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Linksys, celebrating thirty years of networking and Wi-Fi innovation for the home and business this year, today announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that it is expanding its Velop™, whole home mesh Wi-Fi line to include a Dual-Band offering and new software advancements that enhance performance with Intelligent Mesh™ technology, security features with advanced parental controls, network traffic monitoring, and web site blocking as well as ease of use with improvements in the Linksys app. Velop is now the most flexible whole home mesh Wi-Fi system on the market. It can be installed in different configurations to support any type of home, is compatible with any ISP modem or gateway, and both Dual-Band and Tri-Band nodes are 100% interoperable and interchangeable. Linksys will be showcasing its Velop product line at CES this week in the South Hall 3 – Booth #30750.

Linksys Velop Dual-Band Whole Home Wi-Fi Mesh System Linksys is expanding its Velop product line to include a Dual-Band modular Wi-Fi system, the world’s first mass-market Flexible Wi-Fi System, (available in 1-pack, 2-pack and 3-pack options) that can be installed in various mesh configurations providing fast and reliable Wi-Fi to the edge of a home network. Velop Dual-Band nodes are designed for performance as well as elegance; they stand about two inches shorter than the Velop Tri-Band solution and small enough to be placed anywhere with a clean and attractive look that appeals to everyone - which is unique to the mesh category of solutions for the home. Each Velop “node” is a powerful Dual-Band AC1300 device that serves as router, range extender, access point, and bridge which provides users the future proof technology they need as they bring new and more devices into the home.

Each node is configured during setup by the accompanying Linksys app (available for iOS and Android), which provides the industry’s simplest and most intuitive setup leveraging Bluetooth to securely communicate between the mobile device and each node. After setup is complete, the Linksys app serves as a powerful Wi-Fi management tool with useful features, such as guest access, parental controls, device prioritization, and insights that help Velop users get maximum performance and utility from their network. Velop helps users get the most out of their broadband subscription by delivering 100% of their speed to the edge of their network.

"According Industry Reach Group, NPD - Mesh Wi-Fi systems grew 338% in 2017 and will continue to grow in 2018; so we wanted to make sure that consumers had price and performance options to choose from”, said Justin Doucette, senior director of product management at Linksys. “Our new Velop Dual-Band provides the price for performance that customers are looking for plus all the intelligent software and security features that continue to be updated for real time access to the latest enhancements.

The Most Complete and Flexible Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi Solution on the Market Velop is a union of high performing hardware, intelligent software, simple to use App, and cloud service features. This combination provides users with a solution that will future proof their home network for years to come.

Key highlights include:

Intelligent Mesh and New Software Features Rolling Out To All Velop Users Linksys is introducing Intelligent Mesh™, an evolution in Home Wi-Fi engineering, that combines Linksys software and hardware to deliver Wi-Fi via the fastest path to the internet for the best experience possible. Intelligent Mesh helps provide better speed at distances, improved client handling between nodes, and dynamic improvements to back-haul to always ensure the best connection to the Internet. Velop Intelligent Mesh is organized into these 4 pillars and works seamlessly and automatically across both Velop Dual-Band an Tri-Band nodes:

  1. Self-Organize: The Velop system is a modular mesh system that support both Wi-Fi and wired back-haul, configures in AP/Bridge mode, works with any ISP modem or gateway and interoperates seamlessly across Dual-Band and Tri-Band nodes.
  2. Self-Optimize: The Velop system continuously calculates the signal strength and speed between nodes to help deliver the best internet connection to your devices. For Example, Velop uses patent pending Spot Finder technology during setup to automatically configure the mesh network optimizing both Wi-Fi channels and bands to provide best performance to each client device
  3. Self-Healing: The Velop system will reconfigure itself if a node goes offline so that the network continues to perform. Also, the Linksys app includes the Channel Finder feature to initiate a new channel scan to avoid interference or crowded wireless signals.
  4. One Network: The Velop system uses one network name, one password, one admin password for a consistent and secure mesh network of multiple nodes. Velop’s guest network will extend to all nodes and changing passwords to stay secure only requires a single update in the Linksys app or web interface.

Linksys is announcing new software features planned for automatic update in 2018: Linksys is adding new software features in its Intelligent Mesh architecture to enhance the performance of Wi-Fi throughout the home as well as new parental control and security features thru in-app purchases that will add to the overall value of the system.

Pricing and Availability The Linksys Velop Dual-Band Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System (available in 1-pack, 2-pack and 3-pack) is planned to be available this spring. Prices will be announced when product is available at major retail and online stores.

The new software features will be released as they become available via firmware updates and Linksys app updates for all Velop models starting this spring.