There are wireless routers, and then there are wireless
routers with a 1.2GHz dual-core Marvel Armada SoC processor and 256MB RAM that
supports USB 3.0 drive transfer speeds and has four massive antennae that can
blow wireless connectivity through almost any environment. The $250 Linksys
WRT1900AC (which you can win
here)
is the latter.
So what’s so special about this massive wireless router and
why am I writing about it? Home and small office networking folks have never
been given the chance to play with heavy iron. In between the run-of-the-mill
wireless router and the $31,000 Cisco machine we find very few highly
programmable, very powerful networking tools that allow for instant NAS setup,
usable wireless management, and high speed connectivity. If I were setting up a
network from scratch for a whole office and needed a backup solution, some
parental controls, and some clever network mapping tools, this would be the
router I’d use.
The first thing you notice about the router is its size. It
has four removable antennae that hang off a case that is about ten inches long
– far bigger than anything else I’ve seen. It is peppered with holes for heat
displacement and even has a built-in fan for when things get too toasty. It can
be mounted on a wall but is probably ideal for “top of the filing cabinet”
placement in most environments. Wi-Fi range maxed out at about 300 feet and the
system supports multiple Wi-Fi channels – 2.4 GHz 802.11n and 5 GHz 802.11ac –
as well as dynamic beam forming to assess which antennae to activate for
maximum throughput. The design hearkens back to an older, simpler Linksys trade
dress that will remind geeks of some of their favorite mid-2000 era hardware.
In terms of performance I saw the best throughput when
connected to the 5 GHz range. Degradation was negligible on the first floor of
my brick home and speed was solid all the way up in my attic, about 30 feet
above the router. In before/after speed tests against an Airport Base Station I
saw equal theoretical speeds – about 13 Mbps but actual speed jumped from 4
Mbps to 6 Mbps. In short, it worked quite well.
The Interface
Another big plus is Linksys’ clever interface. The powerful
onboard processor means you get speedy access to settings and system resets
without much fuss. Whereas a standard reboot on an older router takes a minute
or two, a reboot here happens almost instantly.
I also really enjoyed the network map, an amazing tool that
is very helpful if you’ve ever tried to find an errant IP address on the
system. Using the new router, for example, I was able to fine my Raspberry Pi
mining rig without resorting to a shell script that scans all the local IP
addresses. It also shows you, at a glance, which devices are having trouble
connecting to the network. The system also allows you to reserve an IP address
for a certain device, thereby ensuring it doesn’t change during DHCP updates.
The system also allows for media prioritization – it
essentially ensures your media device stream before other devices on the
network – and parental controls that allow you to lock down certain websites.
There is also a robust password-protected guest access system that sandboxes up
to 50 users out of your main network. Finally, a built-in speed test can help
troubleshoot speed problems and, I suspect, is designed to prove to users that
they are actually getting a bit more speed out of the hardware.
The Bottom Line
This router is not for the faint of wallet. At $250 it’s
considerably more expensive than your average wireless device. However, given
the power under the hood, range, and speed boosts along with shaping and
traffic management features, it’s well worth the investment. As we all well
know most Wi-Fi routers are created equal. This one is specifically designed
not to be.
The router is also interesting in that it supports open
source firmware out of the box, including the popular Tomato and (potentially)
OpenWRT systems. Linksys was famous for looking the other way when users
installed the firmware on earlier version of their routers and the addition of
open source features and functionality is a boon for those looking to lock down
or modify their Internet experience.
Who is this router for? Given the distinct speed advantages
I experienced and the power of the interface, wireless radio, and processor,
this device is for a small office or home user looking for something quite
heavy duty. While it is definitely a pricey proposition to pick up this router,
the performance improvements will be quite noticeable. As a long-time user of
Airport devices I’d definitely miss Apple’s fire-and-forget interface.
