Review on Linksys AX4200 Smart Mesh Wi-Fi 6 Router: Fast Speeds up to 4.2 Gbps, Tri-Band AX Wireless Gigabit Mesh, 8,100 sq ft Coverage, 120 Devices - 3-Pack (MX12600) by John Wells

We had 3 knots in house, the original Velop system which generally worked quite well (about 70 units) but the speeds were lower than desired. Nothing bad or anything like that, but with the rise of streaming devices and the desire to upgrade, we took a look at the different options. Having used Linksys products for many many years, looking at the latest MX series and based on the reviews I had too many concerns about compatibility with some of the older devices (mixed mode may not work), etc. So I checked them out and they are a lot cheaper and could get 2-3 packs (6 total) and really cover a house. With the three knots we had it barely reached the back and front of the house and the knots had to be in one or two specific places or they wouldn't connect. There was thought to be adding nodes but being our first gen and given the cost this pack seemed like the best option for the money. Since it was an almost identical exchange, the screen took over all the settings from the original envelope, manual DNS servers, dyndns, port forwarding, all the custom WiFi rules, all those little things you can forget about. And proceeded to toggle everything with the same network name (hoping everything would just work). Booted up and configured the main node (acting as a router) and the internet was only down for about 10 minutes while everything was set up to provide basic WiFi. Went like clockwork. This single node seemed to cover the house really well, even the furthest bedroom, which was always problematic, was able to get a signal. I wonder if I regret buying 6 of these. Checking the WiFi speed showed that this was not an error. Continue setting up 2 knots at the bottom and then 2 more knots at the top. It turned out to be good. Testing upstairs Wi-Fi with just one router definitely made a difference in speed. Also, the Wi-Fi adapter on the computer in this room turned out to be a bit older, so it just used a wired connection to the node and worked great without worrying too much about where the node is in the room. found that the laptop below does not see the new network. What the hell is going on?!?!?!?! So I got myself a USB Wi-Fi adapter and after a little research it turned out that some chipsets don't work well with newer Wi-Fi6 devices. Download the new driver from Intel (released October 2020 to fix this issue). Excellent! Can see the network and get the same high speed connection there. We spent another 25-35 minutes entering settings from the old system so all the 'things' we were still working on added up less than 2 hours for 5 node setup (no laptop wifi issue) . Yes, only 5th still has a 6th, but they haven't figured out where to even put it. The signals are so strong everywhere, even in the garage, that I don't see a need. However, pay for 6 and only use 5. Still cheaper than buying new mx If you don't need cutting edge tech but want something fairly new that just works it's really great and frankly easier to set up. than the original Velop as they were first generation technologies. They lasted less than 24 hours but will hopefully last for many years like the original Velop did.