Linksys - MX5 Velop AX5300 Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System

Here's the home situation: Two pre-teens, two adults working and playing from home. I have loads of IOT devices (cameras, garage door openers, Google Home things) plus a couple game systems, kids' iPads and iPhones, and of course video streaming devices. My old router was a decent Nighthawk but it couldn't handle this much traffic at my newer cable speeds. After trying a four-node Nest WiFi and two of the latest Netgear Nighthawk routers (RAX200 and RAX120) and an AX8 extender with no success in my home of about 2,700 square feet and only two levels, I wanted to give the new Velop system a shot. COVID-19 home office demand apparently wiped out supplies of ASUS WiFi 6 routers, which seemed to be the most highly recommended. The Velops were available and had brand-new tech, so I thought I'd try. In short, the Velop nodes live up to their promise. I see about 430 Mbps from the cable modem to the router. I'm consistently getting 400+ throughout most of the house now and probably 200 outside. The Nest WiFi units were slick and not bad on the same floor level, but no WiFi 6, so my speeds away from the router and downstairs were not what they could be with the new iPhones. With those high-end Nighthawks, I got 430 in the same room as the router, but it significantly dropped downstairs (less than 150) and was virtually nonexistent in one corner of my house. Not the performance I expected for that price. And the software for the phone was mediocre -- painfully slow to find the router every time I opened the app and with the RAX200, the WPS light stayed on, leaving the network open to attack, and there still was no firmware to fix it by the time I returned them. Linksys was my first router way back in 2001. It feels a little nostalgic having them again. This one does not disappoint, plus I think it's much more attractive than the cheesy batwing and spider designs. I did not get an opportunity to try out the Asus with AI mesh, but I cannot imagine any better than what I have now. These were expensive - yes - but my home office and my wife's business must be functional while the kids are still doing online lessons and their online social lives. Right now, I'm very pleased with these. Great software, super easy to set up and a very polished appearance and very solid build quality - it's of a quality of Apple or Google products. I think the new Velop is a winner. Note: I have not tried with just a single node, but I imagine for most folks' use, it would be a solid router, too. But I LOVE my mesh setup.

Currently working from home with the family. This was the best fix, perhaps even overkill, for my overloaded, overworked, weak ISP-provided modem/router. My house is an old build, so my ISP-provided router couldn't cover the house - lots of dead spots. Likes: extremely easy to install. The app instructions made it fast and user-friendly. The unit is super fast and has a good signal range. Small enough to hide high. No more dead spots, faster speed per device, and better distribution of broadband per device feeding off the network. So far, I have no dislikes for this node system.

Worked with my previous velop triband 6600 Works with altice one Great speeds and range. Wifi 6 works on my s10 plus I have 400 mbps on my service and shows 590 mbps connected on wifi 6

Coming from a 2013 Apple Time Capsule I thought I would notice a bit more of an improvement over the original phase 1 Wired’s AC standard. Truth is this mesh set up is minimally better, but has it’s draw backs that don’t really warrant an upgrade just yet. To get 500Mbps or more you have have to be in just the right spot. My iPhone 11 max pro with the wireless ax chip would occasionally have a speed test of 740Mbps. My 2013 MacBook Air would only connect at around 466Mbps, on my time capsule it would connect at 866 and stay there. The linksys options ready limit what it could be capable, you can’t even manually change the WiFi channels. It gives you the option to scan and will automatically pick what’s best. This is useless considering most people leave this on auto. So neighboring WiFi is constantly changing. The wireless ac antennas don’t seem to penetrate walls at all, I’m connecting at lower speeds compared to my 6 year old time capsule. I really hoped for 599$ that this router would set me up for future proofing. If you are upgrading from a wireless N router or something old it will def be an improvement. I have Comcast gigbit internet and while hardwired I reach speeds of 1000Mbps and active internet downloads capable of 110MB/s. The worst part about the linksys app is that you can not see any actual connection speeds, or signal strength. So you don’t know how fast each device is connected... you just get a picture of 3 bars of an antenna icon that signifies low medium or high signal... Linksys really needs to step up the options for a premium device.. Build quality is great, it’s a large, 1.5 times the size of the apple time capsule/airport... I uploaded images that show my iPhone 11 max speed tests before and after..

I upgraded from an Apple WiFi system including 2 Time capsules, AirPort Extreme and Airport Express. I really like the MX10 and added a MX5 so that I would have complete coverage upstairs and down. Only issue was 2 of my alarm.com cameras were blind to the WiFi. I added an AC1300 in my garage where the cameras are. This fixed the problem and I have full WiFi strength from my front door to the end of my driveway and all throughout the house. Speeds are twice as fast and triple on the extended mesh networks. Definitely worth the $. My only complaint is the interface is not as easy to use as Apple. WiFi 6 is well worth the cost difference from the AC2200. I was not impressed with the WiFi 5 as it was slower than the Apple network.

Mesh radio networks were originally developed for, and deployed to military and subsequently public safety applications. The development of a seamless, ad-hoc, dynamic broadband network technology which forms and reforms dynamically as nodes increase or decrease in numbers and as they change proximity to the others employing short RF hops and a self-healing architecture was a very significant technological evolution. In Mesh network deployments every mobile radio is an active, intelligent node, maintaining network persistence even as those nodes are mobile, and even at high speeds. Although research and development actually began in the 1970’s, field deployments of Mesh networks began in earnest in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. My familiarity and experience with Mesh networks is based in that time frame. Having developed a favorable impression of Mesh technology over twenty years ago, now that there is consumer grade Mesh Wi-Fi technology with a few years of product maturity and evolution for those systems, I decided that a Mesh network in my residence would be a great improvement in my home-network infrastructure. Linksys has been a leader in Wi-Fi networking equipment for a long time, and it appeared to me that this latest product delivery was an impressive example of a matured technology coupled with the latest technical standards. The Linksys Velop MX10600 / AX5300 Mesh Home Wi-Fi 6 system is a top-of-the-line product from a well-trusted manufacturer, and bears outstanding feature specifications including Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with full backwards compatibility, tri-band (which includes two, 5.0 GHz networks which also provide the backhaul), seven internal antennae, 4X4 MU-MIMO, 2.2 GHz Quad-Core CPU, 4 – Gigabit Ethernet Ports and 1 – USB 3.0 Port, coupled with exceptional performance specifications. Network security options include WPA3, WPA3/WPA2 Mixed mode, WPA2 and two Open options. The WPA3 standard is a requirement of Wi-Fi 6. At present, there are relatively few WPA3 compatible client devices, which most likely serves as the basis for the Velop defaulting to WPA2, unless and until changed by the network administrator. Recent information has been published regarding WPA2 / WPA3 Mixed Mode being vulnerable to Mixed Mode Downgrade to WPA2 and Dictionary Attack Transition Mode Vulnerabilities, and problems with SAE/Dragonfly (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals) handshake. These recently exposed vulnerabilities are inherent in the standard and are not deficiencies, defects or malfunctions with the devices or manufacturers. At this point in time, for most networks it is not practical to run in WPA3 only due to incompatibility with most client devices. Thus, most Wi-Fi networks, including the Velop Mesh network, should probably use WPA2 security for now. Prior to setting up the new Velop system, I benchmarked my existing Wi-Fi which was comprised of a Cisco access point which performed competently with generally good signal propagation across the house. Nevertheless, the 200+Mbps (typically ranging from 220 – mid-230 Mbps) service from the ISP was diminished through signal loss to an average of 50 – 75 Mbps mid-house, and only around 30 Mbps at the distant side of the house. These benchmarks were obtained with a mid-230’s Mbps average speed received at the cable modem / router. After placing the access point in bridge mode, the Velop setup was undertaken. Velop setup and administration is very easily accomplished with the Linksys phone app. (Post initial setup, the users Linksys web portal can be used for some management tasks, but the app must be used for setup). Initial communication with the Velop nodes is via Bluetooth connectivity, until the first node, the Parent Node is configured and the phone joins the new network. Mesh networks should employ a single SSID for the mixed band network, allowing the intelligent nodes to arbitrate which device should run on which band, and on which physical node, at a given time, based on RSSI (Received Signal Strength) levels. With only the Parent Node active, I benchmarked the network speed again. The mid-house speed was averaging 225 – 232 Mbps, and the distant location from the node averaged 130 – 145 Mbps. This single node performance was extremely impressive, particularly realizing approximately twice the network speed at range than with the Cisco routing. Once the Parent Node is configured, the Child Node configuration is undertaken with the same flawless operation and ease as the Parent Node. Child Node configuration also verifies that the range between nodes is acceptable to maintain reliable, broadband inter-node communication, which is essential to Mesh network operation and performance. With both nodes configured through the phone app, assign the client devices to the Velop SSID (user defined) and all setup and configuration are complete. Very little time or effort is required for the entire process. Post setup, I performed another round of benchmarking for speed and RSSI. Wi-Fi speed throughout the house was now averaging the same approximate 230 Mbps ISP rate throughout the entire structure. That is the maximum level of performance which any local network can deliver. Client devices automatically initially camp on the node presenting the strongest RSSI when the client joins the network. Fixed location clients will generally remain on that same node indefinitely. However, mobile clients will move between the nodes depending on RSSI and hand-off criteria logic in the Velop firmware. Resultantly, a mobile client will be expected to camp on the most proximate node, which is presumably going to be the strongest signal source. However, a hand-off between nodes will not occur until the client’s RSSI drops below the -70 dBm handoff threshold. Therefore, if you are monitoring the RSSI on the client device, and/or utilizing the Linksys app to determine which node each client is currently camped on, you may observe that a client which is only inches from one node, is actually working off the more distant node. If you absolutely, positively can’t stand to wait for the Velop to manage the inter-node handoff, you can force the client onto the closer node by simply switching the client Wi-Fi off for a moment and then back on, whereupon it will re-join the network on the node with the best signal strength (the closest node). Similarly, if one node if powered off, all clients will camp on the sole working node (even if it is distant), and distant clients will likely be degraded to the 2.4 GHz network in order to maintain connectivity and throughput. In that event of losing an active node for any interval, it may be necessary to re-join each client to the Mesh network by either switching the client’s Wi-Fi off and back on, or even power-cycling the device, in order to have all clients associated with their optimal node. This phenomenon is not a system or equipment malfunction; it is a function of the design criteria. Once the RSSI to the mobile client device falls to -70 dBm, it will be handed off by the Velop to the other Mesh node, which is more proximate to the client device (and of course is presenting a much stronger RSSI). In fact, I am seeing signal levels of around -36 to -40 dBm at mid-house, with link speeds (TX and RX) of around 780 – 866 Mbps and full ISP bandwidth delivering 230+ Mbps speed, which represents absolutely incredible signal levels and incredible performance. The Velop AX5300 is an outstanding performer. Anecdotally, all client devices exhibit great network performance. More significantly, the empirical data is most impressive and persuasive. The Velop essentially delivers the same data rate which is received at the modem, throughout the Wi-Fi network coverage area. I strongly endorse and recommend the Velop AX5300 / MX10600. I am very favorably impressed with the system performance, ease of setup and decent administration capabilities. Linksys remains a trusted and reliable developer and manufacturer, and to the best of my knowledge and in my experience, provides good product support.

The Linksys Velop AX5300 (also known as the Linksys MX10 Velop for a 2-node system and MX5 or MX5300 for a single-node) is a multi-node mesh Wi-Fi networking system. These types of Wi-Fi networking systems have been growing over the past few years, and Linksys wants to be the company to lead the way. As a user who reviewed the previous tri-node Velop system (WHW0303) and gave it a mediocre review at launch 2 years ago, I’d like to briefly revisit that system 2 years later and how the new Wi-Fi 6-enabled MX10 Velop builds upon that. ==PREVIOUS GEN VELOP== At launch, the now 2-year-old Velop had good signal, but the process for setup was poor. There was even a limitation of requiring an iOS or Android device to setup. Other Best Buy Tech Insider Network reviewers encountered the same issues I did, and a friend of mine who is also a TIN reviewer agreed with my sentiments pertaining to the previous Velop. However, Linksys came through in the end. I have been using only the Velop for 2 years now, and I can say that it’s been reliable, stable, and easy to use. They’ve even developed a web-client for more advanced management of your Velop system—so those who are familiar with other Linksys Smart Wi-Fi routers will be familiar with this web-client. So when I got the opportunity to review the newly improved MX Velop system, I was excited to try it out. ==THE NEW VELOP== SETUP: The new MX10 Velop at launch has been far more simple to use in comparison to the previous generation at launch. This time around, smartphone app worked without any unexpected hitches. I’ve set up many Wi-Fi networks in my time, and the setup process for the MX10 Velop helps complete newbies have an easy setup process, but allow more advanced users to make changes after the setup is complete. Following the instructions on your smartphone (or tablet) using the Linksys app led me to set up both nodes and have a working connection in about 30 minutes. The only hitch I encountered was having to restart the master Velop (the node connected to your Modem) one more time after power-cycling my modem per the instructions in the app. After the first node, the second node was a breeze to set up, and it even updated the firmware on both nodes afterward. In my case, I was replacing my older 3-node Velop system with this 2-node Velop system. During setup, I used the same Wi-Fi name, and all of my Wi-Fi enabled devices reconnected to the new MX10 Velop. So in 30 minutes, I was able to swap out my older Velop System with my newer one—pretty impressive, if you ask me. I’ve spent far more time setting up routers with repeaters and configuring them. For me, the MX10 Velop is probably the least painful Wi-Fi setup experience I’ve had yet. COMPATIBILITY WITH PREVIOUS GEN: For this review, I’m assessing the MX10 Velop independently of the previous generation Velop, but it should be noted that if you use a previous generation Velop product, they are compatible with this new MX10 Velop! That’s a major win in my book. This means that while only the MX10 Velop supports the newer Wi-Fi 6 (aka 802.11ax) and WPA3 security protocols, the MX10 is backwards compatible with previous generation Wi-Fi devices and will automatically work with the older Velop nodes to enable WPA2/WPA3 Mixed Personal security alongside compatibility with Wi-Fi 6 / Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and older. So as more smartphones, tablets, computers, televisions and other IoT (Internet of Things) devices adopt Wi-Fi 6, you’ll be happy to know that you can get the most out of those with the MX10 while continuing to use your older Velop system, should you have one. TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENTS: So why would you get the MX10 Velop over other mesh networks or upgrade from the older Velop system? Or why would you go Wi-Fi 6 over Wi-Fi 5? To start, it should be pointed out that like any other technology, adopting a newer standard early-on is an expensive transition for the first couple years. Companies have to recoup the costs of research and development, so it’s expected that you’ll have to pay more for cutting-edge technology. Here are some of the highlight points that Linksys likes to point out pertaining to the MX10 Velop: * Supports 802.11ax AX5300 up to 5.3 Gbps * Four times better performance than an AC router * 4x4 Spatial Streams * Next-generation Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technology * Reduced power consumption * 2.2 GHz quad-core processor * Coverage of up to 3,000 ft2 per node * 4 Gigabit LAN ports, 1 Gigabit internet port * 1 USB 3.0 port for external storage support * 7 internal antennas - Tri-Band Dynamic Backhaul - Intelligent Mesh - Beamforming - MU-MIMO technology - Wi-Fi security - Seamless Roaming - Guest network - Basic Parental Controls - Speed Check - Notifications Note: Items noted with an asterisk * are improvements exclusive to the new Velop and not available on previous generation Velop Systems. Without getting into all the technical details of each of these specifications, we can sum up what this new MX10 Velop system does better than its predecessor: For the devices that utilize Wi-Fi 6 on the MX10, they will be able to hop between your nodes more seamlessly as you move around your home, and ensure that you are always connected to the node with the best balance of signal strength and speed. Additionally, those devices will experience higher transfer rates of up to 5.3 Gbps—and with 4x more capacity than Wi-Fi 5, the MX10 can provide enough bandwidth for as many as 50 devices. The MX10 also has an additional antenna over its predecessor for a total of 7 antennas, and I might guess that those antennas have improvements for signal strength—especially given the larger size of the MX10. One other major improvement is the addition of 4 Gigabit LAN ports that you usually find on more traditional routers. This is fantastic for those who want to maximize performance for certain devices via a wired connection; whereas on the previous Velop, you only had up to 2 LAN ports if your node was wirelessly slaving off another node. If you’re like me and you have ethernet running through several rooms in your house, you could set up nodes in a wired fashion to achieve the maximum theoretical speeds on each node, rather than slaving wirelessly. But even when slaving wirelessly, the performance is great with minimal hits to performance and latency. Lastly, the addition of a USB 3.0 port allows your MX10 Velop to easily create an SMB share over the network for any attached USB storage that is formatted to NTFS or FAT32 for Windows, and APFS (read-only), HFS+ or FAT32 for macOS. You can create an SMB share for each MX10 you have (since each node has a USB 3.0 port), and you can even require authentication with a username and password to access the network storage. This is an awesome feature that just works, plain and simple. REAL-WORLD PERFORMANCE: In terms of real-world performance, how has the MX10 been working out for me? My theoretical speed tests should deliver around ↓330Mbps & ↑12Mbps. Running speed tests on both wired & wireless (using Wi-Fi 6 & Wi-Fi 5 devices) connections deliver extremely close to that number, with ping of ~10ms. Signal performance around the house has been great for my Wi-Fi 6 devices, and even my Wi-Fi 5 devices are still performing well, despite having only 2 nodes in comparison to my previous 3-node setup. I will probably add one of my older nodes to further improve coverage of my 2-story + basement home just because I can. But overall, I really have no qualms with this new Linksys Velop System. It does everything that the previous system did—and does it not only more reliably & faster, but it just does more. CONCLUSION: If you’re looking at the reviews for this mesh network system, then perhaps the price hasn’t completely deterred you like it may for some. The MX10 is a fantastic mesh network system for those who have larger homes with a ton of area to cover who want a seamless, unified methodology for expanding their Wi-Fi coverage at home. Their 3-year limited warranty and tech support is also complemented by the online Linksys Community forums where firmware updates, issues and solutions are discussed by other consumers, should you ever encounter a problem. While I’ve not encountered issues with the MX10, I have used the Linksys Community forums for diagnosing other Linksys products and have always ended up with a great outcome in the end. From my experience, Linksys stands by their products with software updates that not only improve stability, but also add useful features. Whether you just want to be on the bleeding edge or want the most reliable mesh networking system out there with useful features and ease-of-use for both newbies and tech experts, the Velop is a great system, and the MX10 is a strong improvement on its predecessor.

First I think the right router is very important in a stable home networking setup. I'm a big believer in mesh networks (eventually) being able to provide a smarter network. Two years ago I tried replacing my Netgear Nighthawk router with the Velop tri-node system then I moved to a quad node. I have a 2 story home a with little less than 3000sq ft. I have Cox's Gigablast (coax) service 1GB/down and 30+mb/up. With the Nighthawk I would get 850mb down and 35mb/up and over Wi-Fi 5G I could would hit 180mb/down on my iPhone close to the router, and about 120 at a distance of 50'. My house has between 65-75 connected devices, about 30 are connected to Ethernet, the rest use Wi-Fi. I have a smart house almost all lighting is connected via smart bulbs (50+) or smart switches (z-wave) When I first started with the Velop system, it was very new, I spend quite a bit of time with Linksys tech support getting everything to work. And initially it works very well if I was close to the primary node. But as it got connected to all of my network devices I had stability and speed problems. When it work is was very nice but I had a lot more occasional internet drops with it than I had with my Nighthawk alone. There were times when all went well but as the network load (streaming music/video) increased the drops were no longer acceptable. I added a Linksys AC2200 and a AC5400 as a upstairs/downstairs bridge as a separate Wi-Fi network with the Nighthawk and had the performance and stability I was looking for. I found the AC5400 was 20-50% faster then an Velop Tri-Band AC2200, so it was moth balled. Now on to the RX10, once I learned about the new Wi-Fi 6 becoming available I again started to think about upgrading. Linksys claims their RX10 (two RX5's) can cover a 6000sq/ft house. So I once began looked to re-configure my network (simplified if I could). I first disconnected my existing network routers/access points and installed a single RX5 and evaluated it's performance; I could get 950-975mb down and 40mb/up - GREAT. With my phone close to the node and got between 300-400mb down, from 50' away I was still getting 200-250mb down. The best I'd ever seen, and I tested from the same position over and over. So I got out the second RX node and started experimenting, placing it close the the primary down stairs, then further and further away. I got the best performance keeping the secondary and primary fairly close together (separated by a room and a stairway). I let all of my devices get added to the network, and this time I could not immediately see any degradation in performance as all my network devices connected (the new RX nodes processing and Wi-Fi strength was substantially better then their smaller AC2200 nodes were). But Linksys said the new RX units could be used with the older Velop routers (nodes). I quickly found that the Linksys AC2200 and a AC5400 routers could only be configured in the Velop system as the primary node (not that surprising) but that ment I would not be using them. One by one I added a the smaller nodes to pair with their bigger brothers. I added three nodes at the far corners of my home, and did some testing (with their software you can tell what node is connecting to what node and I got some surprises. I found that any time that the nodes were three deep performance was significantly worse they when there was one or two hop deep (but there was no way to keep them from meshing as they desired). By moving nodes around and retesting I found that the best configuration did not need all of the smaller Velop nodes. In the end I found using one additional node got me the best balance. The new RX nodes are certainly MORE powerful then their little brothers. I seriously considered using just the 2 RX nodes, but I found having the TV furthest away from the rest of the network, connected via Ethernet to the small Velop node performed better than it working over Wi-Fi in the same position. This got me thinking about getting my downstairs RX node connected to my Ethernet; and boy did this change things for the better. So connecting the furthest nodes via Ethernet changed the way the nodes worked. This combination is providing me with 200-300mb/down almost anywhere in my house. I could not be happier, now if it provides stability I'm sold. I've now had everything running for about a week and it all looks awesome. I'm now I'm VERY familiar with adding removing Velop nodes, one issue is adding (even after removing) takes about 10 minutes; I did use their BT setup tools, which worked quite well for me (albeit slow); I know how to do the same via the router directly, but think most people will use the tools from their app. The channel finder tool, under advanced Wi-Fi setting is quite useful for system tuning, I wish it provided a means to forcing nodes to only communicate via a specified connection. I do have some suggestions for Linksys [summary: provide more info] (-1 star for lack of information regarding what is happening on the network). They should 1. provide a means of seeing how much data is being processed by every device (and especially Velop nodes Up/Down) so balancing can be done/understood. 2. provide a map showing who is communicating with whom (Wi-Fi/Ethernet) better explain to users how Ethernet is a big benefit. 3. provide a tool to look at in/out signal levels of devices connected to each node (this really only used for troubleshooting but in setting up system, it would be very helpful)