At first we would like to thank Linksys for offering a sample of their EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 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:

 

Tri-Band Technology

 

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

 

MU-MIMO

 

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

 

EASY SETUP

 

Installation is fast and easy. No CD required.

 

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.

 

LARGE HOUSEHOLD

 

Experience powerful Wi-Fi coverage throughout a large house.

 

QUAD-CORE PROCESSOR

 

716MHz Quad-Core CPU with 3 offload Processors.

 

ADVANCED BEAMFORMING+

 

Maximize the Wi-Fi performance and coverage for both 2.4 and 5GHz.

 

GIGABIT ETHERNET PORTS

 

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

 

Linksys App

 

Monitor and control your home network from anywhere through the Linksys App website or mobile app.

 

Works with Alexa

 

Custom Alexa commands.

 

Parental Controls

 

Schedule kids' time online and manage their online activity from anywhere with Linksys App technology.

 

Guest Access

 

Create a guest network with a unique password for convenient and secure guest access.

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

 

It is time to take a look at another Linksys product, and to be more exact we are talking about the EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Router; this particular item can be considered as taking part from the mainstream segment, while the manufacturer advertises it as ideal for 4K/HD TV streaming. As product highlights, we could mention the Tri-band Technology for permitting more stations to be connected at the same time, while providing great bandwidth, Seamless Roaming (MU-MIMO) which activates when connected to another compatible product such as the latest Linksys range extenders, the used quad-core processor, the Advanced Beamforming+ or the USB 3.0 connection as interface with other devices.

 

The product is shipped inside a Linksys-themed medium-sized cardboard enclosure, which does show a photo of the actual router on the top cover; the manufacturer is also advertising here the 2.2Gbps combined wireless transfer speed (on all three bands):

 

 

 

On one of the box sides, we will get to see the package contents list that is written in multiple languages, along with the minimum system requirements, but also the technical specifications:

 

 

 

A short explanation of the main product highlights can be also spotted nearby:

 

 

 

On the side of the packaging, we will also get to see a photo of the back router interfaces:

 

 

 

Even more detail regarding the product can be checked out on the bottom box layer:

 

 

 

As we have seen before with Linksys products, the router along with its bundle are placed in different compartments, so they will not be damaged during transit. The EA8300 is also wrapped inside foam material, as an extra precaution:

 

 

 

The Quick Start Guide is well explained, with both drawings and text:

 

 

 

As a bundle, we are getting a power adapter and also one LAN cable:

 

 

 

The power adapter is rated on the output 12V at 2A:

 

 

 

Extra documentation is available in electronic format on the supplied disk, but also online:

 

 

 

The EA8300 router model does borrow some design lines from the high-end EA9500; the large grill helps evacuate the excess heat from the chassis:

 

 

 

In the center, we’ve got the status LED display, along with a Linksys LED-lighted logo, which will blink during the boot procedure; these are visible only when the unit is powered on:

 

 

 

The left side of the unit does come with an antenna:

 

 

 

The right side is similar, with one exception: the WPS function button

 

 

 

 

A closer look at the back side of the device does reveal a small, red Reset button, one USB 3.0 port for connecting additional storage, four LAN ports, one WAN port, a DC-IN port which is initially covered by a yellow sticker, but also a Power switch:

 

 

 

 

A large plastic grill can be also spotted on the bottom area of the chassis, along with four rubber feet and a central sticker. The sticker does hold the WPS number, device serial number, MAC address, but also the initial wireless network login credentials:

 

 

 

Right after the router has booted up, we will be welcomed by a wizard, which is meant to guide us through the configuration process:

 

 

 

The router asks on the next step for permission to install the latest firmware versions automatically:

 

 

 

Further, we can define a network name; from the 2.4GHz network name we have just entered, a 5GHz network name will be also prepared (in some cases, this is not ideal, but we can always change each SSID from the main configuration interface). Here is also the place for setting a password for all networks (again, we can set a different one, for each SSID from the main interface):

 

 

 

Linksys will then ask us to create a Smart Wi-Fi account, which is actually optional (we can log in locally to the router without one):

 

 

 

 

An email confirmation is needed for completing the account creation:

 

 

 

A successful login will result in the appearance of the main, detailed router GUI:

 

 

 

Those who have read our previous Linksys router reviews are already familiar with the GUI of the EA8300 model; the main menu sections are distributed on the left side of the interface, while the screen widgets are present on the right:

 

 

 

First, we do have the Network Map, which does show the currently connected devices to the router, along with their details; this section does also display the clients connected to the Guest network:

 

 

 

Guest access can be enabled for both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency networks, with the ability to select how many total guests are actually allowed:

 

 

 

Parental Controls can be defined from the next menu section:

 

 

 

QoS (Media Prioritization) is also available with the EA8300 and here we can prioritize different stations, for defined applications:

 

 

 

A Speed Test section is also included and it is powered by OOKLA:

 

 

 

From the External Storage menu, we can work with the connected device, enable the Media Server (DLNA), get connection details for both Windows and Mac platforms, set up Secure Folder Access options, or enable a FTP server:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Connectivity menu does allow basic SSID/password configuration, we can define a router password for local access, enable automatic firmware updates, manually flash a firmware file if we do have the downloaded file to our disposal, set the current time zone or turn on/off the activity lights:

 

 

 

Here we do also have the Internet Settings options, which depend on the instructions from our provider:

 

 

 

The Local Network tab does allow defining a new host name for the router, its IP, the subnet mask, enable the DHCP server with its details, set up static DNS addresses but also define DHCP Reservations:

 

 

 

Advanced Routing does allow the user to adjust the NAT option, RIP, but also define static routes:

 

 

 

VLAN options are available separately:

 

 

 

Even more options can be adjusted from the Administration tab:

 

 

 

Next, we can go to the Troubleshooting area, where we can check out the status of the connected stations, perform diagnostics, reset the router to default settings, but also backup-restore settings:

 

 

 

 

Router logs can be also enabled:

 

 

 

The Wireless settings menu does allow detailed configurations for both bands; if we do choose to have individual networks, Band Steering option will be disabled and a secondary 5Ghz network will be available for configuration:

 

 

 

MAC Filters can be also adjusted from here:

 

 

 

WPS menu options are next:

 

 

 

The Wireless Scheduler is handy when we need to turn off the wireless networks in a specified time frame:

 

 

 

The available Airtime Fairness option does ensure even, fair distribution of Wi-Fi resources to different devices. This aspect does reduce the lag associated with slower Wi-Fi devices:

 

 

 

From the Security tab, we can enable custom protection settings, but also add IPv6 firewall settings:

 

 

 

A DMZ IP can be also defined in order to offer non-restricted access to the web, in case we are using a server:

 

 

 

Different Apps and Gaming-related options can be defined from the last available tab:

 

 

 

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 testing the Linksys EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Router, 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 can be considered average:

 

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The EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi router from Linksys is a feature-packed mainstream solution meant for home use, including some of the latest technologies such as MU-MIMO, Seamless Roaming, Advanced Beamforming and does have at its core a 716MHz Quad-Core CPU with 3 offload processors. For easily setting up the product, the manufacturer has included a Quick Start Guide, but also an easy to understand wizard, which pops up as soon as the device boots up for the first time. While Linksys is promoting their Smart Wi-Fi account for setting up the router, we can also access it locally, while only entering the router password.

 

The router is able to provide a good Wi-Fi range inside medium-sized households, while the transfer speeds on the AC band are good when used along with a proper adapter. If we plan not to use the Band Steering feature because we do not have compatible adapters for it, we can simply disable it from the interface and get one extra 5GHz band for us to configure (with its separate SSID, password, channel, mode and so on).

 

External storage can be connected to the spare USB 3.0 port, however the transfer speeds are very near to the ones of a 2.0 interface (33MB/s write and 40MB/s read).

 

As negative points for this particular model, we could mention the lack of a download manager inside the GUI, but also the fact that Linksys did not include the OpenVPN server with this particular SKU (was available with the WRT3200ACM, and easy to use/configure).

 

EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 is available online for about 179 Euros which does include VAT; it is not exactly the cheapest solution we could go for, but given that it is a futureproof product with newly supported Wi-Fi technologies, and really performs well on the 5GHz frequency, people should really give it a go.

 

Linksys EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Router is Recommended for:

 

 

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