ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Linksys Velop Pro 7 mesh router is offered now from the corporate’s web site or Finest Purchase.
- Very quick speeds that do not drop or decelerate all through your own home.
- Quite simple setup.
I have been a fan of Linksys mesh routers for a while. I’ve used the Velop sequence for years and have discovered them to be severely dependable mesh routers. As a result of I reside in a 3,000-square-foot dwelling, a mesh community is a should if I would like Wi-Fi connectivity with out useless zones. That is very true, given I work out in my basement and wish connectivity for the tv that stands in entrance of my treadmill and rowing machine.
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Lately, Linksys launched the Velop 7 Pro tri-band mesh router. Though it is expensive (at $400 per node), it is on par (or cheaper) than different wi-fi mesh routers that help Wi-Fi 7.
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Linksys Velop 7 wireless mesh router
This wireless mesh router can easily cover 1,000 square feet per node, without slowdowns or drops.
What’s Wi-Fi 7? Also referred to as 802.11be or Extraordinarily Excessive Throughput, Wi-Fi 7 can ship wi-fi speeds which are significantly sooner than different routers. It does this by packing extra information into every transmission utilizing 320 MHz channels (that are twice the dimensions of earlier wi-fi generations). Wi-Fi 7 not solely options sooner connectivity, however higher reliability, wired-like responsiveness, and enhanced safety.
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What’s a mesh community? If that is your subsequent query, you are in all probability not alone. A mesh community makes use of nodes to create a type of “internet” over a bigger space such that it may well cowl a a lot wider vary. With a mesh community, you arrange a principal node after which add different nodes to it. Primarily, each node works collectively to create one very large wi-fi community.
Happily, most mesh networks deal with the provisioning of configurations to every node from the primary node, so you do not have to manually configure them. And with the Linksys mesh networks, it is all achieved from a cellular app, which could be very user-friendly. With the Linksys app (for Android and iOS), anybody (of any ability stage) should not have an issue organising the Velop 7 Professional mesh community.
The specs
For many who wish to evaluation a tool’s specs, right here they’re.
- Extremely-fast video streaming and gaming.
- Consists of the Cognitive Mesh function for easy set up and mechanically optimizes your WiFi.
- Consists of the Cognitive Expertise to supply quick troubleshooting help.
- Consists of the Cognitive Safety function to make sure protected shopping on-line.
- Backward appropriate with all earlier Wi-Fi generations.
- Networking Professional 620 Platform.
- Helps as much as 4 simultaneous SSIDs.
- Helps WPA2/WPA3 Blended Private, WPA2 Private, WPA3 Private, Parental Controls.
- Helps Community Tackle Translation (NAT).
- 802.11ax for two.4 GHz and 802.11be draft 2.0 for five & 6 GHz.
- As much as 320MHz Channel Bandwidths & 4K QAM in 6 GHz.
- As much as 240MHz Channel Bandwidth in 5 GHz.
- CPU – 1.5 GHz Quad core.
- Join as much as 4 units (per node) by way of CAT 5 cables.
A 3-pack of the Velop 7 Professional will cowl as much as 3,000 sq. toes, so it is fairly protected to imagine every node covers 1,000 sq. toes. With that in thoughts, you should buy the variety of nodes it’s good to cowl your whole home.
My expertise
Earlier than organising the Velop 7 Professional, my mesh community was provided by a Linksys Velop MX5300 tri-band Wi-Fi 6 router, utilizing solely two nodes. With that community, the telling subject was that generally — whereas watching Hulu on the basement tv — exhibits would pixelate or not even play.
I added the Velop 7 mesh community and plugged the basement tv into the node with a CAT 5 cable. The primary check was to show the tv on and see how issues seemed with Hulu. To my shock, the pixelation by no means appeared and each episode or movie I began performed precisely as anticipated.
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My subsequent step was to run a velocity check. On my desktop (working Ubuntu Budgie), I pointed my browser to speedtest.net and fired up the check whereas linked to my authentic mesh community. Subsequent, I linked to the brand new wi-fi community and ran the identical check with the identical browser. I’ve three wi-fi networks to select from and listed here are the typical outcomes:
- Velop MX5300 – 90.71 Mbps
- ATT Fiber wi-fi router – 450 Mbps
- Velop 7 – 300 Mbps
Clearly, neither mesh community can compete with the ATT Fiber wi-fi router (with every connecting immediately by way of CAT 5). Nevertheless, the ATT Fiber wi-fi does not produce a robust sufficient sign to be efficient within the basement (particularly for the tv). And provided that the Velop 7 is simply 150 Mbps (on common) slower than the ATT wi-fi, that is nonetheless fairly serviceable (particularly in comparison with the MX5300).
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So, for pure connectivity, the Velop 7 Professional mesh community is an enormous win, particularly contemplating it covers the complete home with out the slightest drop in sign or useless zone. In actual fact, I ran the identical velocity check (on a MacBook Professional M1) in each room of the home and the speeds of the Velop 7 did not fluctuate by sufficient to make a distinction.
That is as stable a mesh community as I’ve ever used. And with velocity sufficient to stream Hulu (and different companies) within the basement (with the primary node on the highest flooring), the Velop 7 severely impressed me.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
You could assume $400 is costly for a wi-fi router, however when you have got a big home and wish each sq. inch lined in Wi-Fi connectivity, the value is price it. Should you can afford sufficient nodes to cowl the expanse of your own home, you may discover all of the frustrations of attempting to power a standard path to do the job soften away. And with an ease of set up that anybody can deal with, this mesh community is a no brainer to advocate.