Linksys EA6900 AC1900 802.11ac Router Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

When we look at moving to the upper end of the market for consumer grade networking products, there is a bit of a jump in the pricing as one would expect. This is not to say though that the EA6900 is one of the most expensive routers that one can buy, in fact it is far from being the most expensive option. With both US and UK Amazon outlets stocking the EA6900 for $176.99 and £149.90 respectively, Linksys’ latest router is highly competitive in its price, especially when you consider that you can pay a little bit more and get product from a competitor which has fewer features and performance on offer.

Overview

It has been quite some time since I have been able to have a play around with some of Linksys’ networking hardware and boy it feels good to be back under the wings of one of their latest routers. Compared to their devices that I remember from a few years ago, it is clear all around that the Belkin acquisition has influenced a more fluid and natural feel to the user interface. At any moment you are only a couple of clicks away from finding the particular set of options or feature controls that you are after. Being able to manage our networks from any angle is, believe it or not a growing demand and with more of us owning tablets and other mobile devices, it makes sense for our routers to have mobile application support with at the finger tips controls at the ready for monitoring and managing the network as a whole. Localised administration and mobile apps are common ground those these days and the only real way to broaden the administrative capabilities is to configure remote access and control, but in a secure manner. The simple process of an email address and password is all that is needed in order to remotely change a setting are reset the router if required and like the other admin options, you are not restricted to just a desktop or mobile interface, you can connect to your router in almost the same way that you would in the local environment. The only thing that changes is the web address that you logon to the router with in a desktop environment.

Feature wise the EA6900 has all the popular bases covered with USB3.0 and 2.0 ports giving access to network shared storage and printers and a compelling set of software options allowing you to access your data though a variety of connection methods,, be it a simple LAN share or a remotely accessed FTP connection. On top of this we go get a Gigabit WAN port, which believe it or not is quite a big deal these days. With internet connection speeds getting faster and faster and it not being uncommon to see download speeds of over 100Mbps on offer, a 10/100 WAN port sadly doesn’t these days and this is a crucial area where a number of routers are soon going to not meet the demands of today’s enthusiast and prosumer user groups.

Keeping in touch with this routers performance, at this moment in time there are only a small handful of routers out there that can offer the super fast wireless connection speed of up to 1.3Gbps on the 5GHz wireless band. Now as far as matching this specification on the client end is concerned, there is a similarly small selection of wireless adaptors that are capable of delivering the same fast speeds, so what this does mean is that in some respects, the EA6900 is over specified. I will point out though that the ‘typical’ wireless speed of mainstream consumer hardware is rising at a steady rate and within the next year or so I am sure we will see the EA6900 and other similar routers being pushed to their full potential. In other words by getting one of these super speed routers, you are future proofing yourself, but you are also paying the privilege for doing so this early on.

Whether or not you should be buying a router such as this now really comes down to your long-term needs. If you are in the position right now where you need to get a new router and waiting a little longer for a price drop is not an option then you simply can’t go that far wrong with the EA6900 and Linksys’ family of other Gigabit routers. If you are able to hold off for a while to allow the pricing to settle down a little then you may just save yourself a few buck, but remember that technology is moving on at a rapid rate at the moment, so whilst this router will me more affordable this time next year, there is likely to be an even faster option out there to whet your appetite and take your wireless network to an even higher level of performance.

Pros:

• Renowned networking Vendor
• Superior wireless speed of up to 1.3Gbps on offer (with compatible devices)
• Gigabit WAN interface
• Smart WiFi mobile applications
• Ease to use GUI
• Sleek and simple design

Cons:

• High performance hardware carries a stronger price premium
• Wall mounting points leave router in a side on orientation with the antennae and cabling coming out to one side as oppose to up from the body of the router.

“As the speed of consumer grade wireless network explodes to well over the 1Gbps mark, we are seeing a whole new breed of router come to life, offering not only superior wireless connection speeds, but also a compelling set of software features over and above that of mid range routers. With Linksys now under ownership from Belkin we are seeing a new, sleek design come to life, giving us a router that not only looks the part, but has the power needed to appeal to the enthusiast and prosumer user groups.”

Thanks to Linksys UK for providing this review sample.