I'm so confused with my eero6 Pro WIFI router

[PWMDMD]

I have an eero6 Pro WIFI router that I have had for months with no issues. I added a second eero6 Pro on the second floor to help cover a room over the garage and there was an update around that time too and shortly after that I still get full reception on my phone but the internet is completely unresponsive when sitting in my chair 10 feet in front of the "Gateway" eero. Now here's the weird part:

1. If I sit in my chair with the phone in front of me where I normally hold it I get full bars but nothing on the internet works.

2. If I hold the phone 18" to the right or left of me still sitting in my chair I get full bars and everything works beautifully.

3. Initially, I thought the problem was the eero was located behind the TV but then I moved it so I have direct line of site.

4. I've moved the eero6 Pro all around in front of me and my phone, my wife's phone, and my kids phone get full bars when sitting in my chair and yet all three stop responding to the internet. All three start responding when they are held 18" to the right or left.

5. My laptop sitting on my lap in the exact same spot as the unresponsive phones works just fine.

All three pics are from me sitting in my chair - the phones work fine with the left most and right most pics but are unresponsive to the internet in the center pic position. The white thing under the TV is the eero. I've moved it, rotated it, restarted it and this behavior is 100% consistent - the internet will not work sitting right in front of it on my lap but it works fine moving it 18" in any direction (holding it the same distance but up works too).

None of it makes sense? Any ideas?

 

[Rand]

disconnect the second eero are there still any issues?

 

[Jethro_Bob]

disconnect the second eero are there still any issues?

This. there is a certain setting you need to change to do what your trying to do. I don't remember what it is, or even the proper words to get google to reveal the secret. But hopefully this at least helps get things going in the right direction.

 

[wwillson]

What channel(s) are they using? 2.4GHz WiFi is problematic at best and nearly useless at worst. In my house my WiFi APs can 'hear' over 75 2.4GHz SSIDs being broadcast in my neighborhood. A few are as strong as -48dBm, which is blasting strong. Every 2.4GHz 20MHz and 40MHz channel is occupied and some have at least 10 different SSIDs on the same channel. You get the picture, massive co-channel and side-channel interference. My 3 APs occupy channels 1, 6, and 11 and only the devices that won't speak 5GHz use them - printers, thermostat, etc. All of my devices that can speak 5GHz use 5GHz 802.11AC channels. All three APs are using DFS channels, 1 using 80MHz and 2 using 40MHz each. No commercial 5GHz APs in my neighborhood use DFS channels, not one. All of my 5GHz DFS channels are occupied just by my devices. I can get 650Mb/s sustained throughput on the 80MHz channel and 325Mb/s on the 40MHz channels. The moral to the story is, use 5GHz DFS channels if you can. Remember that when you set up a DFS channel, there is a mandatory 5min hold down time so your radio can listen for RADAR, so don't assume it won't work for you if it doesn't come up right away, be patient. If it hears a 'loud' enough signal, it won't use that DFS channel. I've never seen a single instance of a DFS channel that's unusable by home WiFi.