Linksys Velop Whole Home Intelligent Mesh WiFi 6 (AX4200) System, Tri-Band, 1-pack wireless router Gigabit Ethernet Tri-band (2.4 GHz / 5 GHz / 5 GHz) White

Great way to extend Community Fibre broadband coverage. Took a few attempts to setup - place the routers really close and on same level as each other! Once added, took my dead zone to full signal and 420mbps seamlessly

Wanted to upgrade from the lesser supplied Velop for more Ethernet ports so I could streamline and do away with wholehome discs also. Although CF credentials Linksys support got me connected and WOW what an upgrade it cloned the old parent node and that became a child node. I’m now seeing massive speeds over Wi-Fi on ether node and got 1 more to set up very happy but couldn’t have done it without great tech support from Linksys. ** update ** I am now locked in communication with seller as a “community Fibre” product was supplied (not for resale) and lacks functionality like HomeKit compatibility. I will be requesting an open source product replacement so I can use correctly. Further update: seller was fantastic and refunded. I since got an open MX4200 and instantly HomeKit was enabled I now have further security and what seems an even tighter and more slick operation. Very good. Only draw back of note is the router doesn’t keep usb connected HDD awake and allowing them to sleep means lack of access to files on the network.

I got this because my Virgin Media Hub 3.0 would just sometimes not work despite there being a good signal. The complaints from everyone in the house came in waves and I just couldn't take it anymore. I personally use a hardwired PC most of the time for internet, or I use my Virgin Media mobile phone in the upstairs bedroom when the Wi-Fi became bad. The 3.0 Hub is setup on a high shelf in my living room, so most of the time, everything had a decent enough signal. I had been looking into a MESH system for quite some time and decided to try the Linksys. The Linksys has a considerably larger footprint than the Hub, but it fit comfortably on the same shelf in the sitting room. The second one I placed in the family room (kitchen extension) behind a TV for the time being. The Setup: I downloaded the Linksys APP I placed the Hub 3.0 into modem mode and turned on the Node in the sitting room as the instructions on the APP asked. I used the old 3.0 SSID and Password so everything would reconnect without problems. After the first Node connected, I selected the second node on the APP and followed the instructions. Setup took a few minutes and went without issue. My Amazon items reconnected and all my other home automation worked right away. The kit is literally only active a few minutes, so I am yet to properly test it. I did login on the browser and could see whatever was connected to the network and which Node they were connected to, including signal strength. I setup the guest account and password too, which will keep people out of the main network. I like that I can set downtime limits for any device connected, so no late night Wi-Fi for the kids if I so choose. The one negative I can say is the browser crashed out on me several times, so was a bit frustrating when I tried to change settings. I will report back if I experience the same or new issues as I had with the Hub 3.0.

Linksys used to be a good brand. I had several linksys routers and they used to be well thought through and reliable. Apparently not anymore. You have to give them all your personal data and use other devices (mobile phone) and accept exorbitant privacy policy allowing Linksys to do whatever they want on your network - all that just to turn this p.o.s. on and configure it. If you expect this to behave as a piece of network equipment, forget it. It's a consumer toy, suitable only for the dumbest, clueless consumer who is happy to get anything working and has no existing network or needs any configuration. I was tricked by videos on youtube that show web-based config, but you only get this after you use the app and also it's not usable and options are severely limited. And even then, you have to click on magical "CA" link at the bottom to even get the simplest options enabled. There are no options regarding backhaul between devices. Most other brands will have backhaul options, but nothing here. It's anybody's guess what it does. You also only get 40MHz channels in 5GHz bands. Most other brands at this price range offer 80MHz and even 160MHz channels and apparently achieve much better performance. The most annoying part is that every change requires reboot. So for example, if you want to switch from very poorly designed "bridged" mode (no IP configuration when in bridged mode!) to router mode and configure DHCP, you can't do that. You have to enable DHCP (often clashing with another DHCP server), apply changes (meaning reboot), then switch to static IP mode (reboot). Inevitably you end up with bricked and inaccessible device so factory reset, app, etc etc. Minutes turn to hours. Then, the app and linksys website keep sending me notifications that somebody has changed my password. Indeed, my password doesn't work, but I haven't changed anything. And, while it seems possible to reset the password, it actually doesn't do it. So I had to do another factory reset and create a new account with new email address, accept many dubious terms again, app, etc. etc. I fully expect this to happen again. The app is full of quirks. It has space for messages on the home page that is not big enough for the text they are showing and also can't wrap text so good luck reading it. It won't switch to landscape either. You can't tap this message. Most settings in the app are grayed out and not editable. It's really fussy, wants all sorts of permissions, notifications god knows what and why when it can't do much. Eventually, this only really works for me in bridged mode, but insists on having an IP address from DHCP. Interestingly, in "diagnostics" which is just a status page, it claims it is still running it's own DHCP server but this is just not true. Of course, you can't control that - nothing in the UI allows you to. Worst part is that after all this hassle, wifi speeds are fairly disappointing. Fluctuations, and drops abound. With an Intel AX wifi 6 card in my laptop the link speed goes from 1Mbps (!) to 500Mbps about 8 feet from the box. Every time I check it's substantially different. Up and Down links are also always at odds - 36/92, then 275/163 then 660/245. Never nowhere near advertised speeds. There are some comments that you have to fix the 5GHz bands as there a bugs in this router that causes too aggressive and unreliable band auto-selection. I've tried each one in turn and none of it made any difference. All in all, very poorly designed consumer device, definitely not suitable for anything but the simplest and dumbest consumer needs, and frankly I am dubious as to whether this is any better than stock Sky hub which has been rock solid but tapers out in some far corners of the house. My advice - this is not worth the hassle.

Great. Really good range even through thick cottage walls.

Brilliant for extending wifi through-out the home, although warning its a large router, much larger than the nodes provided by ISP.

Improved the network and coverage. Reliable !

Ah, where to begin. Maybe at the end. The four-node Velop system is running like a dream. Five stars' worth. Support (by chat) has been very, very helpful indeed. Also five stars, all of them well earned. Reviews I have read, and many online threads, mention that Velop systems have major issues recovering from power outage, with manual intervention needed every single time. I tested that out well and proper, because I can't have that, and I'm happy to report that whatever devious ways of cutting power to some or all nodes I came up with, not once did it fail to recover (it could take a few minutes, but it always got there). Those reports were probably true at the time, but with the current firmware (as of 26/3/2021) there is no need to worry. So why only four stars? The problem was that I needed support in the first place; most reviews (and certainly the advertising blurbs) wax lyrical about the ease of setting it all up. Well, maybe. But not for me. Getting there was a two day slog with the whole world seemingly conspiring against it ever working. Features I love: - Guest network. Two separate wireless networks can be chosen to work at the same time on the same devices. The normal one, with access to things like home automation (if you're so inclined), network storage, network printers - and a totally separate guest network with internet access and no more. For the technically minded: separate SSID and password. - Device prioritisation. Up to three devices can be assigned priority, meaning that they will always get bandwidth even if other devices are trying to consume everything (gamers, streamers). In fact, those three will always get what they want, the others getting the leftover scraps. (caveat: if you have very fast internet (gigabit) then there are quite a few reports online that this feature actually harms your setup - I can't tell with my rural speeds). - The whole 'mesh' idea. Multiple velop devices around the house, servicing the same network name (SSID). Or names (SSIDs), with a guest network set up. Not the pain of repeaters/extenders with their OWN network name, meaning you need to switch from one SSID to another when moving from the range of one to the next (always causing interruptions). Perfect. - Never thought I'd say this, but control via the phone app works marvellously well. With all my interactions with the support team, I've seen that the more traditional wired connection to the router with a browser interface is (of course) also there for those who prefer it. Features I don't love so much: - The status of every single velop device can be found in the app, which is great once that works. Until it does, the only thing you have to see what's going on is one muticoloured LED. Four colours, meaning all different things, either solid on or blinking, again meaning different things. OK for some, Im sure. But, as so often, the colourblind (of which I'm an unproud member) are pretty much ignored. I cannot tell my purple from my blue, and I cannot tell amber or yellow from red. That can make for "interesting times". - Dimensions. Getting these things out of view is not as straightforward as with tiny, simple extenders. There's quite a bit of volume to them. The footprint, being a square and not a rectangle, doesn't help. - Getting at the support. I'm slowly, in general, getting more used to support via chat. Twitter and facebook? No thanks. Phone? Then I have no record - too volatile. So I chose chat. A word of warning. There are two different paths to chat support - and I don't remember them. But one works, and the other one doesn't. If you are going this way, and you find yourself with a pop-up that automatically refreshes and shows you your number in the queue, then you're fine. Stick with it. You'll get help. If, however, you find yourself on a page that isn't a popup, is mostly empty except for the reassuring remark that "we are connecting you to a support agent", three circles pretending to show progress, and a cancel button - then forget it. Nothing ever happens after that. - Not so much a feature, but a source of confusion. It took me long while to try to figure out the product identifiers, and I failed. AX, AC, MC, MX, WHW, VLP, magic numbers aplenty... a bit weird. They cover a combination of wifi standards, number of devices in the pack, and device speed/capability. The important things are the wireless standards. So ax/mx (aka WIFI 6) is more capable then ac/mc (WIFI 5) which in turn beats n (wifi 4) if you look up the standards. Want to know more? I don't, but be my guest: https://www.networkworld.com/article/3238664/80211x-wi-fi-standards-and-speeds-explained.html . The magic numbers for multipacks don't seem so magical at first glance. If you have an AC2200, the double pack is AC4400 and the triple pack AC6600. But just when you think something at least is logical, the AX4200 multipack is MX8400. Argh. This is where I went mad, then gave up. Our existing wifi more or less worked, but was messy for us and (worse) for our guests - it's a five guestroom B&B with our own living area below it, making a total of 8 bedrooms, a hallway, an office, two lounges and a kitchen to cover - over three floors. It's an old house with plaster walls internally, thick stone outside and some of those inside as well. Not ideal for supplying with wifi. What we had was a (Billion) modem/router, and four wifi extenders strategically placed. That more or less covered the areas that needed coverage, but it could be flakey and the different SSIDs where a pain, while many admittedly less important areas got no coverage at all. As we wanted to improve this significantly, we decided on a wifi 6 mesh system. The guest network feature gave us the final push towards the Velop. We thought that, if we were lucky, we might get away with just four devices, and if we were unlucky then more could be added easily. The least expensive way of getting four, at the time of buying, was not a three-pack and a single, but two two-packs. In pleased anticipation, setup was begun. Phone (Android 9) at the ready for the app, first node (to be configured as the one wired to the modem) connected and powered on - the rest was supposed to take minutes. Hah. The phone app would not recognise the node, and as only the phone app was presented as a way to configuration, the only thing for it was to call for help - a support chat session. This was not a fast experience (an hour to get through the queue, and about two hours with the agent to get the node configured) but it was a good one. Very helpful and knowledgeable person on the other side. Many things happened (I lost track - but I have the transcript should I ever need it), but in the end, the phone could connect to the new internet SSID and read my internet mail, as could the laptop. All good. Thanked support, rang off, started the phone app for node configuration - and had a fit. It would not start. Gave up for the day, came back the next for a new support session. Hardly any time in the queue this time, and again a very good experience with a second agent. Phone app made to work, one secondary node added just to be on the safe side (this involved hitting the reset button on the mother node five times within five seconds - a little thing I hadn't read anywhere, so maybe it helps somebody). It was another hour and a half on the chat page, but after that everything finally did work as advertised. I added the two remaining nodes in minutes. Unplugged them, then distributed them around the house. Started the app to monitor the network and saw TWO devices, not four! Don't panic as I did. Those devices weren't the nodes. They were the devices actually connected to the wifi: the laptop and phone... To look that the network components of the mesh system itself, you need to go to the menu, and find "Network Administration" pretty far down. That shows each of the four nodes. Unplug one, and it'll nag (good). It also nags on detecting movement (not in the room, but of the device itself). However, it did that with no reason, so I shut those notifications off pretty quickly. That's about it. Happy with the result. Very unhappy with setup. Happy with support. EDIT June 2024: Dropped a star, and gone on to replace this. Over the last half year, problems started and got increasingly worse. 1) The app would not do anything anymore. 2) Nodes were no longer interchangeable. Some would not work in same locations (though they are all bought at the same time). 3) Now and then, a (random) node would lose connection to the mesh, needing a restart, after which it would join again. 4) quite a few devices would only connect to one particular node. Always the same one. 5) Apple gear tended to start to refuse connection altogether. Or the mesh refused - I don't know. 6) Android phone connectivity also got increasingly iffy. 7) One Kindle did no longer connect either. Fine on the hub's wifi, which was switched on for that purpose. Between all these (often gradually worsening) symtoms, there was quite a bit of time passing. Power cycling did nothing at all to improve matters (except point 3). Factory reset *might* have, but that was not a mission I had time and motivation for. At 3.5 years, this stuff should not have been at end of life. And I'm quite convinced it's not, but at this point in the tourist season, there is simply no time for extensive nine product support chats. With confidence gone, today I ordered a new system (4-node tp-link x95 if you must know). Very disappointed that it came to this. So just three stars now, for the nearly 3 years that it worked to my satisfaction. Now, though, I would not buy LinkSys again.

WiFi transmit - Fed by a 5G modem/router : WiFi speeds down average 45 WiFi transmit - Modem/router : WiFi average down : 200 Say no more. Colossal waste vof money.

Easy to setup, and working well.

I have to reset it more than 3 times in one mont time !!!

Good coverage and very fast connection

It works fine and is pleasant to look. I wish they had it in black