Mesh routers are becoming increasingly popular and they will provide you with strong wireless wifi coverage in your home. The Linksys Velop vs. Amplifi HD comparison will give you plenty of options and features to improve your network experience.
The number of smart devices in my home, from the appliance, TV’s, speakers, smartphone are ever-increasing and thus the need for a better wifi network. It’s not easy to get a router that has a steady and reliable wifi connection that can blanket a large home. From my research, I came across mesh wifi systems that can provide the kind of internet system I need in my home. The problem is there are so many mesh systems in the market, I didn’t know which one to pick. This Linksys Velop vs. Amplifi HD comparison review gave me a better insight on what to expect.
What are the differences between Linksys Velop and Amplifi HD?
Router model |
Linksys velop (Winner) |
Amplifi HD |
Wifi system |
Tri-band |
Dual-band |
Total coverage |
6000 sq. feet |
10,000 sq. feet |
Speed |
2.4 GHz – 400 Mbps
5 GHz – 867 Mbps |
2.4 GHz – 450 Mbps
5 GHz – 1300 Mbps |
Amazon Alexa |
Yes |
No |
Linksys Velop vs. Amplifi HD: How do they differ?
Wifi system
Linksys Velop uses a tri-band wifi system where each node has one 2.4 GHz band and two 5 GHz bands where one is operating on the 802.11b/g/n mode and the other on the 802.11ac/n mode. The Amplifi HD router, on the other hand, uses a dual-band wifi system that comprises the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bandwidths. The extra band on the Velop ensures that your devices don’t experience congestion in your network when connected, especially if you’re using a high-speed data plan and you’re using devices that are 5 GHz-compatible.
Speeds
As mentioned earlier, the Linksys Velop router uses a tri-band wifi system where it operates one frequency on the 2.4 GHz band that can offer a throughput of 400 Mbps while two frequencies operate on the 5 GHz band with a throughput of 867 Mbps. This is slightly slower than its counterpart the Amplifi HD router that will give you speeds of 450 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 1300 Mbps on the 5 GHz band.
Coverage
When it comes to coverage, Amplifi HD outdoes Linksys velop by far. Each velop has a coverage area of 2000 sq. feet and when the three are combined they can cover a total of 6000 sq. feet. On the other hand, the Amplifi HD router can cover the 6000 sq. feet on its own. When you add the two plug-in mesh points, their coverage area grows to an incredible 10,000 sq. feet. So if you have a large home or huge space to cover, the Amplifi HD would be the ideal router to get and you also get to save some money.
Design
The Linksys velop 3-piece wifi mesh system has a unique design which is in the form of tall columns with an unobtrusive finish that can easily blend into the background in your home. They have a sleek, modular design that is meant to blend with any environment despite of the size and shape of your home. The Amplifi HD, on the other hand, has a very different design. It has a more intuitive design that is meant to complement your home. The main router is a small cubic box while the mesh points are made in two parts with a magnetic joint in the middle. The bottom part is plugged into the wall socket while the top part acts as a flexible antenna.
Linksys Velop vs. Amplifi HD – A comparison review
Linksys Velop
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This is a flexible home mesh wifi system that is designed to use the plug-in nodes to provide wifi to every corner of your home. This router is a tri-band system that uses Linksys’s mesh technology to choose the best band for client-data transmissions and backhaul. This is a very flexible route that you can get either as a single device, twin pack, or triple pack. You can use the single device as an upgrade for your existing network as a quick way of extending your wireless network. The Linksys velop nodes are tall columns with a square base that you can easily place around your home and their unobtrusive finish allows them to blend well into the background. At the base of each node are 2 gigabit Ethernet ports, a power switch, reset button, and a power jack, but no USB ports, while at the top there is a single LED indicator that turns blue during startup and when connected, red when the signal is lost, and purple during setup. At the bottom, there’s a small vent between the two mesh sides for the power port where you plug in the connector. The fact that there are no USB ports in these nodes means you can’t connect external devices to your network unless they have built-in networks themselves.
Setting up this system is easy, but you can’t do it using your PC or laptop, you have to first download the Linksys mobile app on your Android or iOS devices. Then select the launch setup at the bottom of the screen and once the app finds your router, verify your internet connection, create your account, and a password. The app gives you full control of the router and its features where you can change the wifi internet settings or set up the devices that will access the available internet bandwidth. You can also use the app to pause internet access to a particular device, block a device from accessing certain websites or schedule internet downtime for a certain period. Other advanced features include MAC address filtering, port forwarding, and triggering, etc.
The mobile app has a dashboard with different buttons like parental control, guest access, and device prioritization. The guest network feature allows you to grant guests access to your network but prevents them from accessing your files and printers, while the device prioritization button allows you to assign up to 3 devices bandwidth priority. Although you can’t manually select the band you want your wifi network to use, the built-in channel finder will automatically select the best band for the job. Velop uses Amazon Alexa integration and with the velop’s skill, you can use your Echo to quickly toggle the status of the guest wifi network.
When it comes to performance, the Velop uses the tri-band system where each node has one 2.4 GHz band with a theoretical speed of up to 400 Mbps and two 5GHz bands one on the 802.11b/g/n mode and the other on the 802.11ac/n mode with a speed of 867 Mbps. Each node has 6 antennas and is powered by a 716 MHz quad-core processor that has a 4 GB internal storage and 512 MB RAM. Each velop unit is said to cover 2000 sq. feet under ideal conditions. When it comes to speed, this mesh system can manage internet test speeds of 26.2 Mbps over wifi using a MacBook Air, but if you test it using a Mac mini it will give you an average speed of 39.2 Mbps.
Pros
- Provides fast and reliable wifi speeds over a large area
- Has a sleek design
- Flexible mesh system that can be extended
- Quick and easy installation
Cons
- Very expensive
- Provides mixed performance
- The nodes lack USB ports
Amplifi HD
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This is a mesh wifi router that uses additional wifi connectors to spread a wireless network throughout your home. This router is very easy to set up and has a very effective method of ensuring that all the devices in your home can access the internet. The Amplifi HD mesh system uses the 3×3 wifi 5 specs that delivers excellent performance but are quite rare as most mesh systems use the 2×2 specs. The Amplifi HD comes as a package that consists of a router and 2 identical mesh points that have a unique design. The router is a medium-sized cubic box with a large touchscreen that displays useful information about the network with a glowing white light at the bottom that shows its status. At the back of the router, there is a USB port for sharing printers and storage devices across your network, 4 gigabit LAN ports for wired devices, and a WAN port to connect to an internet source.The mesh points are designed in two parts and joined in the middle with a magnetic joint. The bottom part plugs into the wall socket while the top part acts as antennas that you can swivel around trying to get a signal. Because this router has a plug-and-play design, it might be difficult finding the right place in our home for the mesh points. And like all other mesh systems, you don’t want to place the mesh points very far orvery close to your router so that you get stable connections to your devices.
Amplifi HD doesn’t have a web user interface, so you need to download the app on your Android or iOS devices which make setting up very easy and it comes with an animated video that takes you through the process of connecting your router. You just need to plug in your router to your modem with the Ethernet cable, then plug in the power adapter and wait. The router will be powered on then the app will detect your router, then you will need to create a wireless network and its password. You can then update the router’s firmware and once you’re done you can then plug-in the mesh points at different places in your home. The mesh points will automatically connect to your main router and once they’re online and recognized by the app, you can also update their firmware then test their network speeds.
You can use the mobile app to manage your network from anywhere, check the connected devices in real-time, block or pause internet connection for particular devices, etc. The app is very easy to navigate and it has different tabs like the performance tab that displays a live graph for usage and throughput, while the guest tab allows you to set up an additional guest network with a limited number of guests. The family tab allows you to pause the internet on all devices and gives you a list of all the devices that are currently connected to the network. The diagnosis tab lets you know when something is wrong with your network.
Amplifi HD has fast, reliable performance and excellent range which helps to find the right spot for the mesh points. As a single router, it has an average of 525 Mbps at close range and 430 Mbps when at long distance. This router doesn’t have a backhaul so it will experience a signal loss as a mesh which means the devices that were hooked to the mesh points will have reduced performance when they’re connected to the router. For such a small router with no external antennas, this router has pretty decent performance and you don’t need the mesh points as signal booster unless you have a large house.
Pros
- The mesh points expand the signal to cover a larger area
- Simple and easy setup
- Fast and reliable performance
- Well-designed mobile app
- Has 4 LAN ports
Cons
- The USB port doesn’t support external devices
- Has limited features
- Bulky mesh points
Conclusion
Both Linksys Velop and Amplifi HD routers provide decent speeds and coverage. On one hand, the Linksys Velop mesh system has tri-band wifi, Ethernet backhaul, and an extra color option for the nodes to match your taste. They’re also a good way of extending your network range. On the other hand, the Amplifi HD router uses a dual-band wifi mesh system to cover your entire home.
Verdict: So, which is better, Linksys Velop or Amplifi HD?
When it comes to the mesh system and its functionalities, Linksys Velop has more to offer than amplify HD. Apart from having built-in Amazon Alexa that can allow you to access the guest network by voice with your Alexa-enabled devices, it uses a tri-band wifi system to ensure that you have the best coverage and speed for your internet connection.
FAQ
Is Amplifi HD tri-band?
The latest 802.11ax wifi 6 technology, Amplifi Alien will provide 4x the network’s overall capacity and 2x the coverage. It features a tri-band with 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz on the 802.11ax mode to optimize wifi 6 performance.
Is Velop a true mesh network?
Linksys velop is a true mesh system. You can use one of the nodes in the 3-pack to serve as a link to the outside internet using your modem.