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  • Are either of the mesh routers, Eero or Orbi, Wi-Fi Certfied ?

    I cannot find a certificate mentioned on either of their websites.

    Wondering about their rationale for this - are they planning on it ?

  • Wi-FI Alliance certifications can be searched on https://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder-results?sort_by=default&sort_order=desc I couldn't find products for either vendor

  • By Howard - edited: March 20, 2021

    Mike,

    Thanks for taking the time to reply.

    I'm well acquainted with that resource as I was a rep to the WFA for several years with my previous employer.

    I think I've answered this question, at least to my own satisfaction:   Both of these devices are MESH devices and there is no real IEEE 802.11 MESH spec, or at least one that is not proprietary, hence there is nothing the WFA can concretely test against.

    So no WFA certifications for now !

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It is the case that some companies are not "bothering" to get a WFA cert because the radio chip set in their product meets the specifications, and are likely certified, but they don't want to go through the cost and difficulties of getting their own devices certified.  So as far as  a user is concerned, it works, just maybe not optimally.   I'm pretty sure this is a large issue for the WFA internally from a $$ perspective. 

    When the WFA first started, very few devices were compatible.   They've almost done too well, for their own good.

    In addition, changes to the WFA's own testing procedures involving high performance requirements have also made it harder for some devices to pass the tests.   Some products are so inherently slow,  cpu wise,  that they can't even count the number of packets being sent to them  by the WFA test engine, much less process them correctly.   

    Upgrading a CPU is often unnecessary for the primary function of a device.   Speeding it up, just to pass someone else's (i.e. WFA) test probably irks a lot of companies.

    So, if you have a steady but slow device, your users may think everything is fine, but it won't pass the WFA test requirements.   There may be an overabundance of retries going on, but most users (especially those at home) will never know it.

  • The WFA has recently announced their EasyMesh Certification.

    https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-easymesh

    Neither Eero nor Orbi have this certification, yet.

    It is unclear if either is pursuing the cert as each their own proprietary solution.

  • By Howard - edited: March 20, 2021

    I checked the WFA website today, and there appear to be over 100 devices that now have the EasyMesh Certification.  It's harder to see the total count of qualified devices than it used to be, as the number(s) used to be prominently displayed when searching.

    The earliest item is an Arris router, which they apparently couldn't figure out what to call it, as it's classified as a Repeater, an Extender, a Mesh system and as a Controller.    The year of its introduction is 2018, which appears to be prior to the official launch of the certification.   That's not unique to Arris, as I have also seen Cisco products that have claimed to be the "First" of something.   It turns out that the product Manufacturer may obtain a certification prior to it being made public on the WFA database. 

    From the number of devices shown, it looks like Huawei is trying to take over the EasyMesh marketplace.   Unless the WFA has greatly reduced the cost of their certifications, Huawei has spent a fortune on buying certifications.   

    So much for the idea that Huawei is feeling a pinch from sanctions.

    The WFA product database search algorithm seems to have a few "holes" in it.   So don't be surprised if your searches there are less than satisfying.

    Back to the original question, sort of, the (Netgear) Orbi routers NOW have the WFA EasyMesh Certification.   The (Amazon) Eero routers use their own proprietary Eero TrueMesh technology.

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