Linksys WRT-1900ACS Reviewed

[nagle3092]

I don't really agree with this because it opens up the whole hardware warranty issue once the case is opened but I do see your point like someone trying to plug a USB device in the TTL header

They did change their stance though now and are saying that even flashing 3rd party firmware voids the warranty.

**While Linksys fully embraces the open source community and is providing open source use capabilities, they do not offer technical support on using open source firmware. Installing 3rd party firmware is done at your own risk and replacing factory-installed firmware with OpenWRT firmware will void your warranty. Please always seek the advice of more experienced users via open source community forums if you’re unsure.

 

[chadster766]

They did change their stance though now and are saying that even flashing 3rd party firmware voids the warranty.

Actually that reminds me a user could add a script that writes to the nand many times a second which would greatly shorten the life of an open source router's flash.

 

[RogerSC]

What I'd like to see on these WRT routers is a (recessed) switch that toggles the boot partition. The times that I've bricked my WRT1900AC, I've had one intact boot partition that had a usable firmware image. If I could just switch to that boot partition without going the serial console route, that would be really nice *smile*.

On the other hand, if Linksys could put out a more fully featured firmware, then I wouldn't feel compelled to take the risk of flashing it to OpenWRT or DD-WRT. And lose Linksys product support as a result.

Just a thought.

 

[nagle3092]

On the other hand, if Linksys could put out a more fully featured firmware, then I wouldn't feel compelled to take the risk of flashing it to OpenWRT or DD-WRT. And lose Linksys product support as a result.

Just a thought.

This is the biggest issue I have with the WRT devices. They should take the approach TP-Link is doing and giving users the option of an advanced page or basic page.

 

[red_pope]

This is the biggest issue I have with the WRT devices. They should take the approach TP-Link is doing and giving users the option of an advanced page or basic page.

That is so true about TP-LINK . I dont understand the fanfare of Linksys. But I leave it, to the nerds that believe Linksys will be completly "LIBRE, Anyhow, There is other and better products than Linksys junk.

 

[sfx2000]

Linksys is going to do what they're going to do...

They support 3rd party firmware - e.g. they're not blocking it - better know what you're getting into and doing as they're not going to hold anyone's hand down that path... and that's a reasonable approach.

As long as one can get back into the boot loader if needed, that fine enough for me.

As to why some of the enthusiasm about the WRT1900ac family - it's pretty good HW, IMHO, probably the best of class in the AC1900 realm of Wave1/Wave1+ devices - that, and once sorted, factory firmware isn't so bad, and it generally just works.

Was a bit surprised with the cost reduction efforts on the V2/ACS, as having the WiFi radios on a daughterboard could have been a nice springboard into an AC2600 class device (e.g. 4*4:4 MU-MIMO) with little additional BOM cost, just the daughterboard dev/driver integration and then QA around it...

They wouldn't have been the first to do a Marvell Router + Broadcom Router/AP solution - the Marvell platform has that flexibility, as does the basic Linksys board support platform.

 

[stevech]

... Anyhow, There is [sic] other and better products than Linksys junk.

Pretty harsh. Linksys is or is among the WiFi manufacturers with the greatest longevity. Goes back way before Cisco bought them, then many years later, sold them to Belkin but has left Linksys alone.
Certainly, not "junk", and saying so rather discredits the posting.

 

[JohnnySL]

Linksys is going to do what they're going to do...

As to why some of the enthusiasm about the WRT1900ac family - it's pretty good HW, IMHO, probably the best of class in the AC1900 realm of Wave1/Wave1+ devices - that, and once sorted, factory firmware isn't so bad, and it generally just works.

Was a bit surprised with the cost reduction efforts on the V2/ACS, as having the WiFi radios on a daughterboard could have been a nice springboard into an AC2600 class device (e.g. 4*4:4 MU-MIMO) with little additional BOM cost, just the daughterboard dev/driver integration and then QA around it...

They wouldn't have been the first to do a Marvell Router + Broadcom Router/AP solution - the Marvell platform has that flexibility, as does the basic Linksys board support platform.

That is the number one reason why i've bought the V2, strong hardware, decent build, and at that moment support from both dd-wrt and openwrt, so i would never get stuck on the firmware linksys provides. Only pet peeve until now is the horrible job they've did with the opensource Wifi driver support. Although I (still) have good hopes that will eventually sort itself out.

Thing that bugs me though is that they aren't clear on their hardware specs. My V2 has more ram and a faster CPU than stated on the box. Sounds nice, but as it is a "freebe" it's unsure if the device they sell a month later still has the same hardware.

 

[nagle3092]

A little late but figured I would provide an update. My V2 did take the ACS firmware with no issues.

 

[chadster766]

Interesting, thanks for the update. Keep us posted

 

[sfx2000]

Pretty harsh. Linksys is or is among the WiFi manufacturers with the greatest longevity. Goes back way before Cisco bought them, then many years later, sold them to Belkin but has left Linksys alone.
Certainly, not "junk", and saying so rather discredits the posting.

Linksys has been hit or miss on their products, just like other vendors - the 802.11ac WRT lines seem to be pretty solid, as does the MU-MIMO device (EA8500), but some have been questionable - and folks that bought into those devices will have a certain perspective compared to others.

All good...

 

[sfx2000]

A little late but figured I would provide an update. My V2 did take the ACS firmware with no issues.

So perhaps the ACS is a re-SKU'ed/Re-modeled WRT1900acV2 - makes for better PLM (vendor perspective) as well as inventory management (retail perspective) for folks bypassing perfectly good V1's on the hunt for V2's...

I'm not saying that folks should associate V2 with ACS on the WRT AC1900 devices, but perhaps this is their way of sorting this problem - and then they can move the older V1's at a lower price and keep the ACS (as a newer SKU) at a higher price...

WRT1900 V1/V2/ACS - they're all pretty good, and Linksys has been keeping all at the same Feature Level/Fixies on firmware revs...

 

[xtremesniper]

Review should be up later today. Test results are in the charts. Disappointing 2.4 GHz performance, similar to the WRT1200AC. No wonder, because it's the same board with all four RF chains loaded.

I read the review and I'm a bit confused...

1. Some people are saying the 1900AC v2 is the same or similar. I can't find a review for the v2 on this site, so I was wondering if the disappointing 2.4 GHz performance also affects the 1900AC v2?

2. Is there any possibility that the 2.4 GHz performance will or can be patched in a firmware update? Or is it an inherent flaw in the hardware? (this based on some comments that it is due to a specific chipset)

 

[sfx2000]

Just some checking against a WRT1900acV2 - 2.4GHz range/speed is consistent with what I observed with the V1, so maybe something with the ACS firmware...

One oddity I did see with a specific client in 2.4GHz that might explain the odd performance with the ACS

Client - HPStream11 with Broadcom BCM43142 card - the default "Mixed" mode, the card saw this as a G54 connection, not an N216 connection - others saw this as an 802.11ac connection (AC600), and yet others saw it as an N216 connection - so the VHT epigrams can lead to some misleading results across different clients...

See below:

 

[sfx2000]

FWIW - lots of folks might slam Linksys for dumbing down the UI and not having advanced/pro settings for the WiFi radios - they're there, just hidden...

just change the /home.html for /advanced-wireless.html - and you need to be local and attached to the router, cannot change this over the interwebs...

 

[xtremesniper]

@sfx2000 Which version of the WRT did you see that oddity on? What options are there other than "Mixed" and does it behave better when manually set to one of them?

 

[sfx2000]

@sfx2000 Which version of the WRT did you see that oddity on? What options are there other than "Mixed" and does it behave better when manually set to one of them?

I've seen similar behavior with both V1 and V2 of the WRT1900 - safe to say that the WRT1200 and WRT1900ACS likely behave the same way considering they all run the same wifi chips...

Taking it from "Mixed" to B/G/N-Only reverts the behavior - and to be honest, when looking at VHT20 mode, one sees 298 as a max rate vs. HT20 being 217.. and it's the VHT items in 2.4GHz that is tripping up some chipsets out there, as they're not expecting it.

Oddly enough - when using a VHT client in 2.4GHz mode, it tries to do 802.11ac style explicit beam forming in 2.4GHz, which is unexpected...

 

[xtremesniper]

Interesting find... I wonder if it has anything to do with the poor 2.4 GHz performance in the ACS review.

 

[sfx2000]

Interesting find... I wonder if it has anything to do with the poor 2.4 GHz performance in the ACS review.

it does..

more later..

 

[htismaqe]

3 revisions in 18 months.

And no firmware updates since June.