Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Dual Band Mesh WiFi 6 Router (AX5400
Linksys Hydra Pro 6 Dual Band Mesh WiFi 6 Router (AX5400) – Works with Velop Whole Home WiFi System – Wireless Internet Gaming Router, Parental Controls, Guest Network via Linksys App
From the brand
Create a seamless in-home WiFi network by combining nodes and routers for more speed, coverage and capacity.
How we get our start?
Founded in 1988, Linksys has since established itself as a premier networking brand. Today, Linksys hardware products, software, and services are sold in over 64 countries.
Why we love what we do?
We love knowing the solutions we offer enable people to work, relax, catch-up with friends & family, and so much more.
Are our products high quality?
Developed by an experienced product team and rigorously tested by engineers, our solutions are trusted by Internet Services Providers worldwide, which means they are reliable.
| Dimensions: | 8.89 x 22.99 x 23.99 cm; 1.13 Kilograms |
| Model: | MR5500-KE |
| Manufacture: | Linksys |
| Dimensions: | 8.89 x 22.99 x 23.99 cm; 1.13 Kilograms |
| Origin: | China |
Used as the primary node in a Velop Tri band system this router really improves throughout and range. I have it with 4 of the whw03 towers in my four floor home and can get great WiFi speed throughout the house. Yes it’s only WiFi 5 but 6 and 6E are both new and have relatively poor range. This still meets my requirements.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!!
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
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.
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.
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]
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.
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 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.
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.
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.