Linksys WRT3200ACM AC3200 MU-MIMO Gigabit WiFi Router Review

Bohs Hansen / 8 years ago

Web Interface Part 1

Now that we have initialised the WRT3200ACM router with the basic settings and passwords, it is time tot take a look a the user interface itself.

The WRT3200ACM features a simple but beautiful GUI. We have the menu to the left with the various setting groups and widgets to the right with live-information of various settings. Most of the widgets can be turned off in case that you don’t want them on the front page.

Network Map

The network map provides a visual on connected and known devices in the network environment. Wirelessly connected devices will show which band they are on while non-connected but known devices can be hidden. At the top right corner, we see the feature which is on all pages to turn the homepage widgets on and off.

The network map also has a feature to check out the current internet usage with filter options for total bandwidth or just transmit or receive bandwidth. There’s also an internet speed test tool, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

Guest Access

The guest access feature is great as it allows you to share your internet connection with visitors without having to give them your regular wireless password. Guests have their own wireless SSID to connect to which keeps them out of your connected systems and devices.

Parental Control

Parental control, or boss control, allows the admin to restrict the internet access based on a set of rules. The restrictions are set per system and they can also be applied to specific times with scheduling.

For example, you might want to block certain sites such as social media during the night, making sure that the kids don’t stay up chatting all night long and get their sleep instead. It could also be used when kids get grounded for misbehaving. Let them keep the computer so they can use it for their homework, but clock their internet connection so they can’t talk to their friends. Those are just some examples.

Media Prioritization

Another really cool feature is the media prioritisation feature, which might be better known to most as a QoS. In its essence, it allows you to prioritise whole systems as well as individual apps and games. There is a whole list of common apps and games to pick from, and more can be added manually.

There are a few settings too, which explain themselves from the below screenshot.

The configuration is as easy as it gets. Simply drag and drop the selected system, application, or game into the high priority area and apply the settings. Done.

Speed Test

The speed test feature uses the well-known Speedtest.net from Ookla to test your internet connection. There are no settings which allow you to select the server yourself, so you might not get the full speed through this page. It is still great to have the feature built-in as it gives you an indication of trouble.

External Storage

The Linksys WRT3200ACM shines when it comes to external storage connectors. It has USB 3.0 for modern types of storage drives as well as eSATA and USB 2.0 combined into one port. This setup allows you to connect almost any storage drive to the router and share its content through the network.

The access is set to public by default, meaning anyone located on your local area network can access the content without any login information. Normally this isn’t a problem, but in some cases, you need more protection. For this, there is a user and password feature where you can define both yourself. The custom users will also be needed for the next feature.

With a built-in FTP server, you can share connected storage over the internet too.

There’s also a media server included that allows you to stream the content of connected drives to compatible UPnP or DLNA players on your network. A great way to share the media library to all smart devices in the house for those without a NAS.

Connectivity

The connectivity page is probably one of the most important ones. It features all the network and system related settings such as firmware update settings, time zones, and even activity lights.

In most cases, the router will detect your internet connection on its own during the initialisation, but it can be configured manually too.

The local network settings are a bit more relevant as this is where you determine the router’s LAN settings. You also get full control of the DHCP server, and you can set up to 3 DNS servers.

DHCP reservation is one of the best methods of organising your network. The easiest way to set up a client system is to have it receive its network address through DHCP. However, that could result in the system getting a different IP next time it is booted, and that’s simply not an option for systems such as NAS and other servers.

That is where reservations come into play. You can still enjoy the benefits of easy DHCP connections, but you reserve specific addresses from the pool to specific MAC addresses. That way, each time that MAC address requests an IP address, it will get the same.

The WRT3200ACM also features a few advanced-routing options with NAT and RIP. Static routes can be set by interface and thereby allow different rules sets for each.

VLANs are supported too, and the setup is quite easy as you can see here. Should you require more functionality than the WRT OS offers, then you might want to consider installing WRT instead. After all, the router is designed for it and it will give you full access to pretty much anything.