Earlier this week, Netgear announced a new Wi-Fi 7 mesh router that impressed us with its performance potential but left us floored by its price tag. (The Orbi 970 retails at $1,699 for a router and satellite, or $2,299 for a router and two satellites.) Well, now Amazon is stepping into the Wi-Fi 7 fray with its latest Eero family member: the Eero Max 7.
The Eero Max 7 offers significant performance and useability upgrades over the current Eero Pro 6E. For starters, the Wi-Fi 7 spec brings features such as 320MHz bandwidth channels (up from 160Hz on Wi-Fi 6E) to the Eero Max 7. The mesh router supports legacy 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels along with the new 6GHz channel. Wired speeds max out at 9.4 Gbps, while wireless rates are capped at 4.3 Gbps.
Unlike the Orbi 970, the Eero Max 7 doesn’t have a dedicated wireless backhaul. Instead, the router will default to the 6GHz channel to communicate with its satellite — then fall back to 5GHz or 2.4GHz as needed, depending on connection strength. Since this is an Amazon product, the Eero is also a smart home hub supporting Alexa, Zigbee, and Thread devices.
While wireless performance should no doubt be respectable with the Eero Max 7, Amazon is also throwing a bone to customers who need physical Ethernet ports. Instead of just two Ethernet ports (one 2.5 Gbps, one 1 Gbps), the Eero Max 7 will have two 10 Gbps and two 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports. And one of the 10 Gbps ports can accommodate fiber internet — for those with access to such luxuries.
Compared to the Eero Pro 6E, the Eero Max 7 is a giant. Each Eero Pro 6E node measures 5.5 inches across and is 1.9 inches tall. The towering Eero Max 7, meanwhile, is 7.24 inches wide and 8.73 inches tall.
The cheapest Wi-Fi 7 router we saw prior to the Eero Max 7 was the $599 TP-Link Archer BE800. The Eero Max 7 will also cost $599 for a single node (2,500 sq. ft. coverage). If you want to add a node, a two-pack will cost $1,149 (5,000 sq. ft.), while a three-node mesh system will set you back $1,699 (7,500 sq. ft.).
Those prices will be a tough pill to swallow for many consumers, especially compared to the cost of current-generation Wi-Fi 6E mesh routers. A single Eero Pro 6E node costs $179, while a two-pack costs $279 from Amazon. Even a three-pack costs just $399 — still $200 less than one Eero Max 7 node.
Amazon has not yet given a release date for the Eero Max 7, and the product page only states it will be "coming soon."
