Linksys Introduces Their First 11AC Wave 2 Access Point with MU-MIMO

Linksys released their first MU-MIMO-enabled Wireless AC access point (AP) which has been purpose-built for small and medium businesses, the Linksys Business Pro Series Wireless-AC Dual-band MU-MIMO Access Point, or for short, the LAPAC2600. Linksys is the first company to market a small business AP which supports MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output) for an overall better performance and efficiency of a Wi-Fi network.

Where other Wave 2 access points are designed for larger enterprises and as such come with a much higher price that easily exceeds the £1000 marker, the LAPAC2600 comes at a very reasonable recommended retail price of just £375. In short, an MU-MIMO-enabled device basically offers every capable client connected the same benefits as if they were connected to their own router. With MU-MIMO, the entire office can simultaneously video conference, download large e-mail attachments and media content, sync large files from local file servers or cloud storage service, or stream presentations without lag or buffering.

The LAPAC2600 features 4×4 Dual-Band AC (2.4+5GHz) delivering combined speeds of up to 2.53 Gbps to multiple connected devices. The deployment is as easy as it is with previous models thanks to the PoE+ support, intuitive web interface, and single point control clustering ability.

This isn’t just a traditional access point as it comes with three modes. It can work as the traditional AP but it can also work as a wireless distribution system (WDS) or a wireless bridge. Naturally, a business-oriented device like this also comes with all the security features you’d want such as WPA/WPA2 protected access, 802.1X authentication, MAC-based ACL, Rouge AP detection and SSID-to-VLAN mapping, and more.

However, an access point with the newest technology doesn’t provide much benefit if your system doesn’t support the same. Linksys naturally knows this and also released the MAX-STREAM AC600 USB MU-MIMO-enabled adapter which even won the Best of CES 2016 award. It enables users to connect their laptops and computers to an MU-MIMO access point for optimal performance with beamforming technology. While the speeds here aren’t groundbreaking being an AC600 connector, the increased connectivity features more than make up for it compared to traditional devices and it will only set you back £25.