The Linksys WRT3200ACM MU-MIMO Gigabit Wi-Fi Router is a strong choice for users who want to use OpenWrt or DD-WRT firmware distros to customize their router. TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The RT-AC3200 has a great Web interface and many helpful security features. My favorite feature is the Network Map that displays all connected clients, which you can view by connection type (wireless or wired) or device type (computers, mobile devices, printers, and unknown). Here's how to play it in Dolby Atmos for free. The router has an easy-to-use interface and helpful remote management features. A number of people will also be impressed with how readily the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM embraces custom open-source firmware (such as OpenWRT). CNET may get a commission from these offers. It also includes Tri-Stream 160 technology, which doubles the bandwidth from 80MHz on network streams – the idea behind these two features is that no matter how busy your Wi-Fi network is, the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM will provide incredibly fast Wi-Fi AC network speeds. Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET Easy setup, excellent Web interface The biggest is the guest networking feature, which allows you to create separate Wi-Fi networks for guests that can access the Internet but not local resources, such as files or printers. Good thing, we have this Linksys EA9200 AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router in our HQ. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Linksys WRT AC3200 Open Source Dual-Band Gigabit Smart Wireless Router with MU-MIMO, Tri-Stream 160 (Renewed) (WRT3200ACM-RM2) at Amazon.com. What's more, the router's range and network storage performance (NAS) when hosting an external hard drive is far from the best I've seen. Searching for a great show to binge? Last updated date: December 5, 2018. That’s just the beginning – there’s a huge range of features that are included with the firmware, and you’re not waiting for Linksys to add and test features, instead you’ve got a committed community of network professionals and enthusiasts making and sharing cutting edge features. If you have a large house or office and rely on consistent and fast Wi-Fi, you’re going to need to look at Wi-Fi extenders, or carefully consider the position and antenna arrangement of the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM. If you trust the  Linksys WRT 3200 ACM to do its stuff, you’ll see a ‘Please wait…’ message appear while it configures itself. The reason why it … Ethernet ports are of the gigabit variety, and there are four of them, with a separate fifth port for connecting to your modem. can get through faster. This isn’t mandatory, but it gives you remote access to your router when you’re away. For more affordable choices of 802.11ac routers, check out CNET's list of the best home routers. Find a retailer. Both routers are equipped with a Broadcom 5G XStream Wi-Fi chip that allows for the extra built-in 5Ghz band. So with all these impressive features, how does the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM perform? Also known as the R8000, Netgear's all-black router's design is sharply angular with a geometrically patterned grille that makes it look like a spaceship. When we tested the speeds from the other side of the office (about 30 feet away) we got even better results with 159.73Mb/s and 13ms speeds. We delete comments that violate our policy, which we encourage you to read. The Good The Linksys AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi EA9200 router has two built-in 5Ghz bands to support both low- and high-end clients without compromising data rates. With two separate 5Ghz bands, both high- and low-end clients can operate in their own band, hence at their top speeds without affecting each other. Automatic setup is fast and easy, and even novice users can configure a separate guest network. It has a top-notch interface and can be managed via a Web interface or smartphone app, but that luxury doesn't come cheap. DWYM Score. In the box there's also included software that will walk you through the process, step by step. Yet, the EA9200 also improves of previous Linksys routers in a few ways. The Linksys EA9200 is one of the first routers from Linksys I've seen that rests in a vertical position on top of a fixed stand. Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! Looking for a great show to watch tonight? It uses six external aerials to achieve up to AC3200 … As much as ASUS fanboys have wanted to see their favorite company's answer to NETGEAR's first-to-market AC3200 class R8000 Nighthawk X6, Linksys beat ASUS to the punch with its EA9200 AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router.. Like the R8000, the EA9200 is based on Broadcom's XStream "tri-band" architecture. Introduction. For Internet-based applications, such as Netflix streaming or file downloading, chances are that you'll see no difference between this tri-band design and a dual-band AC1900 setup, simply because your router's speed is always much faster than the speed of your Internet service provider (and it can't boost it). Alongside the support for open source firmware, the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM boasts MU-MIMO technology that allows for simultaneous streaming, file sharing and gaming on multiple devices on the Wireless AC band. The second improvement is the performance of the Web interface itself, which is now very responsive and takes just a few seconds to apply most change. Back To The Top. Wireless protocols: MU-MIMO with 802.11b/g/n 2.4GHz, 802.11a/n/ac 5GHz Performance: AC3200 (2600 + 600 Mbits/sec) Antenna Configuration: 4×4 External Antennas for … Linksys WRT3200ACM AC3200 is a sub £200 router - but is it worth your time? Despite its looks and features that suggest this is a router for network professionals only, the setup procedure was quite simple. While some device makers – including router manufacturers – go for sleek, stylish and minimalist designs that are supposed to appeal to customers besotted with the Apple design ethos, there are drawbacks. This gives 600 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 2600 Mbps on the 5GHz band with support for 802.11agn+ac. By default you’re taken through the setup process step-by-step, but for the more confident you can also select ‘Manual configuration’. There are also many other settings and features commonly found in other routers, such as Dynamic DNS, port forwarding, IPv6 and so on. This is a router that’s not ashamed about what it is. There was a problem. Looking for a Wi-Fi router that has it all? New York, So Linksys WRT AC3200, while being a pricier option, tends to get more favorable ⭐ reviews than the $194 Linksys EA9200, as seen on the chart below. It has a top-notch interface and can be managed via a … $249.99. The DIR-890L is D-Link’s flagship consumer router. That standard enables each 5Ghz band to deliver a top speed of 1,300Mbps and the 2.4Ghz band to support up to 600Mbps. Here's how it works. Generally speaking the wireless performance was nowhere near as good as the Asus in the far corners of the house (the router is in the center of the house on the first of three floors.) In many ways the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM is a refreshing router. However it worked well in my trial. The Asus RT-AC3200, however, is merely mediocre when compared to other options at its price point and won't satisfy the needs of most people. Linksys\' WRT3200ACM is, as the name suggests, an AC3200 class router which means that it can deliver up to N600 speeds on the 2.4GHz band and up to AC2600 on the 5GHz band. Actually, it's more to satisfy the yawning retail maw of Best Buy, Amazon, et al., but I digress. At 11.5 x 8.8 x 2.2 inches, the R8000 is one of the biggest Wi-Fi routers around, and unlike many of its peers, it needs to be set up horizontally or screwed into a wall.Down the middle of the router's top there are no fewer than 13 LEDs that show which bands and ports are active, and whether it's turned on and has an Internet connection. We weren’t able to test this out as at the time of the review the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi service was down for maintenance. The Bottom Line Though it's easy to use and having an extra band can result in higher speeds, the Linksys EA9200 doesn't have enough to justify its over-the-top price tag. The Linksys AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi EA9200 router is very similar to the Linksys WRT1900AC that I have already reviewed, but it has an additional access point. Tri-band technology adds an additional high-speed 5 GHz band for combined speeds of up to 3.2 Gbps - up to double the AC performance of dual-band routers. Direct transfer speed (such as backups) is impressive. There's also one USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port that you can use to host a storage device and a printer. Linksys Smart WiFi is still king of router software What We Didn’t 1. Though it's easy to use and having an extra band can result in higher speeds, the Linksys EA9200 doesn't have enough to justify its over-the-top price tag. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. I just had a new ISP for our home and I am in need for a wireless router since the provider is only giving a cable modem. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, The EA9200 supports the three-stream (3x3) tier 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. Linksys EA9200 AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router Review Linksys EA9200 AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router Review Posted by Ken Brown | Tue, Dec 16, 2014 - 9:09 AM © 2020 CNET, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. On top of that, two 5Ghz bands also help reduce the stress each on the band when there are many connected clients fighting for router's bandwidth. I would to share my experience with it so check out this quick review. On top of that, it's fairly safe to say that Linksys WRT AC3200 is a more popular router, based on its 900+ reviews. I've explored XStream in MU-MIMO vs. XStream: The Coming Battle … The rest are hidden inside the router itself. Handles high-bandwidth tasks like … James Morris June … Once set up you can view the interface, which is clearly laid out and gives you a good overview of your network and any network attached storage. Linksys AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi EA9200 router. The Linksys EA9200 Wireless AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router was launched in Singapore on the 6th February 2015 and the recommended retail price of it is S$399.It is only available at Challenger stores for now. Generally, for compatibility, a wireless band works at the slowest speed that any of the the connected clients supports. It's bad, though, because it makes the EA9200 much more expensive ($300) than competing devices without delivering noticeably better Wi-Fi performance than the WRT1900AC. On the back, it has the usual four LAN ports and one WAN (Internet) port, all of which are Gigabit. One floor directly above the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM, we got 135.12Mb/s and 12ms ping, and one floor directly below, we recorded 139.96Mb/s and 6ms ping. Oppo's new foldable smartphone looks like a car key and it's really, really weird, Windows 10 taskbar change could be a problem for those who haven’t activated the OS, May look more suitable in an office than a home. It was a pleasantly pain-free and easy to follow process that manages to strike the right balance between automatically configuring the complicated bits behind the scenes, and giving you control over some of the settings. And that extra capacity is both good and bad. Why would you want two 5Ghz bands? Once done, you’re asked if you want to install updates for your router automatically, then what your Wi-Fi networks and password should be. Just note that despite the router's AC3200 designation -- meaning that it has a total wireless bandwidth of 3,200Mbps -- because a client can connect to only one band at a time, the fastest Wi-Fi speed you'll get (in theory) is 1,300Mbps. The Bad The router's Wi-Fi range and network storage performance are not as good as you'd expect based on its high price. (The former will have priority access to the Internet.) By installing either OpenWRT or DD-WRT you can add advanced features such as secure VPN, TOR network browsing for anonymous browsing, and view advanced network traffic and network intrusion reports. Even with those drawbacks, I'd recommend the EA9200 over the other AC3200 router on the market, the Netgear R8000, thanks to Linksys' easy-to-use Web-interface and the option to remotely manage your home network via a mobile device or a Web browser. (For a deeper dive on Wi-Fi standards, check out this this handy feature.) If you're on the market for a … The Linksys AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router is designed for device-heavy homes with simultaneous wireless activities. On our Ethernet-connected PC we got download speeds of 114Mb/s and a ping of 8ms. On top of that, it's fairly safe to say that Linksys WRT AC3200 is a more popular router, based on its reviews. (Previously Linksys Smart Wi-Fi routers only provide one guest network on the 2.4Ghz band that automatically would take the name of the main network with the suffix "-guest".) Next, you need to create an admin password and reminder for accessing your router’s settings and you’re done. For anyone else, you're much better off saving a few bucks and sticking with a good AC1900 router, such as the aforementioned WRT1900AC, the Asus RT-AC68U or the Netgear R7000. The antennae jutting out the body might make Jony Ive break out in a cold sweat, but they help the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM to broadcast its Wi-Fi networks across houses and offices, with the positional antennae allowing you to hone in the network to your devices for the best possible of speeds. Visit our corporate site. And that extra capacity is … The Linksys AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router delivers the fastest 5GHz throughput we've seen to date. A USB 3.0 is included for sharing files and printers with your network, and the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM also comes with an ESATA port for file transfers that has a convenient design, allowing it to also be used as a USB 2.0 port. However, once we started putting walls between us and the router, performance dropped off, with the device sometimes struggling to keep a connection with the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM’s Wi-Fi. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. The router has six antennas, but only three of them are placed externally. With two walls between us, speeds dropped even more dramatically to 3.97Mb/s. It also comes with a 1.8GHz dual-core CPU, 512MB RAM and 256MB flash memory. The router is very easy to setup, just like the other routers in the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi series. So generally performance was very good, though with walls in play the connection dropped markedly – which is a surprise considering we had high hopes for this router. Buy Linksys EA9200-4A Wireless AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. This allows you to install software other than the default interface the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM ships with, giving you almost complete control over the features and functions of this router. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Asus' latest RT-AC68U will fit the bill. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, We check over 130 million products every day for the best prices, PS5 Walmart restock update: it's gone – here's where to check next, PS5 restock update: out of stock at Sony Direct right now – get it fast, Where to buy PS5: all the latest restock updates, iPhone 13 tipped to be launching in September 2021 as normal, Got Cyberpunk 2077? You’re also asked if you want to create a Linksys Smart Wi-Fi account. Other features that worked well are the handy Internet Speed test and a simple yet effective Parental Control feature that allows you to block certain connected clients' access to the Internet or just to certain Web sites. Speed is the simplest answer. The new EA9200 router from Linksys utilizes a vertical stand design. At A Glance D-Link DIR-890L router The data transfer of this D-Link AC3200 is 3200 Mb per second which is a speed bluster; It has three separate bands( single 2.4 GHz and dual 5 GHz) for delivering a faster speed to your whole house Ra… Not sure what to watch on Amazon tonight? … Linksys AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router. This is a router that’s not ashamed about what it is. The $250 Linksys WRT AC3200 follows the tradition of being a durable, home-friendly router model that also happens a top pick in 2018 – but with advanced features made a focus. If you want complete control over your network and more features than you can shake an NIC at, then the Linksys WRT 3200 ACM is definitely worth considering, especially thanks to its respectable price tag. Here are some of the best Netflix has to offer. The LinkSys Smart W-Fi app allows you to configure and manage the router from your smartphone or tablet, but it’s really the open source firmware support that’s the star here. The Linksys WRT 3200 ACM admirably shuns those pretensions. I'm sending it back to Amazon and have the Asus RT-AC3200 on order (it just so happens that it was an Amazon deal of the day today - $221.99 instead of ~$270) ... Linksys WRT3200ACM AC3200 Wireless Router Review. Could use more wired ports 2. Diving deeper into the specifications, the WRT32x is an AC3200 class platform. With it plugged in and connected to our modem and PC via Ethernet, we browsed to http://linksyssmartwifi.com/ and followed the instructions. 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