Eero troubleshooting - the best guide I've seen

I copied this from an obscure post by EspritLibre, it seems to be a load bearing source for most of the Claude Sonnet advice. I'm trying WiFi Explorer which shows a lot of back channel congestion on channel 6. (PS. Eero's own network testing is trash)

This sounds like a classic mesh WiFi layout + interference issue, not a simple reboot fix.

Here is what I would do step by step.

1. Check your modem and gateway

• Plug a laptop directly into the modem with ethernet.
• Run speedtest.net 3 times.
• If speeds jump a lot or drop under your ISP plan, you have an upstream issue, not Eero.
• If wired is stable, move on to WiFi layout.

2. Fix Eero placement

• Keep the main Eero gateway in the open, not in a closet, cabinet, or behind a TV.
• Space beacons 25–45 feet apart. Too close and they interfere, too far and they use a weak backhaul.
• Avoid placing beacons next to microwaves, baby monitors, cordless phones, thick brick walls.

3. Use ethernet backhaul if possible

• If you have ethernet in your house, connect each Eero to ethernet instead of having them hop over WiFi.
• In the Eero app, check that each node shows “Wired” under connection.
• This removes a lot of speed loss between rooms.

4. Fix band steering and device drops

• In the app, try enabling band steering and disabling legacy mode, unless you have old 2.4 GHz only gear.
• Turn off “Optimize for conferencing and gaming” for a day and see if stability improves.
• If certain devices drop often, forget the network on that device and reconnect, new DHCP lease helps sometimes.

5. Check channel congestion with a WiFi survey
   This is where a tool helps more than guessing channels.

Install NetSpot on a laptop or desktop. 

Use NetSpot WiFi analyzer for stronger home coverage to run a quick survey in each room:

• Walk around and record signal strength, aim for at least -65 dBm for stable performance.
• Check how many neighbor networks overlap on 2.4 GHz channels 1, 6, or 11 and on 5 GHz.
• If your Eero sits on the same channel as 5 neighbors at strong signal, move that Eero or reduce how many nodes you have.

6. Avoid too many Eeros

• More nodes is not always better.
• If you have 4 or 5 units in a small or medium home, try turning one off at a time and test.
• Every extra wireless hop cuts usable throughput about in half.

7. Test like this

• Stand near the main gateway. Run 3 speedtests on the same device.
• Then do the same test near each beacon.
• If speeds are great at the gateway and trash at a single beacon, that beacon placement or backhaul is the problem.
• If speeds are bad everywhere, check modem, ISP, or try a full Eero network reset and rebuild.