Linksys VELOP Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System WHW0103 - Wi-Fi system - Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth - desktop
$229.99
Mfg # WHW0103
CDW # 5122701
| UNSPSC 43222609
Quick tech specs
- band WiFi router provides reliable mesh WiFi coverage to a business location or home office
- Provides fast,reliable WiFi coverage for online browsing,4K streaming,gaming and more
- Simple setup through the easy to use Linksys App Dual band connectivity speeds (867 + 400 Mbps)
- Ideal for a home office or commercial locations (up to 4,500 sq. ft. )
- Connects to your existing modem from any ISP (replaces router)
Know your gear
Easy to set up and designed to fit anywhere, Velop brings ultra-fast, full-strength Dual-band mesh WiFi to your business location or home office minutes. Featuring Intelligent Mesh™ technology and a sleek, modular design, the Velop mesh WiFi system spreads strong WiFi to connected devices. Multiple nodes work together as a system, so as your WiFi needs expand, simply add more nodes and interchange colors to coordinate with your office style. Choose from a wide range of Velop products to best fit your WiFi needs.
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Linksys Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System, 3-Pack White (AC3900) is rated
3.80 out of
5 by
63.
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Nilemann from
Expanded my internet
This system is an “upgrade” from EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Router that was paired with a Max-Stream range extender for my 2,000 sq ft single story home - I experience a significant signal strength loss as I have a brick wall / fireplace in the center of the house.
I had to try multiple node locations to get “through” the wall but finally found a place for the second node near a window and my assumption is that it’s paired with node 1 around the wall as opposed to through it.
The third node is then placed in the office - giving me a node one both sides of the house with one in the middle.
The three nodes are paired similar to a series circuit with node 1 connected to the modem, node 2 paired to node 1, and node 3 paired to node 2. I’ve experienced no loss of network speed with the nodes paired this way (node 3 returned the same speed test results as node 1).
It takes some time to find the right node placement for your physical configuration but once you’ve found it, the connectivity and speed is great.
Out of the box (and by design) all 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies are in the same SSID and the system constantly tries to identify the best for each device. For me, that resulted in random connectivity issues. That was addressed by changing the SSID for the 5 GHz frequency and manually connecting streaming devices like Rokus to that frequency and random devices like iPads and iPhones to the 2.4. I live in a rural area so there’s not a lot of traffic or interference in the 2.4.
It’s easy to set up and the app is quite intuitive - but at times painfully slow - be more patient than I was and setup will be a breeze.
Find your node placement and customize the frequencies as needed for stuation. It’s well worth it for internet piece of mind.
Date published: 2018-06-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Tony from
Good Coverage
I am writing a review on the velop mesh Wi-Fi system!! I must start by saying set up was really easy I was up and running in five minutes. It was all set up and configured through the app. After getting the first was just plugging them in and letting the app find the new velop on my internet connection. Quick and simple. What I don't like about the system is the range. The range is not good at all once you go outside but I live in an apartment an it maybe the other wifi connections around causing interference. But with that being said the connection is great inside non of my buffer, lag, or stop all around great system. The range issue might can be fix or improved with a system update. Overall I highly recommend this system!!!
Date published: 2018-06-26T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Jeffrey from
Awesome Velop- Full power Through out the house.
I was in the market for a new router and had a few question so the staff at Best buy showed me these Linksys Velop. The gentalmen really help me out and know the product very well. Thanks Best Buy. Due to the situation of having bad reception around my house I though I would give these a try. Wow Now I have 3 time the reception in all my Rooms. I thought it was a little hard to get them set up and running, by all means I am no expert either so I call tech support and they had me up and running in 30 min. I would definitely recommend these to anyone.
Thanks.
Date published: 2018-11-09T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
LindaK from
Regret I bought this
I regret that I bought this. My wife now cuts in and out, coverage is not great. I will probably return to my old router. A waste of money.
Date published: 2019-03-29T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Barb from
Great range!
I saw a significant improvement in the range of my internet but unfortunately the connection provided to me by my local internet company is less than stellar so speed was not noticeably improved. I am currently looking into other options but am happy to report that the Velop nodes have made the wait much more tolerable!
Date published: 2018-06-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
TheReg01 from
Great whole house coverage.
I was looking forward to getting the Velop system. It was growing tiresome of needing to check and change the wifi setting depending on where I was in my house. I have a WRT3200ACM as my router on the first floor at one end of the house. Then a WRT1900AC on the second floor almost halfway to the other side of my house, which is set in bridge mode to the 3200.
The box for the Velop was lighter than I expected for three nodes and power supplies. I almost expected it to be missing some hardware. But no, the units just happen to be light weight.
I configured the first AC3900 node to replace my A3200 temporarily. This was to see how simple it was to do so. It was able to be configured pretty easily with the Linksys app.
Next I wanted to setup some of the advanced features that I perform for my home network. Specifically some port forwarding to reallocate some application defaults to different ports on the internet or WAN side of the router. To my dismay these do not have any of that functionality. Then I continued to setup the other two nodes across the house. Following the directions I set the second node up where my 1900 was placed on my second floor. Then finally the third node at the far side of the house. They both linked up with blue lights per the instructions which probably took about three minutes each.
Now for throughput testing. For this I’m using an iPhone X. As I sat in the home office 3 or 4 feet away from node1, the up and down speeds were very good, topping out my ISP’s 200Mbps down, 35Mpbs up advertised connection rates. When running the tests the iPhone’s settings had cellular and bluetooth disabled to ensure I was only connecting to the WiFi network. (Img 1 of the Ookla Speedtest output.)
Next I sit close to the second node, it shows that it is connected directly to the first node in the home office. To ensure I was connected to it directly I disabled and re-enabled the WiFi on the iPhone. I’m assuming the algorithm works correctly on the mesh network so that the iPhone will connect to the closest and therefore strongest AP.
For perspective, lets say my house is an “expanded cape cod” with a total of just about 2100 square feet of space. At least a few walls and a floor between each node as the network cascades across the house.
It seems depending on the time of day, I tend to get different results on download throughput for nodes 2 and 3. Logically this does not make sense but that’s what I am seeing. Img2 shows node 2. Noticing node 2 speed drops considerably then a bit more for node 3 as seen in Img3.
In my experience the connection to the network SSID shows nice consistency for overall connectivity as I move around my house. The network name shows all three bars as it gets handed off from node to node. Just the further away from the Primary node the overall expected download throughput gets lower. Not great but not terrible for me since the heavier usage will be near node one 85-90% of the time. Youtube and music streaming for mobile devices as well as the Amazon Echo’s across the how work just fine. Even while streaming music on three Echo’s, video on an iPad Pro and two Apple TV’s. Not bad at all.
Overall I have to say Linksys did a good job with the mesh network it is seamless. As for my experience with the speed loss on the far side. Logic says perhaps the premium Tri-Band model would have better download throughput speeds. This model is only Dual-Band and the specification does state a recommended max ISP connection of 100Mbps. I don’t agree with that 100% since the physical LAN and WiFi speeds are 1Gbps and an AC1300 (867 + 400 Mbps) respectively. Again though a good value and purposeful mesh network for seamless connectivity throughout the home for users that do not need Port forwarding or VPN networks.
Note: After the testing above I put the Velop System in the Bridge mode connection to my WRT3200ACM, where the WiFi on the 3200 is disabled and the Primary AC3900 is connected via 1Gbps hardwired to it. This way I have my port forwarding and VPN capabilities.
Date published: 2018-07-28T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Scotth67 from
Easy setup right out of the box
I was unsure whether or not I would like the Belking Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System. I wondered how it would be better than my current Linksys WiFi router. I have to say that setup is much easier than other WiFi routers I've installed. Out of the box, power and NIC is all that is required to have the first node up and running. I did have to install an app on my phone to access the final parts of the setup, but that was it. This was the most painless install of a WiFi router ever. Adding a 2nd node was just as easy. For this, I have to give Linksys credit. I do not think installation could have been easier. The only complaint here is that it takes using your phone to finish the install.
Speed was good with only 1 node installed. Using Speedtest, I hit 187 mbps. That is great speed over wifi. However, after adding the 2nd node, speeds dropped considerably. Signal strength was good, but speed dropped well below my current Linksys speed (consistently running between 150 and 180 mbps). This might have been due to Comcast issues, so I will continue to try this setup to see how it works. Again, signal strength is great; speed is another issue now.
Overall, I like the setup and ease of adding nodes. I just wish the initial speed would have remained.
Date published: 2018-06-30T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Wigg81 from
Love the looks, but lacks on performance
I will preface my review by mentioning that I live in a 65 year old house with very thick plaster walls. I feel like the plaster makes a difference on wifi performance.
The looks and concept of this wifi system is amazing. I love the looks of the nodes and the fact that 2 of the 3 can be placed anywhere they can be plugged in to power and don't have to have cable access for each.
The setup wasn't as easy as other Linksys routers I have owned. The Velop has a combo 2.4 and 5 ghz setup, but some of my devices required only 2.4 so I had to contact tech support and learn how to set it up as a 2.4 and 5 ghz system. With other Linksys routers, I could just set my Wifi name and password the same as the old routers and all my devices would automatically connect. This didn't happen with this system and I actually had to completely change the name and password and individually reconnect all my devices.
As for performance, the Velop systems range seems to come up just a little short from the previous routers I've had. One of the nodes seems to be offline about 50% of the time, Im not sure if maybe there is an issue with that Node or if maybe its location needs to change. I am still working with it and will continue to trouble shoot. As for speed I have no complaints at all, it works just as good as our previous router.
Overall I give this system a 3.5 out of 5 stars. I feel like I will get the nodes working better and figure the range issues out but its more work than other routers that you just keep in 1 location. I don't recommend these if you are technology challenged.
Date published: 2018-08-06T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
MJ23JG24FAN from
Just an excellent product
I live in a 3500 sq ft house and before I got the Velop system, I had poor WiFi reception at one end of my house. Since installing the Velop, not only do I have excellent reception throughout the house, but equal speeds also. This product has been a great addition to my network and would highly recommended it to anyone! Easy to install and a super easy app to manage all of my devices.
Date published: 2018-06-30T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Spray87 from
Terrible download speeds
Tried everything but the download speeds are only 25% of what my internet router/modem combo achieve. Very disappointed. Spent an hour on the phone with tech support and they told me to try again tomorrow. What does that even mean?
Date published: 2018-09-17T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Litetouch44 from
Mesh Wifi with Media Server
I've been using 3 node (AC3900) for about a year now. I bought the system to improve full house coverage. Velop was selected primarily because of the Linksys name. I've tried Netgear and others but always seem to return to Linksys (reliability, intuitiveness & support). Linksys has the Best Support of pretty much any of the network products on the market and is why I look to Linksys first. I used to use a standard router (upgraded several time over the years) with 2 wireless bridges (Linksys WES610N).
I retained my old router to be used as a Media Server. My system uses a cable modem (ISP provided) to my EA7300 for media server (wifi turned off) and the Velop system (in bridge mode) - hardwired (Cat7) into the media router (EA7300). This chain of devices allows me to enjoy DLNA access to my Media with the network coverage of a mesh system.
The Velop mesh system is reasonably simple to setup. The most difficult issue I ran into was finding a non-obtrusive location with good reception/transmission to the mother-ship in the living room. Once the nodes were connected, all that is needed is an occasional click of the "Channel Finder" in the Advanced WiFi Settings. This feature re-establishes the backhaul channel with the nodes and improves wifi connectivity that may degrade slightly due to dynamic changes in your environment.
The main reason for the 4 stars (in lieu of 5 stars) is the fact that only 2 ethernet ports are available (4 high-speed ports like a standard router would be nice). A second minor issue is the limitations of the App. Though I like the local log-in feature, the cloud based access bothers me. Additionally, being a control freak, I prefer the control of network details such as DHCP reservations, MAC filtering, Firewall protocols, etc. (to name a few) found on the older standard routers. Finally, Media Server is a very nice feature for network access to movies, music & photos, which is sorely missing on the newer mesh systems.
Date published: 2019-08-27T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Jazzyhue from
Works Perfectly
The Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System was as easy, (if not easier), to set up as any router I have ever had since the mid 90's. All three pieces connected with no problem as well as all of the WiFi devices in the home. I thought this can't be that easy? I went online to look at reviews and found many where individuals had difficulties. So here we go; time to try and reproduce problems. Initial set up was a simple two story townhouse. I didn't even need the third option, so I took the unit to a friends house and tried within their three story home. Same as the initial setup except the third unit went into the basement. No problems what so ever. All of their devices worked perfectly. OK, now what, Went to another friends home, a ranch with Garage, Even with the main electrical and plumbing feeds in the garage their were no issues. Still not understanding where the issues are coming from, so one final test. Went to yet another friends home, which is a ranch with a barn, (only 15 ft away). Set up same as before, and would you believe it; still no issues? Not sure if those with issues are faulty units or extreme interference, but I found the Velop system to be a perfect solution to doing away with repeaters. I highly recommend this product.
Date published: 2018-11-24T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
WestCoastGary_99 from
A great improvement in WiFi speed and coverage
This Velop system is great for people with limited internet speeds, 100 mbs or less. If you have faster speeds the higher end (faster speeds) Velop is the way to go. The Velop is easy to set up and using the app makes control and maintenance simple.
Date published: 2018-07-17T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Ken49 from
Great features
The wifi coverage of this product is excellent. I have no weak coverage areas in my house now. The instructions call for a cell phone or tablet to setup the router. I don't own a smart phone, so the support page says to call velop tech support. The tech walked me through the setup easily. Amazing Product
Date published: 2018-07-01T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Frederic from
Disappointed
I used the site calculator to determine that the 3-pack was was needed for my house with basement and partial second floor above main. After 3+ hours of installation effort, the three modules will communicate only if in the same room, and only if less than 20 feet apart. The internet connection through modem connection appears to be solid, but the expected benefit of strong WIFI signal through out the house has not been achieved.
Date published: 2018-06-27T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Morey from
Great router - not much fun to set up
I live in a 3 level townhouse. I set the nodes up on each floor. The first two attempt at setup did not go well. First, the initial node setup fine and I was able to log into the internet. The second node would not connect. Message 'something went wrong, can we try again.' Tried three times with same message.
Two days later, when I had time, I started over. Put all three nodes in the same room. First node connected as before and the other two also connected after about 5 minutes.
Moved the second and third nodes to second and third floors and restarted. After initially turning blue, they turned red and then yellow. Here is where it pays to be patient (which I am not). After about 15 minutes, all nodes were blue and working. Ran speed tests on all three floors - 72 Mbps down on each which is great.
The setup guide would be better served to tell folks that it takes more than a few minutes to startup.
Other that setup, this appears to be an excellent system.
Date published: 2018-07-12T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Glen from
To Mesh or not to Mesh
The set up of the Velop mesh wifi routers was one of the most pain staking setups Ive ever had to deal with. The user interface of the Linksys app (which I’ve always used to set up all of my previous Linksys products) was not the issue.
The issues I encountered were continuous fallout(s) between each one of the nodes when trying to connect each to each other. It takes a little while for each of the nodes to connect to each other but then after it failed to connect, I would then also have to move the node a little closer to the main node because of the distance and start all over again. I ended up raising the main node in order to strenghten the signal a little more. I have a 1400 square-foot apartment and haven’t had any signal (distance) issues before.
The speed is great but not exceptional. The Linksys app says I’m running at 1.2 gbps but my throughput on speed test app says 50mbps (my ISP plan is 1gb).
The App from Linksys that allows you to go into the Velop administration portion is where this product gets better. There is a channel adjuster that actually works pretty well to fine-tune the signal. I have noticed better connectivity and slightly better speed when using the channel adjuster close to each one of the individual nodes.
I think that for the speed and distance to be better I may need to buy another individual node (which would bring the number of nodes to 4), or get the beefier Velop Wi-Fi mesh router that has more power and more speed.
Date published: 2018-07-08T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
The Green Texan from
Good with a Caveat
This product was my first dip into the very hot and trendy pool of mesh network routing. I have anxiously been hoping to get my hands on a mesh network as my home is a rather long and somewhat narrow town home. We regularly experience dead zones in the front and back of our house - say nothing to the garage and front/back yards. I had lofty dreams that this product would replace my standby Linksys routers and fix all of my internet woes.
First, lets talk about all of the good things this Velop variant does - and there are plenty. Setup - getting this system out of the box and serving your internet needs is stupidly easy. The instructions walk you through step by step of the required steps and with only a couple of tiny snags that revolved around placing the Velop stations in the proper places around your home this process was not only simple but fast.The system immediately just worked - which I see as being a pretty critical part of any technology offering in 2018. Gone are the days of enduring heaving tweaking and forced software updating right out of the box. The Velop system instantly updated its firmware and walked me through the process of optimizing my network for a congested urban living environment.
Next, a compliment is owed to the Linksys App which has consistently been improving and with the Velop system I finally saw what the app was made for - it has always been a serviceable app and easy to use, but with Velop it just feels tailor-made.I asked my wife to make some tweaks on the app and she had zero trouble with navigating the tasks - this is not a standard experience with other IoT devices.
Lastly, the Velop system is the first Linksys device that I actually think looks handsome. I have always loved the Linksys hardware, but from a style standpoint - well they were never much to look at. That seems to be changing if the Velop is the company's attempt to craft a new design style for fresh start devices.
Now, I mentioned that I had a caveat that kept me from p making this device my primary router. The units I have under testing are dual band and many of those devices are 5ghz capable and part of my smart home setup. These units ran fine at first but once a few tablets and streaming devices were added the network began to slow dramatically. I have gigabit internet at home and after adding smart home devices to the Velop and then streaming one HD Netflix movie a quick speed check showed a download speed of 25Mbps whereas a speed check on my existing Linksys routers showed a near-gigabit download speed. I did retest a series of times while not streaming or gaming, but the highest download speed I ever got was 75 Mbps. I had a conversation with some friends who had experienced similar issues with other competing dual-band mesh systems and both friends had since upgraded to tri-band and had shared stories of dramatic improvement. That said, the tri-band alternatives Velop are nearly double the cost - so there is a price for that beefed up system.
I have zero problem endorsing AC3900 Velop system but I would argue that this system would be ideal in a smaller home or a larger apartment - perhaps even units with walls that are otherwise problematic to traditional wifi setups. At the end of the day this is a fantastic system and to me gives hope for what will come from Linksys in the future.
Date published: 2018-07-05T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
TomL from
Great Idea but not to standards of other Routers
I must first state that I received this product free of charge as part of the Linksys Friends and Family Testing program. I must respond with a review after testing. This review is my own opinion and has not been directed by Linksys or anyone else - just my experience.
I received the product but was delayed in setting up and testing due to eye surgery which put me out of commission for a few months - now I have completed the process and ready to review.
Set up was less convenient and less easy than the regular routers that I love. First - during set up, I had to keep resetting the router as it would not complete setup. I was using the enclosed directions and the Linksys App and also the online setup (via URL). After 3 or 4 resets I finally got it to be useable, adding additional nodes had similar experiences.
Second, my router keeps going offline frequently which requires shut down and repowering the router. Irritating and might have some issue with ISP - but other routers work fine.
Third, I notice the Router has a capacity of 100 Mbps - of which I could not more than 85 Mbps - Unfortunately I have 450Mbps service so I was being heavily restricted.
The additional areas of coverage were very good.
I would recommend this product to people who have 100 Mbps or less service and need to increase range of coverage. I will work fine in these situations once setup (which needs to be set more like other Linksys routers to be easier).
Date published: 2018-10-01T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
abbie from
Great system
Once I got things set up and tweeked it a little I was getting great coverage and speed. First time dealing with a mesh system so I had to do a little reading. Good system
Date published: 2020-08-07T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Chris from
Just OK
Setup is very strange. Signal is mediocre at best. Probably going to return.
Date published: 2020-09-15T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
bbarker50 from
Great for multi story streaming
Best system for multi story house with several streaming devices.
Date published: 2020-01-26T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
kat from
Worst wifi system ever
I had nothing but problems. Hours on hold for support. Got rid of it and bought another manufacture and have no problems.
Date published: 2018-08-16T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Osteoholic from
This is by far the worst router I've ever had.
This router is atrocious. We've had it three days, and every day at the same time, it disconnects from the internet and refused to reconnect. To fix the issue, you must delete the existing network, factory reset all the nodes, restart the modem at least twice, and re-setup the whole system (which usually takes me half an hour or so) and then it will work...until the next day where you have to repeat the process.
It's apparently a KNOWN issue, where the router is incapable of re-establishing a new connection after a disruption in internet service. We live in a rural area and use fixed-tower internet as our only option. This router is useless.
For the most expensive router I've ever purchased, I expected it to work better than the ten year old cheap one it was replacing. Apparenly I was wrong.
Date published: 2020-08-18T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Brian P from
very happy
very easy to set up and its been flawless
Date published: 2021-06-28T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Xavier from
Great Range, easy setup!
I tried this 3-pack Wifi system hoping to boost the range in my 4300 sq ft. house because our regular wifi didn't reach passed the porch or the backyard. However, when the Linksys wifi system was setup, the signal extends throughout the backyard and to the driveway. Really excellent product!
Date published: 2018-06-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Arktander from
A Great Concept
I looked forward with great anticipation to installing the Linksys Velop Whole Home Wi-Fi Dual-Band 3-node system, since I could add two extra nodes for the two difficult areas of the house. There were a few bumps along the way.
Setting up the master node was the easiest of the group. Plug it all in, wait for the correct color lights to show up, and then finish the install on the mobile app. The other two nodes were a little more time consuming. I started with the second node in the bedroom perhaps just fifteen feet away. It would not connect to the master node. So I moved it right next to the master for programming purposes. It connected this time but the light was yellow, meaning a weak connection. I finished the install and then moved it back to the bedroom where it reset and the light came up blue this time, which meant a good connection. Sure enough, in the office and bedroom, signal was full-strength.
The third node also did not connect to the master from its location downstairs in the living room (about 30 feet away) so I once again put that node right next to the master. This time the light came up blinking red which meant it was out-of-range. I figure something must be awry with the firmware as they were six inches apart. Once again I finished the install which congratulated me on a successful connection. I moved the third node downstairs to its location near the TV and the light came up red. However, the signal was strong right next to the node just like the two upstairs. About fifteen minutes later I checked on that node and the color had changed to yellow even though it had a strong connection. The firmware on all the nodes has already been updated, so perhaps the next update will clear up the light color issue.
Of the Linksys router installs done to this point, only the Velop system has a full strength signal no matter which room you go to. The single router systems lost strength in the corners of the house, and the system with the paired extender did well downstairs but it was unable to provide as strong a signal as the Velop. An hour after the initial install the bedroom node turned from blue to yellow, and the living room node turned from yellow to blue. Signal is still strong so we'll see what future firmware updates may provide.
I would have to say the Velop system (in my case the 3 nodes) does work as intended and provides a more seamless roaming experience. The only question mark is that the color of the node lights may be incorrect. The AC3900 is for basic internet at speeds up to 100 Mbps, which worked well with my internet setup. Overall wireless speed did seem to be a bit slower than on the dedicated routers. Finally, though I received this mesh system at no cost, I would expect that those looking to upgrade an older system would need to factor the higher cost of this system into their considerations.
Date published: 2018-06-22T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
socalgecko from
Great coverage, great style, meh utilities.
I gave the Velop a chance in my home, and there was a lot to like about it. The cloud-based setup was easy. The nodes connected and signal coverage in our two-story townhouse did feel stronger in the harder to reach corners. I now had Ethernet ports available upstairs where the nodes were placed. These were all solid pluses. That said, I didn’t notice much of a difference in network speed versus the router the Velop replaced, and I did notice a minimal amount of network latency. Not deal-breakers for me, as the network speed was likely limited by my ISP and the latency was barely noticeable. I just happened to be looking for any sign of it.
In the end though, Velop was missing a few valuable features compared to my Linksys WRT 3900-ACM router: A second 5ghz band (the more expensive version of Velop does have this), and built-in NAS+DLNA media server support via Ethernet and USB. The signal boost just wasn’t enough of an advantage to justify spending more money on a stand-alone NAS. I’m also not really a fan of fact that cloud-based setup is a requirement instead of an option.
If I had a larger home or one with more significant signal reach issues, this would be a different story. I’d definitely consider the Velop a strong solution at a reasonable price.
Date published: 2018-06-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
travoose from
Works Wonders
Please note I did receive this product to test for free.
This product was easy to setup, and once setup was stable and offered an expansive wifi network within my home, even reaching areas that were difficult to reach with prior wifi networks. The network also maintained speeds and throughput while streaming and doing a number of other wireless tasks.
Date published: 2018-06-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Dale213 from
Great Features and Easy Setup
The Linksys Velop A3900 intelligent WiFi system is easy to set up. I downloaded the app to my phone, plugged in the first node. Then plugged in the eithernet cable opened the app and fallowed the on-screen instruction. The app lets you set up the WiFi name and password and you’re done. The A3900 signal strength was not as good as the WRT 3200ACM router on the TV, that did not cause any lag or buffering of the video streaming. The house has plaster walls so I think the signal would be stronger in a house with just dry wall. The additional nodes are easy to set up with the app. Signal strength was good through out the 3,000 square foot house with plaster wall. Moving from one node to the other is seamless, not having to open WiFi and change to the repeated signal is a nice. With the Velop and automatic updates you can set it up and forget it. If you want a hole house WiFi system you don’t have to change to another WiFi signal when moving around the house this one is for you. I have been a Linksys fan for a long time their products are easy to set up and I have had very few problems with their products. Great Features and Easy Setup
Date published: 2018-07-05T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
gdcla from
Perfect
I bought this system at Walmart (different model number). I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am with it. Our house around 3500 sq ft and 3 floors. The system was so easy to set up, probably took all of 15 minutes and it works perfectly. I like the website also, very easy to monitor when away from home. Thanks for such a great product.
Date published: 2018-07-06T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Tester_01 from
Velop WiFi
An impressive and neat system, very easy to set-up and simple to configure. One power and ethernet cable, some set-up on the App and it's ready to start working.
It works great to provide coverage for a very large area, all my devices have excellent signal strength and very fast internet speed.
Date published: 2018-06-26T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Eddiet from
Good product needs work
Setup was easy after a few minor bumps. Access points connected to the internet router then each other ok. During everyday use I noticed the internet network dropping off. When using a network intensive app (remote Desktop) I was getting network connection drop and restore messages. Signal strength throughout the house is good. Fix the internet drop offs and this product will be great.
Date published: 2018-06-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Timmoyles from
Easy Setup
I received the Velop system a month ago. I immediately saw improvement with my nine wireless devices.
Date published: 2018-07-02T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Bbooher81 from
Great product
I have had these in for about a week and love them. The range and coverage are great, my home is dead zone free. Very easy to setup and control. Parental control features are a big plus.
Date published: 2018-06-26T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Tommy from
Compact, Fast, Easy to set up
These modules are great, it took less than 10 minutes to completely set up using the app. Putting them in three separate locations allowed uniform speeds everywhere on both floors of a 2700 sq foot house. They are nice and compact, putting them on a bookshelf or cabinet top makes them hard to even notice.
Date published: 2018-06-26T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
jacuff from
Worked great... once I got it setup
Setup for this was a nightmare. I was following the instructions according to the app on my smartphone, but it would time out during the setup process. I'm not sure if it was my smartphone or the Linksys server that app connects to. One day I got lucky and it connected. Now that it's been connected, I get more complete coverage in my house than what my router could provide alone. I'm not sure my experience will reflect on what your experience will be in regards to setup as my phone does seem to have problems with other devices (such as a SmartTV that uses an app for it's remote).
Date published: 2018-06-30T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
LinksysOwner from
Perfect for large homes!
I received my Linksys Velop AC3900 WiFi router system 3-Pack (in white) last week in a box that was torn and half open, but the Linksys packaging was kept in perfect condition due to decent Linksys packaging. I knew I'd better set it up right away to make sure nothing was damaged. 15 minutes later I was up and running.
The initial setup is so simple. Install the power cord and modem cable (included) to the node, plug it in and watch for the flashing purple light. The next step is adding the Linksys app to my phone. Since I already had the app installed to manage my Linksys 3200ACM router, I found it a little confusing trying to tell the app to use the Velop router instead of the 3200 router. Once I had that sorted out I was able to find the Velop and activate it. I then was able to label the first node “Living Room”.
Immediately my two computers, two tablets, and phone were able to find “Living Room” and connect. The app displayed each device in use and allows special settings for each one. I then unboxed the second node and plugged it in on the other end of the house. It only needs to plug into an outlet, not the outlet and modem like the first node. It took about five minutes to locate “Living Room” and allow me to name it in the app. I named that one “Guest Bedroom”. My phone found it right away in its “settings”. The app has icons for easy identification of devices and displayed phone, computer and tablet icons, one for each unit.
It was now time to unbox node three. I set that up on the lower floor of our house. I was curious as to how that would perform as our floors are insulated for both sound deadening and fuel economy. Five minutes later it was sending me information. So all three nodes were active an working within fifteen minutes of unboxing, pretty impressive.
I have a home-based business and appreciate that I can have a dedicated channel for my business and a secondary “Guest” channel for everyone else. Two great features in the app are the “Prioritization” and “Parental Controls”. I can give my computer 1st priority and the tablets secondary priority so my work machine runs with the most efficiency. When the grandkids are here they can use the guest channel and I can set the “Parental Control” for “lights out” at 10:30 p.m., a feature they don’t like at all (sorry kids).
My Linksys 3200ACM router, which has been the rock star of routers, is faster than the Velop and has more channels to choose from. To get the same speed and functions I would want to move up to the Velop AC6600 system which offers 300 Mbps (vs 100 Mpbs) and a Tri-Band Wi-Fi instead of Dual-Band. That said, the AC3900 works just great and gives me much better coverage throughout my home than my 3200ACM. Since I rely on the 3200ACM for work I have both routers working separately to have the best of both worlds. So now I use the 3200ACM only for my work and the Velop for everyone else. It’s a win-win.
Date published: 2018-06-26T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Upset from
Nodes don't network
I spent 2 hours trying to get an additional node set up. It blinks purple but never connects. Going to try to return and get a different product. Don't waste your time or money on this system
Date published: 2018-06-18T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Glen from
Not the improvement I expected
Pros:
+ Attractive devices.
+ Very easy to do a basic setup.
+ Attentive customer service, always available - This would have been a 1-star review if it had not been for the patience, tenacity and politeness of their people.
Cons:
- This 3-pack model is a dual band setup. Cheaper, but don't be confused and think that you are buying the original three band system. Notably that model was most often criticized for its exorbitant price.
- 5GHZ & 2.4GHZ bands by default work under same SSID, not ideal for SmartHome setups. Wi-Fi SSID can be setup as unique per band, but in doing so, you become an unusual user and must implement these functions OUTSIDE of the phone app, and inside of their sketchy web UI pages.
- Weak support for "unusual users" meaning they want to help, and oh they try, but solutions don't materialize.
Other Thoughts:
I didn't buy Velop to improve coverage on 2.4GHZ. I invested so that I could continue to operate all my SmartHome stuff that requires 2.4GHZ which was all working fine before. I bought it to build solid coverage in a 2500 sq ft. two story with a basement on 5GHZ so our phones, tablets, and laptops would all be better served. I'm yet disappointed.
* Key problem - not yet solved - the 5GHZ band will only support channel 36 as control. If you have neighbors who are also inhabiting 36... THIS IS NOT A GOOD PRODUCT FOR YOU. After hours on the phone with tech support, there seems to be no solution. Their web UI, which constantly informs you go back to the phone app, show facilities to change (click the "CA" in bottom right corner of the page) but the system does not change channel. I'm guessing here, but it is possible that this is how they "engineered" dropping the third band to lower the cost of this system. They have a channel selection "tool" that pretends to be optimizing channel selection, which works on 2.4GHZ channels, but never changes 5GHZ channels. (Verified with two different third-party phone apps.)
* Attracted by a deal, I installed two of these three nodes, into the same locations previously occupied by a single Google Wi-Fi node (in bridge mode) and an Asus RT-87 which was my primary router then, as it is now. Neither the Velop or the GooFi Mesh nodes support advanced router functions such as QOS or whole network VPN client setups. I relocated the Asus to a basement location and turned off 2.4 GHZ on it and put the 3rd Velop into my office which was always starved for 5GHZ signal. This arrangement, I'd hoped, would assure great 5GHZ coverage everywhere in my home. Now read the title again.
Date published: 2018-12-06T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Boon from
Poor wifi coverage + speed
I just purchased Linksys VELOP (3-pack) system even though I saw a lot of bad review since in my country there are no other competitors that I can buy (ie. Netgear Orbi / Google Wifi / etc.)
The Setup was pretty easy using Linksys App on iOS. However the range and the speed are so poor. The free modem router (huawei) that came with my ISP have more range that this 3-pack of VELOP. Not just the range are poor but also the speed. I can only get top speed (150Mbps) of my ISP if I sat just a few feet from the 1st node only but if I am in front of the 2nd node which was just directly above the 1st node I only get 10Mbps and the 3rd node I only get 3-4 Mbps.
I have updated latest firmware already and try using scanning best channel feature many times but still the range and speed are very poor than free modem router from ISP.
I am very disappointed. I think I never learn from past experience because I use to purchased Linksys EA9500 in hope of better speed and range but was very disappointed. I will never buy anything from Linksys again.
Date published: 2019-02-18T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Big Vin from
5 Star/5 Diamond Coverage!
First off, let me say that i live in a three story home, the modem and router is on the third floor and my office is on the first floor. Up until this point, WiFi in my office had been spotty at best so i decided to try Orbi. Orbi was great until the hardware straight up failed so back to Office Max i went and the sales rep suggested i try the Tri-pack Velop and i haven not looked back since. Setup was a breeze (less that ten minutes) and the signal coverage nearly three floors away in a 3000 square foot home is spot on. If don't believe me just have a look at the speed test below. It is clear that the folks at Linksys have done what they set out to do and that is to produce one of the best coverage mesh WiFi systems on the market. Not only did i get exactly what i wanted but i also saved money. I run my business out of my home and live online, it has been nearly one month and i have not had any issues what so ever. Thank You to the Linksys Team for putting out such a great product. I love you guys, my bottom line line loves you guys and you clearly know exactly what you are doing.
Thanks & Well Done!
Big Vin
Date published: 2019-02-18T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
vrs999 from
Excellent Wi-Fi that is Decorative
Tough to pick a start pointing on the review, so will start with my first impression, which was the packaging. The Linksys Velop AC3900 came nicely packaged. You can see in the packaging how serious Linksys is about delivering a State of the Art Chic (elegantly and stylishly fashionable) Network system.
Setup the Velop AC3900 up in my business which supports 30 or more Guest concurrent logins as well as staff support and business equipment requirements. Our customers use the Wi-Fi heavily while at our business and since installing the system have found the guests appreciate the new Wi-Fi system and the speedy response times.
The throughput on the Velop does not skip a beat and easily handles all the network traffic at our site. Very Impressive.
The Nodes design blend in well our décor, much nicer than a larger black router with large antennas sticking out.
The system comes with a simple 3 step setup, which will get you running. For setup download their app to your phone and simply follow the instructions. After setup the app works seamlessly with the router, at the moment at I am my home office monitoring the router at the business. Nice.
There is further documentation on their web-site under Support. What I would like to see in the system is the ability to put the Velop in Bridge Mode, turn off the DHCP, and set the IP address allowing the Velop system to run a Sub-Net. Have read that some people have set the Velop in Bridge Mode with the DHCP turned off but was advised by Linksys Support not to attempt putting the Velop into Bridge mode.
Do I like the Velop, Yes! It is an excellent System sporting a good blend of tech, power and it’s easy on the wallet.
Most importantly the customers and staff are happy with smooth steady Wi-Fi throughout the building.
Date published: 2018-07-03T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
DocMCSE from
Great in concept but lacking in execution
I was sent a 3 -pack of the Velop mesh routers to try out and my expectations were extremely high. The setup instructions were well written and easy to follow. Getting the first node setup near the middle up front of my open floor plan 1,750 square foot single story home went as expected since that is where the home office and modem reside. Things took a detour from there when I put the second device in the rear left window though. Seems that was just out of reach of the first node even though I have an extender just as far away (and through 2 additional walls I might add) on the other side of my house that works great and reports in the perfect placement. Moved 8 feet closer to the first node and still no love leaving me little choice but to move even closer before it would connect. As my hope initially had been to hit the front middle of the house with the other nodes in the left and right rear for maximum coverage (extending even a bit out to the back deck) with the limited coverage that was not possible. Other than my displeasure with the coverage the usability of the mesh WiFi system performs quite well. In the past I had tried doing a very similar DIY setup and it had mixed results but this setup being designed for this performs flawlessly.
Date published: 2018-07-03T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
bobbyl49 from
Finally WiFi for Every Room in My House
The Linksys Velop WiFi system is a good way to turn your house into a giant router. The three small attractive nodes will fit anywhere there is a power outlet.
The quick start guide and the Linksys app make installation easy and fast. After connecting the first node directly to the modem, the Linksys app makes installation of the other two easy.
The changing color lights on the top of the node will keep you informed of the set up process. Once connected the nodes can be placed around the house in different rooms and different floors to cover all the area of your house. I have three floors in my house and I placed a node on each floor, and all 18 WiFi devices are connected.The nodes have solid blue lights so I know I am connected with the best WiFi connection. I did have one node whose light was yellow, which means poor connection, so all I did was move it to a different spot till it turned blue.
I recommend this Velop system for wifi that is simple and powerful with no network changing as when using a network extender. I did myself a favor and made WiFi worries a thing of the past.
Date published: 2018-06-19T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Marvy Jon from
With the AC3900, you can move your wireless signal
I received my Belkin International - Linksys Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System last Tuesday. On Wednesday I had about three hours free in the evening during which I thought I could install the VELOP and connect my devices.
It turns out that the most time I needed was just under an hour to:
Disconnect my old router.
Connect the first of three VELOP nodes to my cable modem.
Run the Linksys App on my iPad.
Launch setup from the app.
And Voila' - I was online with my first node!
The above steps took about 15 minutes. That included reading the instructions and thinking about best location for the first node.
After that is took another half hour to choose locations and setup the other two nodes using the Linksys app. And by the way - the app lets you know if you have selected the best location from the base node.
I have a two story 100 year old house. The modem and base node are in the living room near the cable ingress. The nodes are sleek and modern looking and aside from the calm blue light on the top, are quite unobtrusive. The second node is about 30 feet from the base in a sunroom that was added to the main house. There is a lot of metal in the sunroom and the signal has to pass through an old outside wall. The third node is on the second floor in a room above the room housing the first node. Both nodes indicated strong signal reception after installation.
In general, the nodes are very easy to install. The Linksys app is very intuitive and passes setup information along to you in an easy to understand manner with suggestions for better placement for optimum performance.
All of the above dialogue I classify as "Pros" for the system.
The only "CONS" I experienced are:
The AC3900 has a limit of 100 Mbps per node. My internet service offers up to 300 Mbps service. The best system for my service would have been the AC6600 system which can utilize the faster internet transfers. I can still stream movies, but then I have more than one data hungry device online, there is a slowdown noticed.
The other "CON" is that while the nodes look sleek and modern, some family members think they are too obvious and add to the clutter of the room.
Over all, the system works well. The Linksys app is very easy to use and offers many options that most people might useful. I recommend this system to anyone who is having trouble getting clear and strong wireless signals in all areas of their home and yard. Keep in mind that these nodes can be moved at anytime to fine tune and optimize your signal.
Date published: 2018-06-26T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Toyang from
Good!
It works good for me.......................................................
Date published: 2018-06-16T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
andre31 from
Awesome range
I honestly did not think this would reach the other side of my house, as I live in a cinder block house. But it did! I can get full signal in the garage, all the way to the pool house. This product is awesome!
Date published: 2018-06-25T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Yooperkid from
Great Features! Setup took too long
The Linksys Velop 3Pack Wi-Fi Mesh system was sent to me as part of the Friends and Family program. It has excellent range/signal strength, the reason that I am giving it three stars is because it took way too long for everything to configure using the Linksys app on an iPhone 7. Although this device is designed for basic internet plans, I conducted a speed test and it was up to over 350 mbps throughput. Signal strength is strong in all rooms of my 1400 sq ft house. The only issue that I had was setting up additional nodes to the network and make some minor configuration changes. Much of the issues had to do with the Linksys App on the iPhone.
Date published: 2018-06-28T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Stever from
Lynksis Velop
1 of 3 Velop units defective. Unable to resolve the issue to date.
Date published: 2019-04-28T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Keithgh897 from
does not work
I had this system installed in my 2000 sq foot house by Best Buy and it did not work.
My house is 60 feet long and 32 feet wide. My Spectrum router set at 50MBS but running at aprox 65 MBS in in the center of the house along one wall. Best Buy installed one node at the router - installed another one 25 feet away on the same wall and we had a drop in speed to 25MBS we them installed the 3rd node 25 feet away but on the other side of the house in a bedroom and my speed was down to 7MBS.. I made Best Buy remove and return the system and installed a simple Wifi extender and was able to get 25MBS throughout the house including the bedroom
Date published: 2018-05-31T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
lzman0506 from
Awesome Range
I have always loved Linksys products. The Velop is a great new way to connect internet and wide range. However, I have had several problems with the Velop being able to hold up to the speeds provided by my modem/router. When connecting to the company provided router I was pushing 200mgbs, but the velops would only push 70-80. I haven't tried getting customer support yet but will as I love Linksys products.
Date published: 2018-06-27T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Tonyron227 from
Nice little wifi network
I received this product from Linksys Friends + Family so that I may evaluate it and write a review. It is very easy to set-up and spreads your signal throughout your home so that you can get a stronger signal in the weak areas of the home. By this unit being a basic product it is not as fast as some of the other routers I have but the coverage is excellent. When I say it is not as fast, I mean that it has a 100mbps limit as far as download speeds. I was getting 85-90mbps. On my other routers I am able to exceed 115mbps. The coverage is good within the home but I found the signal to be weak outside. I imagine if you were to place one of the nodes outside it would work well enough, if needed. I highly recommend this product for families with large homes that are experiencing problems with coverage in the outer rooms.
Date published: 2018-06-21T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
gitscott from
To Be Determined
This review is for the 3 node Linksys Velop Mesh WiFi system. Initial reaction was the system was very nicely packaged and good Nodes were pleasant looking. A little as surprised how small the Nodes were. I anticipated them being bigger. Also was impressed that each of the 3 Nodes includes 2 Ethernet connections.
We installed the system in a 1700 square foot / floor basic walkout ranch home (~28x62). We were having trouble reaching the main floor on the opposite end of the house from my lower level office where our AT&T WiFi Router is installed. Although we could just get a signal at the opposite end of the house it was very weak so this system looked like a great easy option to increase signal strength and connectivity all over the house and even outside to our patio.
Started by installing the 1st Node with an Ethernet connection direct to our AT&T supplied modem / WiFi router. Loaded the Linksys Velop app on iPhone and was easily able to connect the first node using option 2 of 2 (combo modem / router setup) as presented in the very simple printed instructions included in the box. The setup of the 1st node went well without a hitch. Just needed to walk through the simple instructions as presented by the app.
Next proceeded to connect the 2nd node. We placed it on the same lower level floor as the 1st node but near the other end of the house (maybe 25ft from Node 1). 2nd Node install went pretty well also. Then we placed the 3rd Node on the main level of the house directly above the 2nd Node to make sure they could communicate (basically about 8 vertical feet apart). That did not go as well. Took some doing to get the 3rd Node to join the others but eventually it worked. Not sure why it struggled as I would have expected the signal to be very strong from Node 2 and even from Node 1 given the size our home.
Overall I was very pleased with the app and simplicity of the initial setup.
We however were extremely disappointed with the performance. To test we started at the end of the house that had a very weak signal with only our initial modem / router. We found that even if were were literally less then 3 feet from the 3rd Node the WiFi performance and signal strength was the same if not worse than before installing the new system. We did several speedtest using the Linksys App and Speedtest.net and were showing download and upload speeds far less then without the system in place. We noticed that there was a firmware update available and decided to load that with hopes that would solve the performance issues. That was no help.
As we found it so hard to believe that the performance could be as bad as it was we decided to reset everything and redo the install from scratch. After about an hour we found no difference.
So unfortunately at this point we have to give the system 1 star. As it is 4th of July and we are going camping next step is to contact Linksys support when we get back to see if they can help get this working as we would expect.
I will update this review with our Linksys support experience and if we have success.
Date published: 2018-07-06T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
ippoBoston from
Drops connection regularly
I bought the three pack Velop about 1 year ago. When it works, it's very nice. it was easy to set up and gives pretty good coverage in our three level townhome. However, it regularly needs to be reset because it loses connectivity. It seems as though it doesn't wake up correctly after a period of inactivity - e.g. when I get up in the morning. I have some Sonos speakers, and also two smart TVs that are connected to the network. Wondering if there is some type of issue among the devices? Just very annoying...
Date published: 2018-10-14T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
rmn429 from
Excellent Choice for a Range Extender!
Living in a townhouse has its own set of challenges for someone used to living in a single-family house. Wifi signals shouldn’t be one of them. My router is upstairs and does a great job of covering a very large portion of my two-story townhouse, both upstairs and downstairs. On the other hand, my cell service carrier has very spotty service in the area I live in, so much so that while inside the townhouse (after talking to my carrier), I must utilize the WiFi calling option to make and receive calls. During some parts of the day, calls originating downstairs can be a challenge to keep connected to say the least. My remedy for that, the Linksys Velop Intelligent Mesh WiFi System AC3900.
Set up of the system was simple, in this 3-pack, you get 3 nodes, 3 power sources, and an Ethernet cable… that’s it! Connect the first node by plugging it into your router and to a power source. Use the Linksys app and follow the set-up instructions, and you’re set! The app even trouble-shoots any set-up issues by guiding you through the color of the light displayed on top of the node. Once you’ve connected the first node, position the additional nodes as needed in any remaining dead/weak zones, plug them into a power outlet, follow the set-up instructions on the app again and watch your coverage expand. Keep in mind, you will need to set up a password when setting up guest access.
Now, my WiFi enabled cell phone coverage is much better. I can walk to different areas of the downstairs portion of my townhouse, including up/down the stairs, without dropping a call.
Easy set-up, great coverage, a system perfect for my situation!
Please note that this product was a free sample from Linksys. It was provided to me for my review in exchange for my honest feedback.
Date published: 2018-07-02T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
Baxter from
My review of the Linksys Velop AC3900
My review of the Linksys velop AC3900
I am going to write this review over a period of weeks. I want to see what comes up as time goes on. The equipment is very nicely packaged and very presentable, It comes with three nodes and power adapters. There are two Ethernet jacks on each node, and I found out quickly that this is a drawback at least for me. This is a duel band 2.4 and 5Ghz system with MU-MIMO technology and a 716 Mhz Quad Core processor.
I disconnected my router from the modemand opened the Linksys velop box and installed one node, I then downloaded the IOS app for my iphone. My iphone is an old 4s and the app crashed over and over. I was getting pretty annoyed by this time, I grabbed my wifes iphone 6 and installed the app and then I was up and going. The app was very easy to follow and worked perfectly. First node is up and running and the speed was very good. I then added another node about 25 feet away. The app found it immediately, The speed of my network slowed a very little amount but still very good. I’m on a roll now so I go for the third node. It was found instantly at about 15 feet away. The whole system slowed quit a bit, and I thought, this isn’t working so well, so I disabled the last node and decided to try two nodes. It turns out that my house is too small for three nodes, I have about 2000 sq feet. This system is good for 4500 square feet and I believe it would cover that well.
Another day and started checking to see that everything connected. To my surprise, everything was found. The system mixes the 2,4 and 5 Ghz bands and auto finds the best channels. This really worked better then I thought it would. The laptops are running a little slower then with my previous router but so far very steady. Streaming has been working well on all five TVs with roku, miibox and channel master stream plus.
I really needed a few more Ethernet ports at the first node so I decided to take my Linksys wrt 1200 router and turn it into an Ethernet switch. You can find out how to do it on google and it worked great with no effect on my system speed.
Used the system for a week and everything has worked great and smooth and no disconnects at all. I was downloading at about 95Mbps with my old router on the laptop closest to the router, the laptop at the end of the house was at about 20 to 25. This velop system has been running at 75 to 80 at both ends of the house and the signal is steady. I idid notice that my laptop closest to the first node shows less of a signal then elsewhere in the house but the speed is great and no problems at all.
Another week goes by and the system seems to be speeding up and running smoother, My speeds are back up to 95 to 105 all over the house and I have found no dead spots anywhere. The speed seems to be the same no matter where you go in the house. I pay for 100Mbps and I am getting that and more, I am really starting to love this system. I am running n and ac devices. The laptop at the other end of the house is N and it is staying up with my ac laptop speed wise.
You can also access the velop with the web interface now and I like that. This unit is a must have for anyone that wants to setup whole house wifi and not have to be fooling with it all the time, I have been very, very impressed with this system so far and may never go back to a conventional router again. Going to try system for another week before sending this review, I want to make sure everything works right and no hidden problems.
The parental controls work very well and you can set times for internet use or cut them off on whatever device you want. You can prioritize devices to allow more bandwidth to certain units. If you have a very big house or a tri level home, you may need the third node. This seems to be the future of wifi for all of us and so far I see it as the best way for whole house wifi. Like I always say, keep the streams going and the kids happy with whole house mesh from Linksys.
Another week and everything is going great, my laptop closest to the main node now shows a signal with all bars. I can’t give you an answer why this is happening, but they say this system is self healing and adapts to conditions, Whatever it is doing, its doing it right and that makes me happy. I did however raise the first node a few inches higher, so that may have been the answer. Also stay away from windows.
I think you will be very happy with your purchase and the feeling that your wifi needs are taking care of themselves. One thing I would like to see is having control over the 2.4 and 5 Ghz bands.
Baxter
Date published: 2018-06-24T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
zerokeul from
Awesome!
Absolutely love this thing!
Set up was super easy. Although you need a cell phone to run the set up app. No big deal now a days.
We have two phones, two computers, three tablets, three Nintendo DS systems, an Apple TV and a PS4.
A lot of witch run at the same time.
This set up doesn’t miss a beat.
Moving from one end of my house to the other used to cause dead spots in our WiFi.
Not with this. Everything runs smooth and fast.
If you have a larger house or and older boys that WiFi tends to disappear in your walls, this is the set up for you.
Date published: 2018-06-20T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
DanH from
Perfect solution for larger homes
After opening the box I was able to set up the 3 nodes in my office, kitchen and living room relatively quick. I already had the Linksys Smart WiFi account so that saved a little time. I have many different types of devices connected (phones, tablets, TV boxes, cameras and laptops) and they all seem to maintain a strong connection with the nodes. I have not noticed any performance issues after setting up the new network. Even streaming 4K video seems to perform better than my old network. Using mobile devices where I move from room to room or floor to floor seem to hand off from node to node flawlessly. Another thing that I notice is more range outside of my house which is nice for summer activities. It is also nice that I can add more nodes to my network to cover other areas better. This is great!
Date published: 2018-06-26T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
gr8design72 from
Good Speeds - Excellent Coverage
Ever since Mesh Routers have hit the scene, I have been intrigued by their reported coverage and performance. After setting up and testing the Velop AC3900 Dual Band Router (3-pack), I was impressed. I believe they have a solid place in the router market and mesh technology should be in every home.
(Pros) The Velop (3-pack) performed well. I placed two nodes upstairs, one in the office, one in the living-room, and one in the basement Media Room. The setup was super easy. Menus and directions were clear and concise. After linking all three nodes I walked throughout the house measuring signal strength. All areas in the house displayed three out of three bars, according to the iPhone 7 I used for testing.
(Cons) The ONLY things I am not impressed with are:
• Lack of a USB port for an external hard drive or printer, camera, et cetera.
• The WiFi speeds are about a fifth of what I usually get.
A USB port is important to connect cameras that need an external hard drive to record video. I’ll need to purchase a NAS at some point.
I used my iPhone, sitting near the home node to test the WiFi speed, the fastest I got was 65Mbp upload speed which was faster than the download at 84Mbps. I ran the Ookla Speed test app on the Apple TV and got a similar result. I have a Gig connection and could easily reach 500-600Mbps with my previous router.
I connected the home node and my iMac with a CAT6 cable to test a hardline connection. I achieved 927Mbps down and 803Mbps up, which worked as expected.
End result, I think it’s an excellent product with some really cool features and superb coverage but It’s not a powerhouse when it comes to WiFi.
Date published: 2018-06-19T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
skelsey1 from
Great value for the features!
This is a great unit for my 4000 sq. ft. house. It has all of the features I expect in a Linksys router, and has the range I need to cover most all of the rooms.
At first, the range was a bit spotty, and I had to keep the AP’s a little closer together. But then Linksys released a firmware update, and things have greatly improved.
For the money, this is the best deal around. If you have more money to spend, the tri-band system is really nice, but this is the way to go.
Date published: 2019-01-17T00:00:00-05:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
The Green Texan from
Good with a Caveat
This product was my first dip into the very hot and trendy pool of mesh network routing. I have anxiously been hoping to get my hands on a mesh network as my home is a rather long and somewhat narrow town home. We regularly experience dead zones in the front and back of our house - say nothing to the garage and front/back yards. I had lofty dreams that this product would replace my standby Linksys routers and fix all of my internet woes.
First, lets talk about all of the good things this Velop variant does - and there are plenty. Setup - getting this system out of the box and serving your internet needs is stupidly easy. The instructions walk you through step by step of the required steps and with only a couple of tiny snags that revolved around placing the Velop stations in the proper places around your home this process was not only simple but fast.The system immediatley just worked - which I see as being a pretty critical part of any technology offering in 2018. Gone are the days of enduring heaving tweaking and forced software updating right out of the box. The Velop system instantly updated its firmware and walked me through the process of optimizing my network for a congested urban living environment.
Next, a compliment is owed to the Linksys App which has consistently been improving and with the Velop system I finally saw what the app was made for - it has always been a serviceable app and easy to use, but with Velop it just feels tailor-made.I asked my wife to make some tweaks on the app and she had zero trouble with navigating the tasks - this is not a standard experience with other IoT devices.
Lastly, the Velop system is the first Linksys device that I actually think looks handsome. I have always loved the Linksys hardware, but from a style standpoint - well they were never much to look at. That seems to be changing if the Velop is the company's attempt to craft a new design style for fresh start devices.
Now, I mentioned that I had a caveat that kept me from p making this device my primary router. The units I have under testing are dual band and many of those devices are 5ghz capable and part of my smart home setup. These units ran fine at first but once a few tablets and streaming devices were added the network began to slow dramatically. I have gigabit internet at home and after adding smart home devices to the Velop and then streaming one HD Netflix movie a quick speed check showed a download speed of 25Mbps whereas a speed check on my existing Linksys routers showed a near-gigabit download speed. I did retest a series of times while not streaming or gaming, but the highest download speed I ever got was 75 Mbps. I had a conversation with some friends who had experienced similar issues with other competing dual-band mesh systems and both friends had since upgraded to tri-band and had shared stories of dramatic improvement. That said, the tri-band alternatives Velop are nearly double the cost - so there is a price for that beefed up system.
I have zero problem endorsing AC3900 Velop system but I would argue that this system would be ideal in a smaller home or a larger apartment - perhaps even units with walls that are otherwise problematic to traditional wifi setups. At the end of the day this is a fantastic system and to me gives hope for what will come from Linksys in the future.
Date published: 2018-07-05T00:00:00-04:00
Rated 5 out of
5 by
K Thompson from
Worst wifi system ever
I had nothing but problems. Hours on hold for support. Got rid of it and bought another manufacture and have no problems.
Date published: 2018-08-16T00:00:00-04:00