Linksys WRT1900AC Router review - Introduction

Belkin / Linksys WRT1900AC WIFI Router Review

We review the Linksys WRT1900AC Dual Band Wi-Fi Router from Belkin, this dual-core processor monster of a router recently was introduced. This product surely brings the nostalgia of the old WRT54G back to the table as the design is very similar. But make no mistake, the new Linksys WRT1900AC is very fast, very sexy and offers good range on WIFI. Routers these days. You can purchase a dime a dozen and most of them end up all being the same, as such the more predominant manufacturers continuously seek to add new features to their product in order to differentiate themselves in the market. And that's difficult as there isn't a lot of extras you can do with a router really, you are tied to industry Ethernet and WIFI standards, you can make sure the throughput of the devices is good enough for modern age high-bandwidth file throughput and you can make the firmware as sexy as possible with a nice GUI and extensive feature set.

The Linksys WRT1900AC Dual Band Wi-Fi Router is based on the design of the original WRT54G with its nostalgic blue/black looks. This round though, it has a dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, four removable antennas and even comes with eSata and USB 2.0/3.0 connectivity ports. Following the latest standards the AC 1900  is compatible with 802.11a, 802.11ac, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n and will manage up to 1.3Gbps on the 5 GHz band and up to 600 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. The WRT1900AC comes with Smart Wi-Fi set-up and management tools and will be the first Linksys router to include what is called the Network Map feature. Smart Wi-Fi is a setup and management software tool that gives users access to their connected devices from a browser or even mobile app so you can manage your home network online.

A nice feature of the router is that it offers a guest network as well, so your friends and family can use their iOS or Android smart phone or tablet on the network completely isolated and secure. Network Map is a visual topology map that shows all the devices that are connected to the network. Users can simple manage each device by clicking on its icon and change parental control settings, select wireless bands, filter by device type, or even remove devices from the network, plus more. Network Map provides a simple more graphical way to monitor and manage a home network. Linksys has also been working with the OpenWRT community to make an open source firmware which is planned to be available for download online in 2014. However there still is discussion on this topic from the OpenWRT group wether or not this will be supported.

This dual-core router is amongst the most expensive ones we have ever tested at a whopping MSRP of 239 EURO / $249 will it be worth it? Well, have a peek at the product and then let's dive into the review.