The latest addition to the Linksys Velop family, the Velop Plug-In ($399.99) is the company's first mesh Wi-Fi system to use plug-in (rather than tabletop) nodes to deliver Wi-Fi to every corner of your home. It's a tri-band system that uses Linksys's Intelligent Mesh technology to choose the best band for backhaul and client-data transmissions. It's easy to set up and offers handy mobile app and web-based management, but it can't match the performance and versatility of our less-expensive Editors' Choice, the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus.
Plug and Play
The Velop Plug-in system comes with a main router and two nodes that plug in to a wall outlet. This gives you the ability to place them anywhere in your home that has a socket without worrying about unsightly cords. The router is the same mini-tower used in the original Velop system that we reviewed back in 2017. It is 7.28 inches tall and measures 3.07 by 3.07 inches at the base and 2.6 by 2.6 inches at the top. There's a single LED indicator on the top of the tower that flashes blue during startup, glows blue when connected, turns red when the internet connection is lost, and turns purple during setup. There are two gigabit LAN ports on the base, along with a reset button, a power switch, and a power jack. As with the original Velop, there are no USB ports.
The router is an AC2200 tri-band router that can reach speeds of up to 400Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and up to 867Mbps on each of the two 5GHz bands. It is powered by a 716MHz quad core CPU, has six internal antennas, and provides coverage of up to 2,000 square feet. It supports MU-MIMO simultaneous data streaming, direct-to-client signal transmissions (beamforming), and automatic band steering (Linksys Smart Connect).
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The plug-in nodes measure 4.7 by 3.0 by 2.1 inches (HWD) and have a two-pronged plug on the back that you insert into a wall socket, an LED indicator on the front, and a reset button on the bottom right. The LED indicator has the same blue, purple, and red status lights as the router but also has a yellow light that lets you know when your connection to the internet is weak. There are no LAN or USB ports on the nodes, which are dual-band AC1300 devices that use three internal antennas to provide up to 1,500 square feet of coverage. They are powered by a 716MHz CPU and can reach maximum speeds of 400Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 867Mbps on the 5GHz band.
The Velop Plug-In system is installed and managed using the same Linksys mobile app (iOS and Android) used to control the Linksys Velop Dual-Band Wi-Fi system, and it also offers a web-based console for PC-based control. The mobile app opens to a Dashboard screen that displays the internet status (online, offline) the number of connected devices, and the network name. There are also buttons for guest networking, parental controls, and device prioritization.
The guest network feature allows you to grant network access to guests, but prevents them from accessing files and printers, and device prioritization lets you assign bandwidth priority for up to three devices. Native parental controls are basic: You can create access schedules for each device and block access to certain web sites, but if you want more robust controls you'll have to subscribe to Linksys Shield, designed exclusively for Tri-Band Velop systems.
For $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year, Linksys Shield offers age-appropriate Child, Pre-Teen, Teen, and Adult presets. The Child preset blocks websites with adult topics and advertisements and offers limited access to sites that deal with politics and religion, shopping, downloads, social media and chat rooms. The Pre-Teen preset also blocks adult topics and advertisements but offers limited access to downloads and politics and religion but provides full access to social media, news, and shopping sites. With the Teen setting you get limited access to adult content, advertisements, and downloads, and the Adult setting offers full access. All presets block sites that are known to contain malicious content, ransomware, phishing, and spyware.
TP-Link's HomeCare plan offers similar parental controls as well as malware protection for their Deco M9 Plus Wi-Fi system, but unlike the Linksys Shield plan, it's free for three years. After that you'll have to sign up for a subscription. Asus offers the best deal around with their AIProtection plan: it's free for as long as you own your router or Wi-Fi system and includes malware protection, age appropriate parental controls, and infected device detection.
Back at the Dashboard, tap the three-bar icon in the upper left corner to access individual device settings, where you can enable prioritization and parental controls, check the IP address, and see which node the device is connected to. Wi-Fi Settings let you choose a security type (WPA2 Mixed, WPA2 Personal, None) and scan channels for the best performance, and Notifications let you receive alerts when a node goes offline. There's also a Speed Check option to see how fast you can upload and download content from the internet.
In the Velop Administration settings, you can update firmware, view IP addresses for each node, change passwords, and report issues to Linksys. In the Advanced Settings menu you can configure port forwarding and MAC filtering options, tweak internet settings, and view Local Network information such as IP addresses and ranges and DNS settings.
Easy Setup, Mixed Performance
I had the Velop Plug-In system up and running in minutes. To start, I connected the router to my modem using the included LAN cable and plugged in the power adapter. The LED began blinking blue and within 45 seconds it turned purple, indicating that it was ready for setup. I downloaded the app and selected Launch Setup at the bottom of the screen. Within five seconds the app found the router. I tapped Next to verify an internet connection, created an account, named my new Wi-Fi network, and gave it a password.
I named the main router node (office), tapped Add Another Node, and followed the app's instructions to place the second node no further than two rooms away. I plugged it in and waited about a minute for it to initialize, and another two minutes for it to be joined to the network, at which time the app informed me that the location was just right. I gave the node a name (living room), and moved on to the third node (basement) and repeated the process without issue. I updated the firmware, which took about five minutes per node, and was finished.
I tested the Velop Plug-In system's throughput performance with Smart Connect band steering enabled. Results were mixed: The router's score of 420Mbps on the SU-MIMO close-proximity (same-room) test was significantly slower than the Linksys Velop Dual-Band, the D-Link Covr Dual-Band, and the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus routers, but it provided solid range performance at 30 feet with a score of 181Mbps, beating the Velop Dual-Band and the Covr Dual-Band. The Deco M9 Plus led with a score of 230Mbps.
The Velop Plug-In node's score of 132Mbps on the close-proximity test was faster than that of the Velop Dual-Band node, but could not keep pace with the Covr and the Deco M9 Plus nodes. At 30 feet, the Velop Plug-In node garnered 118Mbps, beating the Velop Dual-Band node, but not the Covr and the Deco M9 Plus nodes.
Good, But Basic
The Linksys Velop Plug-In makes it easy to create a mesh network that will blanket your home with Wi-Fi. It's a breeze to install and can be managed from your phone with a well-designed mobile app or from a PC using a more traditional web-based console. However, its performance is merely average, and you'll have to pay extra for strong parental controls and malware protection tools. For about $100 less, the TP-Link Deco M9 Plus Mesh Wi-Fi System offers better performance, free robust parental controls and anti-malware protection for three years, and it doubles as a home automation hub. It remains our Editors' Choice for mesh Wi-Fi systems.
The Linksys Velop Plug-In is a three-piece mesh Wi-Fi system designed for ease of use, but less-expensive and more feature-packed competitors offer a better value.
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