Linksys AC3200 / EA9200 Review: Tri-Band Wireless AC 3x3 Wi-Fi Router EA9200-4A

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VIDEO INDEX:
0:02 - Hardware overview
2:36 - Control panel overview
3:22 - Media prioritization configuration (quality of service)
4:51 - Wireless 802.11ac benchmarks
6:02 - Conclusion and final thoughts
Make no mistake, this is a very powerful router both on the processing side (a dual core 1 ghz processor) and on the wireless side with a 3x3 wireless configuration that promises very fast but theoretical speeds. But it doesn't offer all that much for the price especially when it comes to features.
I've used similar high powered routers from Asus that have a multitude of additional options like VPN servers, redundant WAN features for when one provider goes down, load balancing of multiple WAN connections, etc. This one lacks those features.
It does have some limited network attached storage capabilities, but it failed to read my SSD test drive through its faster USB 3.0 port. The drive did work on the slower USB 2.0 port but it just simply failed to communicate on the faster port. Users can use the router as a DLNA media server as well as a traditional file server. It has an FTP server built in as well for connecting to that storage volume. I did like the media prioritization options and the ease of configuring that feature.
Wireless performance was about on par with what I've seen from other AC wireless routers. The biggest problem most people will have with this router is that there just aren't many tablets, phones, and computers out there that can take advantage of its robust wireless speeds. In my testing with a wireless AC compatible iPad Air 2 (the only Wireless AC devices I own), I was able to get to speeds of about 400 megabits per second. Not bad, but not much better than less expensive AC routers. The speeds dropped off considerably when I stepped further away from it, with that 400 megabit speed dropping to about 100 megabits or so standing about 30 feet away yet still in sight of the router.
The bottom line is that the wireless technology of this router is driving its expensive price and most people at the moment won't have hardware to take advantage of it. So my recommendation would be to look for something more affordable like a two band unit that also has a decent dual core or better processor driving it.
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DISCLOSURE: I am a member of the Amazon Vine program and received this product to review on Amazon's site.