| NETGEAR R6100 | Linksys EA6300 | |
|---|---|---|
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| WiFi Performance | AC1200 WiFi (300 + 867 Mbps) | AC1200 WiFi (300 + 867 Mbps) |
| WiFi Band | 2.4GHz & 5GHz | 2.4GHz & 5GHz |
| Ethernet Ports | 4 Fast Ethernet LAN port 1 Fast Ethernet WAN port |
4 Gigabit LAN port 1 Gigabit WAN port |
| USB Ports | 1 USB 2.0 port | 1 USB 3.0 port |
| Security | WPA/WPA2 – PSK and WEP | WEP WPA Personal WPA Enterprise WPA2 Personal WPA2 Enterprise WPA2/WPA Mixed Personal WPA2/WPA Mixed Enterprise |
| Antennas | Internal | Five Galtronics bent-metal internal antennas: three for the 5 GHz and two for the 2.4 GHz |
| Firewall Features | Network Address Translation (NAT) Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) DOS Prevention |
Advanced Network Protection (WPA/WPA2 encryption and SPI firewall) |
| MSRP | $99.99 | $99.99 |
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Linksys has released the Linksys EA6300 AC1200, which is an 802.11ac router. It is a fast wireless router with a number of useful features.
Compared to 802.11n routers, 802.11ac is almost 3 times faster. The Linksys EA6300 AC1200 is powered by dual band technology and is capable of transferring data wirelessly at 1.2 Gbps. It is a suitable choice for heavy data users and ensures uninterrupted access to HD streaming, video conferencing and gaming.
Design
It retains the design elements of other versions of the EA series routers. The top panel indicator light sees a slight change. It used to be a brightly lit Cisco logo that has now been replaced with a thin green bar.
On the back of the router is the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) button, 4 Ethernet ports, an Internet port and a USB port. The power and reset buttons are also found on the back.
The EA6300 AC1200 is designed to rest on a flat surface. There are mounting slots on the bottom of the device, but they are towards the left side and if clung to a wall, the connections will point to the right.
Under the casing, it has five internal antennas, two of which are for 2.4 GHz band and the remaining three for 5GHz band. The 5GHz antennas are found on the left, center and right, whereas the 2.4GHz antennas are on the left front and back corners.
Features
It retains many of the features found in its predecessor, the EA6500 AC1750 router. To access the smart features, you are required to create an account with Linksys Smart Wi-Fi. If you don’t want to sign up, you can access all the router features directly by clicking the “local access” link.
Compared to the EA6500, it yields better performance. The EA6500 was powered by Broadcom’s single-core CPU whereas the EA6300 gets dual-core CPU, which explains the enhanced performance. It also delivers nearly double the performance offered by EA6500 for writing and reading files to a USB3.0 drive. The upgrade from USB2.0 in EA6500 to USB3.0 in EA6300 also explains the increased performance.
The 5GHz wireless throughput of the EA6300 is almost the same running downlink compared to the EA6500, but significantly better running uplink. This is because both the EA6300 and EA6500 use outboard 5GHz amplifiers and the same Broadcom BCM4360 radio. EA6300’s 2.4GHz throughput is not as high as EA6500.
Overall, the EA6300 AC1200 wireless router is a smart deal that outweighs the features and capability of EA6500. It is also less expensive than the EA6500.
