Linksys Velop MX4200 Wi-Fi 6 Mesh Router
Linksys Velop MX4200 is Linksys second wi-fi 6 Mesh Router. The first being the Linksys Velop MX5300 which I reviewed last year.
One might think that based on the model numbers MX4200 and MX5300, the Velop MX4200 might be a more inferior model. But it is actually not true, and in the real world, you might not notice the difference.
Based on looks, you can’t tell the Velop MX5300 and Velop MX4200 apart because it looks the same and the dimensions are the same.
The only way you can differentiate based is by looking at the Ethernet ports. Velop MX4200 comes with three Gigabit Ethernet Ports, while the MX5300 has four.
Processor and RAM are also different. A 1.4 GHz Quad-Core CPU powers Velop MX4200 with 512MB of RAM, while Velop MX5300 is much more powerful with a 2.2 GHz quad-core CPU with 1GB of RAM. Both models come with 512MB of Flash storage.
In terms of wireless speed, both are tri-band mesh routers with two 5GHz and one 2.4GHz band. Velop MX4200 is derived from 600 Mbps + 1200 Mbps + 2400 Mbps, while Velop MX5300 is derived from 1,147 Mbps + 2,402 Mbps + 1,733 Mbps.
Both Velop MX4200 5GHz bands are wi-fi 6, but only one 5GHz band of the Velop MX5300 is wi-fi 6. So if you are using wireless backhaul for Velop MX4200, you might notice an improvement due to both 5 GHz bands being wi-fi 6. But all this looks good on paper, but in the real world, they are too many factors affecting speed. The difference might be negligible, which makes the Velop MX4200 more value for money.
All the other features remain the same between Velop MX4200 and Velop MX5300 for the retail units.
StarHub has launched its Smart WiFi Pro package in an exclusive partnership with Linksys. You can get a single unit of Velop MX4200 when you re-contract or signup to a 2Gbps Fibre Broadband plan at S$62.90 per month. If you need more nodes, each additional Velop MX4200 will cost you S$288 or S$12 per month for 24 months.
The single unit of Velop MX4200 is exclusive to StarHub. However, you can get the two or three units of Velop MX4200 in retail stores for S$799 and S$1,099, respectively.
You might be disappointed to know that there are two upcoming features and even more coming in the pipeline that will be exclusive to StarHub’s variant of the Velop MX4200.
One is a more intelligent QOS designed for gaming, and the other is Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS).
I am not really interested in the gaming QOS, but I am disappointed that the DFS will not be available to the retail units of Velop MX4200. If you want to know what DFS can do, you can read my review of the Linksys EA8100 Router, which comes with DFS and also exclusive to StarHub. I am not sure whats the deal with StarHub and DFS.
I find this exclusive deal with StarHub makes the retail unit of Velop MX4200 unattractive. It feels like you are being shortchanged for features despite paying more. A good analogy is when a restaurant has an exclusive deal with GrabFood, and when you order from the restaurant on GrabFood, not only you get complimentary dishes, each dish on the menu is even cheaper than dining in the restaurant itself.
