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Cisco Linksys E4200V2 Maximum Performance Dual-Band N N900 Router

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You can keep looking, but such a product does not exist. There are some routers that provide higher throughput in close range. Others might provide slightly more range. But there isn't a router that clearly outperforms all others for wireless throughput vs. range.

Mr. Easy: Thanks for the comment/insight. So looks like my N56U and V2 setup will probably suffice for now. Just curious, since you have tested both--I currently have the N56U connected to the Cable Modem (upstairs) and the V2 connected at the far end of the house ground floor via a WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit. In your opinion...would there be any substantial improvement to switching the two routers ...connecting the V2 to the cable modem instead of the N56U? I went with connecting the N56U to the cable modem directly due to its high Lan/Wan - Wan/Lan throughput capabilities of the N56U but not sure that makes much difference over the V2's capabilities on a Home Network environment.
 
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V2 and three stream?

Anyone know how to confirm three- stream usage?

Since my V2 has three stream capabilities on both 2.4 & 5 Ghz bands, I purchased the Trendnet TEW-684UG to specifically take advantage of this capability. I set the V2's Channel Bandwidth to 2.4 and 5 Ghz to 20/40 or 40 MHz where available, and I do see 300/450 Mbs 2.4/5 Ghz transmit speeds and on the laptop's wireless client--is there some other way to confirm three-stream?
 
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Nope. Looking at the link rate is the way you do it.
 
LAN performance

Hello.

As far as I've seen in the Routing Performance chart, the performance on the WAN - LAN is something close to 280 Mbps.

However, I wonder what is the performance on the LAN (switch) interface.

I mean, if I connect my NAS on 1Gb Ethernet port, and the NAS supports something close to 100 MB/s (~ 800 Mbps) for file read/write, and my PC on the other 1 Gb ethernet port, will the router limit my read/write throughput?

In other terms, what's the throughput on the ethernet switch level? Does it follows the same WAN - LAN routing throughput?

Anyone knows something about it or has tested it?

Best regards,
Flavio.
 
E4200 v2

"In other terms, what's the throughput on the ethernet switch level? Does it follows the same WAN - LAN routing throughput?"

Flavio,

I got this router last week and did some tests. My previous (and still current, I'll explain later) router is a dir-655. The reason I bought the 4200v2 is that I wanted faster wifi with my 3 stream laptop, 5 ghz, and usb storage. Unfortunately, my NAS is old and is the bottleneck when using it. But, I did connect my laptop straight to the router. Both routers were able to write a 2.5 gig file at around 52-61 MB/s (I ran it a few times). The source was running xp and network utilization was around 53%. The laptop is running win 7. There are alot of variables in achieving higher throughputs but I don't think this router would NOT be capable of getting higher transfer rates. While I'm not sure you would get your desired rate of 100 MB/s, I think somewhere in between is definitely possible. I wouldn't worry about it if that's your concern.

I was initially looking at the wndr4500 and then the rt-n66. It seems like both routers have some small issues and the latter is hard to find, although I'm still considering it. The 4200v2 came with a free laser printer which I would sell to offset its high price. However, the range and speed on the 2.4 band was no better than my dir-655 and I could not get the usb storage working even after contacting their tech support. My NAS is basically used as a backup device and not a file server so having the usb for music/video is important to me. I was trying to attach a 1TB WD Elements drive to it and, eventhough it recognized it sometimes, I could never create a share.

ric
 
"In other terms, what's the throughput on the ethernet switch level? Does it follows the same WAN - LAN routing throughput?"

Flavio,

I got this router last week and did some tests. My previous (and still current, I'll explain later) router is a dir-655. The reason I bought the 4200v2 is that I wanted faster wifi with my 3 stream laptop, 5 ghz, and usb storage. Unfortunately, my NAS is old and is the bottleneck when using it. But, I did connect my laptop straight to the router. Both routers were able to write a 2.5 gig file at around 52-61 MB/s (I ran it a few times). The source was running xp and network utilization was around 53%. The laptop is running win 7. There are alot of variables in achieving higher throughputs but I don't think this router would NOT be capable of getting higher transfer rates. While I'm not sure you would get your desired rate of 100 MB/s, I think somewhere in between is definitely possible. I wouldn't worry about it if that's your concern.

I was initially looking at the wndr4500 and then the rt-n66. It seems like both routers have some small issues and the latter is hard to find, although I'm still considering it. The 4200v2 came with a free laser printer which I would sell to offset its high price. However, the range and speed on the 2.4 band was no better than my dir-655 and I could not get the usb storage working even after contacting their tech support. My NAS is basically used as a backup device and not a file server so having the usb for music/video is important to me. I was trying to attach a 1TB WD Elements drive to it and, eventhough it recognized it sometimes, I could never create a share.

ric


It depends on your greater need since, indeed, no router is perfect:

Wifi - As you noted, the E4200 v2 is not working any better than your
DIR-655. This is whether the RT-N66U you also said you were considering has the edge. The only remaining notable issue (as of firmware 102), that I am aware of, is the VPN disconnecting every 'n' minutes for some users (I don't use it for VPN so I can't comment).

USB storage - This is where the E4200 V2 has the edge in terms of performance... Too bad you could not get it working.

Good luck!
 
Wired issue

Hello,

Maybe you'll be able to give me an hand on that issue. My router is working fine but for some reason, wired connection got very low speed and I need to power cycle my router every day. I changed the MTU size at 1472 but it doesn't seems to fix the problem.

I was getting the same problem with the V1, even with DD-WRT firmware. So I really wonder what is my issue...

For information, I got an Iomega network drive on the network as well, but even if I unplugged it, it doesn't fix the issue.

Any ideas ?

Thanks in advance!
 
Hello,

Maybe you'll be able to give me an hand on that issue. My router is working fine but for some reason, wired connection got very low speed and I need to power cycle my router every day. I changed the MTU size at 1472 but it doesn't seems to fix the problem.

I was getting the same problem with the V1, even with DD-WRT firmware. So I really wonder what is my issue...

For information, I got an Iomega network drive on the network as well, but even if I unplugged it, it doesn't fix the issue.

Any ideas ?

Thanks in advance!

Mercador:
You might want to try some of these performance tips from Cicso:
http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco2/ukp.a..._of_Common_Issues_with_Wireless_N_Routers.xml
 
Actually, what's weird, it looks like only my PC got issues. All my other hardwares (consoles, tablet) are working fine :|
 
Actually, what's weird, it looks like only my PC got issues. All my other hardwares (consoles, tablet) are working fine :|

Is this an older PC with an old network card ...if so check to see if it network card needs a new driver. Or if you are lucky maybe its just a bad Ethernet cable between your PC and router?

BTW, are you able to connect the PC using wireless?
Edit/Delete Message
 
Hello,

Maybe you'll be able to give me an hand on that issue. My router is working fine but for some reason, wired connection got very low speed and I need to power cycle my router every day. I changed the MTU size at 1472 but it doesn't seems to fix the problem.

I was getting the same problem with the V1, even with DD-WRT firmware. So I really wonder what is my issue...

For information, I got an Iomega network drive on the network as well, but even if I unplugged it, it doesn't fix the issue.

Any ideas ?

Thanks in advance!

Try turning off UPNP in the router - the factory firmware is bugged there, and causes problems like you've observed - since DD-WRT is based off the old WRT54G, it inherited that bug.
 
Well, that's quite strange. I switched back to Wifi and now, my internet speed is alright, 2mb/sec like normal. But then, Youtube videos don't stream anymore... I thought it was something else and after several attemps to fix this, I decided to switch back to Ethernet. Now, youtube videos are working back again, but my speed is inconsistant..

I got two theories;

1. When I install the last version of Adobe Flash Player, I was probably in wired mode.
2. My router wired connection OR my motherboard ethernet connection got an issue.

I tried several ethernet cables and it doesn't change a thing. UPNP is disabled btw.

Any ideas?
 
Firmware ver. 2.0.37.131676

New firmware update out for e4200 V2: 2.0.37.131676 and update to Cisco Connect Express on iOS from ver 1.1 to 1.2

I haven't been able to find any details posted for the V2's firmware yet.


Cisco Connect "express" app 1.2 update includes::
Added support for EA2700, EA3500, EA4500 and E4200 V2
French Language support
Changed short name to "Express"
Fixed a problem when canceling from adding a device to via WPS
 
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New e4200 V2 firmware 2.0.37.131676 includes WPS fix

I just confirmed ( after reading comments in Cisco's Home Community forum) that the new V2 firmware 2.0.37.131676 includes the WPS fix. Once updated you have to go back into the Wireless/Wireless Settings/menu and select or reselect the Wi-fi Protected Setup. Then you will see the additional menu items to include new features to enable or disable WPS.

Configuration View ( Under Wireless/Wireless Settings)

Manual Wi-Fi Protected Setup™
WPS: Enable Disable
 
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Looks like Cisco pulled 2.0.37 yesterday. Something must have been wrong with the firmware. Back to 2.0.36 for now:(
 
Firmware 2.0.37 with WPS security fix is back! Hopefully it will stay put for a bit longer this time:)
 
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V2.0.37 release notes from Cisco:
http://homesupport.cisco.com/en-us/support/routers/E4200

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT:
- This firmware is compatible ONLY with E4200 hardware version 2.
- The safest way to perform the firmware upgrade is to use a wired computer.
- DO NOT power cycle the Router during the firmware upgrade process.

===========================================================================
Release Date: Mar 23, 2012
Firmware version: v2.0.37 (Build 131047)

Bug Fixes:
- Fixed restoring backup configuration file issue
- Fixed total guest allowed in the firmware not matching Cisco Connect
- Fixed Power LED blinking for hours issue while checking for FW update server when Internet port is not connected
- Fixed USB drive mapping issue for drives previously used as windows backup drives
- Fixed wireless HTTPS access can't be disabled in Local Management web UI
- Fixed static DNS server addresses not being propagated to the clients via DHCP in In PPPoE mode
- Fixed some IPv6 bugs
- Added support for 2 pairs wiring of Ethernet cable
- Added firmware update error messages
- Added WPS Disable option in web UI to prevent brute force attack
 

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