open request on the Eero support forums as a feature, but it has been open for over 2 years! Considering PPPoE and DSL are the two primary connectivity technologies in the UK, I am shocked that this has not been fixed before Eero was launched in the UK! My advice is, its not simple - if you’re a pro IT (which I am) then feel free to experiment, but for users looking at a simple plug in and go solution look at alternative Mesh solutions which support PPPoE and avoid the hassle of managing double NAT.

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#7

I really wish Eero would support this. My ISP in the US is the same way and it drives me nuts that I can’t use all the features of the Eero system. It should be something they could add since other mesh systems work with that kind of logging.

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#8

Are you running them in bridge mode with another router?

#9

There are certain ISP in US which uses PPPoE but they are in the minority. For those unlucky users, they need to use Eero behind their existing router.

#10

BT is one of the biggest suppliers here in the UK and they use PPPoE. I think Amazon should be pointing this out on the sales page.

Trying to work out now if they are worth keeping and running on bridge mode with the AirPort Extreme or if I should’ve maybe look at something else?

Looks like I’ll loose some of the features but it retains it’s mesh.

#11

In Malaysia, my ISP is also using PPPoE and so I had my Eero running in bridge. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what I’m missing. But I sure get reliable and wide coverage of WiFi at every corner of my house. It’s truly a set and forget device. No regrets on my end. I’m sure you will enjoy them too.

#12

I looked hard at mesh wifi, but in the end I went with Airport Extremes and Powerline. I have 3 Airports covering a 4-story house (UK) very well.

There are aplenty of Aurports around used and powelerine adapters are cheap - you want pass-through adapters so that the AP can plug in.

Then you set up each Airport to create a wireless network, giving them all the same SSID and credentials. Powerline provides the backhauland devices switch easily.

Not for everyone, but my sense fo Eero (and other mesh systems) is that they’re not yet perfect and they’re not cheap either.

#13

Yep, I just run it in bridge mode. Unfortunately, it means I lose out on some of the advanced features Eero has to offer. To be honest, I’m thinking of finding a new router. I seem to have devices drop from the Eero network and it’s a bit slow. Without the cool features it has to offer, I’m not sure the system is worth it.

#14

A little update on this. I’ve had another play and managed to get everything up and running albeit using the AirPort Extreme to handle the PPPoE so the Eeros are running in double NAT mode. Even managed to get out Sky Q box connected, I have no idea why it wouldn’t connect yesterday.

The two dead spots we had in the house are now gone, so on that front it’s doing it’s job, hurrah!

I might see how we get on with it for a few days before I make a final decision about returning them.

Thanks for your thoughts everyone, much appreciated!

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#15

If you should decide to return the Eeros then I’d suggest considering the Linksys Velop range.

These do support PPPoe and I’ve had good experience running them against a BT DSL connection (in my case using a Draytek Vigor 130 modem).

I bought these a couple of years ago because at the time they were the only Eero equivalent available in the UK that supported Ethernet backhaul between base stations (which can offer significant speed improvements for devices connected to satellite stations).

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#16

I’m with Virgin and I use their “super”hub in bridging mode. My Eero’s are working fantastically well in this configuration. No problems with NAT at all.

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#17

@leanda, that sucks, very disappointing that they didn’t add PPPoE support before launching it at the UK market :frowning:

If you do decide to return them and look for another solution then this is worth a read if you’ve not seen it already: https://www.macobserver.com/tips/how-to/best-mesh-wireless-system/

Don’t BT also do their own mesh solution these days? Is that any good?

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#19

You make a very good point sir regarding the AirPort Extreme being at the end of it’s life! Fell down the Amplifi rabbit hole this morning on YouTube. The Amplifi Instant gets very mixed reviews but the HD version looks a little better. Also considering the Google Nest Wifi which also supports PPPoe and completely discounted the Netgear Orbi.

Eeros still working well this morning connected to the Airport Extreme although I seem to have lost the Hue lights in HomeKit. For the first time in a long time we are able to stream photos and vid from a Mac on one side of the house to the Apple TV on the other, so if nothing else I’ve learnt that I need some sort of mesh or bridge set up.

#20

Convenience comes at a price.
Not the first time that I hear about a product that’s supposed to make life easier, but actually is lacking much needed functionality. It’s pretty bad news of course. And hard to understand why a premium product like eero “pro” (what’s in a name) doesn’t offer this. There are routers that are much more reasonably priced that do have it. No clue why they left it out. Open source firmware (like dd-wrt) offers PPPoE out-of-the-box.
Sorry to be cynical, but this is yet another example of a “nerdy”/“geeky” product advertised on MPU that turns out to be much less aimed at “power users” than one would expect.
I do agree with @Philrob.

#21

They do, and it’s pretty good, not to mention quite cheap. But the only way to know whether ti works in your home is to try it. I looked hard at it but (per my earlier post) decided to organise my Airports instead.

I take the pointhere that Airports are out of support, but I’m willing to live with that for a bit longer.

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#22

WiFI six mesh is here, it’s superior… and the first units out (from Linksys, Amplifi and Orbi) are expensive. But this is where WiFi and mesh is going, so I personally wouldn’t invest in one of the current popular mesh systems.

I’m interested in finally giving up my Airport Extreme and the connected Airport Express (though I might keep it connected to my powered studio monitors as a separate network just for streaming music), and I’m anxiously waiting for comparison reviews of devices using this new standard.

AppleInsider just did a review of the new Velop WiFi 6 mesh units and found them to be utter speed demons.

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#25

I returned the Eero Pro in the end, ultimately I want to get rid of the Airport completely and as @SpivR pointed out it’s pretty much at the end of it’s life.

I don’t have a BT Home Hub I have a white OpenReach modem which has had the AirPort Extreme plugged into it for many years, AirPort Extreme handled the PPPoE, but Eero support confirmed that the Eero alone wouldn’t handle the PPPoE when plugged directly into the Open Reach modem.

Currently hankering for the days where Apple made routers :slightly_frowning_face:

#26

Hi Leanda

Just read your review on the EEro Pro. I was literally about to purchase but i’m now concerned it wont do what i need it too. Ultimately I want to cover 5000 sqr feet as my house is big with thick walls and this system says it can do that with limited drop in speed.

Can i ask, are you on FTTP at home? I have recently had fibre to the property installed and wonder if this would make a difference? I have the White Open reach box on the wall, with an Ethernet cable to the BT Home Hub. I’m also out of contract soon so thinking of moving to another Fibre provider like, Spectrum or Zen.

I’m not that techi and all I want to achieve is one network that’s fast and strong wifi signal. I currently have the BT Wifi discs which extend my signal, but this is causing havoc with my Sonos system as the speakers all connect via different discs or the main router

Its a mine field this isn’t it!

Any advice would be great
Thanks
John

#27

@John_Hennessy check out the ubiquity UniFi range of products, the UDM coupled with one or more access points should give you rock solid Wi-fi and will allow proper subnetting of IoT devices as well as loads of other features.

Crosstalk solutions on YouTube has loads of videos and walkthroughs.

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