Samsung ET-WV520K Connect Home AC1300 Router, White (Pack of 3)

I'm a HUGE Samsung fan for many years now, and now that we decided to "smarten" our home, Samsung was the natural choice. We already have the SmartThings Hub (purchased at the beginning of 2018) and Alexa in multiple rooms, lights in multiple rooms, thermostat with room sensors, and continue to slowly add more products...but my next immediate need was to be able to extend our wi-fi connection so a couple of outdoor lights could be "smartened up". This would also allow us to hopefully extend this out to our dock area to get some smart light options out there. So by extending our reach will solve quite a few lighting issues for us in our condo!We have an 1800 sq foot two story townhome in Florida, thus it's block built. We are also an end unit, so do have the ability to have outdoor lighting on 3 sides. The existing SmartThings Hub does a fantastic job covering the inside of our home. And it's on the second floor! However, we seem to be stopped when going out towards the front of our condo (back appears to be fine as Alexa works on our boat, and I've not attempted anything on the side as yet so can't answer for that at this juncture). Thus I decided to purchase this three-pack of Connect Home to develop a mesh to strengthen our downstairs and outside areas.HOWEVER - as of the date of this review (August 16, 2018) I'm stymied in my install progress. And it's my own fault lol. I researched before purchase and saw (as the headline states) that these ARE compatible with SmartThings hub... check, I'm good there, that's what I've got... and then I read how it's ONLY compatible with the UPDATED SmartThings App..... great! I'm good there too! Weelllll….. after many a frustrating attempt at pairing these with zero success, I called Samsung Customer Service. Turns out, I do NOT have the updated app! DOH. The Samsung CSR was fantastic... filled me in on all sorts of stuff, and then gave me the option of where I could download the NEW version OR wait till I get my notification that I could "migrate" over to the new app.I chose to wait to get the notication to migrate because, if I download the new app, I would basically be starting fresh and have to install all of my smart goodies one by one by one (I have too many lol), set up all my groups again etc... if I wait to migrate, it does it all for me! Yeah, I'll wait... especially since the rep let me know that I should get the update to migrate in about two weeks. I can wait two weeks to avoid all that additional work LOL!!Thus I will update this review once I've migrated and fill everyone in on how all of that worked, and how using these to create a mesh works as well!! Thank you for the read and your patience!

UPDATES:Well, very soon after I posted my disappointed, 1-star review about the Samsung Connect Hub, Samsung releases a bunch of OS and App updates and announcements with this product and their Smartthings Hub and Apps. Those upgrade provide the integration between the two platforms that seemed to be previously missing. Since my frustration was about this lack of integration, this really changes things. I think my rating is now probably 4.5 for the product. Given the attractive price point for this product, a 5-star rating might also be appropriate. I had problems editing my March 18 review, so I deleted it and am posting this replacement.Since this now an integrated platform, it is hard to know where to start…BACKGROUNDI currently have a house with a 4 hub mesh network from another manufacturer and a Smartthings home automation system with well over 100 devices. I purchased this hub for a second transitional place.WIRELESS ROUTERI chose this specific product because I needed a wireless router. The AC1300 was much less expensive than Samsung’s fastest router. However, if you know Wifi technology, you know the wireless speeds of the AC1300 are still 3 times faster than the very fast 100mbs Internet service most commonly available. So, unless you are moving huge video files between your desktop and your own media server (and don’t have a hardwire connection) this wireless speed is still much faster than you need. That is, unless you have Gigabit Internet service (lucky you.)WIFI MESH NETWORKI have not yet tried setting up multiple wireless routers to experience how well the Samsung mesh network handles roving devices. That would be the real test. I have 4 Eero hubs in another location and that Wifi mesh no longer handles handoff of Apple devices very well and I have to turn off and turn on Wifi on my iPad as I move around the house. That is a real pain in the neck given how expensive that competing product is. It might be worth a try to use Samsung’s hubs as a whole house mesh network, which is where I might get eventually with this installation.SMARTTHINGS HUBThis Wifi router has a built in Smartthings hub which is a $99 value. If you are thinking about home automation, you may want to investigate the Smartthings platform. As mentioned, with the March 2018 updates to the Smarththings and Connect platform and Apps, you can manage your Samsung Connect home automation system using the Smartthings App. The Smartthings App is a very robust and attractive home automation platform and is supported by one of the world’s largest consumer products companies. Samsung is in the process of merging the 2 Apps and has starting calling the Smartthings App “Smartthings Classic.” FYI, I have not tried using the Smartthings Classic web interface to control devices with custom device definitions etc. on this Samsung Connect Hub but I am assuming that works the same.THAT OTHER MESH NETWORKA home automation system such as the Smartthings platform uses a Z-Wave and/or Zigbee mesh network to connect smart devices such as light switches. I am hoping that multiple Samsung Connect hubs will extend that mesh network as well as extending the Wifi mesh network. As you may know, one of the challenges with a home automation system is simply coverage for the signal.FUTURE PROOFING:Samsung is really taking on a lot with the integration of their Wifi wireless and their home automation, i.e. Smartthings, platforms. Given their announcements about combining the 2 platforms, it seems there may be a lot of future proofing in this product. This Wifi router seems to be a great product to introduce yourself to home automation as well if you don’t already have a home automation system.INTEGRATED WIFI AND HOME AUTOMATION?The only caveat I have about an integrated system is that I have been burned in the past with another manufacturer. I did not like their Wifi and I was not all that impressed with their home automation. The benefit of having a separate home automation system and a separate Wifi system is that you have the flexibility of changing one without having to change the other.PRICEI went online to buy a Wifi router and also needed to buy a Smartthings hub. I was pleasantly surprised to find this combined product. Their recent upgrades to an integrated platform really changes things. It is the big step forward that I hoped it would be. If they continue to have this attractive, discounted, price on the AC1300, you may want to buy 2 or 3.[Previous 1-Star Review][Recent platform and App upgrades make this review obsolete]This is a bad product. This hub is NOT SMARTTHINGS COMPATIBLE and the product advertising and product description is false. I wish I would have read the reviews in the general press before I bought it because everything I was assuming it would do, it does not do. It does not work very well as a mesh hub or as a smart controller. I was assuming the integrated design was a step forward. However it is a very bizarre step backward. Personally, I don’t get it…[snip]As mentioned, that previous review became obsolete with this spring’s upgrades to the Samsung Connect App and the Samsung Smarthings App and the operating system of both hubs.

Using it in a bridge mode (meaning the network settings are managed by another router) As a fully fledged home router, perhaps it is too simplistic and will not fit anything but the most basic use patterns (which perhaps is a non-issue for 90% of the users). As a bridge, in my experience it is more than adequate. I have the mesh installed on the second and third levels of the house covering approximately 2000 sq ft. segmented by multiple walls. I don't have a spot where the signal drops below 55 db (on 2.4 G) which is quite decent for my needs. As a connected home hub, it found and connected all the smart things I have flawlessly, but to admit it, my home automation is rudimentary so I will not vouch for more sophisticated use patterns.One thing which caused me some frustration was the fact that while it comes in three identical boxes containing three identical devices, they all are not equal as only one of them is capable of running the initial setup. In my case, it was the unit in the box with the instructions (the two others did not have it but my lack was such that I opened the first two - and tried to run the setup on them - before I got to the right one.) Maybe this is reflected somewhere in the manual, but who is going to read it, anyway? ... would have been better to mark the "mother" unit somehow.Bottom line is, it has its quirks and it is not absolutely perfect, but... WiFi performance comparable to other mesh systems, for the half of the price, not to count the smart things hub on top of that?... 4.95 stars.