Linksys 11n Lineup 2010 (Pre-CES)

[jdabbs]

Linksys had several new products receive Wi-Fi certification earlier this week:

E1000 Wireless-N Broadband Router (single band, two-stream)
E2000 Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router (single radio, two-stream)
E2100L Wireless-N Broadband Router with Storage Link (single band, no gigabit?)
E3000 Simultaneous Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router (dual-radio, two stream)
M10 Wireless-N Broadband Router (single band, two-stream) Not sure what this one is, maybe a travel router or cheap 11g replacement.

Comments/Speculation:
Apparently Linksys has discarded the WRT naming convention for 11n. A clear and concise scheme can only help consumers, though it looks like they're already mucking it up by positioning the single band E2100L as a 2XXX product. Oh well.
The transition appears to be:
WRT1XXN-->E1000
WRT160NL-->E2100L
WRT320N-->E2000
WRT400N-->E3000? (gains gigabit)
WRT610N-->?

I never liked how Linksys differentiated their mid-range high-end products; you could either get gigabit but single radio dual-band with the 320N, or concurrent dual-band but 10/100 with the 400N. I guess this was done to stop either one from cannibalizing the 610N's sales, but it really encouraged people to buy a DIR-825 instead. Since the E3000 has gigabit and dual radios, this means either 1) the E3000 is the new high-end product, or 2) the high-end hasn't been revealed. I think it's the latter option; maybe they'll use Storage Link-functionality as the differentiator (they deemed it highly enough to release a model featuring it, and paired it with low mid-range hardware to not be a threat). There's also three-stream operation, but Linksys may wait until Broadcom can provide a solution before they implement it.

 

[chrismcpole]

when do you think they would be avaliable ?

 

[jdabbs]

The corresponding FCC docs have a short-term confidentiality request in place until March 10, so I imagine not before then. If the WRT400N's release was any indication, retailers will leak the actual street date when they add new SKUs.

 

[chrismcpole]

Hm, I have 610N and tomorrow is the last day to return it for full refund to BestBuy, do you think those new ones are worth using my old 54G for a few month? I mean I'm not very happy with 610 v2, and was hoping for v3, but it looks like it's not gonna happen now

 

[chrismcpole]

ANy advise?

 

[jdabbs]

At this point, all I know is the information in this thread, plus the existence of the M20. If you can return the 610 without penalty, I'd do it. Not because the next-gen will be better (may have performance tradeoffs or stability issues), but because that puts you in a better position when they are eventually released.

 

[jdabbs]

The short-term confidentiality request has elapsed. Anyone waiting to upgrade is bound to be disappointed--most of these models are rebadges of current generation equipment.


E1000-->WRT160N v3
E2000-->WRT320N
E2100L-->WRT160NL
E3000-->WRT610N v2
M10-->WRT160N v3
M20-->BCM4716 based

 

[bbear]

The best I can tell is that the E-Series is no longer the 11n Draft. At least that's what it looks like for the E2100L here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_routers compared to the WRT160NL. Short of that, I do not see a bit of difference.

So when thinking about the E2100L I was reading reviews on the WRT160NL, since they are identical, and am a bit disappointed that the E2100L was not improved. It would be nice to actually read a technical review of the E2100L however.