I tried Google Wifi, Eero, and Orbi — here's which one you should buy

Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider

I'll never go back to using a regular WiFi router and extender after trying Eero, the first mesh WiFi system I tested.

A single WiFi router doesn't cover my whole house, and extenders cut my internet speeds in half. Plus, I continuously need to reconnect devices between the router and extender, and they're a pain to setup.

Mesh WiFi systems fix all those problems, and their apps offer easier setup and control than traditional routers.

The mesh WiFi systems I tried, including the Eero, Orbi, and Google Wifi, all update themselves automatically without having to do anything, too.

But I can't use all three systems at the same time, so I need to make a choice. Here's how I picked the right WiFi system:

First, let's take a look at internet speeds from the main, primary routers from Eero, Orbi, and Google Wifi. All of them performed extremely well.

The main, primary routers from all three companies gave me excellent download and upload speeds that actually exceed my 100 Mbps down/35 Mbps up advertised speeds from my internet service provider (ISP).

Now, let's take a look at the performance from each system's satellite units.

I placed each company's satellite unit upstairs in my house, with the primary router downstairs.

The Eero and Orbi satellites performed admirably, giving me nearly the same results as the main unit.

The Eero's satellite achieve 99.6 percent of the main unit's download speeds, and the Orbi's satellite achieve 99.9 percent of the main unit's download speeds. That means the main units were transmitting data to the satellite units efficiently.

Google Wifi's satellite performed comparatively poorly, as it struggled to achieve download speeds above 70 Mbps, which averages out to about 57 percent of the speeds the main unit achieved.

Despite Google Wifi's poor satellite result, I could still stream Netflix, browse the web, and lurk on social media just fine upstairs, as 70 Mbps is still pretty fast. And even if you have slower internet service from your ISP, say around 25 Mbps, and Google Wifi's satellite only achieves about 15 Mbps, you'd still be fine for streaming and general internet use. Yet, you'll be better off with the Eero or Orbi if you have internet service slower than 25 Mbps.

Performance aside, each system has its own set of pros and cons that are also important to consider.