Linksys MR9000 Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 5 Router (AC3000, Compatible with Velop Whole Home Wi-Fi System, 4 Gigabit Ethernet Ports, Parental Controls via Linksys App)
| Dimensions: | 13.72 x 31.75 x 25.4 cm; 1 Kilograms |
| Model: | MR9000-UK |
| Manufacture: | Linksys |
| Origin: | China |
I like the virgin internet service, it’s let down by a cheap router which frequent droputs and random reboots. I set the virgin router to modem mode and connected to the Linksys router.
Since switching to this router and service has been rock solid.
Had to do a manual firmware update of the router which isn’t obvious from the inbuilt configuration pages, I had to contact Linksys support, they were responsive and knowledgeable and directed me to the hidden menu to manually update the firmware on the router.
The only issue I had was with tapo smart plugs dropping off when using the router, I was able to resolve this by adding the plugs to the Linksys guest WiFi network and they have been working flawlessly since.
Good value router and a definite upgrade to the standard router provided by your ISP.
Not to dislike at the moment working fine at the moment.Easy to set up and bought it at reduced price.
sure this is not the latest and greatest but it is a nice unit (2.4G + 2 of 5GHz bands, total of 3). i am not using this unit as a router but rather wifi AP to cover the house better. it works great (and i got 2 of them).
Does the job. Easy to set up. I have it set up right where I work and haven’t had any signat or connection ussues. It’s a two bedroom apartment. Good value for the money
Really love the interface, bought this specifically for my dual stack IPv4/IPv6 internet where my ISP router had no proper firewalling features but this router allows me to open firewall ports for IPv6 hosts and host services on IPv6 without problem.
All in all, fantastic router but the WiFi strength was slightly weaker than my ISP one, though this could be solved by better positioning of the WiFi antennas.
Word of caution here: you still need a modem and you may need the Tech Support to help with this BUT
I live in an area where sometimes a supposed 40MB broadband has dwindled to less than 10MN. Couldn’t believe it whem my phone and Kindle Fire both reported 38-39MB on broadband checker!
It’s not the simplest of plug and play: you need to download an app and the app kept failing to “detect device” . But the Tech Support (at 7pm GMT!) was excellent, thorough (they went stage by stage carefully even though we could have slipped some basics in my case) and got me up and running with my own self-named Wi-Fi and password. So no having to upturn the router every time I get new devices!
L’ho collegato per estendere una rete esistente e mi piaciuto molto la facilit di installazione utilizzando la sua app da telefonino e il segnale sembra buono
I was initially very disappointed with this Wi-Fi router due to some issues, such as power cycling for no reason and kept on dropping connection to my heating system hub. I contacted Linksys and the support agent said ring back if it happened again, not great help, so sure enough it kept happening, so I phoned back. This time I got better support agent who was able to diagnose the router firmware was out of date, even though I had automatic update selected, I had too manually update the firmware to the latest version. It has now been operating for a few weeks without any issues. This is my 4th Linksys router, and I am now very happy with this device, and I would recommend.
This has revolutionised my WiFi at home – my internet weas non-existent upstairs in my house and now with the addition of this all of our bedrooms and even in the garden I have internet connection.
We had a friend set this up as we are not at all tech savvy and he said it’s straight forward if you know how… there are instructions which upon looking at them I feel we could have set this up ourselves so it should be straight forward.
This is currently under 40 and well worth every penny, I would definitely recommend this to boost your internet.
If just two Wi-Fi networks and no WPA3 support is fine for you (one main one guest) you can stick with the stock firmware. If you want full control, I suggest OpenWRT. It opens up a world of possibilities.
I was impressed with this router. It might not, well isn’t, the most powerful on the market,bit has completely out performed the router supplied to us by Sky.
It was also good value for money.
I bought this as a drop-in replacement for an EA-7500, which had performed adequately for 6 years.
The new router provides better WiFi connectivity (1-2 bar connections are now 2-3 bars, and quicker to connect).
The LinkSys marketing department have done their best to persuade you that the ONLY way to configure this unit is to use their mobile app, thereby allowing their cloud servers to manage the router. The convenience argument I get, but the idea of my primary bastion against internet hackers being managed by a service on the internet fills me with dread.
It IS possible to use the web interface, as before, but it’s made as hard as possible to access.
I also had problems configuring the router, since I assumed that just copying across the individual settings from the EA-7500 would work. It didn’t, and I had a number of highly obscure error messages until tech support talked me through setting up the Mesh WiFi system (which I hadn’t planned on using yet). Once the router “thought” it was set up, everything worked a lot better.
It is more responsive and appears faster than the old router, and the WiFi signal is definitely better.
So yes, happy I bought it even if the configuration was harder than it needed to be.
Once set up the router is a excellent piece of Kit. The WIFI is very stable and has a good range.
I have a HD drive set up as a server connected to the USB 3 on the router which works fine,
and I like the ability to have Guest users which isolates them from the rest of the network.
It works well with all my Alexa peripherals. The App for the phone works well but I tend to use PC to
adjust settings as this is easy to use. I had a technical problem setting up the router, but it was soon solved by their excellent Costumer Service on Live Chat and Email.
I have to say that this is a very good router but unfortunately, the software is not very user-friendly. Took ages to set up the USB HDD on SMB and Map a Drive in Windows 11. Once everything is set up it works just how it should be. It transfers files very quickly between the computer and the USB Hard Drive thanks to the powerful 4core processor. Overall I am happy with the product but Linksys should work more on the router’s built-in software
Nice signal with a reasonable price, and it can construct a mesh system with other tri-band Linksys routers (such as the ones constantly come with broadband installation). More than enough for a 150Mbps network user like me.
Wifi is good and so is the price But, Purchased a Linksys MR7350. It won’t update automatically or manually and I can’t verify my new account via the email they sent me. 2.5 hours speaking to their tech helpline got me know where. Told I would get a call back but 2 days later I’m still waiting.
I was on the point of returning this item.
I had forgotten to remove details of my hub 3 and it took about 3 days to get it going and stay connected but now it goes fine.
Good buy.
In unserem Haushalt mit drei fast erwachsenen Kindern, die tglich online sind und auch das TV Programm fast nur noch am Laptop nutzen, brauchen wir einen leistungsstarken Router.
Auch die Nhe zum Flughafen hat bisher immer mal wieder zu Problemen bei Online-Meetings gefhrt, was bei wichtigen Gesprchen sehr unangenehm sein kann.
Der Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Dual-Band Mesh-WiFi 6 Router ist leistungsstark und zuverlssig.
Die Installation des Routers wurde gut gefhrt und ging unkompliziert und relativ schnell.
Die Funkabdeckung von bis zu 250 m sorgt bei uns fr eine zuverlssige Signal bertragung.
Es knnen ber den Router mehr als 30 Gerte drahtlos mit dem Internet verbunden werden.
Durch die Kanalbreite von 160 MHz ist die Verbindung mega schnell und zuverlssig, so dass es beim Arbeiten im Homeoffice keine Unterbrechungen mehr gibt.
Ich ergehe mich hier nicht in der Beschreibung von Produktdaten und Technologien, denn die knnen bei Amazon und dem Hersteller detailliert nachgelesen werden. Aber hier ist meine bisherige Erfahrung bei der Inbetriebnahme: In meinem bisherigen WLAN-Netzwerk betreibe ich in Keller, Erdgescho und der 1. Etage mehrere PCs, Laptops und Smart-Home-Gerte. Dieser Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Dual-Band Mesh-WiFi 6-Router kam gerade rechtzeitig, weil ich einen neuen Router suchte, um einige Funklcher zu stopfen. Die Installation war nicht sehr kompliziert, wurde gut gefhrt und nahm auch nicht viel Zeit in Anspruch.
Von dem Ergebnis war ich dann doch etwas berrascht. Auf den beiden 2,4- und 5-Ghz-Kanlen hatte ich eine verzgerungsfreie Verbindung aller Gerte, ganz ohne Puffern, also aller WLAN-fhigen Smartphones und Computer, auch abwrtskompatibel. Die WLAN 6-Technologie von Linksys ist doch extrem leistungsfhig und ermglicht eine schnelle und saubere Datenbertragung innerhalb des WLAN-Mesh, ebenso zu den 2 Fernsehern. Also perfekt zum Streamen und zum Gamen. Die MU-MIMO-Technologie hat Wirkung gezeigt. Der Name ist toll: Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output, und hlt auch, was er verspricht. Ich habe keine Funklcher mehr.
Zu dieser positiven Erfahrung kommt noch das beruhigende Wissen um die Linksys-Velop-Erweiterungsmglichkeiten meines Netzwerkes. Guten Gewissens kann ich hier also eine Kaufempfehlung aussprechen und vergebe 5 Sterne.
Ich habe mir den Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Dual Band Mesh WiFi 6 Router geholt, da ich von Linksys-Produkten bislang nicht enttuscht worden bin und mein Heimnetzwerk aufrsten wollte.
Das Gert macht einen guten Eindruck, wirkt von auen absolut wertig und robust.
Wrde die Ansprche also eher als Pro-User bezeichnen, obwohl die Server-Geschichten insgesamt nicht fr mehr Traffic und Aufwand sorgen, als Netflix ber ein Chromecast Ultra.
Bei der Einrichtung wird man von einer Smartphone-App untersttzt. Dies funktionierte ohne Probleme und ist auch fr einen Laien durchaus machbar. Insgesamt sind ber 15 Gerte mit dem Router verbunden
Zu den positiven Sachen des Linksys:
+ Software und Smartphone App sind gut. Zwar auf Consumer ausgelegt, aber der Router kann alles, was ich brauche.
One-Mesh ist potenziell einfach und kostengnstig einzurichten.
Der Router bringt schon die Wifi-Leistung, die er verspricht. Deckt unser ganzes Haus ab (Leichtbauweise), deswegen ging das Signal natrlich einfacher durch die Decken durch). Schnelle Verbindung auch zu mehreren Clients.
Trotz der groen Antennen scheint die Reichweite trotzdem nicht besser zu sein als bei anderen Gerten. Ich muss immer noch einen Extender verwenden, um eine anstndige Abdeckung im Bad zu erhalten, das am weitesten vom Router entfernt ist.
Da das Verbindungsproblem auch am Haus liegen kann, mchte ich trotzdem 4 Sterne vergeben.
Strong router, very very good wifi signal, no have no trouble to stream 4k netflix on 2 tv + any other devices works at home. Just for roomba robot had to separate 5G signal to new name – but thats usual for all routers. And did i mentioned strong signal? now its faster than home lan network.
For 1 month of usage – still no reboots.
Da unser alter Router, ein fast 10 Jahre alter Telekom-Router, nicht mehr funktionierte, musste etwas Neues her. Die Lieferung des Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Routers erfolgte schnell und sicher verpackt. Da unsere Kinder mittlerweile auch tglich online sind und unser Satelliten-TV komplett abgelst wurde, haben wir uns fr ein leistungsstarkes Model entschieden.
Das Gert macht einen guten Eindruck, wirkt von auen absolut wertig und robust. Bei der Einrichtung wird man von einer Smartphone-App untersttzt. Dies funktionierte ohne Probleme und ist auch fr einen Laien durchaus machbar. Insgesamt sind ber 15 Gerte mit dem Router verbunden. Angefangen von Smartphone bis hin zum Saugroboter oder des Wechselrichters unserer PV-Anlage. Die Verbindung ist absolut stabil und sprbar schneller.
So hatten wir vormals schon mal Probleme beim Streamen am Abend, was nunmehr nicht mehr auftritt. Auch haben wir im Obergeschoss die volle Leistung trotz Betondecken. Auch hier gibt es einen sprbaren Unterschied.
Wir sind sehr zufrieden und knnen nichts Negatives berichten. Der Preis ist zudem angemessen und fair fr das Gebotene.
Set up was confusing and was on the point of calling support when i worked it out (I class myself as competent with tech stuff).
Don’t quite get the coverage I was expecting but it does the job.
Bought multiple units of this item to replace multiple cheap basic TP-Link routers. Big improvement.
Review is comparing to previous Virgin Hub3, could be a very poor router but compared to the rubbish that Virgin supply it is brilliant.
Completely changed my attitude to WiFi, no drop outs, no rebooting, no boosters and fast WiFi throughout the house.
Simple to setup, very basic app but don’t seem to need the advanced features that virgin kept fiddling with.
Doesn’t appear to have ability to split 2.4 & 5 ghz bands, again was this just a frig that you needed for virgin and samsung combination.
I bought this to replace my Hub 3 which was awful!! I have it in the front lounge of a three bed semi and get full service in every room. No internet drops and several devices connected. Perfect.
I’m glad I bought this router, gives great Wi-Fi throughout my home, would definitely recommend
Constant speed and no dropouts. We have 10 devices using it at the same time all without getting dropped
The setup by app didn’t work, always fail even factory reset the router.
As for the setup by using PC connected with ethernet cable, didn’t work well neither. Because the webpage will always prompt you to the page asking you to use the app.
Fyi, I am using Virgin Media hub3.0, so the issues above-mentioned could be caused by the modem. (I have made sure before doing any setup, Modem mode is on and available as I called customer service to change IPv6 to IPv4)
In summary, this router’s performance is excellent in terms of the price range; however, there could be more improvements on guiding the users throughout different ways of setup instead of forcing us to use the app only.
When it works its great, wifi speed went from 4mbs to 68mbs. Sometimes devices can connect to linksys but says no Internet. Never had that problem before so when it does automatically devices switch back to sky router. Overall its great just intermittent fault to sort and it would be 5stars
This is worth every penny.
Easy setup and a doddle to get going.
You can name your WiFi network the same as your old one so all your devices don’t need reprogramming. I have 38 devices and they all connected with no changes required.
Amazing coverage, great app to manage the router.
Honestly a god send – Buy It Now!!
Fantastic bit of kit very very easy to set up via the app. 4 ports too this running fibre and kicking out 400mbs over phone WiFi and 700mbs computer wired..100% best on market..1 more thing WiFi same all 2 bed large flat even in bathroom 400mbs.
Came on time and was easy to install, works very well . Great device
Got it for about 60 because the box was damaged slightly. Easy to set up and a massive improvement on my Virgin Hub 4. It gives usable signal throughout the house (a largish 4 bed) and full 220mb in the same room.
Appeared to be a great router but I was looking for complete parental control and was even happy to subscribe to Linksys shield which blocks catergories but alas this router hasnt got it on it so after a conversation with Linksy I returned them
Improving my house wifi was very easy with the unit which is working very well. Am very pleased.
easy set up not the very best signal distance but a lot better than sky q box I have very pleased and no drop out which I had with the sky q.
I live in a block of flats and the WiFi 5 spectrum has become so ridiculously congested on the 5Ghz band. My trusty tp-link router is coming to 6 years old and it was top spec when 8 purchased it back in 2015.
I was getting stuipd amounts of drop off just to many times. So I managed to manually set the the channal to 44 and drop the frequency rate down to just 40mhz triad of it fairly stable channal however half the WiFi bandwith.
Anyhow.. I throught now a good time to upgrade and was thinking about WiFi 6 next generation. Yes you can get so called “Tri-Band” WiFi 5 routers but that would be a pointless purchase as WiFi 5 routers no matter how great the specs are you are literally limited to channals 36,40,44 & 48 and that’s it from my knowledge.
With WiFi 6 next generation you are open to a far higher upper limit on the 5ghz band. So Wi-Fi 6 gives you channals from 52 all the way upto 140 well on this linksys router it’s does. It also gives you access to what’s called “DFS” channals. I won’t go into to detials here about that. Anyhow with these channals majority of the ussal “ISP” routers only are based on the standard WiFi 5 channals.
So with this router I have manually assigned it to Channal 100 and absolutely no one else has a Wi-Fi 6 router broadcasting on the any of these frequencys yet. I dought any ISPs will adopt and or give away for free WiFi 6 routers yet as the are pretty expensive to make and fairly new on the commercial market.
If you have a compatible WiFi 6 device this router also fully supports what’s called “Channal Bonding” to give you 160mhz. The ussal standards are 20mhz,40mhz & 80mhz.
With the correct legacy device that means 160mhz can cover a huge area on the 5ghz band.
So yeah this Wi-Fi 6 router does not surport so called “Tri-Band” but for me who cares!! Plenty of WiFi 6 channals to choose from 52 to 140.. On 80mhz and with the correct Wi-Fi 6 legacy device mobile phone ext 160mhz that’s a massive positive for me.
I have watched absolutely loads of 4K Ultra-HD HDR10 & Dolby Vision content with streaming services like Disney+, Netflix & Prime Video. They all play with more or less instant buffering now no more than 2sec with Netlfix and Even disney + Star Wars.
I’m using a Amazon 2019 4K Firecube which in it self is a ridiculously outstanding peace of hardware. With Netflix 4K Ultra-HD HDR10 and Dolby Vision content looking nothing short of stunning. This goes for Disney + Prime Video.
Iv had no drop outs what so ever for a months now. This router is super powerful… 1.8Mhz “Quad Core” CPU!! And overhaul 1GB of internal memory.
Okay for some you can’t take of the antennas and replace them with larger ones so that for some maybe an issue as they are fixed . To be honest it’s got such a powerful CPU backed up by 1GB of overall memory I doubt in real world terms this will create an issue for people.
This is subjective for me linksys are a very “grown up & professional” company so the look of the router it self did somewhat play a part. It’s modern, elegant pretty well made build wise. Nice neon light on the front which tell you the state of the routers in. So would absolutely look great in the Average Home lounge bedroom or office.
Yes Asus are a absolutely fantastic brand too but they are certainly far more aimed at the gaming market so some of their routers with their striking looks and big lights just not for me at all would stick out so much and some of the designs looked so garish and ugly.
Na.. Linksys just exactly what I wanted. The software is fantastic. The apps is brilliant. Theirs is a basic setup when you first log into the router. However their is a “Advanced” setup for folks like my self with more than enough functions that want to Thame their routers to their own liking.
When I brought it within the first week their was a software update.
I have had to have a few Web live chats with linksys customer support and they have been a great help with some items that I did not understand or needed some assistance on. Exactly what I would expect from a company like linksys very professional approach.
What I did not realise is they informed me that linksys still support Legacy devices dating back to 2009!!. Tp-link last update on my previous router what 2017.. So that’s big thumps up.
Now not writing off my previous tp-link VR2600 router, I am still using it as a DSL modem and have bridged it to the Linksys. I have EE UK firbre broadband with a 80mbps connection and I get a very solid rate of 75mps. The tp-link has a very good quality Broadcom chipset and line never drops.
So using the tp-link router as a V-DSL modem and the linksys Wi-Fi 6 router its a bloody powerful combo. The linksys hopefully will now last me another 5-6 years or probably longer now. I dought very much Wi-Fi 6 standards will be overtaken or superseded anytime soon.
I could just use my free EE Bright Box router as its smaller in size compared to my tp-link as a DSL modem only however the tp-link was a 160 back in 2015 and as I stated the quality of the Broadcom DSL modem that tp-link fitted on that VR2600 was best available at that time.
So why not use the best of both I say.
It was really easy to set up and use and the app was very straightforward and we’ve had no problems since.
First thing to note is that this is just a router, it does not contain an inbuilt modem. Unless you have a separate modem then this will not work for you.
If your existing setup is modem to a separate router, then you can just replace the old router with this Linksys router. It should work just fine using your existing modem with this. You should still see the benefits of the advanced technology used in this router
If your existing setup is a router with an inbuilt modem (a combined router/modem rather than separate modem with a separate router). Then your only option is to either purchase a standalone modem to pair with this Linksys router or just connect this Linksys router to your old router/modem thus bypassing your old router. Whichever method you choose, it’s all explained clearly in the setup guide.
This is certainly a classy looking router, the case has been designed nicely, it should blend in well with other similar type devices that you may have. The case has a slightly rounded top with a small display screen mounted in the middle, the display screen communicates information to you by way of displaying various colour lights which show the status of the router.
This is fairly low level unit, it sits nicely on top of 4 large round rubber feet. The whole of the top surface, along with the underside have a mass of ventilation holes allowing air to circulate freely, helping to keep this device cool. There are also 2 screw slots on the base so this can be wall mounted if desired.
The router has 4 fold up antenna, these are already attached to the router so no assembly is required. The antenna can be twisted or turned to any position you like so you can maximise the power of your wi-fi signal. It is possible to beam the signal a little stronger in any desired direction by careful placement of the 4 antenna.
The WPS button is located on the right hand side just in front of the right hand antenna, it’s much easier to find than on my existing router. Although the button is flush to the casing, whereas having it slightly raised would make it easier to find by feel.
On the rear of the router are 4 ethernet ports along with a single internet input port. There is also a USB 3.0 port, along with reset button, and power switch. On the underside is a non removable label with all of the router information printed upon it. For example: mac address, device name, password, recovery key, wps number and serial number. This router base unit is quite heavy for it’s size which I personally see as a good thing.
Once in place this can all be setup using the downloadable Linksy app from within your mobile phone. Setup is pretty straight forward and relatively easy if you have your service provider information to hand. This pretty much walks you through the setup process. There is a provided CD disc which carries all of the technical details of the router if you need to look anything up.
This router should give good coverage for most of us in average sized homes with it’s current setup. But if you find you need your wi-fi to reach that little bit further, then you can add to your setup by adding nodes to your wi-fi network. These nodes are basically extenders which will extend the working range of the router. You do need to purchase the nodes separately, so if you have a large house and this doesn’t quite reach all parts of your property then nodes will probably be the way to go.
This does seem to be a solid well built router, it looks good and doesn’t take up a huge amount of space. Plus it’s range can be easily extended by adding nodes, which unfortunately does mean spending more money.
Contents –
1 x WiFi Router
1 x Power pack
1 x ADSL cable
1 x CD disc
1 x Setup guide
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you have found it helpful.
he speed and the expanded coverage of the wifi is improved a lot, the route is working very good.
am happy with the product.
I ordered this router on its own to set up and see how many nodes I might have to purchase after, well the answer is I do not need any, I am getting over 200 Mbps in every room in a three-bedroom house, obviously pleased with that.
The setup using the app was not as easy for me as I would have liked, but that was me getting frustrated and rushing. I put the Hub3 into Modem mode, but the router could not connect to the internet, so I changed the hub3 back to router mode, unticked both wifi settings to make sure there were no conflicts, later on, saved the settings, and turned it back to Modem mode, reset the Linksys back to factory setting and started again and that did the trick set up the first time of asking.
I am very pleased with this router, wifi 6 for the future, at a decent price.
I would recommend you do as I did, do not order any nodes until you see how this performs on its own, it could potentially save you a lot of money.
Quick update, I prioritised Shield TV, my mobile and a tablet, and I immediately noticed a drop in WiFi speed, so unprioritised them and my Mbps went back to over 200 again so will not be bothering prioritising anything again, just my observation, does not mean that it will have a negative impact on your setup.
This is one of the best routers I have seen in a long time, good small size , enough Ethernet ports, and most of all, has the Mesh Wifi functionality to work with Linksys Velop. it is ideal to be used as a Velop Parent Node .
Highly recommended..
Bought this as the signal on my virgin router was terrible. Gives consistent and fast speeds throughout the day and throughout my home. Does an excellent job of it. No issues so fa
Bought this as the signal on my virgin router was terrible. Gives consistent and fast speeds throughout the day and throughout my home. Does an excellent job of it. No issues so fa
Great router from linksys. Hopefully, it serves me well for a number of years
Everything is good but the issue I have is the range it says it covers a 1-2 house it does not cover 3/4 and it is in the centre of the house.
The WIFI signal is also not too disturbed by interference objects such as metal and walls.
Overall, I’m impressed, unsurprising as it is a Belkin product though.
I am a petty person when it comes to WIFI, if it doesn’t work for a moment I will become irritated. In the weeks since I got this router I’ve not had a single problem I couldn’t solve easily with the Linksys App. It also permits you to prioritise devices for bandwidth which is helpful when I am downloading things and my partner is on video calls. The App also enables guest wifi easy set-up and instant assistance from Linksys when issues arise or when you are like me and accidentally disable something.
The WIFI signal is also not too disturbed by interference objects such as metal and walls.
Overall, I’m impressed, unsurprising as it is a Belkin product though.
Excellent product, great coverage, easy set up.
I have added a Linksys node that was given as main router by my ISP. Which has boosted coverage around my flat. App makes it easy to manage all aspects.
Linksey duel mesh wifi router does exactly what you want it to do. Very simple to set up and it even helps in our old stone house, my only issue is the price. It’s a bit much for what it is, but if you want ease of use and great quality then it may be worth paying the extra.
Very simple and easy to set up via the Linksys app. Guides through every step of the way. This is an excellent router for coverage, i have found the wifi signal to be a lot stronger than our old router when upstairs or even in the garden. It’s got excellent security features too. I haven’t had any issues with this router, it performs great for gaming and multiple devices. This is a good, simple router that has excellent performance.
The box states that this “covers homes with up to 1-2 Bedrooms” but I think that is based on the larger US homes as in my house, an Edwardian 3 bedroom Terrace with Kitchen extension on the back, I have pretty much full coverage throughout the house.
It uses Mesh technology, so you only set up a single SSID, not one for 2.4GHz and another for 5GHz. The router and device negotiate the best signal for where it is located in the house. With this type of technology, even in my Bathroom, which is the absolute opposite side of the house from the router (and through a couple of thick walls) I still get a 40Mbps connection. If you do find you need an extra boost to the extremities of your property, you can add any other Linksys Velop device and it will extend the Mesh and the device will seamlessly connect to the strongest signal.
The only strange part of this system is that you CANNOT configure the Router using a Web Browser, you are required to use an Android/IOS phone app, so if you don’t have a smart phone, look at something else. (Edit: There is actually a web GUI, but Linksys don’t make it easy for you to find)
For me at least, it was a great purchase and it’s improved the Wifi to such an extent, that I’m removing some of the Powerline adapters that I was using until now.
Priced at 79.99 (discounted from 109.99) (9th December 2020)
Here’s my breakdown:
Good WiFi signal
Setting up Mesh is easy with the app
Universal Internet support (powered by Ethernet)
Price
In summary
I think it’s great, it does the job! My only negative comment would be the price, it’s quite a lot of money for just a router, it doesn’t have modem capabilities
Thanks for reading
Always used Linksys routers for the past 20 years.
This one seems really good.
Very high speed, the one unit covers my three bed semi-detached house.
Got this on middle floor and 2 additional linksys nodes on ground floor and top floor. Good coverage. But on its own its quite crap.
The giga ports work excellently. Looks okay not to bad and definitely not in your face. The leds for the port are good indicator although don’t like it flashing. Rather have steady colours.
Quick and easy to connect. the mobile app is okay.
I’m on 1gbps fibre connection. All hardwired devices receive 900mbps+
(Note 10 400mbps+ from close by middle floor. And around 100/200 if im on grnd floor/top floor. [But with the additional nodes I get 400mbps almost everywhere these nodes are hardwired]
Original Review
A Virgin Fibre Hub3, now lying flat on its side in a corner on the carpet. Happily basking in its retirement as a modem. The Linksys MR7350 now sitting gracefully atop said Hub3, shining in WiFi6 Mesh glory!
So we’ve had the Fibre M350 package from VM for a while now and broadband speeds were up and down and WiFi connections sketchy and terrible beyond the adjacent rooms. A real bug but never enough to quite do anything about it until the boys grew up enough to have their own tablets and xboxes. And Firesticks. None of which would reliably connect from their rooms.
While searching for a solution I am full glad that I found this Linksys router.
Step 1: log in to your Hub3 and set it to Modem Only mode.
Step 2: connect the Linksys MR7350 to the now modem using the included cable (and correct port).
Step 3: download the Linksys app on your phone and go through the easiest WiFi setup ever.
Step 4: connect all your devices to your beautiful new WiFi.
The router now consistently reports the full 380Mbps from the VM M350 plan which is just over average AND all 14 WiFi connected devices report SpeedTest results of 80-100Mbps throughout the house.
Amazing!
All the instructions from above you can find on Google. It’s the easiest setup I’ve ever gone through. Obviously all 14 devices aren’t going to get the full 80-100Mbps as the overall fibre connection is 380Mbps but it means it’s available for amazing 4K streaming on all 14 devices, if they could stream 4K….. roll on 8K then!!!!
Firmware 1.1.8.203202 is finally out and bring the USB port to life!
he App on the phone makes this really easy to use and setup ( you can see who is connected and setup a guest wifi from it ) Still not giving my 100% cover on a small 2 bedroom house tho.
he App on the phone makes this really easy to use and setup ( you can see who is connected and setup a guest wifi from it ) Still not giving my 100% cover on a small 2 bedroom house tho.
I started off with the 3 node tri-band Velop system but one of the nodes kept going offline regularly. Bought this to act as the primary node and so now have this unit together with 3 nodes operating in bridge mode. No more dropped signal from either of the 2 original nodes (position not moved) and the original primary is now re-deployed as a further node and is also completely stable.
Note that in a Velop mesh this unit can only operate as the primary node, it can’t be added to an existing mesh as a new node.
I had been facing issues with my wifi connectivity ever since I moved to virgin fibre broadband specially in our 1st floor where the network keeps on dropping constantly. When I saw this on Vine, I felt like this was god send and ordered it immediately.
The Linksys MR9000 AC3000 router was very easy to setup and the Linksys App makes the whole setup process really intuitive with step by step directions. I just had to connect the router to the Virgin modem through a LAN cable and follow the instructions on the app. The setup process does take a bit of time and for advanced users like me, some of the steps were not relevant but I can understand for some new users, these might be required so it made sense to keep them in the app. I was trying to match the wifi settings from my previous router but sometimes it took a lot of time to reach to that step when the app wizard was being used.
However, once I went through all the steps, it did work well and I realised that it saved me a bit of time if I had to redo a few things if I had not followed the wizard.. Once done, I moved to the advanced settings to match my previous settings and it provides a lot of customisation options like custom DHCP ranges and the ability to fix the router’s IP address if so desired.
Since installing, I have noticed that the wifi drop outs have gone down by around 80-90%. There are still some drop outs now and then but instead of few drop outs every day, it has gone down to 1-2 drop outs in a week. in case of drop outs, it is easy to reboot the model through the app as well.
After the initial setup, then came the big task of reconnecting all the old devices to the new router as even though the SSID and the password were same, the devices were not able to connect to the new router without some sort of configurations.
I have been using this for a couple of weeks now and the wifi speeds have been consistently good. I have been able to connect around 20 odd smart devices including 2 echo speakers, more than 10 smart lights and a few smart switches to it without any issues. Between the phones, laptops, tablets and TV, there are around 35-40 devices connected to the router at any given time and it handles all of them like a champ
Pros:
Easy initial setup
Inutuitive wizard and UI to manage the router settings and configurations
Good WIFI signal for a 4 bed detached house
Device Prioritization is a really handy as it allows you to set 3 devices that get priority
Cons:
No VPN feature
Drops out occasionally
Overall I would recommend this unit especially to users that want easy setup. 5 stars
Summary:
Easy to set up. Marked improvement of Wi-Fi signal all over the house. Great app to download that allows you to run speed checks and add devices. 1-2 bedroom was enough for my four-bed detached — we mainly wanted to concentrate on the ground floor — although signal is improved in all rooms of the house.
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Detailed review:
I was keen to try this Wi-Fi box as we live on the edge of a village in a new build estate and missed the fibre rollout the rest of the village received two years ago. The whole estate suffers with poor Wi-Fi — sometimes it is completely unusable.
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Being willing to try anything, this box came about at the right time. I received the 2000 sq ft of Wi-Fi coverage for 25 plus devices. I wanted to boost the Wi-Fi downstairs mainly as we have children who want to stream, play Xbox games and our current set-up really struggles with the bandwidth.
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Setting it up was very easy. I was a little intimidated at first, but the app is great — all credit to Linksys as they have made this process fool proof. You simply follow the very easy instructions, and the app sets it all up. It is a good idea to download the app when you order the product — that way you can get going quicker. *The Wi-Fi box is compatible will most broadband providers. We are with EE and we had no problems with compatibility.
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With everything linked I decided to do a speed check — massive difference almost straightaway. I switched off my 4g, which I have been using so the children can have the bandwidth and used the Wi-Fi on my phone for the first time in months. This alone was a revelation as I am normally on dial up speeds.
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Everyone else in the household remarked how much quicker and better the Wi-Fi was, and the XBOX stopped lagging in the middle of games — my son is delighted.
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I love the device prioritisation setting assessed via the app. You can add devices to they have a dedicated server — this makes it much smoother to run bandwidth intensive devices at the same time — normally we would have to have the XBOX off in the playroom to watch a movie in the lounge. This feature means that we can have both going at the same time.
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The parental controls are great. You can block websites and create pauses in the day for Wi-Fi, so that children can complete homework, do jobs or just have a break from screen time. Great for setting up and enforcing a routine during the day.
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Overall, I am very impressed with this Wi-Fi system. There are other products that help enhance this system further available, which are a little pricey, but once you see the main unit works so well, is worth thinking about investing in. Certainly, cheaper than contributing to the community fund to install Fibre — which can be thousands.
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It has genuinely made our Wi-Fi usable again. 5 out of 5 without hesitation.
I bought this to strengthen the WiFi signals from my two Velop AC4400s, and setup was straightforward using the app. However the WiFi signal was poor until I removed all objects from around it. This is a WiFi 5 box so possibly already obsolete.
Amazon reviews lump all varieties of Velop in the same product review so the overall star system is quite misleading.
This mesh system has been a revelation for us!! Our w-ifi connection is now fantastic from one end of the flat to the other and we can even make wi-fi calls from the garden (which is enclosed by buildings on all sides and usually cannot get a signal). We’ve strategically placed the nodes in the problem areas of the flat and this enables us to move from one room to another with the closest node providing the wi-fi.
I’ve even tried a wi-fi phone call and walked right through the flat and into the garden — the transition between the nodes was totally seamless and completely unnoticeable during the call.
I was having some issues with my previous router, the strength of the signal was not good enough through the home. And I got the opportunity to get this router to my home. And from the moment I connected this one, it was much much better.
The package includes the router itself, its cable, and an ethernet cable to connect to the modem ( However, the cable could be much longer as it is extremely short so I needed to buy longer one separately ). Setting up is extremely easy at least for the one I got it’s for 1-2 bedrooms. Just connected to my provider’s socket, and downloaded the app. Which gives you a few instructions and you follow them. And in 5 minutes it is ready to use. As well app lets you control the network, turn on/off parent control and etc. Which is really useful. After installing this router I had no problems with the strength and stability of the signal around the home and could watch movies,tv-series from streaming services without problems. So I am really happy about this router for now. The price is a bit high, but it’s worth every penny as it is a really good quality product.
Have replaced my very old AirPort Time Capsule with mr9000 router. So easy to set up, and works as well, if not better than airport. 28 wifi items in home, signal reaches everywhere. Really pleased.
Have replaced my very old AirPort Time Capsule with mr9000 router. So easy to set up, and works as well, if not better than airport. 28 wifi items in home, signal reaches everywhere. Really pleased.
I purchased this to link to my BT Smarthub, which it did seamlessly through the Linksys app. No longer having continuous dropouts as I did before. Now I will be investing in some extra nodes to increase the range even more.
So easy to set up and has turned the weak signal emanating from my Virgin 3.0 hub to an awesome network everywhere. I added a mesh mode for extra coverage. The phone app is great too.
Purchased to act as a base for Linksys Velop extenders, working with new 300MB fibre broadband, Easy to set up with Linksys app, some 9 devices currently connected to the system; direct connections, ethernet over powerline and WiFi. So far excellent performance form whole system.
Having been looking at various mesh systems to replace the hodgepodge of modified devices left in place by my brother (with no logins for any of it) I settled on one of these and two of the tri-band Velop units.
Before we had an old HomeHub with two crusty old n routers connected as access points serving 4 different networks that on a good day barely covered the house. It’s an 1860’s Victorian property with thick, solid walls; signals don’t travel well here. Fortunately, having networked the systems before wifi was really an option we have an ethernet run that traverses all three floors already.
Before you do anything install the app on at least one device. You can use the app on multiple devices and there’s a web login system once things are setup. Create an account and have it ready to go as it will guide you through the whole process. As long as you do as you’re told there’s not much to go wrong.
Connected the MR8300 to the modem, let it settle down and fired up the app on a tablet. Followed the instructions and left it to do it’s things. It takes about 10mins and may ask for login details depending on provider and setup (BT Infinity here so just [email protected] with no password). It asks you to leave the setup device nearby while it’s going so wander off and come back in about 10 mins and you should be at the system dashboard ready to configure things. Setup a wifi name and password and that’s about it. There’s not really a need to setup anything else but there are options that will cover some of the more common things people with more in-depth needs will find handy.
The wifi range on this alone reached to the attic, the signal wasn’t great but it was there which we couldn’t have done just off the HomeHub. Likewise I was still able to connect at the back of the house which is a fair distance and has the hardest time even with the old setup. Next up was to set up the mesh. This is where my selection of products became clear, the MR8300 is one of few routers I could find that supports the company’s meshing setup and in the case of this becomes the primary node of Linksys’ Velop system. From what I could find it became clear that should I need any additional devices to fill deadspots I could easily pick up some of the cheaper units to do so while having the backbone of the system running on the better tri-band units. Everything labelled Velop plays nicely together, I couldn’t confirm this for other systems at similar prices I paid and some flat out don’t work across mixed hardware despite being labelled the same.
Now I can’t comment on the connectivity between the devices wirelessly as I planned from the start to use the existing ethernet for the backhaul given the problems we’ve had in the past here it just makes more sense as the cabling is already in place.
Again, just fire up the app and select the add device option. Follow the instructions and again it will take about 10-15mins to detect, configure, and setup each device. Everything is handled automatically with a few taps and messages to tell you what’s happening. Did this for both units in the places I’d already planned to connect them. Completed the setup and then it proceeded to update the firmware for the nodes. After a few minutes everything was good to go.
I may not of needed both of the extra nodes but I certainly have an excellent signal throughout the house now. Things can be monitored through the app so you can see when devices are being switched between nodes as you move around. Speed seems fine, we don’t really use the wifi for heavy duty stuff as the main PC’s are all wired.
Connected are a number of laptops, phones, tablets, streaming devices, printers and an AV receiver and everything seems happy connecting.
Only had it up and running for a few hours now but very happy with the simplicity and performance. With enough nightmare installations under my belt I’m more than happy to fiddle around but it’s so nice not having to try and hold a laptop at an odd angle to configure over a wired connection or play guess the settings before moving things in to their final places and hoping it works.
Doesn’t look like I’ll be needing any extra units but it’s nice to know I can just buy whatever Velop unit and it’ll sync up.
I would’ve preferred the MR9000 for the better 5GHz speed but they don’t seem to be available in the UK. If and when a replacement setup is needed as long as the Velop system remains back compatible with what I have it’ll be an easy choice.
Very good signal, easy set up, app is a dream to work with. bought to use with a velop 3 node set. Only complaint is the USB is not in use to allow access to hard drives which is a real shame
This is a ‘Mesh-ready’ WiFi router. It doesn’t include a modem but should work with existing modems whether cable or using phone lines, effectively piggybacking your existing modem or modem router.
Included in the box:
1 x WiFi Router
1 x Power pack
1 x ADSL cable
1 x CD disc containing full documentation
1 x Setup guide
The MR8300 AC2200 has a tri-band mode that uses a 5Ghz band to connect to MU-MIMO capable devices ensuring the fastest speeds are reserved for bandwidth-heavy kit such as 4K TVs. The second band, also 5Ghz is used for downloads, for suitable video devices such as a video doorbell and for video calling. Finally the third band on 2.4Ghz deals with everything else. As 2.4Ghz has a better range than 5 it will also likely connect more distance WiFi devices whether they need a lot of bandwidth or not.
Additionally, it has the ability to create a mesh network which using a single WiFi name will connect both 2.4 and 5Ghz devices throughout your home. If you want full coverage across a mesh network in a family home you will need to buy nodes. A single node through Amazon (AC4400) will cost 126.17 at the time of writing. A pair costs 214.99. If you buy three together it is more cost-effective at 259.47. This will provide coverage for a 4-5 bedroom house comfortably, particularly if you have the MR8300 AC2200 router. I already had this system when I got the router and will describe the set up of these later. When checking the current prices I did notice that they now also offer a slightly different model (AC2600) for a lower price, two for a 2-3 bedroom house is 89.99 or a three-pack (AC3900) for up to a 4 bedroom house at 162.98. I can’t comment on the difference as I have no experience these.
The MR8300 AC2200 is big and with four aerials doesn’t look pretty. Much of the set-up process can be done through a phone app that works well. You can also continue setup via a PC, should you wish to look at the more advanced configuration. The unit includes four-gigabit ports although I need more and have a port extender anyway so this provides further ports which, for me, was great. As you’d expect, firmware upgrades are automated. Once installed, the range was pretty good, but I needed to get more coverage over the more distant areas of the house.
The MR8300 AC2200 must be connected to the internet connection (ie your existing modem) in order to function. I cannot be used wirelessly in itself. I found it best to just find space to attach the router next to my modem. It is also possible to mount it vertically on a wall. There are suitable slots for this purpose on the base. If, like me, you already have nodes, for the router you need to work with a completely new installation so I then removed the existing nodes from the setup on the app.
I set up the MR8300 AC2200 as described in the leaflet to get it into a state when it is ready for setup. I logged out of LinkSys App on my phone to access the initial setup option which is at the bottom of the app when logged out. I then added it in the new setup option. You need to connect the internet port on the MR8300 AC2200 to one of the network modem ports.
During setup of the MR8300 AC2200 the app will ask you to create an account but there is also an option to log in to an existing account.
Once the router is set up you have your new WiFi options. To add the nodes:
1. Tap the Add a new node button in the LinkSys app.
2. Press the reset button on the bottom of one of the Velop nodes for 15- 20 seconds to reset it.
3. Disconnect the power from the node for 10 seconds, then repower it so that it goes into setup mode.
4. Follow the instructions in the app. You may find this takes time while the settings are copied from the new router so you just have to wait about 5 minutes.
5. Repeat for any additional nodes.
Mine is a large four-bedroom house and we have excellent WiFi coverage throughout the house and even in the garden. My family are now very happy.
I decided to order this Linksys MR8300 Tri band router, because my virgin media superhub three was not giving me the Wi-Fi coverage. I live in a typical terrace house and the superhub wi-Fi was not reaching The speeds and coverage I was expecting downstairs. I purchased this Rueter and the Velop pack of 3 nodes and placed them around my home. I turned the superhub three into a modem and MR8300 is now my main wireless Router in the front bedroom. I placed a node in the back bedroom and a second one downstairs in the living room, now all are seamless connecting wirelessly to one another. the 3rd node is in the summer house at the bottom of the garden which is connecting wirelessly to the one in the back bedroom which is approximately 70 foot away. Setting up this system was extremely easy all you have to do is download the Linksys app on your mobile device and follow the on-screen instructions. The only problem that I had personally which if you are using a software for visually impaired you will have the same problem as me it would not let me set up the system with the voice assistant software. Now where ever I go inside or outside of the house in the garden front garden I have full Wi-Fi coverage and great download speeds compared to before. Just to give you a little understanding how good this system now works I am on 500 Mb download with virgin, before I was only getting between 101 170 Mb down in the living room with this system I am now maxing out at 475 Mb down and 36 to 37 Mb up. In the summer house my speeds come back at just over 200 Mb down and 36 upload. I am well satisfied with this system especially all connecting wirelessly and having the Wi-Fi coverage at this now gives me.
I’m super happy with this. I have a big old house, and have used a velop system, which was almost good enough, but I swapped the velop that was operating as the router for this proper router, which gives me the advantage of four ethernet ports on the back (the velop nodes only have one) and better general router performance. In combination with the velop nodes my set-up is now perfect. WiFi everywhere. Yes it was a bit of a pain resetting all the velop nodes when I made the swap, but it was a one time job and no regrets. I literally have full wifi strength everywhere in my house and garden with my mesh set-up. Delighted with it.
Superb WiFi hub but not for beginners. Connects to Velops system easily but positioning this as the core or “power” hub takes some time. Solid but lengthy set up process with a great deal of flexibility in the options if you are prepared to hunt through the complex tech support base to find them, note customer support isn’t great on these and the phone support can be frustrating.
Tri-band giving you specialist 5Ghz for MU-MIMO devices, standard 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz for lower bandwidth but greater range. Very good performance in my 1920 house even before adding it to the Velops system as the new core router.
Note this isn’t a modem and should be plugged into your broadband modem, which should have it’s wifi signal switched off
I wanted this to replace one of the LinkSys Velop nodes in my system and hoped I would have a choice of where to locate it.
I currently have a three node Velop mesh WiFi system and want o relocate one of the nodes to give me wired access to some kit in another room (the Velop nodes handily have two wired connections that can give you wired access from your WiFi for non WiFi kit!).
This is where I met the first limitation of the MR8300 AC2200 – it MUST be connected to you internet connection, it cannot be used as a wireless Velop node with a four port wired router built in. That’s not a big problem, in all honesty, and using it the way I originally intended is probably not the best use of the hardware, but space is at a premium right next to my broadband modem and this is actually quite a big router.
So, next to the modem/router it had to be… and that means replacing the master node rather than adding this router as just an additional Velop node.
As this meant replacing the Velop master node it effectively meant setting my Velop system up from scratch. It would be nice in the LinkSys app to have the option of swapping you master node fro new hardware, but that doesn’t seem to be possible.
Instead I had to do the following.
1. Disconnect my existing Velop master node from both my modem/router and the mains.
2. Connect the MR8300 AC2200 as described in the accompanying leaflet to get it into a state when it is ready for setup.
3. Log out of LinkSys App on my phone to access the initial setup option (right at the bottom of the app when logged out).
4. Add the MR8300 AC2200 as though this was a brand new setup (including a firmware update which was waiting for the router). This was fairly straight forward although it did take a couple of goes to confirm the internet connection that is supplied by my ISPs modem/router (you connect a cable from the ‘internet’ port on the MR8300 AC2200 to a network port on your ISPs modem/router). I also needed to set my SSID and password again as this was, in effect, a new setup but I wanted to retain the same settings so that my other kit could still connect with reconfiguring.
5. During setup of the MR8300 AC2200 the app will ask you to create an account but there is also an option to login to an existing account – I did the latter as I already have an account for my existing Velop system.
At this point the new router is set up and working and you have WiFi from the new router – but the rest of my Velop system is dead because it has no master node!
So…
6. Select the ‘Add a new node’ button in the LinkSys app.
7. Hit the hardware reset button on the bottom of my second Velop node fro about 20 seconds until the node resets.
8. Pull the power from that node for 10 seconds, then repower it so that it goes into setup mode.
9. Add the second node to the system as normal. It always takes a while, but at this point settings are copied from the new router so there is not much to do but wait the approx 5-6 mins.
10. Reset and add the third node the same way…
Now I have what is effectively a replication of my previous system but I now have a spare node (the old master node). Well almost…
Unfortunately the Velop system comes up in ‘Automatic DNS’ mode by default which is not what I want. This mode effectively means that anyone connected to your network via your Velop system can only see other devices on the Velop system and the internet. The rest of your network is not accessible. That means I have no access to my NAS etc when connected via one of the Velop nodes, which is obviously not much good.
But the Velop system can also be set to ‘Bridge’ mode which effectively extends you existing network transparently.
Setting Bridge mode does sacrifice some of the Velop features such as device prioritisation and parental controls but I need access to my kit more than I need those features (and this is a Velop limitation, not just the MR8300 AC2200).
So, the next niggle I had was that the option to switch to bridge mode in the LinkSys app was greyed out despite my being connected to the Velop network – great!
It turned out that the LinkSys app still knew about the old version of my network which, as I set things up to be the same, had the same SSID. I could be wrong, but it seems that this may have been confusing things because after deleting this old network from my LinkSys account (identified by the fact that the network icon was a white square Velop node rather than the black MR8300 AC2200 router) and then closing and restarting the app, a minute or so later the bridge mode option became available.
So that’s it, all set up and moved over and I have the spare node that I can add when I set up that wired kit.
Whats more, I’m hoping that the more powerful MR8300 AC2200 router is more capable of talking to that second node. I did occasionally have that second node (and therefore my third node which hops via the second node) drop of the mesh because it was just on the border of the ‘ideal’ range from the master node. With the four external antennae and beam forming tech in the MR8300 AC2200 this second node shows up as now being in the ideal position. It’s early days, obviously, but fingers crossed that this makes things a bit more stable for me as well.
If you are setting up from scratch you probably won’t run into the issues I had. If you are just adding a router to your system to improve over your ISPs modem/router then things should be pretty straightforward. Similarly if you are buying this and a couple of Velop nodes then initial setup should be pretty straightforward. The LinkSys app does a pretty good job of walking you through things.
In fact that is worth noting. What you are setting up here is actually pretty complex if you are not familiar with networking. The LinkSys app actually does a very good job of hiding that complexity from the user and guides you through step by step with very helpful visuals on the way. LinkSysy should be commended for this – I just wish they’d had an option to simply swap out my master node hardware (which could be useful in the case of hardware failure in the future, rather than just my edge case).
Review of Linksys Velop (3-pack, AC6600) and Linksys MR8300 tri-band router
Over the last few days, I’ve been fitting a new Linksys MR8300 router into an existing 3-node Linksys Velop system hooked up to Virgin Media Superhub 3 running in “modem mode”. It’s not been without frustration nor without the need of Linksys’s helpful technical support but, as it is all now (fingers crossed) working well, I thought I would write of my experiences in the hope it will help others with a similar system.
Firstly, having tried BT Whole Home, Orbi and Linksys mesh routers, it’s my experience that they are nothing like as powerful as advertised: you will need three even in a standard 1960’s three-bed brick semi. What makes the Linksys stand out is that they each have two LAN sockets on each “node”, along with five on the MR8300 router, and all can be hard-wired together if you have that option. Hard-wiring the nodes has proved worthwhile, and I have only one node operating wirelessly to the base.
Two sets of problems arose in my set up: with my Sonos speakers and Ring security cameras. After much hair-pulling, I found that the Sonos needs either one speaker to be hard-wired to the router or a node or you’ll need the router itself set on “Bridge Mode”. Both of these are effective workarounds, although it still took a while for all of my Sonos equipment to re-appear on the app, and I had to turn each speaker off then on and wait for the magic to happen.
The Ring cameras proved harder to solve. The set up initially seemed to go smoothly but before long the cameras would switch from a strong-signal at a nearby node to a weak signal from a distant node. This was infuriating and led to Ring reporting a weak Wi-fi signal and to causing Live view delays and problems. In the end, I found that setting a fixed IP address using the Linksys app did the trick (you have to “reserve a DHCP link).
So far, all is working really well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.