Linksys Aims to Fill Apple's AirPort Void With Cheaper Dual-Band Velop Mesh Wi-Fi System

[belvdr]

The rolling eyes was not meant to be condescending, if it came over that way then my apologies.
I found out the hard way, thought it was included while it's not.
I agree they should be more clear so others don't make the same mistake, but, I still think UBNT is a very good company which cares about their customers.

Sorry I took it that way. I'm glad you spoke up, as I was toying with getting a USG so I could get rid of the system it's running on.

 

[swm]

Putting the power supply inside of the last generation AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule was a huge mistake, because it required a fan. Go read the reviews on Apple.com and you’ll see fan failure and overheating is a big issue. If a product like a WiFi router that runs 24/7/365 uses a fan it’s not if, but when will it break.

time capsule gets hot because it has a big 3.5" HDD inside. so the PSU has to power it as well. i have a TC as well, it failed once, i had to cut a hole into the bottom rubber cover to improve airflow. it is hot, still.
i however do not understand why a fully plastic (which is a good thermal insulator btw) enclosed power brick doesn't need no active cooling and why an open frame PSU inside a well designed enclosure would. i think the greatest part of the (former) apple products is their clutter-less nature. the 2ng den Airport express was merely a plug with some essential connectors on it. i think the only reason for the new form factor was the ability to put it into tight places, as the older one protruded to much. indeed i could have imagined the ATV form factor ac airport express as a similar iteration, but with the power plug at its bottom, so it could just lay flat on the wall when plugged into a wall socket. btw, if the atv4/5 which packs a general purpose cpu and dual wifi radio and a psu is just ok from thermal point of view, what on earth can make the last gen airport express with no extra stuff but less power hungry components fail.

 

[ignatius345]

What the hell are we supposed to do with Time Machine? I’m considering ubiquity. Now I need to research the big Skeleton in everyone’s mind.... Time Machine. I’m Not dragging a usb HDD around with my laptop throughout the house. Welcome to Post Steve Jobs Apple.

I back my laptops up once a week or so by plugging them in, and in the meantime anything that's important on them is in iCloud Drive or Dropbox and thus backed up continuously.
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Putting the power supply inside of the last generation AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule was a huge mistake, because it required a fan. Go read the reviews on Apple.com and you’ll see fan failure and overheating is a big issue. If a product like a WiFi router that runs 24/7/365 uses a fan it’s not if, but when will it break.

Been using my AirPort Extreme for at least 5 years of 24/7/365 usage and it's doing just fine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Santabean2000]

I have the tri-band Velop, and I'm not impressed. The software is flakey as hell. Some of the features just never worked and there would often be nodes that dropped out for no particular reason. I had to restart my nodes more times in 3-4 months than I ever had to for my AirPort kit in several years.

My only saving grace now is that I have moved into a new house where I can plug each node into an ethernet connection, so at least there are no longer any dropouts. As for the 'features', I don't even bother to look anymore. Waste of time.

 

[ScottHammet]

Linksys? Hardly a name I'd associate with quality products, especially where configuration user experience is concerned. Maybe I'm pessimistic, but it feels like Apple is setting themselves up for another debacle like the LG UltraFine 5K Display. There's no way I'd waste good money on this ugly trash when companies like Ubiquiti exist with product lines like Amplifi and UniFi. It's pricey, but so is was Airport, and Ubiquiti makes better stuff, with gorgeous iOS apps.

+1 for Ubiquiti. I removed all my Airport equipment (had 3 covering the whole house) and installed all Unifi infrastructure...access points, switches, gateway, and management (Cloud Key). Works beautifully, with no issues, and screaming fast.
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What the hell are we supposed to do with Time Machine? I’m considering ubiquity. Now I need to research the big Skeleton in everyone’s mind.... Time Machine. I’m Not dragging a usb HDD around with my laptop throughout the house. Welcome to Post Steve Jobs Apple.

I kept my Time Machine on the network...just turned off the WiFi radio. I installed all Unifi infrastructure...access points, switches, gateway (USG), and management (Cloud Key). It works really, really well. It takes a bit more knowledge to setup and configure, so there's that...it's not really plug and play. But if you know a bit about networking, it's not difficult to get up and running. And it's super fast. I never need to reboot it (same as my Airport). It does hand off between access points much better than Airport did...move between floors or different coverage areas, and the mobile devices quickly switch to the access point with the strongest signal. Airport doesn't really hand off that well, if at all. Mobile devices would stay attached to the same Airport access point, even when moved closer to an access point with a stronger signal. My guess is that Airport was built to operate under the assumption there would only be one per household.

 

[macking104]

So this new Linksys line drops the 5 GHz band, and offers 2.4 GHz for all devices, and uses 2.4 GHz as well for its backhaul? In other words, everything is 2.4 GHz?

My neighborhood is a typically Dutch city with quite a dense population, and I can easily see ~30 to 40 wireless networks in the 2.4 GHz range. I suspect that these cheaper dual-band Velop sets will be more susceptible to interference and failure.

It has 5ghz https://www.linksys.com/us/p/P-WHW0103/

• Network Standards:
  • 802.11a
    
  • 802.11g
    
  • 802.11n
    
  • 802.11ac
    
  • 802.11b
• Wi-Fi Speed:
  AC1300 (867 + 400 Mbps)
  
• Wi-Fi Bands:
  2.4Ghz + 5GHz

 

[macking104]

There is a coupon for the triband on Amazon...

 

[glowplug]

"Cheaper" - Headline tells you everything you need to know.