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Linksys Velop Pro 7

Linksys Velop Pro 7 (3-Pack)

Not the Wi-Fi 7 you're looking for

2.5 Fair
Linksys Velop Pro 7 (3-Pack) - Linksys Velop Pro 7
2.5 Fair

Bottom Line

The Linksys Velop Pro 7 is a three-piece Wi-Fi 7 mesh system with disappointing performance and a conspicuous lack of high-speed LAN ports, making it poorly suited to early adopters looking to future-proof their networks.

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  • Pros

    • Easy to install
    • Multi-gig WAN
    • Good signal coverage
  • Cons

    • Subpar throughput performance
    • Lacks multi-gig LAN and USB ports
    • No anti-malware tools
    • Meager parental controls

Linksys Velop Pro 7 Specs

Coverage Area for Hardware as Tested 9000
IPv6 Compatible
MU-MIMO
Number of Antennas 4
Number of Bands 3
Number of Nodes 3
Number of Wired LAN Ports (Excluding WAN Port) 3 on router, 4 on node
Parental Controls
Quality of Service (QoS)
Security WPA2
Security WPA3
Separate Bands
Total Rated Throughput BE11000
Wired Backhaul
Wireless Specification 802.11be

The Linksys Velop Pro 7 (MBE7003) is a Wi-Fi 7 mesh system that is easy to install, offers good signal coverage, and comes with an intuitive mobile app that makes it easy to manage your network. As with other Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems, it uses the latest wireless technologies for 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz transmissions. At $999.99 for three nodes, it’s expensive, but it's also one of the cheapest Wi-Fi 7 systems we’ve reviewed. It's not a great deal, however, since it lacks high-speed LAN ports and comes up woefully short in terms of throughput performance. You’ll pay a lot more for our Editors’ Choice winner for Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems, the Eero Max 7, but in return you get vastly superior performance, high-speed networking ports, and built-in support for Thread, Matter, and Zigbee home automation protocols.


Teardrop-Shaped Nodes Offer Stylish Wi-Fi

We tested the Velop Pro 7 three-pack, which is designed for homes of up to 9,000 square feet. A two-piece system, rated to cover up to 6,000 square feet, will cost you $749.99, while a single node with 3,000 square feet of coverage goes for $399.99. The nodes are identical and use the same teardrop shape as the nodes that come with the Velop Pro 6E system. The white mini towers are 8.7 inches tall, 3.7 inches wide, and 3.7 inches deep. They sport a single status LED on the top that glows solid white when everything is connected and online, flashes blue during startup, glows solid blue when the node is ready for setup, and glows solid red if it has lost its internet connection.

(Credit: Linksys)

Each node contains four internal Wi-Fi antennas, a single Bluetooth antenna, a 2.5GbE WAN port, and four 1GbE LAN ports. This is the first Wi-Fi 7 mesh system that we’ve reviewed that lacks multi-gig LAN connectivity, an omission that severely impacts throughput performance (more on this below). Also missing are USB ports like those found on the TP-Link Deco BE85 nodes. The base holds a reset button, a pairing button, and a power switch.

(Credit: Linksys)

As with the Velop Pro 6E system, the Velop Pro 7 uses Linksys Cognitive Mesh technology to enable fast setup and automatic network optimization. Powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core CPU, it’s a tri-band BE11000 system that can hit maximum theoretical speeds of 591Mbps on the 2.4GHz band, 4,324Mbps on the 5GHz band, and 5,765Mbps on the 6GHz band. It employs Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) technologies including 4x4 MU-MIMO streaming, direct-to-client beamforming, 6GHz transmissions, WPA3 encryption, Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) data transmissions, 320MHz channels, and Multi-Link Operation (MLO).

The Velop Pro 7 offers basic parental controls that let you instantly pause internet access, schedule a pause, and block specific websites, but you'll find no age-specific filters like you get with TP-Link’s Deco BE85 system, nor will you find anti-malware tools. It uses the same mobile app as the Velop Pro 6E and Hydra Pro 6 mesh systems. The app offers an intuitive user interface that makes it easy to manage clients and components, but you’ll have to use the web console to access certain features, such as Firewall and Advanced Routing settings.

The app’s Home screen displays the name of the network, its status (online or offline), the number of connected devices, and the number of installed nodes. Tap the devices tile to see which clients are currently online and which band they are using. Tap any device to give it bandwidth priority, enable parental controls, and view IP and MAC address information.

(Credit: Linksys)

Below the Device and Node tiles is a list of the last five connections, and below that are several panels. Tap the Parental Controls panel to enable restrictions and add devices to control. The Guest Network panel allows you to create a separate guest network with its own name and password, and the Share Wi-Fi panel lets you share network credentials (name and password) with other users via text or email. The Internet Slow? panel opens a screen where you can optimize channels and troubleshoot performance issues.

Tap the three bars in the upper left corner of the Home screen to open a menu with tabs for more controls. The Devices tab just opens the same screen as the above-mentioned Device tile, but you'll also find Safe Browsing here, a beta feature, which uses Fortinet Security or OpenDNS to block adult content. Another tab is for Wi-Fi Settings, which you can use to scan for optimal channel selections, enable MLO and Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) options, and edit the network name and password. Other menu choices include Speed Check, Guest Network, Priority (QoS), Notifications, and Network Administration. The Velop Pro 7 also offers port forwarding, port triggering, and MAC address filtering.


Testing the Velop Pro 7: Missing Multi-Gig Ethernet

The Velop Pro 7 turned in disappointing throughput performance scores, providing roughly half the throughput of competing Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems on the majority of our tests. We suspect the lackluster performance is in part due to the fact that this system does not offer the multi-gig LAN connectivity that you get with the Eero Max 7, TP-Link Deco BE85, and Netgear Orbi 973S systems. Linksys did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the lack of this feature.

The Velop Pro 7 router node scored 941Mbps on our close proximity test. That’s roughly half as fast as the Eero Max 7 router (2,149Mbps), the TP-Link Deco BE85 router (2,085Mbps), and the Netgear Orbi 973S router (2,209Mbps), all of which used 2.5GbE ports to connect to our iperf server’s 10GbE LAN port via a QNAP 2.5GbE switch. The Velop Pro 7 was connected using a 1GbE LAN port. (See more about how we test routers.)

On the 30-foot test, the Velop Pro 7 router managed only 345Mbps compared with vastly higher scores for the Eero Max 7 router (670Mbps), the TP-Link Deco BE85 router (779Mbps), and the Netgear Orbi 973S router (916Mbps). It’s worth noting that the Velop Pro 7 router’s scores were more in line with the scores we saw with the Linksys Velop Pro 6E router (910Mbps on the close proximity test and 345Mbps on the 30-foot test) than with other Wi-Fi 7 routers.

Results were similar on the satellite node tests. The Velop Pro 7 node scored 903Mbps on the close proximity test while the Eero Max 7 node scored 1,795Mbps, the TP-Link Deco BE85 node scored 1,922Mbps, and the Netgear Orbi 973S node scored 1,470Mbps. The Linksys Velop Pro 6E node scored 832Mbps on this test.

(Credit: Linksys)

On the 30-foot test, the Velop Pro 7 node garnered 486Mbps while the Eero Max 7 node scored 1,062Mbps, the TP-Link Deco BE85 node scored 999Mbps, and the Netgear Orbi 973S node scored 1,040Mbps. On this test, the Velop Pro 6E delivered 560Mbps.

We test wireless signal strength using an Ekahau Sidekick 2 Wi-Fi diagnostic device along with the Ekahau Survey mobile app. (Ekahau is owned by Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company.) This combination generates a heat map that displays the router and satellite nodes' signal strength throughout our test home. The circles on the map represent the location of the router and satellite, and the colors represent signal strength with dark green being strongest, yellow representing a weaker signal, and gray representing a very weak or non-measurable signal.

(Credit: Ekahau)

As indicated on the map the Velop Pro 7 router and satellite had no trouble supplying a strong Wi-Fi signal to all corners of the house.


Verdict: Cheaper and Much, Much Slower

As with most mesh systems, the Linksys Velop Pro 7 is a snap to install and comes with an intuitive mobile app that makes it easy to manage your network. The system did a fine job of delivering strong Wi-Fi signals throughout our test home, but its subpar throughput performance and lack of multi-gig LAN ports make it difficult to recommend plunking down $999.99 for this system when you can get the same level of performance from a Wi-Fi 6E mesh system at a fraction of the price.

If you want to take advantage of all that Wi-Fi 7 has to offer, consider our top pick for Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems, the Eero Max 7. It has two 10GbE and two 2.5GbE networking ports, works as a Thread border router and a home automation hub, and delivers seriously fast throughput rates. Just be prepared to pay a premium for all of this Wi-Fi 7 goodness.

About John R. Delaney