Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream AC5400 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router Reviewed

[FattysGoneWild]

Band assignment is not just about number of devices. You also need to watch device capability. Unless airtime fairness is used, slower devices will limit total bandwidth available on a radio. "Slow" devices aren't just N or 1x1 AC. A distant 3x3 AC device can also be slow.

How does one know then how to balance devices properly between the 2 5GHz bands manually instead of using smart connect? I have it wrong the way I set it up it seems.

 

[sfx2000]

How does one know then how to balance devices properly between the 2 5GHz bands manually instead of using smart connect? I have it wrong the way I set it up it seems.

Goes back to the whole reason why I've never been a big fan of Broadcom's X-Stream and SmartConnect architecture...

Looks nice on paper, but runs into problems with the real world...

 

[FattysGoneWild]

Question and curious. Since disabling smart connect. If I had left both SSID's the same for the 5GHz bands. It would not automatically set right between the 2 different bands depending on devices? Or would it? Like I said. I left 2.4GHz alone but did change the names on each 5GHz band. I came across a Best Buy customer review that said the following:

"Lastly the WiFi is dropping devices intermittently, have everyone on 5GHz and once a awhile i will see no WiFi signal on an iPhone or iPad when you pick it up, second later Wifi comes on - weird. Didn't have that with my old router. Hope new updates will fix an otherwise good router."

That is exactly what I was seeing before making the changes disabling smart connect. I have not had a chance though long enough if making the change I have solved it yet. Need more time. But in the mean time. I am mainly concerned with balancing devices properly and efficiently.

 

[thiggins]

The iPhone/iPad no signal problem could be power save on the device.

Yes, it's difficult to balance devices for most effective bandwidth use. You need to experiment.

 

[FattysGoneWild]

The iPhone/iPad no signal problem could be power save on the device.

Yes, it's difficult to balance devices for most effective bandwidth use. You need to experiment.

With smart connect off. If you leave both 5GHz bands with the same ssid's. Does it essentially combine both radios and make into one big one?

 

[thiggins]

With smart connect off. If you leave both 5GHz bands with the same ssid's. Does it essentially combine both radios and make into one big one?

What do you mean "one big one"? Because there are two 5 GHz radios, each will have its own BSSID. So devices will still need to choose one to associate with, but with no "assistance" from the router.

 

[FattysGoneWild]

What do you mean "one big one"? Because there are two 5 GHz radios, each will have its own BSSID. So devices will still need to choose one to associate with, but with no "assistance" from the router.

I just needed to do more reading. I thought maybe like I said by combining the 2 at once it becomes just 1 big radio. I know what you mean now. Basically not realizing it and I should have looked more into it. You are at the mercy of the router keeping things optimal using smart connect and hoping it does it correctly. I have been paying more attention to the map as of late. I do see devices being balanced back and fourth between radios depending on usage at the time when ever devices are being used.

 

[psychopomp1]

@ Tim Higgins
Now that the EA9500V2 is out in the wild perhaps an in depth review should be done of this at some point? This uses a beefier 64 bit 1.8ghz quadcore processor with 1GB RAM so has significantly better internals than v1 - I believe V2 is very similar to the Asus GT-AC5300 hardware wise. I'm greating great wifi coverage on the V2, which I'm finding even better than my Netgear R9000.

 

[thiggins]

@ Tim Higgins
Now that the EA9500V2 is out in the wild perhaps an in depth review should be done of this at some point? This uses a beefier 64 bit 1.8ghz quadcore processor with 1GB RAM so has significantly better internals than v1 - I believe V2 is very similar to the Asus GT-AC5300 hardware wise. I'm greating great wifi coverage on the V2, which I'm finding even better than my Netgear R9000.

My benchmarks are unlikely to show much difference due to beefier processor and more RAM.

You're saying the EA9500 v2 coverage is better than V1.1 or the original?

 

[sfx2000]

My benchmarks are unlikely to show much difference due to beefier processor and more RAM.

If Linksys moved over to the newer Broadcom SoC - then it's likely a very different board support package SW wise, as the SoC is quite different.

WiFi might not improve, but routing and other services might benefit there.