Cisco Linksys E4200 Maximum Performance Wireless-N Router Reviewed

[njweb]

PS: Since the above posts were focused on wireless g issues, I can only say that while my Blu-Ray players and laptop are all wireless n, my Logitech Squeezebox Boom (wireless media player / internet radio) is wireless g only.
I had a get together at my place a few weeks ago and it was the first time I moved the Squeezebox to another room much further from the router (other side of house, albeit on the same floor).
For the 5 consecutive hours I had it wirelessly streaming mp3 tracks from my PC that afternoon it did not miss a beat or disconnect once.
I should mention that I did have my Linksys RE1000 range extender in place. I can't be sure the Squeezebox did not somehow connect to the range extender (same SSID as my E4200), although I did not manually switch between the two (which is how it seems I need to connect with my Blu-Ray players - I say seems because it is possible the Blu Ray player's wireless adapter logic is somehow smart enough to re-connect to the stronger of the two duplicate SSID's).
I could try turning off the range extender and see if it makes any difference.

I may try a new 450 + 450 router with beam forming to see if it helps one floor down without needing the range extender, not that I have had any issues.

 

[rhombus]

Did you check your network (ISP, home wiring, wireless adapter)?
A few people (very small percentage) who use the E4200 experienced packet loss, but I bet it has nothing to do with the router.

I wasn't even using the WAN port or connected to the ISP with the E4200, so it's pretty difficult to blame that.

I also tried several different wireless clients of different manufacturers in different computers, all of which work without a glitch when testing 3 different routers.

Thanks for your insight though.

I'm not sure streaming mp3s (at what, 0.2/0.3Mbps?) with buffering is exactly a torture test either...?

 

[njweb]

I wasn't even using the WAN port or connected to the ISP with the E4200, so it's pretty difficult to blame that.

I also tried several different wireless clients of different manufacturers in different computers, all of which work without a glitch when testing 3 different routers.

Thanks for your insight though.

I'm not sure streaming mp3s (at what, 0.2/0.3Mbps?) with buffering is exactly a torture test either...?

No problem.
Re. streaming - I just meant in terms of connectivity stability (no disconnects in 5 hours of constant use).
I have also downloaded files from the internet wirelessly at 21 Mbps * without any issues or played online games (poker) for extended periods wirelessly without a disconnect. That is impressive because that software is very picky and even sees minor issues as "disconnects", as experienced with my prior router).
This was all on 802.11n though, with the exception of the mp3 streaming.

Good luck in getting to the bottom of it!

* My ISP's current download limit for my plan - officially it is a 15 Mbps plan, but they just upgraded the network for free.

 

[ryan92084]

Last Release Date: Sept 28, 2011
Last Firmware version: 1.0.03 (build 14)

- Added supports of Native IPv6 over PPPoE Internet connection when only keep
alive option is selected.
- Added supports of Native IPv6 on guest network if there are more than two
available IPv6 subnets
- Added supports of Native IPv6 on Parental Control
- Added supports of 3TB Hard drive with NTFS and HFS+ format
- Improved firmware upgrade stability
- Improved IPv6 WAN performance
- Fixed media server unstable issue
- Fixed Cisco LED flashing issue
- Fixed some minor bugs
- DLNA certified
- IPv6 Gold logo certified
- UPnP certified

 

[tipstir]

I've switched over to this Router a few days ago. Very impress on LAN and WAN performance over Belkin N750 and TP-LINK Ultra I was using. I had gone with E4200 also pairing it up with RE1000 for outside patio/yard range.

Tested so far on the;
Wired Gigabit Network= Excellent
Wired Megabit Network = Excellent to Very Good
Wireless Mix N/G = Excellent to Very Good

Devices Tested
4x Android Smart WiFi Phone Mod (Mix G/N)
2x Android Tablet WiFi Mod (Mix G/N)
2x Windows 7 Ultimate Netbooks
1x Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit Laptop
3x Windows 7 Utlimate 64-bit Quad Desktops
1x Windows XP Desktop

 

[routerlover]

E4200 with DD-WRT

Anyone else using the E4200 with DD-WRT?

I used it for a while on stock firmware but didn't like that I couldn't connect to VPN service providers.

A colleague recommended I go to DD-WRT and poof, it seems to be running better than ever. He said he bought one pre-flashed with DD-WRT to work with Overplay VPN as well from a FlashRouters (https://www.flashrouters.com). He said it was simple to setup and the support was very helpful with any questions he had.

Any one had any advice or tweak to how I can get even more speed from my E4200? It would be much appreciated.

 

[tipstir]

Anyone else using the E4200 with DD-WRT?

I used it for a while on stock firmware but didn't like that I couldn't connect to VPN service providers.

A colleague recommended I go to DD-WRT and poof, it seems to be running better than ever. He said he bought one pre-flashed with DD-WRT to work with Overplay VPN as well from a FlashRouters (https://www.flashrouters.com). He said it was simple to setup and the support was very helpful with any questions he had.

Any one had any advice or tweak to how I can get even more speed from my E4200? It would be much appreciated.

Stick with the stock ROM. Why bother to weaken the router with DD-WRT as in time the router will stop functioning at the peak performance and shorten its life. From my experience with DD-WRT on prior wifi routers are now useless.

 

[Shikami]

Hmn, the IPv6 support causes me to salivate. This router seems to be getting better, but I really rather wait for the next stock of routers to be released this coming year since I already have a RT-N56U.

Jumbo frames really don't help with today's PCI-e connected Ethernet adapters. That's why I dropped jumbo frame tests from the NAS Charts.

I can elaborate on this a bit. Segmentation of the packets is offloaded with most modern network cards; a larger frame than the standard Ethernet frame will not give that much or any additional performance boost due to the fact that segmentation is no longer performed by the host processor.

Segmenting packets into smaller frames increased the processing required of the host system. If the packet was very small it increased processing requirements even more. If less segmentation was needed (9000 frame size compared to 1500 frame size) that was less segmentation, less processing, and even less interrupts required.

 

[stevech]

Hmn, the IPv6 support causes me to salivate. This router seems to be getting better, but I really rather wait for the next stock of routers to be released this coming year since I already have a RT-N56U.



I can elaborate on this a bit. Segmentation of the packets is offloaded with most modern network cards; a larger frame than the standard Ethernet frame will not give that much or any additional performance boost due to the fact that segmentation is no longer performed by the host processor.

Segmenting packets into smaller frames increased the processing required of the host system. If the packet was very small it increased processing requirements even more. If less segmentation was needed (9000 frame size compared to 1500 frame size) that was less segmentation, less processing, and even less interrupts required.

Why should consumers care about IPV6 in the next 3 years?

Jumbo packets - have to be supported by all switches and routers in the end to end path, right? So it's mostly for intra-LAN use?

 

[Shikami]

Why should consumers care about IPV6 in the next 3 years?

Computers are very relative when it comes to what is needed for support, performance, etc. However, I think every router at this moment in time should support IPv6 (certified too). TCO, is what I use to judge my purchases. If something provides performance and support for a long period of time, it is a worthy investment.

Jumbo packets - have to be supported by all switches and routers in the end to end path, right? So it's mostly for intra-LAN use?

Correct. The MTU can change dynamically if the packet is too large. Larger frames can lead to fragmentation which can lower performance due to segmentation being performed again if the path cannot be determined (RFC1191). If the host's system processor was a bottleneck and there was no segmentation offloading but had jumbo frame support, I would then think that jumbo frames could be worth the minor boost. However, it is not a standard and therefore can lead to networking issues.

 

[moosport]

Stick with the stock ROM. Why bother to weaken the router with DD-WRT as in time the router will stop functioning at the peak performance and shorten its life. From my experience with DD-WRT on prior wifi routers are now useless.

I have good experience with DD-WRT on WRT54GL. Unfortunately, not all features are working properly on E4200.

 

[Dr Strangelove]

Have been using the Linksys E4200 for some months now with no problems.

Have now switched over to Tomato Toastman firmware and running an OpenVPN and PPTP server onboard.

The firmware supports both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz radios.

Bumped the Transmission power of the WiFi up to 70mW from a default of 42mW.

Generally get a solid -60dB on 2.4Ghz in a mixed mode at 15metres on my notebook. I'm at one end of the house and the router is at the other.

My 802.11g Android gets a signal of -70dB at 15metres in the same location.
Closer to the router the 802.11g Android phone (once woken up) maintains a very stable connection without any Linksys E4200 issues.

Wouldn't mind a bit more WiFi range/strength, but other than that the Linksys E4200 has been rock solid and doing it's job.

Linksys E4200v2 coming soon.

 

[somms]

Stick with the stock ROM. Why bother to weaken the router with DD-WRT as in time the router will stop functioning at the peak performance and shorten its life. From my experience with DD-WRT on prior wifi routers are now useless.

You mean stick with unsecure (WPS exploit) very buggy stock linksys failware over proven more robust open source firmware like Tomato of DD-WRT!?

Too bad E4200V2 will never support improved performance/security of open source firmware...

 

[njweb]

I agree about the WPS exploit.

As far as the performance and stability with the stock firmware is concerned:
I had an E4200 for 9 or 10 months using stock firmware.
I looked into DD-WRT but it initially had major issues with 5GHz (which I figured would be fixed later since DD-WRT firmware has just been developed for it) but more importantly DD-WRT would reportedly never support the proprietary CTF, so it limited WAN to LAN throughput.
As someone else noted, some other features may not work with it.
I also saw a recent January 2012 comment on the DD-WRT forum about wifi speeds fluctuating with DD-WRT.

With the stock firmware the router was very stable and never needed to be rebooted.
I did have a few issues with the very first firmware but only when there was a conflict / issue when using my USB adapter's OPTIONAL wifi utility. I stopped using the utility and the router never needed a single reboot.
There was also the flashing logo light issue (which they fixed in 1.0.03) but that was only cosmetic.
I did not use the media server functionality though, which I know needed a major fix after 1.0.02 broke it.

If DD-WRT's transmit power is less than stock, I would stick with stock since the wifi throughput and signal strength at long range even with the stock firmware setting (100mW I believe has been reported) was disappointing to me (despite the fact that Tim's results showed it outperforms the competitors he tested).
Because of that limited performance at long range (e.g. other corner of my home) I switched to an Amped R10000 which maintained at least 4 bars of signal strength (Windows measurement) combined with higher measured actual throughput (not link rates), using LAN Speed Test for relative measurements between the two routers in those difficult locations.
The stock firmware worked fine for me while I owned the E4200 v1.
They are slow to release updates, reportedly due to the lengthy release process because they are open source, but other than that it was very stable.

 

[taedan]

I agree with njweb. DD-WRT and tomato are never up to par with stock firmware in terms of the router performance.

I really wonder how much of an impact the WPS vulnerability will really have in most neighborhoods. Even if someone in the neighborhood will crack the network, it should easily be discovered if you look at the clients list. One can use MAC filtering and always limit the IP addresses. At best, they will steal your connection for a short period of time...maybe. I always lock down my individual devices, so the damage will be minimal at best.

 

[RogerSC]

I guess that your mileage may vary...I had been using stock firmware with an E4200 for about 8 months, and then along came this WPS problem. So I switched to tomato a couple of weeks ago. It has been as solid as the stock firmware, no decrease in speed or reliability, wireless is the same (except I can control the output power, which allowed me to boost my wireless signal about 3db.) works on the VPN, and just takes care of business. In fact, it provides considerably more information about what's going on than the stock firmware. Also provides 5GHz. wireless, USB, media server, and VPN server functionality (none of which I'm currently using).

So I'm happy to use this open source firmware until the WPS thing is fixed by Linksys, and I'm not sure that I'll switch back at that point. This firmware has been great for me, but it would be nice to have the alternative of stock firmware if some issue does come up.

 

[taedan]

@RogerSC:

How is the signal strength on tomato these days compared to stock? In the past, I could never replicate the strong signals of the stock firmware when flashed with tomato. This was using inSSIDer.

At least for previous linksys routers, I think both dd-wrt and tomato significantly cut WAN-LAN and LAN-WAN throughput compared to stock.

But I agree with you that these firmwares do provide some extra bells and whistles (e.g., a traffic meter which would be nice in the stock firmware).

 

[RogerSC]

I haven't observed any slowdown in the WAN to LAN or LAN to WAN or LAN speeds. Also, the wireless on 2.4GHz. is very slightly stronger, I'm also using inSSIDer, for me, since I boosted the wireless power (about doubled it, which explains the 3db boost over default).

At any rate, I may stay with this firmware when Linksys fixes their WPS problem.

 

[kc6108]

There may be hope for us!

It seems that a firmware update to fix the WPS vulnerability in the E4200 v1 will be released in early March.
http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco2/ukp.aspx?vw=1&articleid=25154

Here is a link for their Small Business products
http://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityResponse/cisco-sr-20120111-wps

 

[1ceTr0n]

My E3000 which I got back in May ran pretty dang warm, so warm in fact that I propped it up with some grommets to give the thing some more breathing room on the bottom. However, recently it started to loose connection to all my network devices and wireless during loads, though nothing that stressfull. I relented myself that it was dying despite my best efforts. Thankfully for Costco, I was able to exchange it for a Netgear 3800 which I hated for many reasons. Got my money back and picked up E4200 at Walmart for $160.

In an effort to hopefully prevent another slow cooking unit, i've propped it up as well. I hope this unit last longer, ive already complained to Linksys their routers need better passive cooling


http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m1/Phantron/4200prop.jpg