Linksys Releases MU-MIMO Trio

[thiggins]

Btw. Where is the review on this website for it?!?!? I thought release day it would have been up.

We usually aren't the first to have reviews up. Wireless reviews in general have been on hold while the new wired and wireless router test processes were finalized. That now has been done and testing has resumed.

We have already tested he ASUS and NETGEAR equivalents (AC5300 and AC5400 classes are the same). These things are ridiculously expensive and won't do most buyers any good.

 

[sfx2000]

We have already tested he ASUS and NETGEAR equivalents (AC5300 and AC5400 classes are the same). These things are ridiculously expensive and won't do most buyers any good.

Hate to say it - but the AC1900 class is still the best bang for the buck - even more now as these aren't always the latest/greatest - but they're solid for the most part, and most of the bugs have been worked out.

 

[FattysGoneWild]

Hate to say it - but the AC1900 class is still the best bang for the buck - even more now as these aren't always the latest/greatest - but they're solid for the most part, and most of the bugs have been worked out.

Well I mentioned earlier replacing my setup with this new router. But, I got to thinking. Do I really need it you know? Its so expensive and I cant imagine seeing more real world gains. Its just this damn OEM firmware that frustrates me. Linksys WRT1900AC v1. Knowing and finding out about the bugs through here. And then working around them. It is absolutely ridiculous even having to mess with it to get it working some what right. It should just be set and for get it with default settings. Seriously. Does any router exist that is set and for get it? It just works? Picture attached. Optimal wireless settings? I believe they are but want to make sure.

If I have to adjust settings like this to get it working decently. I cant imagine the problems people have just leaving it all default settings.

 

[sfx2000]

If I have to adjust settings like this to get it working decently. I cant imagine the problems people have just leaving it all default settings.

For the WRT1900 series - this is absolutely the best config for wifi - weird marvell stuff with the factory firmware...

 

[njweb]

Picked one up at Best Buy today.
It came with MU-MIMO adapter ("limited time odder

Its hard to take those reviews serious. After all. They are receiving a brand new $400 product free. They are more or less will definitely be positive about it. I read a few that do seem to be honest. But, the majority sound like its the second coming. Btw. Where is the review on this website for it?!?!? I thought release day it would have been up.

I was thinking the same regarding the reviews. That was part of the reason I mentioned it. You have to weed through the content and extract what appears to be unbiased and place less weight on the in doubt content.

My brother definitely experienced great range, even on 5 GHz, with the Asus RT-AC5300.
If with the Asus RT-AC5300 or EA9500 (cnet found the 9500 to be faster than Asus), as one former WRT-1900AC owner observed, I can get most or significantly more of the speed I am paying for in the more difficult locations of our house, it will be worth the price in long run, especially with ISPs bumping speed up quite regularly these days.
If however the difference is negligible then I will stick with the WRT 1900AC.
I do also like the real world experiences I read about of users the Smart Connect and single SSID of the new ones.

Only some in-line testing, hopefully later today, will confirm the real world benefits, or lack thereof.
I also like the built in protection, although doesn't the WRT1900AC already have that too (SPI?) ?

 

[FattysGoneWild]

Please do let us know how it goes. Very interested. I might eat my words yet and still get it.

 

[pete y testing]

I can get most or significantly more of the speed I am paying for in the more difficult locations of our house, it will be worth the price in long run,

but here is the thing , we have come to the point where wireless AC has hit the limits of coverage and throughput and no matter how much manufactures claim extra coverage or magic results its all smoke and mirrors , you will not that in most of the blurb they always compare back to older wireless N transmission and never claim against current AC transmissions , the reason being as within a margin of error there is very little difference in coverage or throughput between these high end routers and claims that these so called active antennas make wifi far better is bumpkin

the only way to make wireless AC have better throughput at distance is to move the transmission closer to the client so it gets better sync if its not already at max sync

i have a pretty good setup at home and run 2 wireless AC routers ( one as an access point ) so that no matter where we are in the house we get full sync and thus max throughput the client adapters are capable of

it will be interesting to see what tims testing shows with regard to the linksys gear and you have to understand that in most cases we are talking about quite small differences when it comes to ranking

 

[njweb]

but here is the thing , we have come to the point where wireless AC has hit the limits of coverage and throughput and no matter how much manufactures claim extra coverage or magic results its all smoke and mirrors , you will not that in most of the blurb they always compare back to older wireless N transmission and never claim against current AC transmissions , the reason being as within a margin of error there is very little difference in coverage or throughput between these high end routers and claims that these so called active antennas make wifi far better is bumpkin

the only way to make wireless AC have better throughput at distance is to move the transmission closer to the client so it gets better sync if its not already at max sync

i have a pretty good setup at home and run 2 wireless AC routers ( one as an access point ) so that no matter where we are in the house we get full sync and thus max throughput the client adapters are capable of

it will be interesting to see what tims testing shows with regard to the linksys gear and you have to understand that in most cases we are talking about quite small differences when it comes to ranking

Set up my Asus 5300 Tuesday very late at night. Had issues with my Note 4 (acting as my test client [device] to test wifi signal and throughput [speeds]) due to enabling IPv6 .
I am CONSISTENTLY getting much higher speedtest.net results with the Asus RT-AC5300 than with my Linksys WRT1900AC in the distant locations of the house (relative to router location).
Will hook up the EA9500 tonight and test. Unless it is much better than the Asus, I will likely keep the Asus since the UI is excellent and they even have an Android App showing which clients are connected to which band (aside from looking for better throughput, I bought it in large part due to the SmartConnect feature which lets the router determine best band for client assignment).

I also need to check the other thread to see if anyone has any good customized SmartConnect rules defined.

I need to return one or both (Asus return period expires this coming Monday). I'm trying to sell my two WRT1900AC routers and two Asus RT-AC66Us soon. May offer them all here before trying eBAY. Already got a firm quote from selliteasy.

 

[sfx2000]

but here is the thing , we have come to the point where wireless AC has hit the limits of coverage and throughput and no matter how much manufactures claim extra coverage or magic results its all smoke and mirrors

Between 11ac, MIMO, and now MU-MIMO - these are all great innovations - but considering the limits, we're pretty close - and getting close to the edge, like with MU, there's going to be issues/concerns/bugs.

 

[htismaqe]

Well I mentioned earlier replacing my setup with this new router. But, I got to thinking. Do I really need it you know? Its so expensive and I cant imagine seeing more real world gains. Its just this damn OEM firmware that frustrates me. Linksys WRT1900AC v1. Knowing and finding out about the bugs through here. And then working around them. It is absolutely ridiculous even having to mess with it to get it working some what right. It should just be set and for get it with default settings. Seriously. Does any router exist that is set and for get it? It just works? Picture attached. Optimal wireless settings? I believe they are but want to make sure.

If I have to adjust settings like this to get it working decently. I cant imagine the problems people have just leaving it all default settings.

View attachment 6445

DD-WRT for the WRT1900AC is finally fully mature. I have been running Kong 28320 since November and upgraded to 29770 last week. I'm getting uptime in MONTHS, not days and I can set it up EXACTLY the way I want.

 

[sfx2000]

DD-WRT for the WRT1900AC is finally fully mature. I have been running Kong 28320 since November and upgraded to 29770 last week. I'm getting uptime in MONTHS, not days and I can set it up EXACTLY the way I want.

Yep, the Kong build for WRT1900 is the right one to get - there's still some leftover stuff, but that's pending additional stuff from Marvell on the Armada 385 for V2/ACS (OpenSSL accel), and the Marvell wifi drivers still have some pending issues with some clients out there.

@htismaqe - it's been a while old friend, hoping all is well, good to see you around the hallways here.

 

[RogerSC]

Yep, the Kong build for WRT1900 is the right one to get - there's still some leftover stuff, but that's pending additional stuff from Marvell on the Armada 385 for V2/ACS (OpenSSL accel), and the Marvell wifi drivers still have some pending issues with some clients out there.

The OpenWRT builds for the WRT1900AC are performing well for me, in particular, davidc502's builds. The web admin GUI is a bit unusual at first sight, but I've found that it has a lot of the features that I'm looking for as well as performance equal to or slightly better than Kong's dd-wrt builds. This is also usually the first place that Marvell's new wireless driver improvement/stabilization source commits are built and available.

On the other hand, Kong's builds have always been good and reliable. He does do some testing before releasing a firmware build, and there's a lot to be said for that.

Personal opinions *smile*.