FOR THOSE WHO ARE CONFUSED BY THIS SETUP: This guy has his ISP modem running DHCP for his home network and has used his velop mesh routers to bridge that connection across his house. He's using the additional router as a switch. This is extremely sub-optimal. The best setup for this guy would be to connect the expensive router to the ISP modem and use that for DHCP, VPN, whatever other capabilities it has since I bet it is more robust in features than the Velop. Then to plug the Velop system into that router to extend that LAN across the WLAN. Essentially this is the blind leading the blind, but good try my guy.
@xxyoungchinoxx - thank you for watching and comment. You are correct. In the latest firmware update, the splash screen is altered a bit on the primary node. Stay tuned for my next video on the steps to resolve this issue.
Do you know if the page is still accessible if you know the URL? I'm wondering if they entirely removed the advanced settings or just the link on the splash screen. I don't own a Velop (yet) to check for myself but I'm a bit worried if they intend to remove advanced features.
@mathias Immerkaer - Yes, the administration console is still available. There is an error with the firmware update 1.1.1.178763 that breaks the link in the splash screen and removes the "ca" link at the bottom. To resolve this issue, a few simple steps must be performed. In summary, you have to "redeploy" the nodes. While this is not the most favorable solution, I do have a method that will minimize down time. The video on this process will be published soon. Hopefully, the updated firmware will address this issue.
Hi, I have posted this simple video while I'm on the road. It walks through the steps to restore Linksys Velop administrative menu from the web interface: ua-cam.com/video/tN2tNiY9bB4/v-deo.html
Hey there!!!! Thank you so much for posting this video! My dumbass somehow had it setup as an extender and was only getting close to about 4-5mbs download when im paying for about 300mb. Then after watching this video, I managed to set this up correctly and now get the speed i needed. Thank you.
Hey there! You can set your Velop into a bridge mode however, you'll miss the features of the Velop itself. You can set the Velop as the main router for you to experience its advanced features. :)
Very good input with this video ,,,,,i just switch providers to at&t fiber i set up velop and set it to bridge mode,,, my issue is that im seeing my ssid from velop and ssid from my isp modem router.
Lewis Rodgers nope, you don’t have to bridge the velop at all. You can just connect the primary node to the ISP modem and allow the wizard to setup the internet automatically.
I bought the Linksys EA7500 hoping for 1 router for all, but the signal is not that strong, so I'm thinking of adding the Velop, and this is The exact video of what I need, thank you very much. Some questions please: 1. Why do you bridge the Internal router, not the Velop? Is there an advantage for that? 2. If I bridge the Internal router could I still use the USB sharing feature provided by my EA7500 on the device that's connected with the Velop? 3. If I didn't turn off the WiFi on the EA7500, do I get the benefit of the mesh system? More questions will be on the way. Again, thank you so much.
Andi Yassiin I’m glad the video was helpful for you! To address your questions: 1. I put the internal router (EA7500) in bridge mode because I want it to behave like a switch. Meaning, it will receive routing and IP addressing information from the Velop system. This isn’t the only way to accomplish the goal of extending the physical network (adding more available ports to the Velop) but I found this configuration to be the simplest without having to buy a switch or additional equipment. The advantage to this solution is that you can continue to extend (scale out) your physical network (Ethernet connections) without negatively impacting the Velop system. And, you get the benefits of the Velop wireless mesh in case you need to add more Velop nodes in the future. If you put the Velop in bridge mode, you will lose some functionality. 2. Yes you can still use the features of your internal router while in bridge mode (unless it’s specifically stated that the feature is disabled while in bridge mode). I have an external hard drive connected via usb to my internal router and I can connect to it from the wireless network with no problem. 3. The reason I turned off the wireless feature on the internal router is because it would create a potential conflict for the wireless devices on your wireless network. Let’s assume you use the same SSID on the internal router as you do on Velop; what this will do is create a scenario where your wireless devices constantly drop and reconnect between the Velop and the EA7500 based on the better signal strength of the device. This may not be a big deal when checking email, or browsing web pages, but for conference calls, web meetings, video streaming, online gaming, or any service that relies on a consistent connection you may experience interruptions. That is the magic of the mesh system, is that when one node hands off the connection of a device to another node, you don’t notice it. Under the scenario I just described, you most certainly will notice when your device bounces between the Velop node and the EA7500. That’s why I recommend you disable the wireless signal on the internal router and just let the Velop handle the wireless connectivity. I hope this helps. When you get your next series of questions ready, shoot ‘em over and I’ll do my best to help out.
Andi Yassiin no, it’s not necessarily required to perform this step. At approx 3:10, I explain why I made these IP address changes. Basically, I moved the custom IP address scope from my EA7500 over to the Velop. Prior to getting the Velop, I had the EA7500 setup with a custom IP address range for internal devices. By moving that custom scope over to the Velop, none of my existing devices have to change IP or gateway information and will keep working like normal. This is most beneficial for devices on your network that have manually assigned IPs. (Like my TV, PS4, home security, etc.) If you did not perform the step to create a custom internal IP address and range, the Velop would use the default 192.168.x.x and you devices would use that range as well. Including the devices connected to the EA7500 which is now in bridge mode.
@@cblack9031 yup, finished setting it up, and it works wonderful. Can access my Ext HDD from any smart tv that's connected to the Velop (the EA7500 is bridged). Next question, do you have any idea how to access/watch the content from a smart device other than TV's (laptop, phones, tablet, etc)?
@netexperts i have the velop ax4200 system at home using Mesh, but been getting inconsistent speeds on the 3rd floor. will switching to Bridge make it faster and more stable?
@benjamin yee, in general, no. Bridging would not improve the inconsistent speed on the 3rd floor as it is likely a symptom of the node being too far way from the others which causes the back haul connection between the nodes to fail. There are ways to stabilize the mesh connection on that node and drastically improve your bandwidth in that area. The other option is to use an Ethernet cable from one of the other nodes and connect it to this one. That method with improve the connection between the nodes and should result in better performance on the third floor. Question: is the 3rd floor a large space where the performance is fine near the node, yet decreases as you get farther away?
i want to take advantage of my existing netgear router and all the ethernet cords and switches throughout my property in place-- i just found out that running the velop ethernet ports to my netgear router disconnects...as im using automatic dhcp and main node plugged in directly to my isp modem- i have two ports on modem - one going to netgear router with all my Ethernet connections and the other to the velop mesh with 4 child nodes--my problem was i plugged an ethernet cord from my child nodes into my netgear router switches which is on a different network and no wonder they kept disconnecting as the conflict of the ethernet connection to netgear router and wi fi from main node. SO reading and watching your video i think i need to be in bridge mode on velop rouyrt main node. i believe you said to go first from isp modem to velop then from velop to 2nd netgear router-- THAT would only create one wi fi network instead of two i now have which is what i want-- but id like to go the other way around first to netgear router then to velop--does it make a diffrence??? then suppose i just shut off the the wifi broadcast from velop or netgear and now have just one wi fi- network and ethernet to the nodes would now work CORRECT ?- just confused on setting of the velop in bridge will use my existing settings from my main router netgear and still give me the mesh affect of 5 nodes without lossing up and download speed as i know have with two seperate networks independent--id like one fast network using my router and velop together as one and use my ethernet wiring to the distant child nodes- i dont see where i can turn off wi fi in velop settings = but i can turn off wi fi in my netgear router--jyust noticed i due have a setting in netgear instead of ap mode there is a mesh 802.11s setting
hi, excellent video big time THANK YOU. I have done all the steps, now, when I disconnect Mr. V! from the main router, it does not function properly. did I miss anything? does Mr. V. have to connect by cable to the main modem all the time?
0:58 So you connect the main node of the VELOP to the internet source device (white cable) and the black cable to a modem or router that sends signal for everywhere else, is this correct? I am trying to connect all my VELOP nodes to wired sockets, would it work like that? Thanks! :)
Yes, you are correct. The nodes will work just fine if you connect them to Ethernet ports in your home/office instead of using the wireless mesh. The nodes will auto discover each other over the physical network, generally resulting in higher throughput between nodes and a fast connection for your devices.
I love how these videos think they're explaining how to set this up. I have no idea what you're saying or doing. Most people seeking this info know nothing about configuring WiFi, let alone adding mesh to the equation.
I am thinking of buying this system. I have an cable router. After that I have a Asus ac66u router with NAS. What's the best way to connect to get it all streamed working? Are there disadvantages of putting the velop in bridgemode?
Hello great video. I have 2 velop nodes and i want to use a dlinl619L at the 2nd node. Then add a repeater to the 619L. Is this possible? I'm basically trying to get Internet to my parents home across the street for kids online school.
Hi @JZ Nation, Yes, it is possible to connect the D-Link619L to your Velop Node. Are you planning to hardwire it? Or, are you looking to use a wireless bridge function? Since the goal is to get reliable connectivity across the street, I would recommend you connect the D-Link to the open ethernet port on the 2nd node of the Velop. This will allow the D-Link to use your Velop as the gateway. You can either bridge the D-Link, or use it as a separate router with its own wireless network. As long as the signal is strong enough, everyone using the connection across the street should be fine.
@Netxperts Thank you for your response. That's great to hear. A little bit of context. So I initially had my two velops at the 1st home. I added a linksys RE6300 repeater at the 2nd home (which connects to 2nd velop node). It seems to work fine but will stop working after a week or so. I was told that maybe that repeated may not be compatible with mesh. Okay, so I have a dlink 619 which I can hardwire to the 2nd velop and then connect the linksys 6300 repeater to it. Do you think that would be the most feasible option?
@JZ Nation, from the description of the issue, it sounds like RE6300 was having a problem keeping the connections as the signal from base Velop was likely overlapping which will cause your devices to keep changing between the AP and repeater because they have the same SSID name. The hardwire solution should eliminate that issue,
Your video has been very helpful. Just wondering why you turn off the wireless access on your non-Velop router? I want to use my Linksys 3200 to extend and add more coverage to my Velop syste,
Thanks for watching and I'm happy the video was helpful. You can certainly use your Linksys 3200 as a wireless extender to the Velop. I only disabled it in my setup because I do not want the older router to broadcast a conflicting signal as it will result in a less than optimal wireless experience.
Thank you for a very informative video on the Velop. Have a question regarding your setup. The ISP modem and my router are one device, so when I connect I think I'll only need the one Ethernet cable from the ISP to the Velop, is this correct? Ordered my Velop yesterday and it should be here sometime late next week. Thank you in advance for your help!!
Yes, you are correct. You can accomplish the same functionality using a single ISP router/switch. The Velop would provide the wireless access while your ISP router/switch handles the physical connections. Each Velop node also has two ethernet ports that can be used to extend physical connections to devices that have ethernet as a connection option..
You are certainly a great source of info on the Velop. One more question......should I put my modem/router in bridge mode and turn off the WiFi before I setup the Velop? I'm obviously somewhat uncertain about this. Thanks again!!
It really depends on what "bridge mode" means on your ISP router. I most cases, it simply means turning off NAT. The problem with that is, the public IP would have to be passed to your Velop. If your router supports that, then your Velop would become the "edge" of you internal network. If the router cannot pass the public IP, then you would a block of IPs from your provider. One for your ISP router and one for the Velop. The Velop would then handle the NATing and DHCP for the internal network. I would say that you want your Velop nodes in bridge mode because your ISP router would be handling DHCP request for devices on the wireless network as well as the ports on the router. Wireless devices will join the network via the Velop and the DHCP request from the devices will be forwarded to the ISP router, and the router will return the IP address to the device.
Have you noticed any issues with online gaming with the velop system? I have had nothing but trouble with this system since I bought it which is over a month ago. I have preformed all of the firmware updates even enabled the ports but still having random packet loss when online gaming but its not due to my ISP. It's across all of my gaming devices my two xbox ones and my andriod devices. Has anyone else encountered this?
I have not experienced any negative impact to my network since deploying the Velop system (outside of the administrative headaches 😋 with the GUI). From a performance perspective, I have only seen improvements. I have several gaming consoles connected (3 physical - 4 wireless) and I do not experience any problem with the connectivity, even when multiple systems are simultaneously in use. The same is true if people are using their phones, tablets, & computers. That being said, gaming systems can be a little sensitive when it comes to network connectivity, especially over wireless. Prior to getting the Velop, I had a problem with my xBox One connecting to xBox Live even though the configuration was correct. I resolved it on my old router, but since having the Velop in place, I have not experienced that issue at all. It sounds like you are experiencing a problem with network services on multiple platforms which could be an indicator of a hardware issue with you Velop or possibly a configuration error between the Velop and the ISP. Does the packet loss only occur on wireless devices or physically connected devices, or both?
Only on wireless Devices, not on any hardwired systems. I have also tried to change the MTU to manual of 1100 to possibly fix the issue but the application crashes everytime I try to save the setting and gives me an error screen. Even when I uninstall and redownload the application I still experience the same issue across multiple devices.
Ok now I’m confused. The cable guy set it up completely wrong. So if you have a router and modem you plug the home velop into both?? Also my router is the new nighthawk xr1000 so I should be getting good speeds and I’m not. Do I put the nighthawk into bridge mode or the velop system? Or both? Also do I plug the home node into the nighthawk and the modem?
It sounds like you have a cable modem and a nighthawk router that you want to integrate with the Velop system, is that correct? If so, yes you are correct that both devices (cable modem and nighthawk router) will be connected to the Velop node. I’ll explain why. The modem is connected to the Velop in order to provide internet access for all the devices you connect to the wireless network. The nighthawk router would have to be set to bridge mode so that it is essentially only providing a physical access point for devices connected with Ethernet cables. You would want to disable the wireless broadcast/service on the nighthawk as leaving it enabled will cause conflict with the wireless connection on your devices (cellphone, game systems, etc) and create problems with throughout as you mentioned. Ideally, you would not want two different systems advertising the same bssid because your devices with jump from one to another causing disruption each time they reconnect. Make sure the Velop is handling the IP address assignment as indicated in the video. Alternatively, you could set it up in reverse where the nighthawk is primary and the Velop is in bridge mode. I haven’t tested this scenario, however it should work if that is your preferred setup. Please let me know if you run into more issues.
What was the point of setting up the router in bridge mode when you have the velop system ? What's the propose it just feels like a switch at this point with all the wifi off.
TerminatorTechs you're absolutely right. In my environment I wanted to leverage the ports on the router which is the reason I configured it as a switch. There are certainly other options, like connecting a switch to the unused port of the node or even using a hub. However, for me this solution made the most since given the posture of the devices in my environment.
@V M The purpose of this video is to integrate the Velop with existing equipment, since the Velop is limited on port density. Many people have a similar setup with an ISP modem/router and an internal (commercial) router. Technically, yes, you can buy equipment to do the same thing I achieved here, but why go buy something when you can repurpose what you have? Also, I'm not putting the Velop in bridge mode. I'm putting my existing wifi router in bridge mode (essentially turning it into a switch) so I can leverage the gigabit links on the device without adding an additional routed hop to the network (leaving it as a router) which will add unnecessary complexity for services that don't work well with multiple NAT configurations.
Sorry for the late response here... however, in case anyone has the same question... that sign in screen is accessible from the splash screen of the admin page. navigate to the ip address of your velop, click on the splash screen. It will take you to this link: http(s)://x.x.x.x/ui/1.0.99.208937/dynamic/login.html#casupport (the x.x.x.x is the IP of your velop).
great video, good information on how to setup. my question is if i only have isp modem with no built in wireless is bridging even possible? or am i setting it up wrong. i am to believe that bridging the velop devices allows for each node to have a hard line and still act as a mesh correct? right now my settup is isp device (single port)-->unmanaged 8 port modem--> then splits to my velop devices (when they are plugged in) i only have1/3 plugged in for the nodes to ping the main ATM. when i try to bridge it says its all good but then i cannot obtain any ip address and access the system from phone or computer. appreciate any input, thanks!
matt oliver Thanks for your comment. To answer your question, yes most ISP routers/modem support bridging. Bridging the ISP router to your personal device allows you to use the public IP provided to you from the ISP on the device connected to the ISP modem. A common use for doing this is connecting the ISP modem to a firewall for VPN, or even to create a DMZ for public services like web servers or FTP, etc. There are other methods for achieving the above mentioned solutions, of course, but I wanted to provide some context for using bridging of the ISP modem. In your case however, I would not recommend using bridging of the ISP modem to the Velop node because doing so disables the DHCP service on the Velop. This is the reason none of the devices you connect to the Velop obtain an IP address. The initial part of your setup is fine. You can connect the ISP modem's uplink port (the single port you mentioned) to the Velop node directly, leaving the ISP modem in it's default mode. Assuming that the default setting of the ISP modem is to provide DHCP and NAT the private IPs to the public IP provided to you by your ISP. Then, plug the same Velop node into the switch. Now the Velop will "listen" for traffic from any other devices connected to the switch and be able to communicate with the ISP modem and get an IP address to the devices plugged into the switch. Now you'll want to simply plug in your other Velop nodes throughout your home within appropriate range to sync up with you primary node. Now that all of your nodes are connected, you'll want to follow the instructions from this video starting at time marker 2:25. Once you set your Velop DCHP server options, all of the devices (wireless or hardwired to the switch) will get IPs from your Velop system and everything should work in harmony. Please let me know if I can provide additional information to help. -Cheers
Quick question from a non-tech person. I currently have a modem and a router attached to the modem. If I want to add a linksys velop mesh system, would the node be attached to the router that is attached to modem or would node be attached to modem and the router be attached to node? If my current wifi name is (wifi1), once I set up the mesh system I will have to make a second wifi name (wifi2). What wifi would all my devices connect to wifi1 or wifi2? Is there a way to have 1 wifi to connect to and get advantage of mesh system and separate wifi router? Thanks
Bryan Kaylor thanks for your question. If you are intending to create the same (or similar) solution that I outlined in this video, you will need to connect one port of the velop node to the modem and the other interface of the velop node to "uplink" port of the router. This option will basically make your existing router (not the velop) act like a switch. The Velop will take the place of the router and handle access to the internet and connections between devices (wireless and Ethernet). My recommendation is to disable the wifi on the router and just use the wifi from the Velop. This will ensure a stronger and more reliable wifi experience for your wireless devices. So, disable wifi1 on the router, and setup wifi1 on the Velop. This way, you don't have issues with your wireless devices connecting to wifi. If you have overlapping wifi names (Same SSID) coming from two different systems, you'll find that your wireless experience will become intermittently disrupted because your wireless device could potentially "bounce" between the router and Velop. Similarly, if you use Wifi1 and Wifi2 at the same time (using different names/SSIDs), the following will have to happen: 1. Your router and Velop will need to have unique-distinct networks. Meaning, wifi1 will be 10.0.0.x/24 and wifi2 will be 192.168.1.0/24. That's not a necessarily a bad thing, but it will definitely be disruptive depending on your wifi needs. If you are intending to put IoT devices on Wifi1 and personal devices on Wifi2, that will work. I hope this is helpful. If you need additional help, feel free to ask. Cheers...
@@netxperts3280 I ended up connecting my router (routerwifi) to the modem. I then hooked my velop system to the router. I switched my velop system to bridge mode and in wifi settings changed the velop to "routerwifi" and everything seems to work well with this set up. Linksys reccomended this as my router had more features than the velop system.
Thanks for this. Helpful. Just one question: The first step of the Velop app's setup is to "name your network" (this is required even if you plan to use it as a bridge) Do you just make up a temporary name for the Velop network at that point so you can continue?
Tim Odell there isn’t so much of a specific order in which to connect the cables to the ports as much as the importance of making sure each cable goes to the right place. I detail this @:52 into this video. Starting with the Velop node, connect the Ethernet cable that comes from your ISP (cable modem/DSL) to one port on the Velop. The other port on the Velop will be used to connect to your internal switch/router (if you have one). Keep in mind that the second part is not required for the Velop to work. It’s only beneficial if you wish to extend your physical network. Hope this helps. 🙂
I've had a solid experience with the Velop system. I have tried range extenders and other vendor routers. None of them have provided the same performance and experience as this system. Range extenders can be inconsistent in terms of reliable connections because your device will change MAC addresses as it "roams" between connection points. If the extender does not have a high performing back haul system (like the Velop or other similar units) you will experience drops in connection while your device re-syncs to the wireless network.
Hey , I have a question. I spoke to a rep at Linksys and noticed I’ve been lagging pretty often and comes to find out the linkysys router I have is only good for 15+ devices and I have 51+ connected to that router so do you recommend I get rid of my old router and get a router that holds a lot more devices or keep my old router and get a mesh router?
Hi @Nas G, yes I’d definitely recommend that you upgrade your router to a newer platform. Most of the newer systems support 50+ devices with no problem. Regarding the decision of whether to purchase a Velop or different solution, I would say that is entirely dependent on your use case. I went with (and recommend) the Velop mesh system because it works well in situations where you want to cover a larger wireless network area that would ordinarily have dead spots due to the structure of your home or building. For example, the main level where a traditional router is placed would have outstanding throughput, however as you move to a lower level of the home, or a bedroom further away from the router, the throughput drastically degrades. The Velop (or mesh systems in general) solve this problem. They are also scalable and can support up to 100 devices in some cases.
Hey Netxpert, Is there a way to make use of my current ASUS router to amplify the strength of the wifi in conjunction with velop system? Basically use both together and getting better range and strength?
Is it necessary to bridge in order to get the fastest internet signal to the velop? I have Comcast gigabit service and have everything connected to their modem/router through hardline but the velop is getting very low mbps compared to what is coming in off of the modem/router they installed.
Bridging should not be a requirement for getting the maximum bandwidth between your Comcast modem and the Velop. There can be a number of factors that contribute to reduced throughput. For example, if for some reason the traffic coming from the devices on your Velop going outbound to the internet through the Comcast modem is being bottlenecked by the CPU on the Velop node (that's a possibility but I'm not sure how likely that is). There could be a fragmentation issue between the two devices where the MTU setting could be causing dropped packets, thus resulting in reduced bandwidth. Are all of the devices on the Velop experiencing the reduced throughput? Is there any difference in performance based on distance from a Velop node? What about directly connecting a device to a port on the Velop, does that have any impact on throughput? Assuming that your setup is similar to mine: Setup- Comcast router (Non-bridged) -> Linksys Velop (Non-Bridged) -> Internal switch (bridged wifi router) -> Devices 1. My Comcast router is performing NAT from the public (Comcast provided IP address) to the internal Comcast router network (e.g. 10.0.0.1). 2. I have port 1 of my Comcast router connecting to the Velop node. 3. The other port of the Velop node is connected to the uplink port of the older wifi router (set to bridge mode). 4. The Velop node system is performing NAT of the Comcast network (The 10.0.0.1 network from above) to my internal network (e.g. 192.168.1.0). 5. From there, my older wifi router is configured in bridge mode to basically extend the IP space (192.168.1.0) of my Velop to the devices that are plugged into the wifi router. I don't experience any bandwidth problem with this configuration. With over 40 devices on my network, they all have approximately the same throughput out to the internet and internally between devices. I would be make sure that you don't have overlapping wifi SSIDs (e.g. Comcast modem and Velop system are broadcasting the same Wifi name). I disabled wifi on my Comcast system, as it is not needed in my case. However, if you want to use the Comcast Wifi in parallel to the Velop (for a guest network for example) just make sure it has a unique name. Let me know if this helps.
I have set up the Velop system, unfortunately I am unable to find my WD EX4 cloud which is running through my ISP modem router. Are these sytems not compatible? How can I get the system to see the EX4? Do I connect the EX4 directly through the VELOP system?
Hi @695925, to answer you question I would need to know a bit more about your WD EX4 cloud drive. Depending on which model of the EX4 you have, I believe it supports USB & ethernet connections. If you are using ethernet connected to your ISP modem/router, then you would need to put your Velop router in bridge mode. This will allow the Velop to communicate with the EX4 connected to the ethernet port of your ISP modem. Alternatively, you could get a inexpensive 4-8 port switch and connect that to your Velop node. Then attach your EX4 to the switch. This option will keep the ISP router operating as a NAT gateway and your Velop can function as an internal router.
You don't need an internal router at all. If you are going to use all wireless (or mostly wireless) connections then you just set up the Velop in a standard configuration. The content in this video is for people that want to keep their existing router and integrate it with the Velop system in a way that takes advantage of the Velop features while keeping physical connections in place.
Does the Velop work with the hardwired set up like this: node1node2 (bridge mode) I've set it up this way and spoke with the tech for hours and days because we tried to figure out what was wrong with the nodes not working correctly with this set up. I ended up replacing it to rule out if it is a bad node and it should be here in a few days.
Well, I'm not sure if replacing the node will resolve the issue you're facing. In your setup, there is a potential error in the physical topology (the connections between the nodes) depending on the functionality of you modem/router. In most cases you will not be able to route to node1 from your router/modem and switch to node2 from the same device. You can only define one subnet on the Velop, so you can't route and switch that same subnet on two different nodes if they are part of the same wireless network. If you set up node2 as an independent node (separate network) then you can accomplish your setup - assuming your modem/router can actually perform routing to one node and switching to another.
If both nodes are independent, what device is handling the IP addressing for your network? If each node is independent and bridged to the modem then that means the modem would be handling the subnet/gateway information. This basically means you are stretching your layer 2 network to each node. If so, then yes it should work fine. But I suspect the modem would be bottleneck in this case. For example: Modem Public ISP IP: 5.5.5.5 /28 Modem Internal IP: 192.168.0.1/24 (DHCP Pool defined here) Velop Node 1 IP: 192.168.0.2 ->Bridged - extending the 192.168.0.1 network Velop Node 2 IP: 192.168.0.3 ->Bridged - also extending the 192.168.0.1 network This should work. I've never tested this configuration, but logically it makes sense. This basically works as an extender, but you lose some of the benefits of the mesh network by deploying it this way. Potential caveats: Wireless network advertising from each node - If each node is independent, are you broadcasting the same SSID from both nodes? If so, you could run into problems with wireless devices maintaining a consistent connection because as they move around your house they will change from one node to another (switching destination MAC addresses) which will cause interruption because the nodes are not synchronizing the back plane as intended with a typical Velop Mesh setup. Additional hops in the network for devices on each node - this will affect network performance, resulting in increased latency and potential disconnects depending on the application. Will the Modem/Router wireless network be enabled? What exactly were the nodes not doing in your network? Could one reach the internet and the other could not? Or, would neither come online?
Thank you for your response. I fixed this issue my self but was too lazy to call back to let them know how I did it. Basically how they told me to set it up was have one node bridged to the modem and then set the the other node bridged the same way BUT (important part), they had told me to click on "add another node" in the app which was causing my issues with losing connection and wifi not working on one node. I had fixed this by clicking on the app "set up a new device" instead, which I think basically recognized it as 2 separate nodes in bridge mode. This way I added the second node to my Velop network as a separate router.
where can i confg media prioritizing? i only have device prioritizing tab. i need to confg the QOS but couldn't find it cos its under the media prioritizing thanks
Hi Mona. It sounds like you are looking for application level QOS settings based on application layer attributes. I don't think this level of functionality is supported on the Velop. You can set prioritization based on the device or group of devices. The Velop will analyze the available bandwidth out to the internet (upstream & downstream). Once that is complete, the system allows you to assign bandwidth priority based on device (essentially MAC address).
The solution described in this video will work with a router/modem from your ISP. As long as the router/modem from the ISP has an available ethernet connection to plug into the Velop, you should be fine. If you do not have a secondary router, as I do in this video, you can just run the standard Velop configuration and your network will operate just fine.
The Velop does support a bridging option. You should be able to use the Velop nodes as bridges and allow a router (layer 3 device) to handle the network traffic out to internet.
Someone please HELP ME! i have a motorolla modem thats hooked up to my linksys ea9500 router, could i just hard wire in one of the velop node to the ea9500 and set up the vleop system then change it to bridge mode right after?
I think the issue you will run into by connecting the Velop node to your ea9500 prior to running through the initial configuration of the Velop is that the Velop node is going to attempt to access the internet directly from the ISP modem (Motorola in this case). I attempted to perform the same thing you are asking about and the node would never initialize. Thus, you won't be able to set it up in bridge mode. To solve this problem, you can plug the Velop into the Motorola modem and allow it to initialize. After the Velop node has completed it's initial setup, you can access the administration web page and change the Velop to bridge mode. Then plug the ethernet cable from the Velop into a port on your ea9500. Assuming your ea9500 is handling DHCP, your Velop should get an IP from the ea9500 and the remainder of the nodes will join the mesh using the same process.
Albert Chen, yes. You can use Comcast devices in bridge mode. I’m not sure about all Comcast routers, but in general they do support bridging to use your Comcast provided IP on your personal equipment such as a firewall.
I was wondering if you might be able to offer some troubleshooting advice? I recently upgraded to 200Mbps from 100Mbps. I've checked my connection on a few different speed test sites and they are all showing 65-100Mbps. I called my internet provider and they walked me through steps to check if it's my router or the internet. When I plug the ethernet cable into my computer, directly from the modem, the speed tests show 250-300Mpbs. Tech support says the problem is with my router and that I needed to call the manufacturer. I feel like there might be some setting that I'm unaware of, that could help?? I tried device prioritization, putting my computer at the top of the list, but that didn't improve the speed tests. In the Velop app, under device prioritization, it says priority is being based on a 134Mbps connection. Thanks for any help you can offer!
@Richard Buchanan - There are a few reasons your bandwidth experience on wireless will be lower than the full bandwidth supplied by your ISP. To determine if the issue is originating with the Velop system, try opening the linksys app on your mobile device or access the dashboard from a computer on your network. Once inside the app, open the speed test in the left-hand menu. This test will determine the bandwidth available on the primary node (the node connected to the ISP modem). If this measurement is significantly less than that provided by the ISP (100Mbps or less), the issue may be with the Velop system. If this is the case, you can attempt to upgrade the firmware of the Velop system (assuming that has not been done). Also, check that the ethernet cable used to connect the Velop node to the ISP modem is in good condition. If all of the above has been performed and the issue persists, you could try reseting the Velop to factory settings and configure it again from scratch. (less than ideal, but sometimes factory resets can solve issues like this). If the bandwidth test within the app shows a favorable output, then the issue might be with the wireless connect between your device and the node. If your devices are using 2.4Ghz on a wireless n connecter (for example) the maximum bandwidth is 300Mbps, but only under optimal conditions. The more realistic maximum measurement would be 150Mbps but, again, that's under optimum conditions. Therefore your results of 100Mbps might be accurate depending on your distance from the closest node. If you are using 5Ghz wireless N the realistic maximum is about 450Mbps and wireless AC is up to 1Gbps. You may be able to use the linksys app to determine which node your device is connected to, and it will give you a general idea of the signal strength. Also, if your device has the option to display the wireless status (interference, noise and tx rate), you may be able to determine if the conditions improve as you move around the wireless coverage area. I hope this helps.
@@netxperts3280 Thank you so much for the detailed reply and problem solving steps! I really appreciate it. I actually got it fixed!!! :) I browsed the Linksys community message boards and found that many people have similar issues. In one user comment they said that turning off the device prioritization feature in the app, fixed their problem. I thought that has to be too simple, but I tried and guess what... it worked! I'm now getting between 250-350Mbps, though I'm only supposed to get 200. I turned device prioritization back on, just to see, and yep.. the speed went back down to 65ish..turned it back off and up it went. I did not run the speed test via the app, because users and moderators on the forum suggested that will actually slow your speed.. for some reasons that I didn't understand. LOL
Now I'm curious to know why this is a problem? What's the point of the feature if it slows everything down. The device that I had prioritized was the device on which I performed the speed tests.. Maybe a broken feature or maybe I have some setting out of whack.. I'm not sure yet.
That kind of makes sense regarding the device prioritization, in a weird way and I'll explain why. I never use the feature, but on a commercial router like this one there really isn't a quality QOS system like there would be on a real enterprise router. So, my guess is, the Velop (like most other commercial routing systems) simply reserves a portion of the total available bandwidth and allocates it to the devices in the prioritization list. This works well when you want to ensure one/few devices get higher percentages of the bandwidth for gaming/streaming while other less active devices only consume 10-20% of the bandwidth for lower priority tasks.
Is your Velop node connected to your ISP modem/router as a bridge or as an uplink? If you have the Velop as a bridge to your ISP router, you will have to make sure the ISP router is handling the IP address assignments and is operating as the gateway to the internet.
The fastest way to undo the change is to reset the linksys router. However, there are alternatives to doing that depending on your setup. Did you put the main linksys router in bridge mode with the intent of having the ISP modem handle the IP address assignments and wifi? If so, you should be able to connect to the ISP modem's WIFI or plug into it and access the linksys modem from there. The IP address of the linksys modem should be the same. Once there, you can remove the bridge setting. I only recommend using the bridging option as a means of extending the physical network from linksys Velop because you might have devices that need to be physically plugged in. You can accomplish the same thing by purchasing a switch, however the intent was to repurpose existing equipment rather than buying more to do the same thing. Hope this helps. If you run into issues, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to help.
sry for being late to the party :) . its a great video , ty for making this one . i have 3 questions tho . im using a linksys wrt 1900AC wifi router , wich is not super new , the first question would be , can i use the velop to extend the range of my main router and let it keep the same functionality its intended to be used for (aka having devices switch up access points (router / velop) automatically depending on wich as the strongest signal) ? if so , second question , would the signal integrity (speed and Strength) be as good as it can be (no sudden lost of signal etc) considering that i dont use a velop as my main router ? last question , if the answer to the first 2 questions in order are 1 yes and no or 2 no and no and i may encounter problems in my home with it and better be replacing my wrt1900 with a velop , will i have the same standard user interface / control pannel / web interface that i have now with my wrt 1900 AC ? ty in advance for helping me out with this :) it is greatly appreciated
@darkmadrap If I understand your questions correctly, you are asking if you can use the Velop as a range extender of your WRT 1900AC while leveraging the mesh functionality of the Velop to ensure stable wireless connectivity as your devices roam between access points. I don't believe the Velop supports this functionality. Wireless extension options are not available in the mobile administration wizard. Even if the options were available, I would not recommend using the Velop for WiFi range extension as this would severely reduce the quality of your WiFi experience because your devices will switch MACs as they "roam" between the WRT 1900AC and Velop system creating temporary drops in connection. The user interface of the Velop and WRT 1900 AC are very similar. Linksys has created a pretty standard web GUI for most of the recent router devices. If you have a need to keep the WRT 1900 AC as your primary router, you can integrate the Velop with your existing network so that you can take advantage of the Velop features. That's essentially what I demonstrated in this video.
@@netxperts3280 ty you helped me out to reconsider my choice . Tho im sure it will be helpfull for the house im in in the future as people i live with will be happy to have better signal across the house when i will leave them to go in an appartment of my own :)
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
FOR THOSE WHO ARE CONFUSED BY THIS SETUP: This guy has his ISP modem running DHCP for his home network and has used his velop mesh routers to bridge that connection across his house. He's using the additional router as a switch. This is extremely sub-optimal. The best setup for this guy would be to connect the expensive router to the ISP modem and use that for DHCP, VPN, whatever other capabilities it has since I bet it is more robust in features than the Velop. Then to plug the Velop system into that router to extend that LAN across the WLAN. Essentially this is the blind leading the blind, but good try my guy.
So well explained. Thank you.
Glad it helped!
They have changed the splash screen to remove those options from the bottom. Great video by the way. Very informative.
@xxyoungchinoxx - thank you for watching and comment.
You are correct. In the latest firmware update, the splash screen is altered a bit on the primary node.
Stay tuned for my next video on the steps to resolve this issue.
Do you know if the page is still accessible if you know the URL? I'm wondering if they entirely removed the advanced settings or just the link on the splash screen. I don't own a Velop (yet) to check for myself but I'm a bit worried if they intend to remove advanced features.
@mathias Immerkaer - Yes, the administration console is still available. There is an error with the firmware update 1.1.1.178763 that breaks the link in the splash screen and removes the "ca" link at the bottom.
To resolve this issue, a few simple steps must be performed. In summary, you have to "redeploy" the nodes. While this is not the most favorable solution, I do have a method that will minimize down time. The video on this process will be published soon.
Hopefully, the updated firmware will address this issue.
Looking forward to your video! Could you please share the URL if you still have it? Thanks!
Hi, I have posted this simple video while I'm on the road. It walks through the steps to restore Linksys Velop administrative menu from the web interface: ua-cam.com/video/tN2tNiY9bB4/v-deo.html
Hey there!!!! Thank you so much for posting this video! My dumbass somehow had it setup as an extender and was only getting close to about 4-5mbs download when im paying for about 300mb. Then after watching this video, I managed to set this up correctly and now get the speed i needed. Thank you.
That's awesome! Glad this video was helpful for you.
What if I want to setup my velop network as the bridge and use the internal commercial router as the main router?
Hey there! You can set your Velop into a bridge mode however, you'll miss the features of the Velop itself. You can set the Velop as the main router for you to experience its advanced features. :)
Can I connect a nighthawk to my velope
Very good input with this video ,,,,,i just switch providers to at&t fiber i set up velop and set it to bridge mode,,, my issue is that im seeing my ssid from velop and ssid from my isp modem router.
I only set velop on bridge mode from the app
Wish me luck. I'm deploying as we type. Hopefully by time you read this, I was successful. Lol
Lewis Rodgers good luck! You got this... 😉
So far, so good. Simplicity is a beautiful thing. Quick question. Do I have to bridge or can I just let my ISP continue to do its job?
Lewis Rodgers nope, you don’t have to bridge the velop at all. You can just connect the primary node to the ISP modem and allow the wizard to setup the internet automatically.
I bought the Linksys EA7500 hoping for 1 router for all, but the signal is not that strong, so I'm thinking of adding the Velop, and this is The exact video of what I need, thank you very much.
Some questions please:
1. Why do you bridge the Internal router, not the Velop? Is there an advantage for that?
2. If I bridge the Internal router could I still use the USB sharing feature provided by my EA7500 on the device that's connected with the Velop?
3. If I didn't turn off the WiFi on the EA7500, do I get the benefit of the mesh system?
More questions will be on the way. Again, thank you so much.
Andi Yassiin I’m glad the video was helpful for you!
To address your questions:
1. I put the internal router (EA7500) in bridge mode because I want it to behave like a switch. Meaning, it will receive routing and IP addressing information from the Velop system. This isn’t the only way to accomplish the goal of extending the physical network (adding more available ports to the Velop) but I found this configuration to be the simplest without having to buy a switch or additional equipment. The advantage to this solution is that you can continue to extend (scale out) your physical network (Ethernet connections) without negatively impacting the Velop system. And, you get the benefits of the Velop wireless mesh in case you need to add more Velop nodes in the future. If you put the Velop in bridge mode, you will lose some functionality.
2. Yes you can still use the features of your internal router while in bridge mode (unless it’s specifically stated that the feature is disabled while in bridge mode). I have an external hard drive connected via usb to my internal router and I can connect to it from the wireless network with no problem.
3. The reason I turned off the wireless feature on the internal router is because it would create a potential conflict for the wireless devices on your wireless network. Let’s assume you use the same SSID on the internal router as you do on Velop; what this will do is create a scenario where your wireless devices constantly drop and reconnect between the Velop and the EA7500 based on the better signal strength of the device. This may not be a big deal when checking email, or browsing web pages, but for conference calls, web meetings, video streaming, online gaming, or any service that relies on a consistent connection you may experience interruptions.
That is the magic of the mesh system, is that when one node hands off the connection of a device to another node, you don’t notice it. Under the scenario I just described, you most certainly will notice when your device bounces between the Velop node and the EA7500. That’s why I recommend you disable the wireless signal on the internal router and just let the Velop handle the wireless connectivity.
I hope this helps. When you get your next series of questions ready, shoot ‘em over and I’ll do my best to help out.
On the 2:50 you configure the IP address for the router, is it necessary? I never edit this part, usually it's automatically added.
Andi Yassiin no, it’s not necessarily required to perform this step. At approx 3:10, I explain why I made these IP address changes. Basically, I moved the custom IP address scope from my EA7500 over to the Velop. Prior to getting the Velop, I had the EA7500 setup with a custom IP address range for internal devices. By moving that custom scope over to the Velop, none of my existing devices have to change IP or gateway information and will keep working like normal. This is most beneficial for devices on your network that have manually assigned IPs. (Like my TV, PS4, home security, etc.)
If you did not perform the step to create a custom internal IP address and range, the Velop would use the default 192.168.x.x and you devices would use that range as well. Including the devices connected to the EA7500 which is now in bridge mode.
@@cblack9031 aaaahhhh, thank you, very clear on that. You're so good at this, you deserve your name.
@@cblack9031 yup, finished setting it up, and it works wonderful. Can access my Ext HDD from any smart tv that's connected to the Velop (the EA7500 is bridged). Next question, do you have any idea how to access/watch the content from a smart device other than TV's (laptop, phones, tablet, etc)?
@netexperts i have the velop ax4200 system at home using Mesh, but been getting inconsistent speeds on the 3rd floor. will switching to Bridge make it faster and more stable?
@benjamin yee, in general, no. Bridging would not improve the inconsistent speed on the 3rd floor as it is likely a symptom of the node being too far way from the others which causes the back haul connection between the nodes to fail. There are ways to stabilize the mesh connection on that node and drastically improve your bandwidth in that area.
The other option is to use an Ethernet cable from one of the other nodes and connect it to this one. That method with improve the connection between the nodes and should result in better performance on the third floor.
Question: is the 3rd floor a large space where the performance is fine near the node, yet decreases as you get farther away?
i want to take advantage of my existing netgear router and all the ethernet cords and switches throughout my property in place-- i just found out that running the velop ethernet ports to my netgear router disconnects...as im using automatic dhcp and main node plugged in directly to my isp modem- i have two ports on modem - one going to netgear router with all my Ethernet connections and the other to the velop mesh with 4 child nodes--my problem was i plugged an ethernet cord from my child nodes into my netgear router switches which is on a different network and no wonder they kept disconnecting as the conflict of the ethernet connection to netgear router and wi fi from main node. SO reading and watching your video i think i need to be in bridge mode on velop rouyrt main node. i believe you said to go first from isp modem to velop then from velop to 2nd netgear router-- THAT would only create one wi fi network instead of two i now have which is what i want-- but id like to go the other way around first to netgear router then to velop--does it make a diffrence??? then suppose i just shut off the the wifi broadcast from velop or netgear and now have just one wi fi- network and ethernet to the nodes would now work CORRECT ?- just confused on setting of the velop in bridge will use my existing settings from my main router netgear and still give me the mesh affect of 5 nodes without lossing up and download speed as i know have with two seperate networks independent--id like one fast network using my router and velop together as one and use my ethernet wiring to the distant child nodes- i dont see where i can turn off wi fi in velop settings = but i can turn off wi fi in my netgear router--jyust noticed i due have a setting in netgear instead of ap mode there is a mesh 802.11s setting
hi, excellent video big time THANK YOU. I have done all the steps, now, when I disconnect Mr. V! from the main router, it does not function properly. did I miss anything? does Mr. V. have to connect by cable to the main modem all the time?
how do i login to the router 3:39 not sure where u went from here as it cut off
whats the difference between the internal router, and the velop???? This is extremely confusing.
0:58 So you connect the main node of the VELOP to the internet source device (white cable) and the black cable to a modem or router that sends signal for everywhere else, is this correct? I am trying to connect all my VELOP nodes to wired sockets, would it work like that? Thanks! :)
Yes, you are correct. The nodes will work just fine if you connect them to Ethernet ports in your home/office instead of using the wireless mesh. The nodes will auto discover each other over the physical network, generally resulting in higher throughput between nodes and a fast connection for your devices.
I love how these videos think they're explaining how to set this up. I have no idea what you're saying or doing. Most people seeking this info know nothing about configuring WiFi, let alone adding mesh to the equation.
I am thinking of buying this system. I have an cable router. After that I have a Asus ac66u router with NAS. What's the best way to connect to get it all streamed working? Are there disadvantages of putting the velop in bridgemode?
Hello great video. I have 2 velop nodes and i want to use a dlinl619L at the 2nd node.
Then add a repeater to the 619L.
Is this possible? I'm basically trying to get Internet to my parents home across the street for kids online school.
Hi @JZ Nation,
Yes, it is possible to connect the D-Link619L to your Velop Node. Are you planning to hardwire it? Or, are you looking to use a wireless bridge function?
Since the goal is to get reliable connectivity across the street, I would recommend you connect the D-Link to the open ethernet port on the 2nd node of the Velop. This will allow the D-Link to use your Velop as the gateway. You can either bridge the D-Link, or use it as a separate router with its own wireless network. As long as the signal is strong enough, everyone using the connection across the street should be fine.
@Netxperts Thank you for your response. That's great to hear.
A little bit of context. So I initially had my two velops at the 1st home. I added a linksys RE6300 repeater at the 2nd home (which connects to 2nd velop node). It seems to work fine but will stop working after a week or so. I was told that maybe that repeated may not be compatible with mesh.
Okay, so I have a dlink 619 which I can hardwire to the 2nd velop and then connect the linksys 6300 repeater to it. Do you think that would be the most feasible option?
@JZ Nation, from the description of the issue, it sounds like RE6300 was having a problem keeping the connections as the signal from base Velop was likely overlapping which will cause your devices to keep changing between the AP and repeater because they have the same SSID name. The hardwire solution should eliminate that issue,
Please explain how to do passthrough mode with att and disable the router.
Your video has been very helpful. Just wondering why you turn off the wireless access on your non-Velop router? I want to use my Linksys 3200 to extend and add more coverage to my Velop syste,
Thanks for watching and I'm happy the video was helpful. You can certainly use your Linksys 3200 as a wireless extender to the Velop. I only disabled it in my setup because I do not want the older router to broadcast a conflicting signal as it will result in a less than optimal wireless experience.
quick question, can you configure the velop ap's for bridge mode? does the mesh stuff not work if they are in bridge mode?
Thank you for a very informative video on the Velop. Have a question regarding your setup. The ISP modem and my router are one device, so when I connect I think I'll only need the one Ethernet cable from the ISP to the Velop, is this correct? Ordered my Velop yesterday and it should be here sometime late next week.
Thank you in advance for your help!!
Yes, you are correct. You can accomplish the same functionality using a single ISP router/switch. The Velop would provide the wireless access while your ISP router/switch handles the physical connections. Each Velop node also has two ethernet ports that can be used to extend physical connections to devices that have ethernet as a connection option..
You are certainly a great source of info on the Velop. One more question......should I put my modem/router in bridge mode and turn off the WiFi before I setup the Velop? I'm obviously somewhat uncertain about this. Thanks again!!
It really depends on what "bridge mode" means on your ISP router. I most cases, it simply means turning off NAT. The problem with that is, the public IP would have to be passed to your Velop. If your router supports that, then your Velop would become the "edge" of you internal network. If the router cannot pass the public IP, then you would a block of IPs from your provider. One for your ISP router and one for the Velop. The Velop would then handle the NATing and DHCP for the internal network.
I would say that you want your Velop nodes in bridge mode because your ISP router would be handling DHCP request for devices on the wireless network as well as the ports on the router. Wireless devices will join the network via the Velop and the DHCP request from the devices will be forwarded to the ISP router, and the router will return the IP address to the device.
Have you noticed any issues with online gaming with the velop system? I have had nothing but trouble with this system since I bought it which is over a month ago. I have preformed all of the firmware updates even enabled the ports but still having random packet loss when online gaming but its not due to my ISP. It's across all of my gaming devices my two xbox ones and my andriod devices. Has anyone else encountered this?
I have not experienced any negative impact to my network since deploying the Velop system (outside of the administrative headaches 😋 with the GUI). From a performance perspective, I have only seen improvements.
I have several gaming consoles connected (3 physical - 4 wireless) and I do not experience any problem with the connectivity, even when multiple systems are simultaneously in use. The same is true if people are using their phones, tablets, & computers.
That being said, gaming systems can be a little sensitive when it comes to network connectivity, especially over wireless. Prior to getting the Velop, I had a problem with my xBox One connecting to xBox Live even though the configuration was correct. I resolved it on my old router, but since having the Velop in place, I have not experienced that issue at all.
It sounds like you are experiencing a problem with network services on multiple platforms which could be an indicator of a hardware issue with you Velop or possibly a configuration error between the Velop and the ISP. Does the packet loss only occur on wireless devices or physically connected devices, or both?
Only on wireless Devices, not on any hardwired systems. I have also tried to change the MTU to manual of 1100 to possibly fix the issue but the application crashes everytime I try to save the setting and gives me an error screen. Even when I uninstall and redownload the application I still experience the same issue across multiple devices.
Ok now I’m confused. The cable guy set it up completely wrong. So if you have a router and modem you plug the home velop into both?? Also my router is the new nighthawk xr1000 so I should be getting good speeds and I’m not. Do I put the nighthawk into bridge mode or the velop system? Or both? Also do I plug the home node into the nighthawk and the modem?
It sounds like you have a cable modem and a nighthawk router that you want to integrate with the Velop system, is that correct? If so, yes you are correct that both devices (cable modem and nighthawk router) will be connected to the Velop node. I’ll explain why.
The modem is connected to the Velop in order to provide internet access for all the devices you connect to the wireless network. The nighthawk router would have to be set to bridge mode so that it is essentially only providing a physical access point for devices connected with Ethernet cables. You would want to disable the wireless broadcast/service on the nighthawk as leaving it enabled will cause conflict with the wireless connection on your devices (cellphone, game systems, etc) and create problems with throughout as you mentioned. Ideally, you would not want two different systems advertising the same bssid because your devices with jump from one to another causing disruption each time they reconnect.
Make sure the Velop is handling the IP address assignment as indicated in the video.
Alternatively, you could set it up in reverse where the nighthawk is primary and the Velop is in bridge mode. I haven’t tested this scenario, however it should work if that is your preferred setup. Please let me know if you run into more issues.
Can you use any router like ASUS with Linksys velop nodes?
What was the point of setting up the router in bridge mode when you have the velop system ? What's the propose it just feels like a switch at this point with all the wifi off.
TerminatorTechs you're absolutely right. In my environment I wanted to leverage the ports on the router which is the reason I configured it as a switch. There are certainly other options, like connecting a switch to the unused port of the node or even using a hub. However, for me this solution made the most since given the posture of the devices in my environment.
Check out my velop video.
Yep, you could have used a cheap router in bridge mode to do the same. Why buy an expensive mesh system to do such a simple task?
@V M The purpose of this video is to integrate the Velop with existing equipment, since the Velop is limited on port density. Many people have a similar setup with an ISP modem/router and an internal (commercial) router. Technically, yes, you can buy equipment to do the same thing I achieved here, but why go buy something when you can repurpose what you have? Also, I'm not putting the Velop in bridge mode. I'm putting my existing wifi router in bridge mode (essentially turning it into a switch) so I can leverage the gigabit links on the device without adding an additional routed hop to the network (leaving it as a router) which will add unnecessary complexity for services that don't work well with multiple NAT configurations.
What happened @ 3:40? How did you get to that sign in screen?
Sorry for the late response here... however, in case anyone has the same question... that sign in screen is accessible from the splash screen of the admin page. navigate to the ip address of your velop, click on the splash screen. It will take you to this link: http(s)://x.x.x.x/ui/1.0.99.208937/dynamic/login.html#casupport (the x.x.x.x is the IP of your velop).
great video, good information on how to setup. my question is if i only have isp modem with no built in wireless is bridging even possible? or am i setting it up wrong. i am to believe that bridging the velop devices allows for each node to have a hard line and still act as a mesh correct? right now my settup is isp device (single port)-->unmanaged 8 port modem--> then splits to my velop devices (when they are plugged in) i only have1/3 plugged in for the nodes to ping the main ATM. when i try to bridge it says its all good but then i cannot obtain any ip address and access the system from phone or computer. appreciate any input, thanks!
matt oliver Thanks for your comment.
To answer your question, yes most ISP routers/modem support bridging. Bridging the ISP router to your personal device allows you to use the public IP provided to you from the ISP on the device connected to the ISP modem. A common use for doing this is connecting the ISP modem to a firewall for VPN, or even to create a DMZ for public services like web servers or FTP, etc. There are other methods for achieving the above mentioned solutions, of course, but I wanted to provide some context for using bridging of the ISP modem.
In your case however, I would not recommend using bridging of the ISP modem to the Velop node because doing so disables the DHCP service on the Velop. This is the reason none of the devices you connect to the Velop obtain an IP address. The initial part of your setup is fine. You can connect the ISP modem's uplink port (the single port you mentioned) to the Velop node directly, leaving the ISP modem in it's default mode. Assuming that the default setting of the ISP modem is to provide DHCP and NAT the private IPs to the public IP provided to you by your ISP. Then, plug the same Velop node into the switch. Now the Velop will "listen" for traffic from any other devices connected to the switch and be able to communicate with the ISP modem and get an IP address to the devices plugged into the switch. Now you'll want to simply plug in your other Velop nodes throughout your home within appropriate range to sync up with you primary node. Now that all of your nodes are connected, you'll want to follow the instructions from this video starting at time marker 2:25. Once you set your Velop DCHP server options, all of the devices (wireless or hardwired to the switch) will get IPs from your Velop system and everything should work in harmony.
Please let me know if I can provide additional information to help.
-Cheers
Quick question from a non-tech person. I currently have a modem and a router attached to the modem. If I want to add a linksys velop mesh system, would the node be attached to the router that is attached to modem or would node be attached to modem and the router be attached to node?
If my current wifi name is (wifi1), once I set up the mesh system I will have to make a second wifi name (wifi2). What wifi would all my devices connect to wifi1 or wifi2? Is there a way to have 1 wifi to connect to and get advantage of mesh system and separate wifi router?
Thanks
Bryan Kaylor thanks for your question.
If you are intending to create the same (or similar) solution that I outlined in this video, you will need to connect one port of the velop node to the modem and the other interface of the velop node to "uplink" port of the router. This option will basically make your existing router (not the velop) act like a switch. The Velop will take the place of the router and handle access to the internet and connections between devices (wireless and Ethernet).
My recommendation is to disable the wifi on the router and just use the wifi from the Velop. This will ensure a stronger and more reliable wifi experience for your wireless devices. So, disable wifi1 on the router, and setup wifi1 on the Velop. This way, you don't have issues with your wireless devices connecting to wifi. If you have overlapping wifi names (Same SSID) coming from two different systems, you'll find that your wireless experience will become intermittently disrupted because your wireless device could potentially "bounce" between the router and Velop. Similarly, if you use Wifi1 and Wifi2 at the same time (using different names/SSIDs), the following will have to happen:
1. Your router and Velop will need to have unique-distinct networks. Meaning, wifi1 will be 10.0.0.x/24 and wifi2 will be 192.168.1.0/24. That's not a necessarily a bad thing, but it will definitely be disruptive depending on your wifi needs. If you are intending to put IoT devices on Wifi1 and personal devices on Wifi2, that will work.
I hope this is helpful. If you need additional help, feel free to ask.
Cheers...
@@netxperts3280 I ended up connecting my router (routerwifi) to the modem. I then hooked my velop system to the router. I switched my velop system to bridge mode and in wifi settings changed the velop to "routerwifi" and everything seems to work well with this set up.
Linksys reccomended this as my router had more features than the velop system.
Thanks for this. Helpful. Just one question: The first step of the Velop app's setup is to "name your network" (this is required even if you plan to use it as a bridge) Do you just make up a temporary name for the Velop network at that point so you can continue?
yes
The right order? What and where does it say anything about connecting the wires in the "right" order? There are no markings to indicate such.
Tim Odell there isn’t so much of a specific order in which to connect the cables to the ports as much as the importance of making sure each cable goes to the right place. I detail this @:52 into this video.
Starting with the Velop node, connect the Ethernet cable that comes from your ISP (cable modem/DSL) to one port on the Velop. The other port on the Velop will be used to connect to your internal switch/router (if you have one). Keep in mind that the second part is not required for the Velop to work. It’s only beneficial if you wish to extend your physical network. Hope this helps. 🙂
go with this or the linksys RE9000 ? range extender on existing IsP provided service router.
I've had a solid experience with the Velop system. I have tried range extenders and other vendor routers. None of them have provided the same performance and experience as this system. Range extenders can be inconsistent in terms of reliable connections because your device will change MAC addresses as it "roams" between connection points. If the extender does not have a high performing back haul system (like the Velop or other similar units) you will experience drops in connection while your device re-syncs to the wireless network.
Hey , I have a question. I spoke to a rep at Linksys and noticed I’ve been lagging pretty often and comes to find out the linkysys router I have is only good for 15+ devices and I have 51+ connected to that router so do you recommend I get rid of my old router and get a router that holds a lot more devices or keep my old router and get a mesh router?
Hi @Nas G, yes I’d definitely recommend that you upgrade your router to a newer platform. Most of the newer systems support 50+ devices with no problem. Regarding the decision of whether to purchase a Velop or different solution, I would say that is entirely dependent on your use case. I went with (and recommend) the Velop mesh system because it works well in situations where you want to cover a larger wireless network area that would ordinarily have dead spots due to the structure of your home or building. For example, the main level where a traditional router is placed would have outstanding throughput, however as you move to a lower level of the home, or a bedroom further away from the router, the throughput drastically degrades. The Velop (or mesh systems in general) solve this problem. They are also scalable and can support up to 100 devices in some cases.
@@netxperts3280 I will definitely take all u said into consideration thank you so much 💯
Hey Netxpert,
Is there a way to make use of my current ASUS router to amplify the strength of the wifi in conjunction with velop system? Basically use both together and getting better range and strength?
Is it necessary to bridge in order to get the fastest internet signal to the velop? I have Comcast gigabit service and have everything connected to their modem/router through hardline but the velop is getting very low mbps compared to what is coming in off of the modem/router they installed.
Bridging should not be a requirement for getting the maximum bandwidth between your Comcast modem and the Velop. There can be a number of factors that contribute to reduced throughput. For example, if for some reason the traffic coming from the devices on your Velop going outbound to the internet through the Comcast modem is being bottlenecked by the CPU on the Velop node (that's a possibility but I'm not sure how likely that is).
There could be a fragmentation issue between the two devices where the MTU setting could be causing dropped packets, thus resulting in reduced bandwidth.
Are all of the devices on the Velop experiencing the reduced throughput? Is there any difference in performance based on distance from a Velop node? What about directly connecting a device to a port on the Velop, does that have any impact on throughput?
Assuming that your setup is similar to mine:
Setup-
Comcast router (Non-bridged) -> Linksys Velop (Non-Bridged) -> Internal switch (bridged wifi router) -> Devices
1. My Comcast router is performing NAT from the public (Comcast provided IP address) to the internal Comcast router network (e.g. 10.0.0.1).
2. I have port 1 of my Comcast router connecting to the Velop node.
3. The other port of the Velop node is connected to the uplink port of the older wifi router (set to bridge mode).
4. The Velop node system is performing NAT of the Comcast network (The 10.0.0.1 network from above) to my internal network (e.g. 192.168.1.0).
5. From there, my older wifi router is configured in bridge mode to basically extend the IP space (192.168.1.0) of my Velop to the devices that are plugged into the wifi router.
I don't experience any bandwidth problem with this configuration. With over 40 devices on my network, they all have approximately the same throughput out to the internet and internally between devices.
I would be make sure that you don't have overlapping wifi SSIDs (e.g. Comcast modem and Velop system are broadcasting the same Wifi name). I disabled wifi on my Comcast system, as it is not needed in my case. However, if you want to use the Comcast Wifi in parallel to the Velop (for a guest network for example) just make sure it has a unique name.
Let me know if this helps.
I have set up the Velop system, unfortunately I am unable to find my WD EX4 cloud which is running through my ISP modem router. Are these sytems not compatible? How can I get the system to see the EX4? Do I connect the EX4 directly through the VELOP system?
Hi @695925, to answer you question I would need to know a bit more about your WD EX4 cloud drive. Depending on which model of the EX4 you have, I believe it supports USB & ethernet connections. If you are using ethernet connected to your ISP modem/router, then you would need to put your Velop router in bridge mode. This will allow the Velop to communicate with the EX4 connected to the ethernet port of your ISP modem.
Alternatively, you could get a inexpensive 4-8 port switch and connect that to your Velop node. Then attach your EX4 to the switch. This option will keep the ISP router operating as a NAT gateway and your Velop can function as an internal router.
How can i set a new velop node to be a bridge for mobile hotspot?
You can't bridge mode the Velop on a mobile hotspot. Routers should be connected to a modem or to any source of internet connection (HARDWIRED) .
What do I need an internal router for when I can set up a guest network on the Velop system?
You don't need an internal router at all. If you are going to use all wireless (or mostly wireless) connections then you just set up the Velop in a standard configuration. The content in this video is for people that want to keep their existing router and integrate it with the Velop system in a way that takes advantage of the Velop features while keeping physical connections in place.
Does the Velop work with the hardwired set up like this: node1node2 (bridge mode)
I've set it up this way and spoke with the tech for hours and days because we tried to figure out what was wrong with the nodes not working correctly with this set up. I ended up replacing it to rule out if it is a bad node and it should be here in a few days.
Well, I'm not sure if replacing the node will resolve the issue you're facing.
In your setup, there is a potential error in the physical topology (the connections between the nodes) depending on the functionality of you modem/router. In most cases you will not be able to route to node1 from your router/modem and switch to node2 from the same device.
You can only define one subnet on the Velop, so you can't route and switch that same subnet on two different nodes if they are part of the same wireless network.
If you set up node2 as an independent node (separate network) then you can accomplish your setup - assuming your modem/router can actually perform routing to one node and switching to another.
Netxperts but they both are independent and in bridge mode, So should work.
If both nodes are independent, what device is handling the IP addressing for your network? If each node is independent and bridged to the modem then that means the modem would be handling the subnet/gateway information. This basically means you are stretching your layer 2 network to each node. If so, then yes it should work fine. But I suspect the modem would be bottleneck in this case.
For example:
Modem Public ISP IP: 5.5.5.5 /28
Modem Internal IP: 192.168.0.1/24 (DHCP Pool defined here)
Velop Node 1 IP: 192.168.0.2 ->Bridged - extending the 192.168.0.1 network
Velop Node 2 IP: 192.168.0.3 ->Bridged - also extending the 192.168.0.1 network
This should work. I've never tested this configuration, but logically it makes sense. This basically works as an extender, but you lose some of the benefits of the mesh network by deploying it this way.
Potential caveats:
Wireless network advertising from each node - If each node is independent, are you broadcasting the same SSID from both nodes? If so, you could run into problems with wireless devices maintaining a consistent connection because as they move around your house they will change from one node to another (switching destination MAC addresses) which will cause interruption because the nodes are not synchronizing the back plane as intended with a typical Velop Mesh setup.
Additional hops in the network for devices on each node - this will affect network performance, resulting in increased latency and potential disconnects depending on the application.
Will the Modem/Router wireless network be enabled?
What exactly were the nodes not doing in your network? Could one reach the internet and the other could not? Or, would neither come online?
Thank you for your response. I fixed this issue my self but was too lazy to call back to let them know how I did it. Basically how they told me to set it up was have one node bridged to the modem and then set the the other node bridged the same way BUT (important part), they had told me to click on "add another node" in the app which was causing my issues with losing connection and wifi not working on one node. I had fixed this by clicking on the app "set up a new device" instead, which I think basically recognized it as 2 separate nodes in bridge mode. This way I added the second node to my Velop network as a separate router.
where can i confg media prioritizing? i only have device prioritizing tab. i need to confg the QOS but couldn't find it cos its under the media prioritizing
thanks
Hi Mona. It sounds like you are looking for application level QOS settings based on application layer attributes. I don't think this level of functionality is supported on the Velop. You can set prioritization based on the device or group of devices.
The Velop will analyze the available bandwidth out to the internet (upstream & downstream). Once that is complete, the system allows you to assign bandwidth priority based on device (essentially MAC address).
What if you have a combined router/modem from your ISP?
The solution described in this video will work with a router/modem from your ISP. As long as the router/modem from the ISP has an available ethernet connection to plug into the Velop, you should be fine. If you do not have a secondary router, as I do in this video, you can just run the standard Velop configuration and your network will operate just fine.
What if I wanna make the velop as a bridge
The Velop does support a bridging option. You should be able to use the Velop nodes as bridges and allow a router (layer 3 device) to handle the network traffic out to internet.
Someone please HELP ME!
i have a motorolla modem thats hooked up to my linksys ea9500 router, could i just hard wire in one of the velop node to the ea9500 and set up the vleop system then change it to bridge mode right after?
I think the issue you will run into by connecting the Velop node to your ea9500 prior to running through the initial configuration of the Velop is that the Velop node is going to attempt to access the internet directly from the ISP modem (Motorola in this case). I attempted to perform the same thing you are asking about and the node would never initialize. Thus, you won't be able to set it up in bridge mode.
To solve this problem, you can plug the Velop into the Motorola modem and allow it to initialize. After the Velop node has completed it's initial setup, you can access the administration web page and change the Velop to bridge mode. Then plug the ethernet cable from the Velop into a port on your ea9500. Assuming your ea9500 is handling DHCP, your Velop should get an IP from the ea9500 and the remainder of the nodes will join the mesh using the same process.
Can I use velop as wireless bridge of comcast ISP?
Albert Chen, yes. You can use Comcast devices in bridge mode. I’m not sure about all Comcast routers, but in general they do support bridging to use your Comcast provided IP on your personal equipment such as a firewall.
Netxperts thx
I was wondering if you might be able to offer some troubleshooting advice? I recently upgraded to 200Mbps from 100Mbps. I've checked my connection on a few different speed test sites and they are all showing 65-100Mbps. I called my internet provider and they walked me through steps to check if it's my router or the internet. When I plug the ethernet cable into my computer, directly from the modem, the speed tests show 250-300Mpbs. Tech support says the problem is with my router and that I needed to call the manufacturer. I feel like there might be some setting that I'm unaware of, that could help?? I tried device prioritization, putting my computer at the top of the list, but that didn't improve the speed tests. In the Velop app, under device prioritization, it says priority is being based on a 134Mbps connection.
Thanks for any help you can offer!
@Richard Buchanan - There are a few reasons your bandwidth experience on wireless will be lower than the full bandwidth supplied by your ISP.
To determine if the issue is originating with the Velop system, try opening the linksys app on your mobile device or access the dashboard from a computer on your network. Once inside the app, open the speed test in the left-hand menu. This test will determine the bandwidth available on the primary node (the node connected to the ISP modem). If this measurement is significantly less than that provided by the ISP (100Mbps or less), the issue may be with the Velop system. If this is the case, you can attempt to upgrade the firmware of the Velop system (assuming that has not been done). Also, check that the ethernet cable used to connect the Velop node to the ISP modem is in good condition. If all of the above has been performed and the issue persists, you could try reseting the Velop to factory settings and configure it again from scratch. (less than ideal, but sometimes factory resets can solve issues like this).
If the bandwidth test within the app shows a favorable output, then the issue might be with the wireless connect between your device and the node. If your devices are using 2.4Ghz on a wireless n connecter (for example) the maximum bandwidth is 300Mbps, but only under optimal conditions. The more realistic maximum measurement would be 150Mbps but, again, that's under optimum conditions. Therefore your results of 100Mbps might be accurate depending on your distance from the closest node.
If you are using 5Ghz wireless N the realistic maximum is about 450Mbps and wireless AC is up to 1Gbps.
You may be able to use the linksys app to determine which node your device is connected to, and it will give you a general idea of the signal strength. Also, if your device has the option to display the wireless status (interference, noise and tx rate), you may be able to determine if the conditions improve as you move around the wireless coverage area.
I hope this helps.
@@netxperts3280 Thank you so much for the detailed reply and problem solving steps! I really appreciate it. I actually got it fixed!!! :) I browsed the Linksys community message boards and found that many people have similar issues. In one user comment they said that turning off the device prioritization feature in the app, fixed their problem. I thought that has to be too simple, but I tried and guess what... it worked! I'm now getting between 250-350Mbps, though I'm only supposed to get 200. I turned device prioritization back on, just to see, and yep.. the speed went back down to 65ish..turned it back off and up it went. I did not run the speed test via the app, because users and moderators on the forum suggested that will actually slow your speed.. for some reasons that I didn't understand. LOL
Now I'm curious to know why this is a problem? What's the point of the feature if it slows everything down. The device that I had prioritized was the device on which I performed the speed tests.. Maybe a broken feature or maybe I have some setting out of whack.. I'm not sure yet.
That kind of makes sense regarding the device prioritization, in a weird way and I'll explain why. I never use the feature, but on a commercial router like this one there really isn't a quality QOS system like there would be on a real enterprise router. So, my guess is, the Velop (like most other commercial routing systems) simply reserves a portion of the total available bandwidth and allocates it to the devices in the prioritization list. This works well when you want to ensure one/few devices get higher percentages of the bandwidth for gaming/streaming while other less active devices only consume 10-20% of the bandwidth for lower priority tasks.
Hey I set it up as a bridge but now my internet won’t connect
Is your Velop node connected to your ISP modem/router as a bridge or as an uplink? If you have the Velop as a bridge to your ISP router, you will have to make sure the ISP router is handling the IP address assignments and is operating as the gateway to the internet.
I don’t understand how to do this please help
Sure. Where are you stuck?
My linksys main router was connected to my modem, I changed it to bridge How do I undo this? Now I can’t access the network.
The fastest way to undo the change is to reset the linksys router. However, there are alternatives to doing that depending on your setup. Did you put the main linksys router in bridge mode with the intent of having the ISP modem handle the IP address assignments and wifi? If so, you should be able to connect to the ISP modem's WIFI or plug into it and access the linksys modem from there. The IP address of the linksys modem should be the same. Once there, you can remove the bridge setting. I only recommend using the bridging option as a means of extending the physical network from linksys Velop because you might have devices that need to be physically plugged in. You can accomplish the same thing by purchasing a switch, however the intent was to repurpose existing equipment rather than buying more to do the same thing. Hope this helps. If you run into issues, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to help.
Reset your main router and reconfigure it again.
I can access the it to save my life with 192.168.1.1. What am I doing wrong?
Why blur out local ip addresses? Not like anyone can access your LAN ?
sry for being late to the party :) . its a great video , ty for making this one .
i have 3 questions tho .
im using a linksys wrt 1900AC wifi router , wich is not super new , the first question would be , can i use the velop to extend the range of my main router and let it keep the same functionality its intended to be used for (aka having devices switch up access points (router / velop) automatically depending on wich as the strongest signal) ? if so , second question , would the signal integrity (speed and Strength) be as good as it can be (no sudden lost of signal etc) considering that i dont use a velop as my main router ? last question , if the answer to the first 2 questions in order are 1 yes and no or 2 no and no and i may encounter problems in my home with it and better be replacing my wrt1900 with a velop , will i have the same standard user interface / control pannel / web interface that i have now with my wrt 1900 AC ?
ty in advance for helping me out with this :) it is greatly appreciated
@darkmadrap If I understand your questions correctly, you are asking if you can use the Velop as a range extender of your WRT 1900AC while leveraging the mesh functionality of the Velop to ensure stable wireless connectivity as your devices roam between access points. I don't believe the Velop supports this functionality. Wireless extension options are not available in the mobile administration wizard. Even if the options were available, I would not recommend using the Velop for WiFi range extension as this would severely reduce the quality of your WiFi experience because your devices will switch MACs as they "roam" between the WRT 1900AC and Velop system creating temporary drops in connection.
The user interface of the Velop and WRT 1900 AC are very similar. Linksys has created a pretty standard web GUI for most of the recent router devices.
If you have a need to keep the WRT 1900 AC as your primary router, you can integrate the Velop with your existing network so that you can take advantage of the Velop features. That's essentially what I demonstrated in this video.
@@netxperts3280 ty you helped me out to reconsider my choice . Tho im sure it will be helpfull for the house im in in the future as people i live with will be happy to have better signal across the house when i will leave them to go in an appartment of my own :)
Your house is a fire hazard with so many cords
I'm still lost :(
B noza how can I help?
@@netxperts3280 I have the AC 6600 in bridge mode and those options don't appear when you go back to it
Great information...poor video lighting