At first we would like to thank Linksys for offering a sample of their EA9500 Max-Stream AC5400 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About Belkin International:

 

“At Belkin International, we create products that help people realize the power of technology and make people’s lives better, easier and more fulfilling. This has been Belkin’s mission since our inception in 1983.

 

Belkin was founded by CEO, Chet Pipkin, in his parent’s garage. Even back then, Chet’s passion was driven by solving customer’s needs. He manufactured computer cable assemblies in the evenings and on weekends, and sold them to local computer manufacturers and dealers in response to the burgeoning personal computer market in the 1980’s. Since then, we’ve kept our southern California origins and are based in Playa Vista, right in the heart of the Los Angeles tech center.

 

Today, Belkin International has three brands – Belkin, Linksys and WeMo – to enhance the technology that connects us to the people, activities and experiences we love. Belkin products are renowned for their simplicity and ease of use, while our Linksys brand helped make wireless connectivity mainstream around the globe. Our newest brand, WeMo, is the leader in delivering customizable smart home experiences. Its product platform empowers people to monitor, measure and manage their electronics, appliances and lighting at home and on-the-go.”

 

Product Features:

 

EASY SETUP

 

Installation is fast and easy. No CD required.

 

Tri-Band Technology

 

Three bands that deliver the fastest combined Wi-Fi speeds to more devices.

 

MU-MIMO Ready

 

Latest Wireless-AC technology for simultaneously streaming and gaming on multiple devices.

 

Seamless Roaming

 

Enables your device to automatically switch to the strongest Wi-Fi signal as you move around your house when Max-Stream Routers are paired with Max-Stream Range Extenders.

 

Ideal for Large Homes

 

Experience powerful Wi-Fi coverage throughout a large house.

 

1.4 GHz Dual-Core CPU

 

Promotes simultaneous high-speed data processing.

 

Eight Gigabit Ethernet Ports

 

Transfer data 10x faster than Fast Ethernet, ensuring high-speed connectivity for wired devices.

 

4x4 AC Performance

 

Four streams of data for stronger, faster performance when gaming and streaming.

 

Eight High-Performance Antennas

 

Ensure optimal coverage and maximum signal strength – even in large, multi-story buildings.

 

Advanced Wireless Security

 

Safeguard your network with wireless WPA2 encryption and an SPI firewall.

 

Secure Guest Access

 

Create a guest network with a unique password for convenient and secure guest access using Linksys Smart Wi-Fi.

 

Linksys Smart Wi-Fi

 

Monitor and control your home network from anywhere through the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi website or mobile app.

 

Works with PC and Mac

 

Compatible with Mac and PC devices.

 

Beamforming Technology

 

Optimizes performance by focusing wireless signal to connected devices.

 

USB 3.0 Port

 

Share files and add external storage across your network with the USB 3.0 port. USB 3.0 offers enhanced speeds over 2.0.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

 

Linksys Max-Stream AC5400 MU-MIMO (EA9500) router is not your run-of-the-mill product, but features Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output and also the next-generation 802.11ac Wave 2 technology. Wave 2 moniker is practically a marketing term; while Wave 1 products did come with a partial implementation of the 802.11ac standard, the Wave 2 ones have a full implementation. Besides the previously-mentioned MU-MIMO standard, the router also features no less than eight high-power adjustable antennas which enable using the tri-band Wi-Fi configuration (5GHz+5GHz+2.4GHz). For the 2.4GHz band we do have available connection speeds up to 1000Mbps, while each 5GHz band can provide up to 2166MHz. The box EA9500 is offered in is practically the biggest we have seen for a product in this category; on the top area shows a photo of the router in operation and we will also learn that it is backed with 3 years of warranty and 3 years of free tech support:

 

 

 

Linksys mentions that this product is good for all activities and that it incorporates tri-band quad stream Wi-Fi which sums up 5.3 Gbps:

 

 

 

On one of the box sides, we will get to see an explanation of the router interfaces along with the list of package contents:

 

 

 

Nearby, the manufacturer is listing the minimum system requirements along with the technical specifications:

 

 

 

A more detailed product description and a comparison with other routers can be observed on the back:

 

 

 

After removing the top cover, we will get to see that the insides are fully protected by foam material:

 

 

 

 

A Quick Installation Guide is offered to the user, but for more detailed instructions we recommend checking the Linksys website or the included disk:

 

 

 

Besides the disk, we will also get one blue LAN cable, the power lead and also the power adapter:

 

 

 

The power supply is manufactured by Asian Power Devices Inc. and supplies on the output 12V at 5A:

 

 

 

While the router may seem small in the photos initially, we can assure you that it is larger than most; its dimensions are 264.52 x 318.15 x 66.66 mm (LxWxH) without the antennas, while its weight is 1727.7 g:

 

 

 

After removing the individual protective plastic from each antenna, we have raised them in their operating position; the top layer of the router also acts as a large ventilation grill. After a few hours, the router can get quite warm so we highly recommend using it in a well-ventilated space:

 

 

 

The main display of the EA9500 does house a backlit Linksys logo along with indicators for each antenna:

 

 

 

On the frontal area of the router, there are no other interfaces available:

 

 

 

The left side houses three antennas:

 

 

 

 

The right side is similar, with a small exception:

 

 

 

 

A closer look does reveal a Wi-Fi Off button but also a WPS button:

 

 

 

In the back side of the router we can see that EA9500 is considerably taller than most home routers and this type of chassis is allowing the use of eight LAN ports instead of the normal four:

 

 

 

Around the antenna to the left, we do have one USB 3.0 and also one USB 2.0 ports for connecting extra storage or printers:

 

 

 

 

Near the LAN port arrangement, we do also have a WAN port ready, a Reset button but also a DC-IN port:

 

 

 

The right corner houses the On/Off button:

 

 

 

If we check the bottom router area, we will also observe a large ventilation grill:

 

 

 

Even the rubber feet are larger and sturdier than on regular home routers:

 

 

 

The initial router configuration can be performed really easy because after we connect and power on the router, any address we will type in is going to redirect to the router setup wizard:

 

 

The wizard will then ask if we allow router software updates to be performed automatically:

 

 

The Wi-Fi network settings can be then personalized:

 

 

For additional security, we are asked to create a router password:

 

 

A summary screen is shown in the last step in order to take a final look:

 

 

A Linksys account can be afterwards created for accessing the router over the Internet:

 

 

When we need to modify the router configuration options, we can always log in to its web interface:

 

 

As we have seen with the previous Linksys model, the GUI is unchanged and offers the main menu sections on the left side, while the widgets can be observed on the right; the widgets are easy configurable and offer us useful information we can read/modify right away:

 

 

The Network Map feature of the interface does show us the currently connected devices to the router and how they are connected to it (wired/wireless/which type of interface). A separate drawing is available for the Guest Network too:

 

 

Guest Access can be configured along with the maximum number of simultaneous connections:

 

 

Parental Controls are next and can be configured for each station separately:

 

 

We can also prioritize certain applications and online games via the respective menu:

 

 

The Speed Test section is based on the OOKLA web interface and gives us the possibility to test out our Internet connection right away:

 

 

External Storage menu allows us to see the status of the connected devices, but also create SMB shares, enable FTP or work with the embedded Media Server:

 

 

The Connectivity menu allows us to edit the options we have just set via the initial wizard, perform automatic or manual firmware updates, choose the current time zone, enable/disable the status lights, modify the WAN connection settings, the LAN settings, work with Advanced Routing settings, VLAN but also enable some options regarding Local Management Access, UPnP, ALG or Express Forwarding from the Administration menu:

 

 

A dedicated Troubleshooting menu is handy when something is not operating like it should:

 

 

Here we do also have the Diagnostics menu where we can perform Ping commands right from the router, traceroute commands, reboot the system of the router, share the current diagnostics information with the Linksys product support team, backup/restore the current configuration, but also restore the system to the previous firmware version or factory reset:

 

 

System logs can be also enabled/accessed from the next tab:

 

 

Wireless menu is next, from where we can configure in detail both 2.4GHz and 5GHz interfaces; both 5GHz bands can also act as one when enabling 5GHz band steering:

 

 

In the same menu we can work with MAC Filtering but also enable/disable WPS:

 

 

The security menu allows the user to enable/disable certain protection options, set DMZ addresses for computers which have services and need full access to the Internet but we can also configure DDNS, Single Port Forwarding, Port Range Forwarding and Port Range Triggering via the Apps and Gaming menu:

 

 

Wired Station

 

CPU: Intel I5 3570K Retail

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z77 Professional

RAM: GeIL Black Dragon 2x4GB DDR2133 (@1600)

Video: Sparkle X560 Calibre

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

HDD: Crucial MX100

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

For this new breed of routers, we have used a mix of PerformanceTest 8.0 and LAN Speed Test in order to test performances. Our wired server had a public shared folder on it and with the help of the wireless station (i7 6700K, ECS Z170 Claymore, 8GB RAM DDR 2133MHz, OCZ Vector SSD) we have operated the test software (LAN Speed Test for measuring wireless download/upload and PerformanceTest 8.0 for checking out the wired station-to-station switch performances).

For the wired client tests, both stations were linked to the router via UTP wire.

 

Wired Test

 

 

 

We have tested the router while using all available modes from the interface, on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies:

 

 

 

 

To test the USB Storage speeds, we have connected one Corsair Flash Voyager GTX USB 3.0 Flash Drive to the router and performed file transfers both ways. The resulted transfer speeds are decent, but cannot recommend it as a NAS replacement.

 

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Product Features:

 

MU-MIMO

 

Latest Wireless-AC technology for simultaneously streaming and gaming on multiple devices.

 

Ultimate Speed with Wireless-AC

 

Wireless-AC technology with speeds of up to 433Mps/150 Mbps*.

 

Selectable Dual Band

 

Operates on either band to help avoid interference.

 

Advanced Wireless Security

 

Safeguard your network with wireless WPA/WPA2 encryption and Wi-Fi Protected Setup.

Easy Setup

 

Features setup wizard and Wi-Fi Protected Setup for quick installation.

Product Specifications:

 

 

 

 

Along with the EA9500 router, Linksys has also launched the WUSB6100M Max-Stream AC600 Wi-Fi Micro USB Adapter. This is a dual-band component which supports the latest Wi-Fi technologies such as MU-MIMO or Beamforming; regarding the supported speeds, we have got 150Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 433MHz on the 5GHz band. The adapter comes packed inside a tiny box, with a photo on the top cover and some icons representing the main product features:

 

 

 

On the side we will be able to spot the minimum system requirements:

 

 

 

The main product features are also explained in more detail nearby:

 

 

 

The product description can be spotted on the back in multiple languages:

 

 

 

After opening up the box, we will get to see that we receive as a bundle the Quick Start Guide along with a disk which sports the documentation and necessary software:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The adapter is quite tiny and we would recommend it to be used more with convertibles, laptops or tablets since it is non-intrusive:

 

 

 

The product comes with an activity LED, the Linksys logo on top and its installation procedure is pretty straight-forward. Windows 10 recognizes it right away and besides entering the Wi-Fi network credentials, no other actions will be needed for it to operate properly:

 

 

 

On the back side of the adapter we will get to see a sticker with the product code name and serial number:

 

 

 

Here is how the LED light looks like when the device is connected to a network:

 

 

 

The WUSB6100M adapter was tested the same way on the machine with the TP-LINK T9E PCI-E adapter, only that this time only the WUSB6100M adapter was active.

 

 

 

We have also performed an additional test with 5GHz Band Steering turned on and got good results:

 

 

Lastly, we have connected three different computers sporting the same WUSB6100M adapter to the router and performed data transfer test to and from the wired station simultaneously.In total, with Band Steering turned on, we have got a total of 605.112Mbps Download and 354.693 Mbps Upload.

The Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream AC5400 MU-MIMO Gigabit router looks massive when compared to regular home routers and via its eight high-power Wi-Fi antennas it can deliver up to 5.3Gbps speeds on a tri-band configuration (1000 + 2167 + 2167 Mbps). The LAN ports are also a total of eight for connecting a larger number of devices on the wired interface and also comes with two USB ports for connecting additional storage or printers. Since we are dealing with a Wave 2 802.11ac standard implementation, the router fully supports 4x4 AC, MU-MIMO, while the Band Steering feature balances the load between the two 5GHz bands so each device does get a better data transfer performance.

 

All the new features are not just for show in order to increase the product price but work as intended; with our TP-LINK T9E PCI-E adapter we have used in our first speed tests, we have succeeded to obtain on the AC band a maximum speed nearing 800Mbps, very impressive we might say. This same router also sports an impressive range so we did not need to install a range extender in order to cover some dead Wi-Fi spots in the house.

 

The router is also sporting an easy to use web interface and being Smart Wi-Fi enabled, we are permitted to connect to our home router from outside the local network, by using the Linksys account.

 

The WUSB6100M AC600 Wi-Fi USB adapter which launched along with the router is also one of the first Wave 2 devices and succeeds to deliver good performances on the AC band. Thanks to its diminutive size, it is ideal to be used along laptops, convertibles or tablets which sport a full-sized USB port; this product is fully supported on Windows 10 too and the driver installs automatically, making it ready to be used in just a few seconds.

 

The latest and the greatest technology does not really come cheap; currently, the EA9500 router is available online for about 444 Euros, while the tiny WUSB6100M AC600 Wi-Fi USB adapter can be picked for about 30.8 Euros.

 

Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream AC5400 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router is Recommended For:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Linksys for making this review possible!