Category Wireless router

The best way to stream media long distances inside and around your home is over an 802.11ac network. But with the exception of Buffalo’s bulky AirStation AC1300, none of the manufacturers building 802.11ac routers are selling 802.11ac bridges for the client side of the network. Asus, Belkin, D-Link, and Netgear all expect you to buy two of their routers and reconfigure one of them as a bridge with a four-port gigabit switch. That’s not only expensive, but reconfiguring a router to operate as a bridge is a pain in the neck.

Cisco is a little late to the 802.11ac party, but they brought something special with their new EA6500 router. The Linksys WUMC710 (aka the Wireless-AC Wi-Fi 5GHz Universal Media Connector Bridge with 4-Port Switch) is a compact, dedicated 802.11ac wireless bridge...

I was surprised when I opened the shipping box from Cisco to see the new look for Linksys product packaging. The photo below compares the EA6500 and EA4500 product boxes. When I walked into a local bestbuy store, and walked over to the networking section, the very first thing that caught my eye just so happens to be a Linksys product. This new product design is a home run!

Price: $199.99

The 6500′s rear panel looks a lot like the EA4500/E4200v2′s. The main difference is that the 6500 has two USB 2.0 ports. You would think that a tippy-top-of-line router these days would have USB 3.0 ports.

Linksys EA6500 rear panel callouts

Unlike many current routers with vertical orientations, the 6500 is designed to sit flat on a table or desk...

When I started getting requests to review the V2 version of Cisco’s top-of-line Linksys E4200 router, I didn’t give them much thought. Unless manufacturers really mess things up, most product revisions are more focused on cost reduction than new features or improved performance. So re-reviews aren’t really worth the effort.

So I was surprised when I checked with Cisco and found that the E4200V2 is actually a new product, with a complete redesign. I’ll leave why Cisco chose to not give the V2 its own E-series number up to their marketing wizards, but it’s bound to cause some consumer confusion. Or wait, maybe that’s the goal?

At any rate, Cisco tells me they will continue to sell the original E4200 (with an MSRP lowered to $179.99), which I’ll refer to as “V1″, along with the V2...

I have never once bought a wireless router over $120, I always thought those expensive routers were a wast of money, I mean they all perform the same right? Wrong! Oh boy was I wrong, with this Cisco Linksys E4200 router, I’ve seen such a huge speed improvement over wifi, its not even funny, to know I’ve gone so long without knowing what a difference of speed I could have gotten with this router. The price point is $179.99, thats considered very expensive for a router, but you sure get what you pay for! Trust me!

it’s the Cisco Linksys E4200’s wireless capabilities that stand out from the crowd.

Dual-band wireless allows simultaneous connection on both regular 2.4GHz and more specialized 5GHz frequency bands...