Linksys Aims to Fill Apple’s AirPort Void With Cheaper Dual-Band Velop Mesh Wi-Fi System

Last Thursday, Apple announced the discontinuation of its AirPort lineup of wireless routers, marking the end of an era that at times saw the company push the boundaries of wireless networking. Apple says it will continue selling the existing AirPort products until supplies are gone, which leaves the Velop mesh system from Linksys as the sole Wi-Fi router product sold by Apple.

Linksys debuted its tri-band Velop system last year, and Apple began selling it around the beginning of this year, priced at $350 for a two-pack or $480 for a three-pack. With a mesh Wi-Fi system, multiple nodes work seamlessly together to provide greater coverage than a traditional access point.

The tri-band Velop system is a bit pricey compared to some other options on the market, but it works well, providing strong coverage throughout your home and offering features such as guest networking, parental controls, and device prioritization.

Original tri-band (left) and new dual-band (right) Velop systems from Linksys
While the original Linksys Velop remains a highly rated router option and Apple’s third-party system of choice, the fairly high price can be a barrier to entry, and so users who have so far held back from taking the plunge into mesh Wi-Fi networking may be interested to know that Linksys today is launching its lower-cost dual-band Velop system. I’ve had a brief opportunity to try out the new dual-band system, and while it doesn’t have quite the high-end specs of the original tri-band system, it still appears to be a solid option for many users as long as your house isn’t too large, and it comes with a much lower price tag.

I have Google Fiber with a 100/100 Mbps connection in my 1800 square foot home, but my office is at the farthest point from the fiber jack and my Wi-Fi speeds suffer significantly at that distance. Upon activating my Google Fiber service earlier this year, I quickly found that my AirPort Time Capsule provided a stronger signal than Google’s router, so I initially used the Time Capsule to provide my Wi-Fi but even that offered inconsistent performance in my office, occasionally reaching 90/90 Mbps speeds but frequently managing only in the range of 5–10 Mbps despite typically showing full signal bars.

When I moved from the single AirPort access point to the tri-band Velop, I immediately saw full coverage throughout my home using a three-node system including a node in my office, giving me essentially full speed from anywhere in my home.

Linksys touts the tri-band Velop system as covering up to 6,000 square feet at 2,000 square feet per node, so there was plenty of range to spare in my home. The tri-band system offers one 2.4 GHz and two 5 GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi radios, as well as MU-MIMO and beamforming support for maximum throughput of up to a theoretical 2200 Mbps.

Dual-band Velop node
Competitively priced at $129 for a one-pack, $199 for a two-pack, or $299 for a three-pack, the new dual-band Velop system drops one of the 5 GHz radios, reducing theoretical throughput to 1300 Mbps. Range is also slightly less, with each node covering up to 1500 square feet for a maximum of 4500 square feet with the three-pack system. The dual-band Velop nodes also come in slightly smaller than the tri-band models, measuring about two inches shorter and the same 3.1 inches square in the base.

Screenshots from Velop setup process in iOS app
In my brief testing of the new dual-band Velop, I was definitely able to see the reduced coverage, as I did run into a couple of issues during the setup process where I was unable to add additional nodes due to various Wi-Fi connection issues. I eventually did get everything configured with blue status lights indicating solid Wi-Fi signals on all nodes.

Speeds were also not as fast through the dual-band system, as I consistently saw download and upload speeds around 30 Mbps from my office. It definitely appears to be an issue with pushing the range of the dual-band system despite the modest size of my home, as moving my devices closer to the primary node delivers fast speeds in excess of 90 Mbps.

Wi-Fi download and upload speeds on dual-band Velop at farthest reaches of my home
As with the tri-band model, all nodes in the dual-band Velop system are designed to work together to optimize coverage of your floor plan, making the most efficient use of bands and channels based on your usage habits. The network is also self-healing, with nodes able to reconnect to each other and the network if one of the nodes goes offline for some reason.

Linksys iOS app with main dashboard, parental controls, and device prioritization
Each node has a pair of Ethernet ports that automatically configure themselves as one WAN and one LAN on the first node, and two LAN ports on other nodes. If you have a wired network in your home, Velop nodes can be connected via Ethernet for wired backhaul that leaves more of the wireless network available for general data transmission.

Cable management is a bit different on the dual-band model, with the power and Ethernet ports located on the rear of each node. On the tri-band models, the ports are located on the bottom of the nodes with some extra space underneath and a cable management guide to help keep everything neat and tidy.

Ports on bottom of tri-band Velop (left) vs. rear of dual-band system (right)
Velop also works with Amazon Alexa, with skills allowing you to activate Velop’s guest network and read network credentials aloud.

Linksys certainly isn’t the only vendor in the mesh network game, with notable competitors like eero, AmpliFi, Netgear’s Orbi, and Google Wifi all proving popular. But with Linksys proving to be Apple’s partner of choice so far, the Velop systems undoubtedly have some advantages when it comes to visibility for Apple users. Pricing on the new dual-band Velop is also competitive, which will likely attract new potential customers who don’t need everything the tri-band system offers.

The dual-band Linksys Velop launches May 15 with pre-orders going up through Amazon today, and it will be available from a variety of retailers as of the launch date. Apple has not yet committed to selling the new dual-band system, but Linksys tells me discussions about carrying the dual-band Velop are ongoing.

The tri-band Velop system is available from a number of retailers such as Amazon in one-pack ($200), two-pack ($338), and three-pack ($450) options. The tri-band and dual-band Velop nodes are also interchangeable, so if you’ve already got some in the house you can mix and match types.

Note: Linksys provided the Velop systems to MacRumors free of charge for the purposes of this news coverage. No other compensation was received. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon and Linksys and may earn commissions on purchases made through links in this article.

Tags: Linksys, Velop
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AMD preps 7nm chips in wake of Intel Cannon Lake delays

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

AMD may soon be able to do more than offer credible competition for Intel with its Ryzen hardware. By 2019, it may leapfrog Intel entirely, skipping ahead a die shrink by offering 7nm CPUs and graphics cards while Intel struggles to reach mass-production yields of its long-promised 10nm Cannon Lake CPUs.

Leaked AMD roadmaps made it online earlier in 2018, showing us a planned progression of the company’s Zen architecture through Zen+ chips in 2018 — the Ryzen 2000 series — to Zen 2 in 2019. While Zen+ chips represented a die shrink from 14nm to 12nm, Zen 2 is a much more impactful leap, sidestepping 10nm and skipping straight to 7nm. Now, AMD confirmed it’s on the way to making that a reality.

AMD told investors during a recent earnings call — per Engadget — that it had begun to sample Zen 2 processors in preparation for their 2019 debut. AMD is also planning to update its graphics chips with the same die-shrunk hardware and stated on that same call that it was also testing Radeon graphics cards using 7nm, Vega hardware — though they were categorized as machine learning GPUs.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the fabricator tipped to lead the production of AMD’s next-generation CPUs and graphics chips at the new 7nm die size, though this did come as a surprise when first realized, as AMD typically uses GlobalFoundries, which it divested itself from in 2009. TSMC typically manufacturers Intel CPUs, too, so we will need to keep an ear out for how AMD yields are progressing for the new generation in the lead up to its release since Intel has famously had so many issues with the production of its 10nm hardware.

Questions still remain about its plans for new graphical hardware. AMD continues to face supply and pricing issues of its popular graphics cards and Nvidia’s upcoming Volta generation could put even more pressure on AMD to respond. Graphics cards for machine learning make a lot of sense considering the increased importance that industry has to AMD’s bottom line, but gamers will certainly be wondering when it will return its focus its users who have been important to it over the years.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Yield problems still plague Intel 10nm chips, delaying production to 2019
• AMD leaks Ryzen 2000-series expansion with mobile and Threadripper CPUs
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• Apple is reportedly planning to abandon Intel hardware by 2020

AMD leaks Ryzen 2000-series expansion with mobile and Threadripper CPUs

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

An update of AMD’s product portfolio has given us a much greater insight into the broader range of Ryzen 2000-series processors that AMD has in the works, including top-of-the-line Threadripper chips. They will flesh out the Zen+ refresh that has seen AMD improve its already popular Ryzen CPUs with a die shrink and a few hundred megahertz of additional clock speed across the range.

AMD has released a number of new processors in 2018, including the intriguing, though somewhat hard to recommend, 2200 G and 2400G accelerated processing units (APUs), and a refresh of its premium desktop chips, 2600, 2600X, 2700, and 2700X. Those chips launched with boosted clock speeds and more aggressive price tags than their predecessors, and offer a modest boost in performance over the first Ryzen CPUs.

AMD’s product portfolio shows that there are still plenty more Ryzen 2000-series CPUs to come, though. Videocardz found confirmation of Ryzen 3 2100, 2300X, and 2500X chips at the entry level. They will all be quad-core chips and will largely be aimed at entry level builds, though the 2500X may be recommended for gamers on a budget, as it will be the only Ryzen 5 quad-core chip.

In the mobile space, AMD will be adding the Ryzen 3 2000U, Ryzen 5 2600U, and Ryzen 7 2800U. These will expand upon existing offerings that include the 2200U, 2300U, 2500U, and 2700U.

For hardware enthusiasts though, the most exciting reveal in the AMD product portfolio is detailed on the new Threadripper CPUs. These will represent the most powerful Zen+ chips and though overkill for most users, will be the most impressive of their generation. Expected to offer the same clock-speed boost of other Ryzen 2000-series chips, the Ryzen 2900X, 2920X, and 2950X, will effectively replace their counterparts from the first generation.

Although the original AMD listing page appears to have been hidden from public view at the time of writing, it only revealed product names and numbers. That doesn’t tell us much beyond their existence, though we would expect to learn more about them in the coming weeks. They will all certainly debut this year, with AMD planning to launch its Zen 2 range of 7nm CPUs at some point in 2019.

Editors’ Recommendations

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Miner One takes Bitcoin mining to new heights with space mission

Peter Verreussel / 123rf

How confident are you in your Bitcoin investment? One company is so bullish on the cryptocurrency market that it sent its bitcoin mining equipment where no mining rig has gone before. In an effort to show its confidence in Bitcoin’s performance in 2018, Miner One sent its rig to space to mine cryptocurrency for a few hours.

The mining mission began this morning, April 30, when the Miner One team used a balloon to send a carbon fiber capsule equipped with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Raspberry Pi 3, battery, satellite phone, GoPro Hero 5, and a metal souvenir coin for a competition winner, to the height of more than 35,000 meters, or roughly 100,000 feet.

A helium-filled balloon was used to lift the Space Minor One capsule to this great height. When the capsule passed through the troposphere — roughly 3.7 to 6.2 miles above earth — the ASIC activated and the satellite phone was used to communicate with the internet. The balloon continued to grow — reaching over 10 meters in diameters at its largest — as it ascended to the stratosphere due to falling air pressure.

The mission lasted approximately two hours. At the end of its journey, the balloon exploded, Space Miner One parachuted back to earth, and the capsule landed in a field in Lithuania, where it was retrieved thanks to GPS tracking. Videos of the mission were posted to Miner One’s Facebook page.

“In the middle of what feels like a slump, Miner One wants to remind people that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general is really about the future and the revolutionary technology at its heart: so-called blockchain technology,” the company wrote in a blog post that was published on Medium. Miner One CEO Pranas Slusnys called Bitcoin the world’s most popular and proven application of blockchain technology.

Miner One isn’t the only one optimistic about Bitcoin. The company surveyed more than 1,500 community members and found that 31 percent of respondents believed that Bitcoin’s price will exceed $15,000 this year. In fact, only 7.5 percent of those surveyed think that Bitcoin won’t go above $10,000 this year.

The mission into space was used to attract publicity for Miner One’s initial coin offering, or ICO, in which it is expected to raise $10 million to build a cryptocurrency mining center. The facility would be located in Northern Sweden  — and not in space, unfortunately — because of the country’s low electricity costs and cool climate, which can offset heat generation. Miner One said that it will share the benefits with the company’s MIO Token Holders.

“Short-term ups and downs notwithstanding, these networks will need efficient support centers like the kind Miner One is building,” the company said.

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F8 is Facebook’s first event since Zuckerberg faced Congress, watch it here

Facebook’s F8 developer conference is right around the corner, poised to deliver yet another sneak peek into the future of the social media giant. Here’s how you can watch the two-day event’s keynote speeches, presentations, and sessions.

First up, you’ll be able to watch the event right from our Twitch channel, embedded below. Just tune in starting at 10 a.m. on May 1, 2018, to check out the first — and likely biggest — keynote speech at Facebook F8.

If you’re more interested in checking out specific sessions or keynotes, your next best option will be to head over to the Facebook F8 site, to pick and choose which events you want to watch. You’ll also be able to take a look at the whole schedule while you’re there.

“This year’s event is our biggest yet, with more than 50 sessions, interactive experiences, the opportunity to meet Facebook product experts, and the chance to interact with our global developer community,” Facebook says.

Last year, we saw quite a few announcements that ended up setting the tone for Facebook’s various enterprises throughout the year. Most notably, Mark Zuckerberg took the stage to show off Facebook’s latest social applications for its Oculus Rift platform.

Another thing you might want to keep an eye out for is how Facebook addresses the elephant in the room: The privacy concerns raised as a result of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. After getting grilled by Congress, Mark Zuckerberg’s response going forward is going to be newsworthy no matter what he says.

“We didn’t take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake,” Zuckerberg said during his congressional testimony. “It was my mistake, and I’m sorry. I started Facebook, I run it, and I’m responsible for what happens here.”

It remains to be seen if he’ll address the privacy concerns on the main stage, explaining what Facebook is doing to make its users safer to win back their trust. Or he may just sidestep the issue entirely, focusing most of the event on developer applications. Either way, the scandal and Facebook’s ongoing privacy woes will be important components of the security-focused announcements at the event.

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How to get Microsoft’s April 2018 Update today and experience the new Timeline

Microsoft’s latest update for Windows 10 is now available for everyone to download. Even if you’re not a Windows Insider, you can get the Windows 10 April 2018 Update ahead of Microsoft’s global rollout on May 8.

To get the update, you’ll need to:

Head over to your Windows 10 Settings app — you can type “settings” into the Cortana search bar in the taskbar at the bottom of your screen.
Click on Update & Security.
Navigate to the Windows Update option on the left column.
Choose Check for Updates to find all the updates or patches available to your system.

If you’re using a corporate computer that’s managed by an IT administrator, you’ll need to check with your organization for their plans and timeline. Microsoft will be utilizing machine learning to ensure that the update process is smooth for all users.

“For the April 2018 Update rollout, we will expand our use of [machine learning] to identify the devices ready to update, incorporating things like additional compatibility data,” Microsoft said of the update strategy in a detailed blog post. “This will allow us to deliver updates to devices as fast as possible while providing even better customer experiences.” This staged strategy allows Microsoft to detect and correct any problems with the update process before the May 8 deployment.

The April 2018 Update contains plenty of new features, along with security patches and updated controls for privacy settings, Microsoft said. The most notable addition to Windows 10 is Timeline, which allows you to scroll back in time to see what you were working on across your Android, iOS, and Windows 10 devices.

“Timeline lets you go back in time to past activities you’ve worked on across your devices, so you can jump back into them like you never left,” Microsoft noted. “So, if you’re looking for a specific document, image, or video you worked on yesterday or a week ago, Timeline makes it even easier to find what you’re looking for.”

Cortana also learned some new skills and will better manage your smart home. There are also changes and features added to Windows Ink, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Photos, Windows Hello, Windows Mixed Reality, and more. You can view the full list of new features on Microsoft’s blog.

Windows 10 also displays your privacy settings differently now, depending on the country where your device is located, so not everyone will see the same setup. If you need to view your privacy preferences, however, you can do that by navigating to the privacy option under the Settings app.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The dull Windows 10 April 2018 Update is everything a patch should be
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• Windows 10 April 2018 Update lands next week packing Timeline, Cortana updates

Comcast looks to protect cable business with new deal on faster internet speeds

Comcast is going on the offensive against cord cutters. The company announced a deal last week for customers in Houston, Oregon, and Southwest Washington state that automatically increases internet speeds for some customers. The catch is that you have to subscribe to a package that includes cable television service and internet, so cord cutters won’t qualify.

If you’re a qualifying Comcast customer, your internet download speeds will double without requiring any action on your part. For example, customers on 60Mpbs download speeds saw an increase to 150Mbps after the speed boost kicked in. Those on the 150Mbps plan saw their speeds jump to 250Mbps, and customers on the 250Mbps plan got a jump to 400Mbps or 1Gbps.

Comcast’s latest move could be seen as an effort to thwart cord cutters. While alternatives like Sling, DirecTV Now, YouTube TV, and PlayStation Vue can replace cable TV, you’ll still need an internet connection to stream your favorite programming on those services. Comcast is likely hoping that the faster internet speeds it offers as a bonus to its pay-TV customers will help it reduce churn in its cable business.

In its latest earnings report, Comcast reported that it had lost 96,000 residential customers, leading to a 0.8 percent decline in video revenue. The company lost a total of 151,000 video subscribers in 2017.

Comcast has also leveraged its internet business to help its pay-TV business fight off encroachment from streaming services, like Netflix and Hulu, in the past. Comcast’s use of data caps could be seen as a way to convert heavy streamers into a cable package. “Heavy TV watchers binging on Netflix or Amazon video may repeatedly go over the 1TB monthly data cap, leaving them with a choice of paying overage fees, reducing online video watching, or subscribing to a non-streaming TV service,” Ars Technica reports.

Rival AT&T, which operates the competing U-verse TV, charges customers overage fees on internet-only plans who exceed their data caps. Comcast, instead, allows customers to pay a $50 premium per month to remove the 1TB data cap and get unlimited data.

Like Comcast, AT&T has seen a drop in its pay-TV numbers. The company’s DirecTV satellite business shed 554,000 customers last year, but that loss was offset by the gain in 888,000 streaming-only customers on the DirecTV Now division.

Yet, despite an increased threat from streaming services, Comcast had announced a partnership with Netflix that makes it easier for its customers to consume Netflix content.

Editors’ Recommendations

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Facebook’s F8 starts Tuesday. What do you want to hear about?

The F8 conference has been a platform where Facebook showed the world its ambitions. From blanketing the world with internet connectivity to showcasing its most advanced research — such as technologies that allow your brain to type or your skin to hear — Facebook proves that it is not afraid to dream big. Leading up to this year’s F8, the company’s vice president of consumer hardware, Andrew Bosworth, said “we’ll share the biggest AR/VR news from Facebook to date” in a tweet.

Facebook’s big ambitions may be more muted this year given that the company had to answer hard questions about privacy when it found itself embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica breach. One of its biggest dreamers, Regina Dugan, has even left her post as head of the company’s experimental research group.

At F8 this year, Facebook must show that it can balance consumer interests and developer needs, which can often conflict. In one example, a startup called Pod, which creates an iOS calendar app that integrates with Facebook events, found its access to the social network’s data was revoked without warning. Pod only learned that its app did not work after users complained. “We were really proud of our first-class Facebook events integration, but we’ll think twice about investing time into Facebook’s platform in the future,” developer Justin Krause told The Verge of his experience.

.@Facebook is back in the spotlight with its #F8 conference, kicking off tomorrow. What are you most excited to see?

(Please RT for a greater sample size.)

— Digital Trends (@DigitalTrends) April 30, 2018

But F8 won’t be just about Zuckerberg’s apology tour — Facebook already announced its plans to limit information sharing. By focusing on augmented and virtual reality, Oculus could represent a way for Facebook to escape, if only in fantasy, its current reality, filled is with serious privacy concerns. There are more than a dozen talks planned for virtual and augmented reality.

Last year, Facebook announced a $199 stand-alone Oculus Go, but the headset didn’t get a ship date. Potentially, we could learn of when Oculus Go will be available to purchase along with Facebook’s plans for the augmented reality space. 

On the consumer side, Facebook could unveil further changes to its newsfeed, designed to surface meaningful content. If Facebook is successful in its vision, it could go some way toward regaining consumer trust, boosting advertising revenues, and stopping fake news in one big push. The company has several sessions planned around the news feed on the first day of F8.

And even though Facebook may have shelved plans for its M digital assistant in Messenger, the artificial intelligence-powered chatbot could be used to draw businesses in. Rival Apple is leveraging iMessage to allow consumers to interact with businesses, and Facebook could be readying an offensive to bring businesses back to the platform. This could help Facebook thwart the boycott it faces from businesses, including Tesla and SpaceX. 

Editors’ Recommendations

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China’s new sci-fi amusement park is powered entirely by virtual reality rides

A new amusement park opened in China where all the experiences utilize virtual reality technology. You won’t find traditional roller coasters at the Oriental Science Fiction Valley theme park, which counts 35 virtual reality rides ranging from spaceship tours to virtual roller coasters and shooter games. The park, located in Guizhou province in the southwestern region of China, spans 330 acres, and houses science fiction inspired castles and giant robots in a futuristic design.

The cost to develop the Oriental Science Fiction Valley park has been disputed, with Reuters reporting that development required as much as a $1.5 billion investment. However, the cost may be as low as $470 million, a figure reported by Road to VR citing information from VRODO.

“There’s fierce competition in the theme park market right now,” park CEO Chen Jianli said in an interview posted on YouTube. “We are trying to give customers a new experience by combining modern technologies such as VR and [augmented reality] with traditional recreational facilities. The sci-fi part of it is important for the feeling it creates.”

Theme park rides based on virtual reality experiences aren’t entirely new, but the Oriental Science Fiction Valley park is the first of its kind to utilize VR in all of its rides. In the U.S., Samsung and Six Flags partnered to create a number of VR-based rides based on the company’s Gear VR headset, while Legoland used VR headsets for one of its rides in its Florida amusement park.

Although the Oriental Science Fiction Valley is located in one of the poorest provinces in China, executives hope that the infusion of VR technology will create a tourism boom in the future and position the region as a tech hub. Apple, for its part, already operates a data center in the province.

It is estimated that China’s virtual reality entertainment business will grow tenfold, representing an $8.4 billion industry by 2020, according to China’s state-backed think tank CCID. The country is hoping to capitalize on rising trends in sports, gaming, and new technologies. Farmers in the surrounding area are concerned that the boom will bring added pollution but look forward to benefits that VR would contribute to the local economy.

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What is the Dark Web?

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With news reports of underground online marketplaces and journalists hiding from government oversight, have you ever wondered, ‘just what is the Dark Web?’ The term essentially refers to heavily-encrypted sites that cannot be accessed via the average browser. As such, these sites are often used as an international black market and as a source for hacked data.

They can have a number of other purposes as well, but, without the right software, you may never know they exist. Here’s everything you need to know about the gnarly, hidden parts of the internet.

What is the Dark Web, exactly?

The Dark Web is a term referring to websites and networks that are heavily encrypted and “hidden” from the average internet user. There are a lot of reasons people do this, but the Dark Web has earned a connotation as a sort of immense black market, one associated with drugs, guns, porn, hacking, and conspiracies.

That said, it’s also a haven for those who really, really like their privacy and aren’t fans of any kind of interference. It’s commonly used for those under strict governments that control free speech and employ heavy regulations.

So, is it separate from the normal internet?

More or less, yes. The data itself still uses the same channels, but the walls of encryption put a clear divide between “normal” internet content and the Dark Web. You cannot hop onto your favorite browser and visit a Dark site any time you want, for instance. Traditional search engines like Google also tend not to index or show any Dark Web content, for a variety of reasons.

Is the Dark Web illegal?

It’s generally not illegal to visit, but obviously it does matter what you do while you’re there. After all, people peddle a smorgasbord of illegal and inappropriate content on the Dark Web — child pornography, beheading footage, etc. — and some people go there to seek that stuff out. Such being the case, you might want to avoid associating yourself with those kinds of people and places.

The most famous example of illegal Dark activity was Silk Road, which used a combination of Bitcoins and the Dark Web to exchange recreational drugs internationally. Law enforcement agencies took down the online marketplace in 2013 and arrested its alleged founder — and again, in 2014 — but similar cartels still operate using the same methodology. Another example was the Ashley Madison hack, which saw a wave of names and information flood the Dark Web, blackmailing and exposing those who used the cheating service — ultimately ending in settlements for those affected. It was illegal in a different way, and harder to pin down.

However, with caution and common sense, you can navigate the Dark Web without landing in any legal trouble. But don’t expect the “I didn’t know I was buying illegal drugs” line to work.

How is the Dark Web different from the Deep Web?

While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there’s an important difference: The Deep Web refers to all parts of the web that are hidden away from the average user and not indexed by the average search engine. This includes an immense amount of data, internal copies of various webpages and anything that you need an access code to reach.

So, pretty much every site online has some content that’s in the Deep Web, out of necessity. The Dark Web is only a small part of the Deep Web, with a more focused purpose.

Has it always existed?

Shady internet activities have existed since the public really started using the internet in the mid 90s. But the Dark Web represents the start of a very large, more cohesive use of the internet for these kinds of activities. The term itself gained popularity in the late 2000s and became widely known a few years ago, thanks to government crackdowns on various Dark Web operations.

It’s also been associated with the complicated rise of Bitcoin, as the blockchain-protected cryptocurrency provided an ideal means of exchange for the illicit activities of the Dark Web.

What are the dangers of going onto the Dark Web?

All the common dangers of a traditional black market exist on the Dark Web. To reiterate, you can buy or sell a whole lot of illegal things and get in a lot of legal trouble if law enforcement agencies manage to track you down (which, as noted above, can indeed happen).

However, there are also some unofficial dangers to be a wary of. Many of those who operate in the Dark Web have no problem exploiting you in any way they can — and since many of them are hackers or at least know how to use hacking tools, they can be dangerous.

As a result, there are many tales of blackmail peppering the Dark Web, from people who are somehow identified there, or tricked into giving their information. Downloads also tend to be even more suspect in the dark corners of the internet, so your computer may be in danger as well.

If I want to visit some parts of the Dark Web, where do I begin?

Read up on the Dark Web, and see what you’re in for. Visiting a subreddits like r/deepweb is a good idea, too, as it will allow you to see what people are looking for and what common topics arise in an environment that’s a bit more protected than the actual Dark Web.

To actually get on to the Dark Web though, you’re going to need specialized software and to follow some basic, but important safety and security steps. Read our full guide on how to access the Dark Web to get the full low down on exploring this hidden part of the web.

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