Cisco Linksys E4200V2 Maximum Performance Dual-Band N N900 Router

[Doug]

bad smell with v1

I think my v1 runs too hot, and the plastic is leaching an unpleasant odor. Does anyone else have this problem with v1, and is the v2 better? I'm otherwise quite happy with my v1, and if buying v2 would eliminate this problem I'd do it.

 

[delair2]

I think my v1 runs too hot, and the plastic is leaching an unpleasant odor. Does anyone else have this problem with v1, and is the v2 better? I'm otherwise quite happy with my v1, and if buying v2 would eliminate this problem I'd do it.

The V2 runs very warm too. Same issue--the legs on the bottom of the unit are just too small to allow for proper air flow. I put something under the V2 to prop it up a few inches and now it runs at a MUCH cooler temp.

 

[delair2]

Hello: I have been operating the new e4200 V2 (ver 2.0.36) 100% problem free in my home for about four weeks now. The V2 does run too warm though if you lay it flat as there is no airflow under its tinny little legs and I realize I can't use WRT with this thing--but frankly given the current performance --I don't think I am going to need it ( time will tell).

I am very happy with both the range and performance in my larger/complicated two story floor-plan home. From about 15' away and one floor down from the V2, I am getting a consistent wireless RSSI-34 and 130Mbps transfer rate for 2.4Ghz/and RSSI-66 300 Mbps transfer rate on the 5Ghz on my mid-2010 iMac and for the first time I no longer have any wireless dead zones using the V2 compared to my previous router the Asus RT-N56U. In fact I exchanged the original e4200 v1 for the RT-N56U several months ago because at that time the N56U out performed the e4200 v1 in both range and throughput in my home.

Like many of you--I have too many wired and wireless devices constantly in use in my house so I really need the best wireless router I can get my hands on. Now that I see what the v2 can do--I am really anxious to compare the RT-N66U with the V2 and will do so as soon as I can get my hands on RT-N66U via a retailer that will let me easily return if I need to.

 

[RogerSC]

I think my v1 runs too hot, and the plastic is leaching an unpleasant odor. Does anyone else have this problem with v1, and is the v2 better? I'm otherwise quite happy with my v1, and if buying v2 would eliminate this problem I'd do it.

You could try one of two things for the heat problem that you're seeing:

1. Elevate the router...I have mine sitting on a couple of wood corner moldings, elevates it about an inch above the surface. Lots of ways to do this, be creative.

2. Turn it vertically, and support at the bottom...have the power plug at the bottom. I had my router supported via a couple of books at the bottom, one on each side.

Both of these work to cool the router down, but I wasn't getting any plastic smell when I had it as designed, just felt warmer than I liked on the bottom. Now it's fine.

Don't know why Linksys doesn't design these to be vertically mounted in the first place, or put the ventilation holes on both the top and bottom instead of just the bottom. On the other hand, it has been a good router for me, not ready to upgrade until the next generation comes along. I know that I won't be buying a 4200v2 to replace this one *smile*.

 

[pgoodwin1]

Under the "Storage" section of the review it says: "There still is no support for iTunes serving, Torrent downloading, AFP or Time Machine backups."

What does Torrent downloading mean?

 

[thiggins]

Downloading BitTorrent files.

 

[delair2]

Hello: I have been operating the new e4200 V2 (ver 2.0.36) 100% problem free in my home for about four weeks now. The V2 does run too warm though if you lay it flat as there is no airflow under its tinny little legs and I realize I can't use WRT with this thing--but frankly given the current performance --I don't think I am going to need it ( time will tell).

I am very happy with both the range and performance in my larger/complicated two story floor-plan home. From about 15' away and one floor down from the V2, I am getting a consistent wireless RSSI-34 and 130Mbps transfer rate for 2.4Ghz/and RSSI-66 300 Mbps transfer rate on the 5Ghz on my mid-2010 iMac and for the first time I no longer have any wireless dead zones using the V2 compared to my previous router the Asus RT-N56U. In fact I exchanged the original e4200 v1 for the RT-N56U several months ago because at that time the N56U out performed the e4200 v1 in both range and throughput in my home.

Like many of you--I have too many wired and wireless devices constantly in use in my house so I really need the best wireless router I can get my hands on. Now that I see what the v2 can do--I am really anxious to compare the RT-N66U with the V2 and will do so as soon as I can get my hands on RT-N66U via a retailer that will let me easily return if I need to.

Update to my V2 experience.

While I was hoping to be able to compare the V2 with the RT-N66U by now apparently, there is a several week wait for the N66U so I decided to wait until some professional N66U reviews are posted before I make the decision to order the N66U.

In the meantime, I continue to operate the V2 with no issues to report. I don't seem to have experienced "horrible performance" predicted by some in this forum. In fact at times I am experiencing close to the max of my subscribed ISP service speeds on a regular basis 40 down/5 up where I would expect to location wise ( which of course makes me very happy). I haven't done any detailed level testing ( I prefer to rely upon the professionals for that) and certainly don't have anywhere near the connected devices to come close to the max connection capabilities of this router--which I think is common to most home users. I do however, have what I feel is a lot of simultaneous streaming activities going on throughout the day with multiple family members but again from what I read I think less than a fraction of the max capabilities of the V2. ( Not sure how to verify)

Since I also own the N56U I recently connected both units ( N56U and V2) in my house and for the last few days have been running two wireless networks. I connected the N56U to the cable modem and using a WD Livewire powerline AV network kit in the room furthest from the N56U to connect the V2. This was much easier to setup then I realized and have been having some fun with the incredible speeds bouncing around my house as a result. The only configuration I applied for this set up was to change the IP address on the V2 to something other than the N56U. While perhaps not the best ( most cost effective) way to do things, I am just experimenting with what I have and now I've got at times maximum wireless performance all over my house.

Update:
After discovering and reading "How To Convert a Wireless Router into an Access Point " on this forum at http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...onvert-a-wireless-router-into-an-access-point looks like I was headed in the right direction with my two wireless routers setup described above.

 

[ISG_Tech_Geek]

Brand new router and modem.

Hello folks!

I just purchased a Linksys e4200 from Wal-Mart a couple days back. I was kinda shocked to see that; packaged in the e4200 box was an e4200v2. Now; I have yet to use said router on the fact that I haven't obtained my new modem that I just purchased on Amazon (Replacing the SBG6580 with an SB6121).

Currently I am running a WNR3700 (with DD-WRT) and it seems to be failing... Hence the purchase of the new one.

Before I get all hyped up about this change; should I keep the v2 or exchange it for a different router?

My network consists of 4 PCs, 1 iMac, 2 360s, 2 PS3s, 3 iPhones, 1 iPad, and an Android phone.

Any suggestions?

 

[delair2]

Hello folks!

I just purchased a Linksys e4200 from Wal-Mart a couple days back. I was kinda shocked to see that; packaged in the e4200 box was an e4200v2. Now; I have yet to use said router on the fact that I haven't obtained my new modem that I just purchased on Amazon (Replacing the SBG6580 with an SB6121).

Currently I am running a WNR3700 (with DD-WRT) and it seems to be failing... Hence the purchase of the new one.

Before I get all hyped up about this change; should I keep the v2 or exchange it for a different router?

My network consists of 4 PCs, 1 iMac, 2 360s, 2 PS3s, 3 iPhones, 1 iPad, and an Android phone.

Any suggestions?

Why not give it a try? If it doesn't meet your expectations I believe you can return it to Wal-Mart. While the V2 specs and price are not very well thought of by some in this forum i actually own the V2 and am very happy with its range and performance in my home environment so far.

 

[thiggins]

Keep the V2. You will be glad you did.

 

[njweb]

Hello: I have been operating the new e4200 V2 (ver 2.0.36) 100% problem free in my home for about four weeks now. The V2 does run too warm though if you lay it flat as there is no airflow under its tinny little legs and I realize I can't use WRT with this thing--but frankly given the current performance --I don't think I am going to need it ( time will tell).

I am very happy with both the range and performance in my larger/complicated two story floor-plan home. From about 15' away and one floor down from the V2, I am getting a consistent wireless RSSI-34 and 130Mbps transfer rate for 2.4Ghz/and RSSI-66 300 Mbps transfer rate on the 5Ghz on my mid-2010 iMac and for the first time I no longer have any wireless dead zones using the V2 compared to my previous router the Asus RT-N56U. In fact I exchanged the original e4200 v1 for the RT-N56U several months ago because at that time the N56U out performed the e4200 v1 in both range and throughput in my home.

Like many of you--I have too many wired and wireless devices constantly in use in my house so I really need the best wireless router I can get my hands on. Now that I see what the v2 can do--I am really anxious to compare the RT-N66U with the V2 and will do so as soon as I can get my hands on RT-N66U via a retailer that will let me easily return if I need to.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with E4200 v1 vs RT-N56U and E4200 V2!
I kept the RT-N66U because it outperformed my E4200 v1 to a realtively significant degree on 2.4 GHz in terms of signal strength and because the E4200 V2 actually performed slightly worse overall (in any case no better) than the V1 on 2.4 GHz wireless in cNet's tests and, correct me if I am wrong, also in Tim's wireless throughput tests.

I can dig up my E4200 v1 numbers (to be compared to the RT-N66U vds Amped R1000 results I posted a few weeks ago).

In any case, I am glad the V2 is working so well for you and that you found the 4200 V2 was better than the RT-N56U which, in turn, was better than E4200 V1 and hence V2 is working better than the V1 for you.

I find it interesting (I am sure your numbers are real by the way and not doubting you at all) that you got such great signal strength * given the tests run by cNet and SNB that show them to be close in terms of throughput and overall actually seem to favor the V1 on 2.4 GHz if I recall correctly (cNet's overall 2.4 GHz performance results certainly seemed better in the V1 than the v2).
Obviously throughput and signal strength do not necessarily directly correlate (i.e. a medium signal on one router may still support a higherr throughput than another router with a strong signal - in fact I noticed this with my Asus versus Amped - the Asus had a stronger signal one room from the router than the Amped, but the Amped [in that room] had the higher throughput of the two routers).

If you use LAN Speed Test (easiest and quickest since you only need it to be running on the client, albeit not the most accurate by a long shot) or if you have more free time use a tool like jperf, you could run actual throughput comparisons between the V2 and your Asus RT-N56U.



* I assume you compared the signal strength [in RSSI[ of the v2 to your V1 as and RT-N56U as well and not just comparing transfer rates? )
By the way, 130 MBps and 300 MBps sound a lot like link rates not actual throughput.


I personally like the included advanced features of the RT-N66U (even if I am not using many of them just yet).
Transmit power adjustment could come in handy if I ever move to a smaller dwelling where I might actually want to lower it a tad.
My RT-N66U was actually cheaper than the V2 by about $20 (even though money was not a deciding factor in my selection - I was willing to pay more than the V2 or other competitors if the performance was good enough, which it was in my 3 location throughput and signal strength testing).


Also the Asus RT-N66U has fixed a bizarre "missing Netflix cover art" issue that happened while using the Amped. That alone was worth the price of admission of the Asus since I was going to return my SmartTV and just use the Blu-Ray player's Netflix app since that one did not have Netflix issues even while using the Amped (despite using the same Netflix menu layout as the TV).
I love having Netflix built into my TV (which for the price paid was competitive with other non-Smart TV' sets and also included the thin size of LED technology, 1080P, 120Hz and Dolby TruSurround HD) and not even having to turn the Blu-Ray player anymore.

Anyway, I am starting to digress too much...

 

[delair2]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with E4200 v1 vs RT-N56U and E4200 V2!
I kept the RT-N66U because it outperformed my E4200 v1 to a realtively significant degree on 2.4 GHz in terms of signal strength and because the E4200 V2 actually performed slightly worse overall (in any case no better) than the V1 on 2.4 GHz wireless in cNet's tests and, correct me if I am wrong, also in Tim's wireless throughput tests.

I can dig up my E4200 v1 numbers (to be compared to the RT-N66U vds Amped R1000 results I posted a few weeks ago).

In any case, I am glad the V2 is working so well for you and that you found the 4200 V2 was better than the RT-N56U which, in turn, was better than E4200 V1 and hence V2 is working better than the V1 for you.

I find it interesting (I am sure your numbers are real by the way and not doubting you at all) that you got such great signal strength * given the tests run by cNet and SNB that show them to be close in terms of throughput and overall actually seem to favor the V1 on 2.4 GHz if I recall correctly (cNet's overall 2.4 GHz performance results certainly seemed better in the V1 than the v2).
Obviously throughput and signal strength do not necessarily directly correlate (i.e. a medium signal on one router may still support a higherr throughput than another router with a strong signal - in fact I noticed this with my Asus versus Amped - the Asus had a stronger signal one room from the router than the Amped, but the Amped [in that room] had the higher throughput of the two routers).

If you use LAN Speed Test (easiest and quickest since you only need it to be running on the client, albeit not the most accurate by a long shot) or if you have more free time use a tool like jperf, you could run actual throughput comparisons between the V2 and your Asus RT-N56U.



* I assume you compared the signal strength [in RSSI[ of the v2 to your V1 as and RT-N56U as well and not just comparing transfer rates? )
By the way, 130 MBps and 300 MBps sound a lot like link rates not actual throughput.


I personally like the included advanced features of the RT-N66U (even if I am not using many of them just yet).
Transmit power adjustment could come in handy if I ever move to a smaller dwelling where I might actually want to lower it a tad.
My RT-N66U was actually cheaper than the V2 by about $20 (even though money was not a deciding factor in my selection - I was willing to pay more than the V2 or other competitors if the performance was good enough, which it was in my 3 location throughput and signal strength testing).


Also the Asus RT-N66U has fixed a bizarre "missing Netflix cover art" issue that happened while using the Amped. That alone was worth the price of admission of the Asus since I was going to return my SmartTV and just use the Blu-Ray player's Netflix app since that one did not have Netflix issues even while using the Amped (despite using the same Netflix menu layout as the TV).
I love having Netflix built into my TV (which for the price paid was competitive with other non-Smart TV' sets and also included the thin size of LED technology, 1080P, 120Hz and Dolby TruSurround HD) and not even having to turn the Blu-Ray player anymore.

Anyway, I am starting to digress too much...

NJ:

Your statement made me laugh ( in a good way) "In any case, I am glad the V2 is working so well for you and that you found the 4200 V2 was better than the RT-N56U which, in turn, was better than E4200 V1 and hence V2 is working better than the V1 for you" Good of you to keep all that straight!

After recently reading smallnetbuilder's "How to Test a Wireless Router" I realize my current naive method mentioned above "ahemmm" may not be the most accurate for comparison sake.

I have been using speedtest.net on my iPad to compare my wireless router's performance throughout my house and my iMac's wireless network indicator which list the details of every connected wireless signal to include transmit rate, RSSI, and MCS Index. So far my V2 has been the only router to date that I have owned that maintains the 300 MBPs transmit rate on a regular basis on 5GHz ( but not always and only on channel 44) one floor down and one room over. My Ausus N56U seems to hover between 243-270 Mbps transmit rate for the same. I didn't keep the V1 long enough frankly to remember the speeds other than I chose the Asus N56U over the V1 due to noted performance in my home at the time using the layman's techniques I described.

Currently I have both the N56U and the V2 up and running and am enjoying high speed wireless coverage throughout my entire house. Now the whole family has tops speeds for streaming, searching and gaming and I am no longer running around trying to police who is eating up all the bandwidth on the network slowing it down for the rest of us.

I would love to find one router that meets the needs of my internet crazy family--hence my interest in the Asus N66U...However, with that said, I would also like to add that the V2 albeit too expensive has turned out to be a pretty good device for me an average home user ( I know that is not a very popular thing to say in this forum about the V2 among those of you who know a heck of a lot more about this than I do) but so far so good.

P.S. Since none of my current wireless clients are three-stream 450Mbs dual band capable--I purchased a TRENDnet 450 Mbps Dual Band Wireless N USB Adapter TEW-684UB. Apparently the V2 seems to excel using 450Mbs clients--so as soon as I get some time --I'll be checking this out ( layman's approach) as well.

 

[njweb]

I am glad it made you laugh in a "funny" way.

I know I could use laughter since I had an unpexected meeting with an ex girlfriend last week and it served to raise more questions, than I already had (enough open questions to fill several mystery novels) that will probably never be answered (as hopeless as beating your head into a wall).

Anyway, I have to run soon (long day at work), but let me know how you like the 684UB 3 stream adapter.
I recall it got great reviews when I looked into it a while back (which always susprised me given the fact that it does not have external antennae and the internal antenna gain specs are relatively low).

When using my laptop, I am getting such good range (along with a reliable connection and decent throughput) using my Asus RT-N66U paired with my trusty old Rosewill RNX-N2X USB wifi 802.11n [Draft] 2.0 adapters (bought 4in all over time) that I will probably stick with the Rosewill adapters for now.

I will respond to your other points, if needed, later this evening when I am home.

 

[delair2]

I've got the Trendnet Wireless N USB Adapter TEW-684UB hooked up to very old XP laptop. Most of my equipment is Mac so this old box is the best I could do since the TEW-684UB doesn't seem to be compatible with Mac--but it works.

First impressions: The TEW-684UB is a bit of a "doohickey" type gadget ( maybe just because I am not used to using a USB wireless device)--but with that said it does give me access to the 450 Mbs capabilities of the V2 and the N56U. I down loaded both free versions of LanSpeed and inSSIDER but as I now know due to the wireless service itself, each time I run a LanSpeed test ( using my wireless connected laptop) on either the v2 or 56U the numbers differ from the previous run I did within a few seconds.

I am running both V2 and 56U simultaneously in my home so I can test all four bands ( 2.4/5 Ghz each) pretty easliy with the TEW-684UB. However, I am still trying to get used to the Trendnet user interface and site survey tool. In particular would like to know more about how I can determine if I am using three stream or not...( still trying to figure this out).

The TEW-684UB site survey tool is interesting and does allow me to see RSSI and Transmit speed. Since I have both routers operational I can compare the two, at my current laptop location ( subject to the wireless signal at the time of the test )

5ghz
V2 at 73% gives me 450 Mbps ( 5Ghz-channel 161), LanSpeed 100Mbp test W/135.295 R/73.214, Location = same floor four rooms away approx 45' away
N56U at 73% gives me 450 Mbps ( 5ghz-channel 44), LanSpeed 100Mbp test W/107.514 R/87.129, Location= one floor down, one room over approx 20' away

2.4 ghz
V2 at 73% gives me 216.7 Mbps ( 2.4Ghz-channel 6), LanSpeed 100Mbp test W/130.654 R/78.132, Location = same floor four rooms away approx 45' away
N56U at 100% gives me 144.4 Mbps ( 2.4ghz-channel 11), LanSpeed 100Mbp test W/141.356 R/83.234, Location= one floor down, one room over approx 20' away

Another interesting note: Today for the first time running a speedtest.net wireless test using the TEW-684UB against the N56U 5GHz connection I exceeded my ISP's download speed at 47.90 Mbps and on the V2 2.4ghz I downloaded at 55.59 Mbps. Now this is getting exciting !( my isp service provides up to 40mbps down)

Today I'll take a look at jperf to see what I might be able to do with that.

 

[njweb]

I've got the Trendnet Wireless N USB Adapter TEW-684UB hooked up to very old XP laptop. Most of my equipment is Mac so this old box is the best I could do since the TEW-684UB doesn't seem to be compatible with Mac--but it works.

First impressions: The TEW-684UB is a bit of a "doohickey" type gadget ( maybe just because I am not used to using a USB wireless device)--but with that said it does give me access to the 450 Mbs capabilities of the V2 and the N56U. I down loaded both free versions of LanSpeed and inSSIDER but as I now know due to the wireless service itself, each time I run a LanSpeed test ( using my wireless connected laptop) on either the v2 or 56U the numbers differ from the previous run I did within a few seconds.

I am running both V2 and 56U simultaneously in my home so I can test all four bands ( 2.4/5 Ghz each) pretty easliy with the TEW-684UB. However, I am still trying to get used to the Trendnet user interface and site survey tool. In particular would like to know more about how I can determine if I am using three stream or not...( still trying to figure this out).

The TEW-684UB site survey tool is interesting and does allow me to see RSSI and Transmit speed. Since I have both routers operational I can compare the two, at my current laptop location ( subject to the wireless signal at the time of the test )

5ghz
V2 at 73% gives me 450 Mbps ( 5Ghz-channel 161), LanSpeed 100Mbp test W/135.295 R/73.214, Location = same floor four rooms away approx 45' away
N56U at 73% gives me 450 Mbps ( 5ghz-channel 44), LanSpeed 100Mbp test W/107.514 R/87.129, Location= one floor down, one room over approx 20' away

2.4 ghz
V2 at 73% gives me 216.7 Mbps ( 2.4Ghz-channel 6), LanSpeed 100Mbp test W/130.654 R/78.132, Location = same floor four rooms away approx 45' away
N56U at 100% gives me 144.4 Mbps ( 2.4ghz-channel 11), LanSpeed 100Mbp test W/141.356 R/83.234, Location= one floor down, one room over approx 20' away

Another interesting note: Today for the first time running a speedtest.net wireless test using the TEW-684UB against the N56U 5GHz connection I exceeded my ISP's download speed at 47.90 Mbps and on the V2 2.4ghz I downloaded at 55.59 Mbps. Now this is getting exciting !( my isp service provides up to 40mbps down)

Today I'll take a look at jperf to see what I might be able to do with that.

Nice, but I see you apparently ran the tests for one router with the wireless client, or router itself even (not sure which you meant), placed in a completely different location than when testing the other router.
In order to get a good comparison between the two routers you would obviously want to test with the routers in the same room (e.g. both routers placed in room A) and also connect to a wireless client (laptop etc.) placed in all the same location(s) (A, B, C and D) for each of the two router's set of tests.

I.e. one would not be able to compare router 1 test results obtained in room A with the laptop (wireless client) in room D, to router 2 test results taken in the same room A but with the laptop in room C instead of D (e.g.)
Conversely results obtained with router 1 in room A and wifi client in room D could not be compared meaningful way to tests obtained with router 2 in room B ( as opposed to room A where router 1 was tested) with the wifi client (laptop) in room D.

If I misunderstood your test scenarios, let me know...

 

[delair2]

Nice, but I see you apparently ran the tests for one router with the wireless client, or router itself even (not sure which you meant), placed in a completely different location than when testing the other router.
In order to get a good comparison between the two routers you would obviously want to test with the routers in the same room (e.g. both routers placed in room A) and also connect to a wireless client (laptop etc.) placed in all the same location(s) (A, B, C and D) for each of the two router's set of tests.

I.e. one would not be able to compare router 1 test results obtained in room A with the laptop (wireless client) in room D, to router 2 test results taken in the same room A but with the laptop in room C instead of D (e.g.)
Conversely results obtained with router 1 in room A and wifi client in room D could not be compared meaningful way to tests obtained with router 2 in room B ( as opposed to room A where router 1 was tested) with the wifi client (laptop) in room D.

If I misunderstood your test scenarios, let me know...

You are correct. I tested both routers with wireless laptop & TEW-684UB from the same location ( location A) testing against the two routers in two different locations. That's the best I could get away with without my family chasing me out of the house due to frequent internet interruptions

Here's my setup:
The N56U connected to the cable modem (one floor up, one room over approx 20' away from Location A

The V2 is connected to a WD Livewire powerline AV network kit going back to the N56U on the same floor four rooms and approx 45' away from Location A.

I understand your point about doing the same with the routers in one room...and will see what I can get away with over the coming days...

BTW, have you given any thought to using the same type of AP set up with the N66U and your Amped router?

 

[tipstir]

E4200V1 or E4200V2 just have to see how well the E4200V2 holds up just too knew to tell. E4200V1 is pretty fast on the MSC and streaming heavy 1080p to 1080p HDTV over internet. Tablets and such still working hard. Along with the two RE1000V1 and two Cisco switches to offload the router for other task. Switching to the two switches kick a little more life into the E4200V1.

 

[njweb]

You are correct. I tested both routers with wireless laptop & TEW-684UB from the same location ( location A) testing against the two routers in two different locations. That's the best I could get away with without my family chasing me out of the house due to frequent internet interruptions

Here's my setup:
The N56U connected to the cable modem (one floor up, one room over approx 20' away from Location A

The V2 is connected to a WD Livewire powerline AV network kit going back to the N56U on the same floor four rooms and approx 45' away from Location A.

I understand your point about doing the same with the routers in one room...and will see what I can get away with over the coming days...

BTW, have you given any thought to using the same type of AP set up with the N66U and your Amped router?

Understood.
I thought it might be due to not being able to move the equipment around (in this case not wanting to disrupt the rest of your family).
Looking forward to your updated results (if you decide to do it).
I will fully understand if you don't get around to it (I would also not want to disturb others and would wait till a day and time when everyone else was out of the house).

Also, reading your setup (thanks for clarifying), I would suggest, again only if you have time when nobody else is around, testing with each router independently directly connected to the cable modem (instead of one connected to the cable modem and the other connected to the first router via a powerline networking kit).
This way you can get a good direct comparison test.


Re. the AP question: I could not try if I wanted to since I already sold the Amped recently given that the RT-N66U alone meets all my needs (more than enough range to cover the entire house - see footnote).
Adding the Amped to the equation might make things worse for me since I would be adding another layer.
Additionally one of my devices, a Smart TV had an issue with some random Netflix cover art not appearing when using the Amped.
(That being said, my Blu-Ray player's Netflix implementation worked fine with the Amped in the same room as the SmartTV and came with the same Netflix menu design so it could have been that the router needed a reboot, although if it worked with one without being rebooted, it does make me wonder if it was an obscure issue with the router - I got the Asus at the same time so I never got around to rebooting the Amped)

Footnote about my coverage comment - This really is entire house coverage given that my Asus router is in the upstairs corner office and one of my tested Blu-Ray players (wifi built-in so tested with that) is the furthest downstairs corner of the house family room and I got 5 bars (out of 5) of signal strength.
(Not ideal router location but that is where my "home office" room is which houses my AIO printer, cable modem, HD-PVR DVR box and my router-connected desktop PC are located). Luckily the Asus has such a strong signal that it is not an issue (other than neighbors seeing it no doubt).

 

[delair2]

Understood.
I thought it might be due to not being able to move the equipment around (in this case not wanting to disrupt the rest of your family).
Looking forward to your updated results (if you decide to do it).
I will fully understand if you don't get around to it (I would also not want to disturb others and would wait till a day and time when everyone else was out of the house).

<snip>

That's what I am after that "killer" router for my whole house. I have no brand/manufacturing preference and would drop another $200 today for the Best wireless router that is able to significantly out-perform the routers I currently have V2/N56U and mostly two stream 300 Mbps clients. Hopefully SNB and CNET will come out with compelling test results like some of you are already seeing with the N66U.

In the mean time I am having lots of fun with the performance capabilities of the V2 using the three stream TEW-684UB adapter ( my only three-stream 450Mbps client) I wonder what this thing would do with the N66U...

 

[thiggins]

I have no brand/manufacturing preference and would drop another $200 today for the Best wireless router that is able to significantly out-perform the routers I currently have

You can keep looking, but such a product does not exist. There are some routers that provide higher throughput in close range. Others might provide slightly more range. But there isn't a router that clearly outperforms all others for wireless throughput vs. range.