The TaoTronics mesh router is actually aesthetically pleasing. The clean, white design and faux chrome legs are a nice change from traditional routers that resemble robotic spiders. The outer plastic shell has a matte finish that resists fingerprints.

An LED light on the top helps to communicate any issues. Normally, a solid blue light indicates that the router is working normally; any other color likely means your attention is needed.

Setup

The setup process is completely controlled by the “TT Router” app, which actually does a good job of walking you through the setup process by utilizing Bluetooth to communicate with the not-yet-configured routers and establish your WiFi name and password.

When setting up the second mesh router, the app helpfully shows if you are too far away from the first router so you can find the ideal placement.

Performance

I setup this router for a family member as their cable/router combo unit is located in the basement and the WiFi doesn’t quite reach all of the living areas upstairs.

I wasn’t able to configure their cable company’s combo unit in bridge mode, so I ended up configuring the TaoTronics mesh router as a secondary WiFi network. Even though this is a “Double NAT” configuration, it didn’t seem to cause any issues.

The TaoTronics mesh router did indeed improve the network connectivity in their home by placing one router downstairs and the other router upstairs. They have gigabit service and we were able to reach around 800Mbps in the far corner of the house that would constantly drop signal.

Features

• Ethernet ports: Each node has 4 Ethernet ports (the first node uses one of the ports for a connection to your modem). This is nice for “hard wiring” devices directly to the node to help eliminate WiFi interference. By comparison, the Linksys Velop system only has two ethernet ports per node.
• File Server: You can attach a flash drive to the USB port of the first node to use it as a file server for your local network.
• Parental Controls: You can adjust website access and time limits for certain devices.
• 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks: Newer devices can utilize the less-crowded 5 GHz range for faster performance and lower interference, with 2.4 GHz still available for older devices.

TaoTronics Mesh WiFi Router, Tri-Band AC3000 Whole Home WiFi Router/Extender Replacement, 5,000...

TaoTronics Mesh WiFi Router, Tri-Band AC3000 Whole Home WiFi Router/Extender Replacement, 5,000...

$199.99

$239.99

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2 new from $199.99

16 used from $128.36

as of October 6, 2023 1:14 am

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Last updated on October 6, 2023 1:14 am

The post TaoTronics Mesh WiFi Router Review appeared first on Technically Well.

Who should buy this router?

First off, you don’t want to use this router by itself. To fully take advantage of this router, you’ll need at least one of the Velop nodes. This allows you to the expand the WiFi coverage as needed.

You can think of a mesh system as placing multiple routers around your home to blanket it in WiFi coverage. While the best place for your router is a central location in your home, who actually places their router there? Usually, you need to connect your router near a cable or phone line jack, which is typically located on an exterior wall of your home, which limits the coverage in your home since half of your WiFi signal is going outside.

Setup

The setup process is very easy as you only need your smartphone and the Linksys app. Thanks to Bluetooth technology built into the Velop system, the app automatically detects the router and your internet connection, and then configures it with the network name and password that you want. This sure beats the setup of traditional WiFi routers, which usually involved connecting to a temporary WiFi network, configuring it, then disconnecting and reconnecting to the new WiFi network. And it’s definitely better than installing a program from a CD-ROM disc (anyone remember that?!).

If you have an existing router in your home (perhaps your internet provider gave you a combo modem-and-router-in-one), the MR8300 can be placed into “bridge mode” which allows you to use your existing router with the range-extending antennas of the MR8300 and any associated Velop nodes.

Performance

The MR8300 broadcast 3 bands:

• a 2.4Ghz band that most WiFi devices use,
• a 5Ghz band that newer smartphones and streaming boxes use
• an additional 5Ghz band dedicated to connecting the mesh system together

Typically, if your device supports 5Ghz, you’ll want to use that because it’s faster. However, the 5Ghz band doesn’t go through walls or travel as far as the 2.4Ghz band does, so having a mesh system that gives you multiple 5Ghz spots throughout your home can improve WiFi performance.

My internet service maxes out at 100 Mbps and I was happy to find that I was able to hit that speed in the far corner of my home where it would previously only reach about 30-40 Mbps with my old router. I only needed one additional Velop node to get coverage throughout my 4-bedroom home.

With the Linksys app, you are able to monitor which of your devices are connecting to which node. Although I have a node setup in my home office with my Mac Mini, I’ve found that my Mac Mini will skip over it from time to time and connect to the MR8300 router on the opposite end of the house. I’ve noticed my other devices occasionally doing the same thing: connecting to the node located furthest away from them. It baffles me, but all my devices seem to be performing fine regardless.

Features

Oddly, the USB 3.0 port on the back of the router is currently non-functional and is reserved for “future expansion”. I imagine it will function like the USB ports on other Linksys routers and will allow you to plug in a USB flash drive and hard drive for use as network storage, but at this time (February 2019), it doesn’t do anything.

Power users will appreciate features such as port-forwarding and MAC address filters, which can be administered through the Linksys app. More features are also available on the web interface to the router, but oddly some things can only be done in the app (such as setting up and viewing nodes) while others can only be done in the web interface (such as creating separate names for the 2.4 and 5Ghz networks).

The post Linksys MR8300 AC2200 Mesh Router Review appeared first on Technically Well.

PROs

• Mesh networks cover a wide area seamlessly: With traditional routers, your phone only connects at one point in the house. The signal degrades the further you get away from your router. With this mesh network, there are now 3 points my devices can connect to. So if I wonder to another portion of the house, my phone or laptop automatically connects to the strongest point, because to that device, it looks like one large network. Or if something causes interference at one point (microwave switched on, Bluetooth speaker in use, etc), there are 2 other points my device can connect to.
• No multiple networks with repeaters: Many WiFi devices do not “handoff” smoothly from a router to a repeater. For example, if your phone connects to your main router when you get home, but you then wonder away from it, your phone will try to maintain that connection to the router, even though the stronger signal from your repeater is available, as to not interrupt your WiFi connection. Also, going through each “repeater” cuts your bandwidth in half, since the repeater needs to first talk to the main router, then turn around and pass that data to your device. With mesh networking, your house is blanketed with one large continuous WiFi “blanket”. Even though there are 3 points, your phone only “sees” one network, so handoff is not an issue.
• Easy setup: With the Linksys app, you can easily configure the nodes thanks to Bluetooth. You don’t even need to mess with your phone’s WiFi settings when setting up the system.

CONs

• There is no web interface for the Velop: All settings must be made in the app. This is likely fine for most people and the app lets you configure some advanced features like Port Forwarding (for gaming and IP cameras) and MAC filtering (to restrict devices connecting to your network). However, one feature that is missing from the app that I typically use with my routers is DHCP Reservations. Hopefully Linksys will add this in a future update.
• Few Ethernet Ports: Each node has two Ethernet ports available, except the first node where one port is used to connect to your modem. If you like to connect multiple devices via Ethernet, you’ll likely need to purchase a network switch to expand the number of available Ethernet ports.  On the plus side, if you have an older network device that does not have WiFi (like an older streaming TV, for example), you can connect it to one of the nodes. Update: Linksys has since added a web interface for the primary node.

The Linksys Velop has worked great in my home. I now get a solid connection anywhere in my home, as if I was sitting right beside the router. I can stream in HD in my bedroom where previously I would have buffering and interruptions. Setup was easily accomplished using the app on my smartphone, with easy to follow instructions. There are a few limitations that “power users” may miss, but for most consumers, the Linksys Velop provides a solid connection throughout the entire house.

Check out the Linksys Velop on Amazon

-45%

Linksys - Velop AC2200 Tri-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 5 System (3-pack) - White

$219.99 $399.99

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Last update was on: August 3, 2023 8:57 pm

The post Linksys Velop Tri-band AC6600 Mesh Router Review appeared first on Technically Well.

PROs

• Strong performance: The Linksys EA9500 features 8 high performance antennas featuring capable of a 5.3 Gbps throughput when all 3 bands are in use. This is ideal if your family recently cut the cord on cable TV and you have multiple people streaming HD video from services like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube at the same time. It’s also ideal if you have a large home and you need the WiFi signal to cover a larger distance.
• 8 network ports: If you prefer to have a wired internet connection, you’ll like the 8 gigabit ports located on the back of the router (many routers only have 4 ports).
• Web interface: Once you have the router connected to your modem and powered up, use the WiFi connection information found in the Quick Start guide to connect your computer. Once connected, head to 192.168.1.1 in a browser and you’ll find a nice web interface for configuring the router (you don’t need to use the CD).
• Network map: If you need to manage a lot of devices, the EA9500 creates a nice map of everything connected to the router. You can view the laptops, iPhones, Android phones, etc currently connected. There is a separate map for the Guest Network, so you can see if one of your neighbors is connected to it and turn off the guest network if need be.
• Guest network: The guest network allows you to create a separate network, name it something different and give it a different password. That way, you don’t need to give out the password to your “real” network to friends and family who may be visiting. The guest network is also isolated, so users on the guest network cannot see shared files from your computer.
• Parental Controls: On a per-device basis, you can restrict usage times and block websites. For example, you can select one of the iPads belonging to your children and only allow access between 6-9pm and block access to facebook.com.
• Media prioritization: If everyone is using your WiFi at once, some devices may slow down and buffer. In the Media Prioritization section of the router, you can allow certain devices to always have high priority. For example, you could give your Netflix streaming box highest priority so your streams are not interrupted by someone else on your network who is uploading high resolution photos. Conversely, you could give your work computer the highest priority so it is not slowed down by someone streaming Netflix.
• USB storage: You can connect an external USB hard drive to the router and share it on your network. Use it to store your photos, videos, and music, then easily access them no matter which computer you are using. One of the USB ports on the router is also USB 3.0, making it ideal for high speed transfers which comes in handy when you’re transferring large movie files and backing up your computer.
• Techie options: If you’re so inclined, the router admin pages provide options for VLANs, port forwarding, DMZ, MAC filtering, etc. Most users won’t need some of these sections, but they are available if you want full control of your home network.
• Power usage: I found that the router only uses about 16 watts while on, which equates to about $17 per year (calculated at a $0.12 kWh rate).

CONs

• Linksys Smart WiFi: When I first setup the router, I was prompted to setup a Linksys Smart WiFi account. I wasn’t interested in creating another username and password I would have to remember. But, thankfully, Linksys includes a “no thanks” option that allows you to configure everything locally. The Smart WiFi gives you some “apps” and remote control, but if you’re not interested in those functions, you can bypass it completely.

Overall, this is a powerful, high performance router that provides a stable and strong WiFi connection throughout my home. The very well-done web interface provides a lot of customization options making it ideal for advanced users as well.

Check out the Linksys EA9500 on Amazon

The post Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream AC5400 Router Review appeared first on Technically Well.