eero - eero Pro (2nd Generation)

There really is no one Wifi router that will penetrate all walls and building materials and give you a giant bubble of Wifi. As far as signal strength goes, they are about the same. For the best experience on a budget and easy to set up, mesh is typically the go to, like Deco or Eero. Running a wire between the two or more for wired backhaul will make it even better better.

No reason to use an Archer if you want to use mesh anyway. Just use the Deco as your router as well for less devices, less cost, more streamlined. Deco or Eero are usually what I recommend for friends that want mesh.

I have 4 Eeros and all have Ethernet backhauls Recommended

Mesh networking is the key. We have Sonic Fiber and Eero nodes around the house and it's awesome.

Yeah... the literal plug n play is worth a lot unless you're doing large data xfer for work or something. The second hand Eero repeaters are so cheap you can sprinkle them liberally too

You are better off buying your own mesh network, Eero if you are don’t want to futz around, Ubiquity if you want to.

Spectrum has new mesh extenders coming out in a month or two. Outside of that, pods are usually fine. An eero mesh system would be my recommendation if you’re going to buy your own.

Eero does 500mbps over WiFi, it’s hands down one of the best and easiest to manage. After 6 years of using it for all my security cameras and IoT it’s basically pointless to run CAT cable throughout a house in today’s world. Most people don’t need Gig network running throughout a house, it’s irrelevant Anyone saying don’t do mesh is honestly an idiot. Most probably live in an apartment or small house or just have know clue what you need vs what you want. I have 3 wireless cameras on my deck, 2 on my garage, one on my door, 2 inside my home. Including the other random 70 devices throughout my basement (movie room), office (2nd floor) in a 3500sqft home and have literally zero issues, from stream live security streams, streaming movies, gaming doesn’t matter Zero reason to not have a mesh setup in 95% of setups… plan and simple Especially when you can do outdoor mesh setups with companies like Ubiquity but unless you need outdoor internet to throw it to a barn or something… most get the job done just fine, like eero

Some old eero 5 Pros have been rock solid in my house for a couple years now, and will have software support until ~2029. Streaming and video calls run very smoothly.

100% spend the $ to get it ethernet done to each wifi point. I am a big fan of Eero wifi units if going wireless or Google if going wired btw. Google wifi uses the 6e wifi as wireless backhaul witch seems to have issues over 2 floors

If you want a DIY-friendly mesh that “just works” with Sonos most of the time, I’d look at eero Pro (tri-band) specifically—not the cheaper dual-band kits. Why eero Pro (tri-band) vs basic mesh: Tri-band systems have an extra radio, which helps reduce the “everyone fighting for airtime” problem you get with busy dual-band mesh setups. In real homes, that tends to mean fewer dropouts, smoother grouping, and better stability—especially when you’re moving around the house. Two practical paths depending on what you actually need: Whole-home Wi-Fi upgrade needed → eero Pro mesh Place 1 Pro as the main router and add Pro nodes where coverage drops off. If you can, use wired backhaul to any node (even one) for maximum stability. Wi-Fi is mostly fine, but Sonos is the only thing acting up → consider SonosNet If you have at least one Sonos device you can wire to the network, you can enable SonosNet (Sonos’ own mesh). It’s older and slowly being phased out for newer products/architectures, but in many installs it’s still a very reliable way to stabilize Sonos if your Wi-Fi environment is noisy or coverage is uneven. Quick question so recommendations are precise: Are you trying to fix whole-house Wi-Fi coverage, or is it mainly Sonos stability that’s the issue?

Eero is very greedy on trying to maximize its own performance at the expense of everything else. It works ok if there aren’t any other APs (ie neighbors) nearby, but it sucks ass if you live in dense housing.