Linksys debuts cheaper dual-band Velop Wi-Fi mesh system
On the heels of Apple's official discontinuation of AirPort Wi-Fi hardware, Linksys on Tuesday announced a new dual-band version of its Velop Wi-Fi mesh system that packs many of the same features as its bigger tri-band sibling into a smaller, more affordable package.
Building on the success of its Velop Tri-Band system, the first third-party Wi-Fi router to be sold by Apple, Linksys is introducing a mass market mesh networking option that provides customers a slew of features at an attractive price.
AppleInsider reviewed the original tri-band version and found the setup to be top notch in terms of performance and convenience, but noted a two- or three-node solution can be quite expensive at just under $500.
Limited to dual-band connectivity, the new Velop family member is smaller than the tri-band iteration, but includes a number of advanced mesh networking features. The nodes, for example, are AC1300 devices with dual-band dual stream (2x2) capabilities supporting 802.11ac, offering combined speed up to 1300 Mbps. The devices feature MU-MIMO radio configuration, modular wired/wireless design, integration with Velop mesh technology, Amazon Alexa compatibility and more.
Along with connecting to each other via wired or wireless technologies to form a blanket of Wi-Fi coverage, each node can also act as a parent or client access point, allowing users to expand on existing systems as their wireless needs grow. For those who already have a Velop outfit, the dual-band version is interoperable with tri-band hardware, making extensions to existing wireless infrastructure easy.
As with the tri-band version, the new dual-band devices are controlled via app, feature "spot finder" technology for optimal node placement, boast the ability to self-heal a constructed network if a node should go offline and run an automatic update cycle.
The new dual-band Velop will be sold in one-, two- and three-pack configurations and is available for pre-order today through Linksys for $129, $199 and $299, respectively. Pre-orders are expected to launch on Amazon later today. Linksys is in talks to sell Velop Dual-Band through the Apple store, but for now Apple customers are relegated to the more expensive tri-band offerings.
Building on the success of its Velop Tri-Band system, the first third-party Wi-Fi router to be sold by Apple, Linksys is introducing a mass market mesh networking option that provides customers a slew of features at an attractive price.
AppleInsider reviewed the original tri-band version and found the setup to be top notch in terms of performance and convenience, but noted a two- or three-node solution can be quite expensive at just under $500.
Limited to dual-band connectivity, the new Velop family member is smaller than the tri-band iteration, but includes a number of advanced mesh networking features. The nodes, for example, are AC1300 devices with dual-band dual stream (2x2) capabilities supporting 802.11ac, offering combined speed up to 1300 Mbps. The devices feature MU-MIMO radio configuration, modular wired/wireless design, integration with Velop mesh technology, Amazon Alexa compatibility and more.
Along with connecting to each other via wired or wireless technologies to form a blanket of Wi-Fi coverage, each node can also act as a parent or client access point, allowing users to expand on existing systems as their wireless needs grow. For those who already have a Velop outfit, the dual-band version is interoperable with tri-band hardware, making extensions to existing wireless infrastructure easy.
As with the tri-band version, the new dual-band devices are controlled via app, feature "spot finder" technology for optimal node placement, boast the ability to self-heal a constructed network if a node should go offline and run an automatic update cycle.
The new dual-band Velop will be sold in one-, two- and three-pack configurations and is available for pre-order today through Linksys for $129, $199 and $299, respectively. Pre-orders are expected to launch on Amazon later today. Linksys is in talks to sell Velop Dual-Band through the Apple store, but for now Apple customers are relegated to the more expensive tri-band offerings.
Comments
I was researching internet providers on San Juan Island, WA, and found Rock Island Communications supports San Juan as well as Orcas Island with gigabit fiber internet. They also can provide an AirTies mesh system. They mention the same dual band, 2x2 components as Linksys is talking about although AirTies also sells a 3x3 model. I don't remember hearing about this manufacturer. It seems it's the choice of some internet providers around the world.
--AirTies' customers include: AT&T, Atlantic Broadband, Deutsche Telekom, Frontier, Orange, Midco, Singtel, Sky (SKY Q in the UK; Germany; Italy; and New Zealand), Swisscom, Vodafone, Waoo, and many other operators.
The Eero is simultaneously tri-band (2.4, 5.2, 5.8) The Eero beacon is duel band (2.4, 5.0). So the Eero system actually works using 4 frequencies.
So what’s better, having an extra frequency band (or two) or having an extra node?
I'm interested in the Eero because the beacons can be plugged into a wall outlet and don't take up much space, rather than installing a bunch of towers throughout the house. So the beacons are dual-band instead of tri? How does that potentially affect normal performance?
AI's article here is informative and perhaps interesting, but it is a tech article.There's a lotta buzzwords here, along with tech specs...and I'm not sure why any of that is important. To me, the important part is the price at the end.
OK, after that, I get that speed is important so I can stream 4k video, and along side that, security so someone ins't uploading the kiddie porn on my IP address (or breaking into my home devices to steal passwords.) What better company to promise security than Apple? And are they promising to make my life better? To use their products in my home, I have to understand spectrum usage, bands? Find a company that isn't going to fold next month, or is Evil like FB, the Google, or Amazon? And a user interface that requires an EE degree? Yuck.
Wifi should be like my other utilities. A fee to have it made reliable and safe. Apple could do this easily.
Gads, how coole would it be to take a device out of a box, plug it into the wall, and say, "hey Siri. Set up my wifi." She might ask a few questions, and...done.
I mean any router would support the data from an Alexa device. It's just bits, and is no different than a Siri request, or my loading a web page. To the router it's just data.
But if somehow Alexa is built into the device then this is a non starter for me.
I will not have Alexa in my house.
Regarding their leaving the router space, it's because Apple still runs like a small company. They can dedicate engineers to boring shit like laser printers, displays, and wifi routers, or they can revolutionize the world with iPads and Airpods. They don't have enough engineers to do both and if they did the company would grow so large that it wouldn't really be Apple anymore.
They can't make wifi "like a utility" for the same reason that they can't fix cable television with the Apple TV: the "pipes" are run by companies like Verizon and Comcast that are hostile to their customers.
The experience you describe at the end is honestly not far off from Plume, though. They'd make a "plum" acquisition target for Apple IMO, kind of a hands-off Beats style arrangement.
In the 1950, the United States built an actual superhighway system. It seems odd we can't solve the internet provider problem. Apple abandoned the effort (and your small company comment is well taken as to why.)
That list of things Apple isn't responsible for sure seems to be growing. Steve reinvented the phone. The TV experience sucked. Music players and buying music sucked. Office operations sucked. Well.. now internet and wifi service sucks.
Space travel sucks. SpaceX and Blue Origin are fixing it. And they have federal contracts.