After years of solid performance, I decided to move on from my old NETGEAR router and switch to the Eero Pro 6. The R8000 had served me well for a long time, but recently, I found myself resetting it every few days because of lag and connectivity issues—especially when my kids were gaming.
The NETGEAR R8000: Reliable, But Aging
The NETGEAR R8000 was a great router for the last decade. With its tri-band Wi-Fi and multiple antennas, it handled our household’s needs without issue. For note, our house is two stories and a bit over 2,000 square feet.
On the family needs front, we bring a typical setup—lots of streaming, work-from-home, video calls, and gaming happening all at once. The R8000 could keep up with all of this for years, and I didn’t think much about it.
However, in the last few months, I noticed more latency spikes during high-demand activities, like when my kids were gaming or we had multiple streams running at the same time. What really pushed me to consider a new option was the increasing need to reset the router. Every few days, one of the kids would come to me complaining about lag in their games. Sure enough, after resetting the router, everything would run smoothly again—at least for a while.
It became a routine: games would start lagging, I’d reset the router, and things would be fine again. But having to do this every three or four days got annoying, and I realized it was time for an upgrade.
Why I Chose the Eero Pro 6
After looking into my options, I landed on the Eero Pro 6. It’s a mesh system, which appealed to me because of our growing number of devices and the need for strong coverage throughout the house. Plus, the Eero supports Wi-Fi 6, which can handle more devices and is built for better performance in busy households like mine.
The Eero Pro 6 offered a few things I felt would solve my issues with the R8000:
- Better coverage: With multiple Eero units spread throughout the house, I wouldn’t have to worry about dead spots or weak signals in certain rooms.
- Less interference: The Eero Pro 6 supports more devices without slowing down, which was important since we’ve added several smart home devices to the mix.
- Reliability: I hoped it would solve the recurring need for resets and eliminate the annoying latency issues that had become the norm.
The Switch and Setup
The setup process with the Eero Pro 6 was incredibly simple. I was able to get everything up and running in about 15 minutes using the Eero app, which walked me through each step. This was a nice change from the more involved setup I remembered with the R8000, where I had to fiddle with settings and log into a clunky web interface.
My pro tip: keep the same SSID and the same password. In my case, I chose a complex password a long time ago and I live with it still.
Once the Eero was set up, it immediately improved the Wi-Fi performance across the house. The connection was stable, and the latency issues were gone. My kids stopped asking me to reset the router, which was a relief. They were able to game without interruption, and we could stream shows and use our devices without any problems.
What I’ve Noticed After Switching
Now that we’ve been using the Eero Pro 6 for a few weeks, the difference is clear. The biggest improvement is in reliability—no more resetting the router every few days. The Eero system has been rock solid, even when we’re all online at the same time, which is pretty much every evening.
Another bonus is the consistent coverage throughout the house. With the R8000, there were areas where the signal was weaker, especially upstairs. But with the Eero mesh setup, the Wi-Fi is strong no matter where we are.
Final Thoughts
The NETGEAR R8000 was a good router for many years, but as our household’s internet needs grew, it couldn’t keep up anymore. The frequent resets and lag became too much of a hassle. Switching to the Eero Pro 6 has been a great decision—no more resets, better coverage, and a more reliable connection overall.
If you’re in a similar situation, dealing with an older router that needs constant resets or can’t handle the demands of a busy household, I’d recommend looking into a mesh system like the Eero Pro 6. It’s been a solid upgrade that has taken the frustration out of managing our home network.