Can anyone recommend this mesh system or otherwise advise to stay away? I’ve been using the eero Pro for the past few years and it was pretty solid until about a month ago. Now seemingly every night between 7 and 9 pm, some of the routers drop causing most of my WiFi devices to drop. It’s happened at other times too but usually between the hours stated and lasts anywhere from 30 mins to an hour and as mysteriously as it crashed, it reconnects as if nothing happened. I’m at wits end with this. So looking at the Linksys Velop Tri Band (want to stay with the HomeKit functionally and this is the only other option). I’m seeing nothing but mixed reviews online and YouTube. Can anyone here share an honest opinion? I know circumstances vary but I’ll take anything since this won’t be a cheap transition. TIA.
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Home Linksys Velop Tri-Band
- Thread starter Itinj24
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When trying to find a replacement for my aging AirPort Extreme network, I tried using the Linksys Velop Tri-band system in the spring of 2020, and posted about my experience on a few threads. Here is a post from one of the threads:
I have used been using Apple AirPort for almost 20 years, and have enjoyed them for the most part.
Sometimes last year, I started to have some Wifi issues on the 2.4GHz band, and figured that my aging 6th Gen AirPort Extreme (lastest gen) might be due for a replacement.
Normally I would troubleshoot, but in this case, I figured my AirPort was about to go, maybe I would try a Mesh Wifi system that I kept reading about, and maybe it was time to move on from Apple's legacy network equipment.
There was one thing in particular that I was looking forward to with the mesh wifi, that was the seamless band switching and seamless roaming feature, as I would put a node near where I park my car enabling me to have good signal when sitting in my car getting ready for my morning commute. With the AirPort, I would have signal, but it wasn't good where was car was at.
I bought the expensive Linksys Velop Tri-band 3-node system:
Velop Mesh WiFi System, Homekit Router, 3-Pack (White) | Linksys | Linksys: US
Enjoy full-strength WiFi in every room of your home with the Velop Mesh Wifi System. Homekit-enabled. 3-Year Limited Warranty. Free ground shipping on US orders.www.linksys.com
At first, I was mildly impressed with it, but then I started having a few issues, mainly with periodic slowdown. The seamless band switching didn't seem to work either. As it would sometimes switch my stationary laptop from the faster 5GHz band to the slower 2.4GHz band, even though I was only a few feet from the parent node.
Another thing that was a disappointment was the seamless roaming, as it wasn't seamless. I would sit in my car and the internet didn't work, even though I was just about 20 feet from a node. I found out that my iPhone was still connected to my bedroom node, which was on the other side of the house.
I looked up solutions for the seamless roaming problem, and the support page said to turn of Wifi on the iPhone and turn it back on. It worked, but it wasn't what I considered "seamless".
As for switching to 2.4GHz band, and the slowdowns, I finally did some troubleshooting, and it turns out that the 2.4GHz band issues on both the AirPort and Linksys was because of over saturation of the band in my area.
I split the bands on the Mesh system, and kept most things on the 5Ghz band, but some of my devices will only connect to the 2.4GHz band.
I tried doing the channel finder, but the connection speed on 2.4GHz was still erratic. I talked to Linksys tech support and the higher tier tech support for many hours, trying things, testing, but in the end, there was not an improvement.
I ended up returning the Mesh system a few days before the return period ended, thinking I would try something else.
I went back to using my AirPort Extreme, but this time put almost everything on the 5GHz band, and I was surprised that the transfer speeds were actually much better on the aging AirPort than the new, updated tech Mesh system.
I then decided to get another AirPort Extreme for a fraction of the price of the Linksys Velop, and hardwire it into the network. I moved it close to my parking spot, and everything has been fine.
The 2.4GHz band still sucks, but the performance was actually better on the AirPort than the new Linksys.
I am unsure of what you will make of my story, but I guess what I am trying to say is that just because it is new, has great reviews, and expensive, doesn't mean it will be as good as your current setup.
Surprised I don’t recall your thread since it’s so recent and I peruse this sub forum multiple times a day. Thank you very much for that. I’m so torn right now. Getting some serious mixed reviews and I’ll take any advice into consideration. I believe in the mesh systems since my eero Pro worked great for a couple years up until about a month ago. Roaming is truly seamless but you can’t spilt the bands up which intrigued me with the Velop. I need mesh since I have a point in my pool house (about 200’ from my house) controlling a couple cameras, smart lights, plugs and an AppleTV. I have one in my garage too which is half encased in concrete/foundation. I really wish Apple got back into the networking game. I can imagine it would be spectacular these days with the eco system. I guess I could try the Velop and if it’s giving issues, I always have the power of returny. I really wanted to stick with the HomeKit router thing and eero is pissing me off lately. Plus something about having an Amazon product running my network that gives me the heebie jeebies lol.
If you don’t mind me asking, how many nodes were you running?
Thanks again!
I got the three-node system.
A side note, one of the reasons I decided to try the Velop Tri-band systems was because I got the Velop dual-band system for my parents home.
The set up was easy and pretty quick, the signal seemed strong, and it had a Ethernet port to use. Actually, it has two per node, and I think you can use them both as LAN ports which I liked.
The thing is, I never actually used my parents' network, so I may have noticed problems if I spent more time at their home. I just assumed it was fine, but I think there were some problems before I even gave the Tri-band system I try.
More recently, I found out that they have been having issues with their Velop system.
It might have to do with their house being very large and old, but one of their nodes randomly goes offline.
The Velop Tri-band had excellent reviews, so I think I expected much more than it delivered. Since the roaming and band switching was supposed to be a selling point, I expected those features to work much better than they end up working out.
I ended up going back to Apple's 6th gen AirPort Extreme, and actually bought a second 6th Gen router to expand coverage. I have been pretty happy with the changes I have made with Apple's old router and the performance has been great, so I probably will not be looking into a replacement for a while.
Greatly appreciate your time and insight 👍. What to do, what to do? As much as I don’t want to lose the HomeKit integration, I may not have a choice if the Velop is as bad as you say.
I have the Velop system and switch a couple of years ago. Initially I used 4 nodes and had some of the problems mentioned. However after a call to the Linksys quickly determine that I did not need 4 nodes and that was causing the problem (interference between nodes). Once I removed the 4th node it worked great. This summer I was able to get fiber internet so I upgraded to the 3 node WiFi 6 units and have not had any issues. Well that is not exactly true in the my wired connection (from a wirelessly connected node) tends to be slower than my WiFi connection from the same node, difference being about 100-200mbs. Have not looked into why, though it may be the wired run is relatively long.
Thank for that info. I’m wondering if that’s what’s causing the issue with me eero. I have 7 in my network but my house is also a custom build, multi layered, multi faceted. It’s just odd that it’s occurring within a specific time frame.
If it is truly always the same time I would suspect some sort of scheduled activity as opposed to a hardware issue. Given your description of your house I would not limit the check of scheduled activities to just the computer. see if something else in the house could also be creating the interference
I actually removed two of the nodes from my system and *knock on wood* seems like it’s holding up so far.
I had a 3 node Velop tri band and it was utter trash.
Spent a few months talking to Linksys support in the US who just didn't have a clue what I was talking about. (nodes not having their full speed TX rate of 867, they were mostly around 50-100).
In the end they took my nodes away and supplied me with a brand new set which then did exactly the same thing. The software interface is dreadful too. In the advanced menu you can select manual channels, but if you use Wifi Explorer you can see the nodes ignore it. Again, I sent logs to linksys and they just didn't know how to fix it, so in the end I sold the lot and moved to a 3 node Eero Pro, and apart from the lack of PPPoE, it's been completely faultess, and the nodes were put in the exact same place as the velop was. Each nodes is always at 867TX rate and never ever drops the speed.
I've also got a client with a 3 node velop tri band, and the 2 slave nodes are constantly going offline. He's now disconnect them and the network is a bit more stable but without the coverage. Like the post above, it's like the velop nodes interfere with themselves and linksys just don't know how to fix this issue.
Spent a few months talking to Linksys support in the US who just didn't have a clue what I was talking about. (nodes not having their full speed TX rate of 867, they were mostly around 50-100).
In the end they took my nodes away and supplied me with a brand new set which then did exactly the same thing. The software interface is dreadful too. In the advanced menu you can select manual channels, but if you use Wifi Explorer you can see the nodes ignore it. Again, I sent logs to linksys and they just didn't know how to fix it, so in the end I sold the lot and moved to a 3 node Eero Pro, and apart from the lack of PPPoE, it's been completely faultess, and the nodes were put in the exact same place as the velop was. Each nodes is always at 867TX rate and never ever drops the speed.
I've also got a client with a 3 node velop tri band, and the 2 slave nodes are constantly going offline. He's now disconnect them and the network is a bit more stable but without the coverage. Like the post above, it's like the velop nodes interfere with themselves and linksys just don't know how to fix this issue.
Thanks for that. I believe I was having the same issue with my eero Pro. Removed two eero Pros from my network and it’s been much better. Wondering if the Velop is that much more powerful that it really only requires the very minimal amount. The Velop seems to be beating the eero Pro in terms of speed and range according to the reviews I watched.
I keep watching threads like these looking for a good reason to upgrade my wifi network from my multiple Apple AirPort AC's (each connected with ethernet backhaul, not in mesh/extender configuration), but my wireless network performance is too good and at the moment I've only got one device, my new M1-based MacBook Air, that supports WiFi 6
I bought the Linksys Velop mesh system (2 node) August 2020. I am ready to buy something else. After about 2 weeks the wifi starts "slowing down" where it takes longer to change streaming tv stations and also searches are slower. I can restart the system and it seems to work better again for a while. The last call to Velop Tech support took over an hour and was left that I needed to reboot everything. I couldn't at the time and did later. Now it seems slow ALL THE TIME.
It really isn't worth my time to try calling them again as they are difficult to reach. Are they overwhelmed with too many issues?
I am very unhappy with this system and the Velop support is poor. My internet speed is 450 in and 23 out.
What a waste of money and a bigger waste of time trying to get it working correctly.
I am hoping that eero is a better choice. If not what is the best choice for a 2 or 3 node system.
It really isn't worth my time to try calling them again as they are difficult to reach. Are they overwhelmed with too many issues?
I am very unhappy with this system and the Velop support is poor. My internet speed is 450 in and 23 out.
What a waste of money and a bigger waste of time trying to get it working correctly.
I am hoping that eero is a better choice. If not what is the best choice for a 2 or 3 node system.
I've had the Ubiquiti Amplifi system for a couple of years and see the same behavior... fast enough after a fresh reboot, but over time, it slows way down... have the base system with the base station and two mesh points... not happy with it at all... looking for an alternative...
It may be a coincidence but I am beginning to think not. After my last call with Velop Tech Support I was out of town for a week so I restarted the VELOP after I returned. Just so happens my WiFi garage door opener went offline just after my call with VELOP and I can't get it online again. They had me resetting some options in the system.
I am really ready to buy a better system if I only knew what is a better router system.
I am really ready to buy a better system if I only knew what is a better router system.
I've used my AirPort Extreme for years - I think it's probably a 2013 model, but I have no idea what generation it is/was.
A couple of months ago I started to have to reset the router a little more often than I liked, so I decided it was time to upgrade to a more modern system. I bought a Linksys Velop, 2 nodes, and I'm not sure it was the right decision.
I have 500/50 service from my cable provider. Using an ethernet cable that runs through the router, I typically get close to, sometimes above, those numbers. With the AirPort Extreme I'd typically get 280 or so down on 5 GHz, which I thought was pretty good for Wifi, especially with an outdated router.
With the Velop, I'm lucky to get half the speed typically 125-150 down. It automatically "chooses" 5 GHz, so it's a one-to-one comparison. The downstairs node is about 10 feet over my shoulder. The main node is upstairs, probably 30 feet away in a straight line.
Am I getting all I can from the Velop? Even though it's stable (no restarts required yet), I sort of feel like I downgraded, even though it's supposedly can handle 1 GHz. It doesn't.
Any ideas? I should add that I also have a new cable modem, a Motorola MB8600, so that shouldn't be part of the issue.
A couple of months ago I started to have to reset the router a little more often than I liked, so I decided it was time to upgrade to a more modern system. I bought a Linksys Velop, 2 nodes, and I'm not sure it was the right decision.
I have 500/50 service from my cable provider. Using an ethernet cable that runs through the router, I typically get close to, sometimes above, those numbers. With the AirPort Extreme I'd typically get 280 or so down on 5 GHz, which I thought was pretty good for Wifi, especially with an outdated router.
With the Velop, I'm lucky to get half the speed typically 125-150 down. It automatically "chooses" 5 GHz, so it's a one-to-one comparison. The downstairs node is about 10 feet over my shoulder. The main node is upstairs, probably 30 feet away in a straight line.
Am I getting all I can from the Velop? Even though it's stable (no restarts required yet), I sort of feel like I downgraded, even though it's supposedly can handle 1 GHz. It doesn't.
Any ideas? I should add that I also have a new cable modem, a Motorola MB8600, so that shouldn't be part of the issue.
I use a single Velop 5300 in a four bed home, I've had no problems. I did think about buying a second router but the single unit worked fine so i would just be wasting money.
I would call Linksys. On my system I originally had a Linksys Velop system that work great with multiple nodes, but after upgrading to fiber and switch out my Velops to newer Velop with wifi 6 system I had similar results as you describe. After fiddling around with it for 2 weeks call Linksys tech support. They claimed the old setting were what was causing the slowdown. They had me change some configurations, and we reset the nodes (2-3 times) then I started seeing close to 1gb speeds.
However I have found through experimenting it is a fickle system. If I work in one half of the room I get 800 mbs, but in the other half 400-500 mbs. I have notices this anomaly throughout my house. To be clear no dead spots but areas where the speed is significantly less than other areas.
However I have found through experimenting it is a fickle system. If I work in one half of the room I get 800 mbs, but in the other half 400-500 mbs. I have notices this anomaly throughout my house. To be clear no dead spots but areas where the speed is significantly less than other areas.