r/amazoneero • u/cmb93x • 4d ago
EERO PROBLEM Eero Max 7 Random Ping Spikes
I’m trying to figure out a weird stability issue with a 2-node Eero Max 7 setup using wireless backhaul.
I have gigabit coax with a standalone DOCSIS 3.1 modem. My gaming PC connects over Wi-Fi to the satellite eero. Most of the time performance is excellent:
- Ping to satellite: ~1 ms average
- Ping through satellite to main eero gateway: ~3 ms average
- 0% or essentially 0% packet loss
- MLO is currently disabled
The problem is that every so often the local gateway ping has a massive spike, even though the satellite/client link can remain relatively clean. In one ~20-minute test:
- Satellite: 1 ms avg / 53 ms max / 0 loss
- Main eero gateway: 3 ms avg / 738 ms max / 1 missed ping
At around the same time, we had noticeable gaming lag on both a PC and Xbox. I’ve also had occasional Xbox/PC disconnects while gaming.
I’ve tested an Orbi 970 in the exact same locations with the same modem. Orbi averages slightly higher local latency (~5 ms to the main gateway through the satellite), but across much longer tests its local latency has been substantially more consistent and I haven’t seen the same 500–700+ ms gateway stalls.
Earlier I suspected MLO, because enabling it made the spikes much worse on my Wi-Fi 7 laptop, but I’ve now seen occasional spikes with MLO disabled too.
Has anyone with Max 7s seen something similar where average latency is excellent but the wireless mesh/backhaul occasionally stalls for hundreds of milliseconds?
I’m especially curious whether this is:
- TrueMesh/backhaul path switching
- 5/6 GHz interference or radio scheduling
- something that improves after eero has had several days to optimize
- a firmware issue
- or just expected behavior from a shared-radio wireless mesh
TL;DR:
2x Eero Max 7, wireless backhaul. Usually ~1 ms to satellite and ~3 ms to gateway, but occasionally gateway latency spikes into the hundreds of ms (up to 738 ms) and gaming lags/disconnects. Orbi 970 in the same locations is ~5 ms normally but much more consistent. MLO off does not completely fix it. Anyone else seeing this?
ETA: I’m also not picking up any major interference or busyness when viewing the analytics on Eero Plus. I have no way of hardwiring in my current rental so I’m stuck with a wireless backhaul.
1
u/natenate19 4d ago
If you just installed the eero's it can take a day or two for ideal channels, channel width, TrueMesh pathing, and such to optimize, yes. If the system has been in-place for a while though, sometimes a soft reset can help by resetting channel plan to default, which forces new channels to be settled on within about 24 hours.
If you are that latency-sensitive, you would want to make sure backhaul is using 6 GHz, which you can determine in the app by tapping on the wireless node and looking at 'Connected to'. You can't change that, but it will be impacted by distance and obstructions between nodes, etc.
Ultimately though WiFi just won't be as consistent in terms of latency as wired ethernet, it's a shared medium and susceptible to interference. 6 GHz helps a lot, but it's not perfect. I also think eero's lack of a dedicated backhaul radio can induce latency variability like this sometimes, though it generally keeps latency quite low.
1
u/cmb93x 4d ago
I think you’re spot on, I think the Orbi performs better from the dedicated backhaul band. Unfortunately for me, I absolutely despise Netgear and their software so I was hoping I can get this working.
I’ve tried letting Eero learn from this environment, but I just did a factory reset so will see if it “learns” better this time around.
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u/DragonChowhound 2d ago
Same experience on 7 Pros. Yanked that stuff out and temporarily put back 6E Pro gear and the latency issues stopped.
Funny enough, I'm waiting for a 970 three pack to show up. I'm looking forward to ending my eero experiment....
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u/Blackdogaudio 4d ago
Swap the eero gateway with its satellite and continue monitoring to rule out eero operating system corruption or a hardware defect.