Linksys EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Router Review - Review 2022

Designed for homes with multiple devices vying for Wi-Fi bandwidth, the Linksys EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Router ($199.99) provides three separate radio bands and user-friendly device prioritization to ensure that your clients have all the bandwidth that they demand for gaming, video streaming, and spider web browsing. This router is piece of cake to install and uses all the latest wireless technology, including Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) data streaming and beamforming, and it offers Quality of Service (QoS) settings, parental controls, and intelligent band steering. Information technology delivered proficient close-range throughput in our tests, merely its overall performance was no match for our Editors' Pick, the same-price Asus RT-AC86U AC2900 Router.

Riding on 3 Bands

The EA8300 ($157.85 at Amazon) looks similar to the EA8500 Max-Stream AC2600 MU-MIMO Smart Wi-Fi Router ( at Amazon) that we reviewed a while back. It has a black textured enclosure with a foursquare status indicator panel that displays Internet connection, LAN port, and WPS activity. It also has a Linksys logo that glows solid white when the router is powered up and running properly. The router uses iv non-removable adjustable antennas and has four gigabit LAN ports, a WAN port, a USB 3.0 port, a reset button, and a power button, all on the rear of the enclosure. The right side holds a WPS button.

An AC2200 router, the EA8300 is equipped with a quad-core processor, 512MB of memory, and 802.11ac circuitry with three radio bands (one ii.4GHz band and two 5GHz bands). The ii.4GHz band can attain speeds of up to 400Mbps and each 5GHz band has the potential to hit 867Mbps. The router supports beamforming, which sends information directly to clients rather than over a broad spectrum, and MU-MIMO streaming, which transmits data to uniform clients simultaneously rather than sequentially. It also supports two types of band steering: All Bandsteering lets the router pick the best available band from among all iii bands, and 5GHz Bandsteering lets the router choose the best 5GHz band. Yous can besides turn off ring steering altogether to create a network with three separate bands.

The router can exist managed using the Linksys Mobile App or the familiar-looking Linksys Smart Wi-Fi web-based console that is used on other Linksys routers such every bit the EA6350 AC1200+ Dual-Band Smart Wi-Fi Wireless Router ($49.75 at Amazon) and the EA7500 Max-Stream AC1900 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router.

On the left side of the Chief screen is a list of Smart Wi-Fi Tools and Router Settings, and on the right are widgets for ordinarily used settings. Smart Wi-Fi Tools include a Network Map, Invitee Access, Parental Controls, Media Prioritization, External Storage settings, and a Speed Check utility that measures upload and download speeds between the router and the internet.

The Media Prioritization carte offers an like shooting fish in a barrel drag and drop method of assigning bandwidth priority to specific clients and for specific applications and games, and the Parental Controls card lets you block or restrict Net access for specific clients and block access to specific websites. External Storage settings let you grant access to shared folders, configure FTP settings, and assign Media Server properties to connected drives.

Router Settings include Connectivity options for Internet and Local Network Settings, Advanced Routing, VLAN, and Basic settings where yous can edit things like Network Proper noun, Password, and Time Zone settings. In Wireless settings you tin can enable band steering, change SSIDs and passwords, enable MAC filtering, and create access schedules. Security options include Firewall, Cyberspace Filtering, VPN Passthrough, and Port Forwarding settings.

Fast Installation, Mixed Functioning

As with other Linksys routers, the EA8300 is like shooting fish in a barrel to install. I connected the router to my modem using the included LAN cablevision, connected my desktop to one of the router's LAN ports, and plugged in the router. When the Linksys logo stopped blinking and remained solid white, I entered linksyssmartwifi.com in my browser's accost bar, which launched the Welcome Page, which gives you the option of using the Setup utility to configure the router or configure it manually. The Setup utility walks you through the initial wireless settings and has you prepare upward passwords and security and configure HDCP settings. Once setup is consummate, y'all can create a free Smart Wi-Fi account to use your phone and mobile app to manage the router.

See How We Test Wireless Routers

The EA8300 turned in mixed results on our throughput performance tests. Its score of 92Mbps on the 2.4GHz shut-proximity (same room) test was a scrap slower than the D-Link DIR-855L/R and the Asus RT-AC86U ($189.99 at Amazon) , while its sibling, the WRT32X, beat out it past 56Mbps. On the thirty-pes test the EA8300's score of 52Mbps trailed the pack by most 34Mbps.

On our 5GHz close-proximity test, the EA8300 scored a respectable 497Mbps, chirapsia the WRT32X, but not the Asus RT-AC86U or the D-Link DIR-885L/R. Its score of 201Mbps on the 30-foot test was not quite as fast as the WRT32X and was significantly slower than what we saw with the Asus RT-AC86U and the D-Link DIR-885L/R.

To exam MU-MIMO performance, we use three identical Acer Aspire R13 laptops equipped with Qualcomm's QCA61x4A MU-MIMO circuitry to meet how the router handles simultaneous information streaming on the 5GHz radio ring. On the shut-proximity test, the EA8300'south score of 145Mbps was expert, but came up a bit short compared with the Asus RT-AC86U and the Linksys WRT32X ($189.99 at Amazon) . The D-Link DIR-885L/R led the pack by a healthy margin. At a altitude of 30 feet, the EA8300'due south score of 100Mbps vanquish the WRT32X, but came in behind the Asus RT-AC86U and the D-Link DIR-885L/R.

To test file-transfer performance we motion a 1.5GB folder containing a mix of photograph, music, video, and certificate files betwixt a USB bulldoze connected to the router and a desktop continued to the router via a LAN cable. The EA8300'southward scores of 36MBps (read) and 30MBps (write) were on par with the Asus RT-AC86U, only trailed the Linksys WRT32X by 12MBps (read) and 46.8MBps (write). The Netgear X10 R9000 remains our leader with scores of 89.1MBps (read) and 77.1MBps (write).

All-time for Wi-Fi-Stressed Homes

The Linksys EA8300 Max-Stream AC2200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi Router is a good choice for homes that accept numerous mobile clients, gaming consoles, and smart home devices all competing for wireless bandwidth. With its iii radio bands, two of which are 5GHz, and drag-and-drop QoS settings, you can create a network where all video-streaming and gaming devices operate on a separate 5GHz band, thereby freeing upward the other two bands for less-demanding duties. The router is easy to install and manage and provided solid close-range throughput performance in our tests. Merely our Editors' Option for midrange routers, the $200 Asus RT-AC86U AC2900, delivered amend overall performance in testing and offers built-in Trend Micro AiProtection to cake access to malicious sites and detect viruses.

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Further Reading

• Business Pick Awards 2022: Routers and Servers/Network Attached Storage
• Reader's Choice Awards 2022: Routers and Network Fastened Storage
• 12 Tips to Troubleshoot Your Net Connection
• How to Admission Your Wi-Fi Router's Settings
• Save 35 Percent on TP-Link AC1750 Smart Wi-Fi Router

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/migrated-33771-wireless-routers/19665/linksys-ea8300-max-stream-ac2200-tri-band-wi-fi-router-review

Posted by: logandiumen.blogspot.com

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