Apple carries first-ever in-store, third-party Wi-Fi router in form of Linksys Velop
Roger Fingas
Apple is now selling Linksys' Velop Mesh Wi-Fi System in stores and online, signaling a break from a policy of only selling its own AirPort routers.
The Velop is available in two bundles, with two or three nodes, at prices of $349.95 and $499.95. Like other mesh routers from companies such as Eero and Google, the Velop is intended to cover an entire home with a single SSID for devices to connect to. Each node is said to handle up to 2,000 square feet. Its presence on the store was first spotted by 9to5Mac.
"People love our AirPort products and we continue to sell them," an Apple spokesperson explained in a statement to AppleInsider and other venues. "Connectivity is important in the home and we are giving customers yet another option that is well suited for larger homes."
While Apple's routers are still available for sale, the last upgrade to the hardware was made in June 2013, and Apple has cleared out the dedicated AirPort hardware division. However, Apple has continued to update the family's firmware, and has told AppleInsider that it will keep the AirPort "as safe as possible for as long as possible."
"The hard drive iPod people were gone for a long time, when we issued the last update for the iPod classic firmware," we were told by our contacts within Apple not authorized to speak on behalf of the company in December of 2016. "Just because the hardware guys have moved on to other things, doesn't mean we won't support the software."
Shoppers looking for a discount on the Linksys Velop can also pick up the 2-pack at Amazon.com for $332.55, a discount of $17 off retail.
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58 Comments
Given the asking prices of mesh systems, they were a perfect match for Apple who had excellent offerings pretty much from the start on all things wi-fi.
Now that people are using wi-fi more than ever with more devices than ever and requiring security, speed and coverage, I find it strange that they decided to shut the department down. Especially as there have been so many router issues over the years and people have trouble getting updates.
Maybe they have plans for something else down the line. In the meantime I'm going to wait to see reviews of this:
https://www.techhive.com/article/3247250/home-networking/huawei-wifi-q2-mesh-network.html
Apple used to make their own printers, including the Laserwriter. They made their own monitors. They even made a digital camera. In my opinion it’s just common sense that Apple decided to let peripheral manufacturers who specialize in certain peripherals do their thing. The problem , as we saw with the LG monitor, is that those manufacturers aren’t always on the same level of quality. With the Linksys mesh routers they have the category covered. The Airport Extreme and the Time Capsule are still available.
I have not seen any other router with an audio jack for AirPlay other than AirPort Express. So I hope Apple keeps making them.
I checked out the Linksys iOS app and it looks very similar to all the controls the Comcast xFi shows on commercials. It demonstrates how families can see how the shutdown of Net Neutrality is going to affect them. Parental controls to shut down the kids phones at dinner and prioritizing devices. What I don't like is the requirement(?) to create a Linksys user account in order to manage it. To me this sounds like all activity might be going through Linksys and there's never a reason for that to happen. I don't believe Airport base stations have ever had this requirement and if they did it was simply your Apple ID, which already goes to the company I/we trust the most.
"User account (created in the app or at http://www.LinksysSmartWiFi.com) connected to your Linksys product."
Of course my biggest issue with all of these routers is their cost.