CES – Linksys announced Monday several bits of news for its line of Velop Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi networking products. The company said it was adding less expensive Velop dual-band nodes to its already-shipping tri-band nodes. Linksys also announced Intelligent Mesh, parental controls, security features, and other software improvements.
Velop is Linksys’s entry in the growing Mesh Wi-Fi field, which the company introduced last year at CES. I’ve been running Velop in my home since.
Dual Band Nodes
Linksys is adding dual-band nodes as a less-expensive option for building or extending a Velop network. Pricing hasn’t been announced, and the devices are expected to ship in the spring of 2018.
Intelligent Mesh
Linksys announced Intelligent Mesh, software that works on Velop nodes “to deliver Wi-Fi via the fastest path to the internet for the best experience possible.” That includes self-healing, self-optimizing, and self-organizing abilities.
Parental Controls
Velop already included parental controls, but Linksys said it was adding the ability to whole category filtering with both allow and block overrides.
Security
Linksys said security improvements included automatic network traffic security monitoring for malware and phishing, as well as blocking of malicious web sites.
Other Software Improvements
Velop networks will include Client Steering, meaning they will make sure devices are connecting via the best node available. Nodes will also include Backhaul Reconnect and Optimization, or the ability to reconnect a node to the internet if it fails.