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Cisco Linksys E4200 Maximum Performance Wireless-N Router Reviewed

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altdel

Occasional Visitor
The Linksys E4200 showed up on Wifi Alliance's certification list. It's a simultaneous dual-band N wireless router with 2T3R for the 2.4GHz band and 3T3R for the 5GHz band. It would be interesting to see if the 3 pairs of transmitter/receiver can sustain bandwidth stable enough for 1080p streaming.
 
The product is neither announced nor available yet. Might be announced next month at CES.

I doubt this is a three-stream product. Doesn't make much sense to have two stream in 2.4 and three stream in 5 GHz. But I've been wrong before.

Three stream N is even worse for wireless stability. The most reliable video streaming product I've seen is the net NETGEAR WNHD3004
NETGEAR WNHDB3004 3DHD Wireless Home Theater Networking Kit Review
 
There are plenty of products with 3T3R chipsets that are only dual-stream.
3T3R doesn't necessarily denote three-stream.

Could just be a replacement model. We'll have to wait and see.
 
FCC test report

4. For 5GHz: The EUT is 3 * 3 spatial MIMO (3Tx & 3Rx) without beam forming function.
The antenna configurations are three transmitter antennas and three receiver
antennas, as there are 3 PIFA antennas. Spatial multiplexing modes for simultaneous
transmission using 3 antennas, and for simultaneous receiver using 3 antennas. The
11a legacy mode is limited to single transmitter only.

https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/eas/GetApplicationAttachment.html?id=1363489
 
E4200 on Linksys support page

I didn't see any formal announcement for it, but it can be found on Linksys's support page.

http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/wireless/linksys/E4200

"The Linksys E4200 is a powerful simultaneous dual-band Wireless-N router optimized for maximum wireless experience. A built-in USB port and UPnP media server lets you stream HD videos seamlessly directly from your router to your wireless devices. Share files with other computers wirelessly, with network speeds of up to 450 Mbps. Maximize gaming performance with the router's 4 Gigabit ports. Plus, the latest version of Cisco Connect software gets you set up in a few simple steps and offers powerful tools for managing your wireless network."

I can't wait to get my hands on one....
 
Was just @ Best Buy in Frisco TX. Saw a Linksys E4200 on the self. I've been looking for a new router to replace my failing WRT610N. This peaked my interest and I found this thread.

FYI Retail Price = $179.99
Best Buy SKU = 1678271 (apparently is not on their website).
 
E4200 orderability turned on

Just ordered my E4200 from the Cisco online store :) Will get it in a couple of days.
 
News just posted and review unit is due in today. The E4200 does support three-stream N on the 5 GHz radio only. This helps only if used with a three-stream capable client.

Right now that limits you to certain notebooks. Even TRENDnet's 450 Mbps "gaming" adapter doesn't help, since that is 2.4 GHz band only.
 
At least TrendNet has a matching 450 Mbps, 2.4 GHz band access point (TEW-690AP) and router (TEW-691GR), and is also coming out with a multi-port bridge (TEW-640MB). So Cisco-Linksys should have a 3-stream, 5 GHz client in the works, shouldn't they? Otherwise, what's the point of this product?

News just posted and review unit is due in today. The E4200 does support three-stream N on the 5 GHz radio only. This helps only if used with a three-stream capable client.

Right now that limits you to certain notebooks. Even TRENDnet's 450 Mbps "gaming" adapter doesn't help, since that is 2.4 GHz band only.
 
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So Cisco-Linksys should have a 3-stream, 5 GHz client in the works, shouldn't they? Otherwise, what's the point of this product?
We'll have to wait and see. 3 stream N clients haven't been a priority to date.
 
Mine was shipped too and should arrive tomorrow. I would be very happy if it will replace dreaded WNDR3700 that's been plagued with not so hot range and buggy firmware.
 
Wow, cisco homestore ships amazing fast, not only it's overnight free delivery, it's "Early AM" 8:30.
 
Will do, as long as I can get acceptable throughput on 5Ghz from upstairs to downstairs I'll be a happy camper.
 
Just received my unit and I was barely out of bed so I completely forgot that I wanted to sleep in today. I setup it up fairly quickly, no quirks with with the interface and was able to do my long range test in 5 minutes with HP Envy 14, going through 4 walls about 50 feet and from upstairs. While I wasn't blown away, I was getting acceptable transfer speeds at 3MB/sec from my NAS box, where before it was under 1MB/sec. I don't want to burst in excitement yet, so more tests are in order, but at the very least I don't have DHCP issues with this unit as I did with WNDR3700.

1080p Youtube test passed. I was able to stream video at the same range without having to preload the video first.


5Ghz mode showed only 2-3 bars (40 Mbps) at the same range and downloading from NAS was about 2 MB/sec. 1080p youtube file needed to be preloaded a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdDeMJtQi1k


One more quick test I did before running out of the door to work was browse with my Android phone (Nexus One) and I was pleased again. Nexus One doesn't have strong wifi antenna, so I was getting marginal speeds before, but with improved range in E4200 browsing speed has been noticeably improved with pages loading quickly and no noticeable lag.

Design-wise, if anyone cares, it looks even better in person. It's a bit smaller and slimmer then WNDR3700, but it does not have a stand (at least I didn't have time to check the contents of the box) and I am not sure if you can wall mount it, although the slimness of the unit is making me consider this option.

Anyway, so far it appears an improvement from WNDR3700 in two main areas for me and that's all I really needed. We'll probably see professional review soon and something tells me it will get positive marks.

downloadkv.jpg
 
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Definitely looks interesting. I checked it out on the official site and total shipped for me was almost $200, so I can't bring myself to pay that when I know the WNDR37AV is widely available for $150 (not to mention the el cheapo $30-40 routers). There already are reviews up at Cnet/PCWorld and some other places but none of them really go in depth like smallnetbuilder's reviews usually do.
 
Definitely looks interesting. I checked it out on the official site and total shipped for me was almost $200, so I can't bring myself to pay that when I know the WNDR37AV is widely available for $150 (not to mention the el cheapo $30-40 routers). There already are reviews up at Cnet/PCWorld and some other places but none of them really go in depth like smallnetbuilder's reviews usually do.

Yup it was $197 for me (and $3.60 off with ebates), but considering you getting super quick overnight delivery and have 90 day return policy it was worth it. After a week of use I will definitely know if this is a keeper, but I was looking to replace my WNDR37000 for a while and this looks promising...
 
Thanks for the short review. How is the 5Ghz range compared to the 3700?

I cannot even get that Battlefield Bad Company 2 video to play through @ 1080 without rebuffering twice on my wired connection. And I've got 30Mb/s broadband and a plenty powerful PC. I think Youtube cannot handle the stream during peak times.

I think your 3700 may work better if you clean off all those greasy fingerprints. :D

BTW, I am able to get 9MB/s with my crappy DIR-825 running DDWRT. Before DDWRT I couldn't get better than 3MB/s. You may want to check the drivers on your client. I have an Intel 6200.

Look forward to hearing more about this router.
 
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