Linksys EA8500 Max-Stream AC2600 MU-MIMO Smart Wi-Fi Router Reviewed

[dfran1]

Don't do dd-wrt on linksys for months, these are the problems so far, I tried it yesterday and don't recommend it for months, it has a long way to go..
1. I could not get a connection above 150 in 5GHz, no matter what settings I choose, or combinations of.
2. Range was noticeably not as good as stock. (even 2.4GHz.)
3. I reserved 28 IP addresses and hit save, then NO more WAN access from anything but the router. I factory defaulted and all was fine until I added my 28 IP addresses back then same problem no WAN on any device.
4. Had a hard time getting back to stock, well it flashed fine through dd-wrt, but I reset to factory defaults then could not get back in to the router until I held the reset button on the linksys for 1 minute during power on, now I am back to stock, I restored my settings.

 

[connorm]

Interesting - finally got a 2.4GHz packet dump of the EA8500...

This is the first time I've seen a QCA solution in the AC space, so thought it would be good to share...

This is the first 4*4:4 device I've seen in consumer space for 2.4GHz, and it's a beast, at least from a feature set, not much to tune on it, but probably not needed - default shows that LDPC's are supported, and Linksys hides STBC support in the advanced wireless page - turning that on, and running this in 11 b/g/n with narrow channels, and see very good performance in just about any network.

2.4 GHz (11 b/g/n/VHT) Notables:

1) Supports up to MCS31 (600Mbit/sec) as a 4*4:4 device - so consider without special sauce, it's N600 in 2.4GHz...

2) TurboQAM (VHT20/VHT40) - mixed bag here, but up to 808 Mbps (4SS, Wide), but in narrow channels, it maxes out at VHT MCS7 (72.2Mbit * 4SS = 288.8 Mbps), which is actually no different than 11n MCS31 in 20MHz - so no real benefit speedwise in narrow channels to run VHT mode

3) TurboQAM is advertised on the Beacon by using non-standard VHT stanzas (802.11ac is 2.4GHz only, so we shouldn't see it here, can lead to interop issues with some client implementations)

3) Like 5GHz, the EA8500 is 30 dBm across all channels (1-11 in the US config)

4) no beamforming in 2.4GHz, both for legacy and the non-standard VHT mode - for b/g/n space, this is probably a good thing.

5) 2.4Ghz extended capabilities - just noteworthy as don't often see these in consumer gear

Extended Capabilities: 0x0f (octet 3)
.... ...1 = TFS: Supported
.... ..1. = WNM-Sleep Mode: Supported
.... .1.. = TIM Broadcast: Supported
.... 1... = BSS Transition: Supported

are you sure that with 20MHz 2.4GHz channels using TurboQAM that the max link rate is not 346.7?

because i know that 5/6 coding at 256QAM is not available with 1x1, 2x2, or 4x4, however i am fairly sure it is available with 3x3 as random as it is.

some proof of this, netgear R7000 has 289 as one of the speeds it can do (288.8)

288.8 is not possible with 40MHz channels at 3x3

so on broadcom atleast what you are saying is not true

HOWEVER what is true is that for 1x1,2x2, and 4x4 20MHz 2.4 links is that they do support 256QAM 3/4 coding, which is still a form of TurboQAM and better then the traditional N rates

this is what would give 346.7

and this is what i suspect the max 20MHz link for ANY 256QAM 4x4 device, even on 5GHz higher then 346.7 is not supported...

if QCA is doing TurboQAM properly like broadcom then where you say the narrow channels max out at VHT MCS7 (72.2mbit * 4SS = 288.8Mbps) is actually VHT MCS8 (86.7 * 4SS = 346.7)

 

[sfx2000]

In the trace I reviewed, the device was in VHT20, and the max MCS was advertised as MCS7 - you are correct in that VHT20 can support MCS8, so I'm not sure why they're going a bit conservative except that perhaps a better user experience?

QAM256/Turbo is pretty hard to use in congested 2.4GHz in any event, and my recommendation is to keep the devices in 802.11 b/g/n modes - less compatibility issues on the BSS (attached clients) and less issues for adjacent networks on same channel.

 

[connorm]

Wierd, no one really uses 40mhz on 2.4 so turboqam is pointless if not being used on 20mhz channels

I suspect thats what quallcom has decided to do vs broadcom

 

[sfx2000]

Wierd, no one really uses 40mhz on 2.4 so turboqam is pointless if not being used on 20mhz channels

I suspect thats what quallcom has decided to do vs broadcom

Who knows - double checked the trace, and it's solid with what I saw - early drivers...

In any event, anything beyond 802.11n 3*3:3 (N450) in 2.4GHz is basically marketing numbers - nothing down there can really make much use of it due to the noise floor...

 

[sfx2000]

I should be a bit more specific - HT20 mode which is N72/N144/N216... (1SS/2SS/3SS QAM64)

Looking across a few packet traces, I'm not seeing 4 stream on the beacons for the EA8500 for 2.4GHz, for 5GHz yes, not for 2.4GHz with the firmware that's currently out there...

 

[connorm]

So your saging 216 is the max link rate on 2.4 @ 20mhz currently

 

[connorm]

Thats funny, i wonder if it is actually any different then netgear r7500v2 or if netgear is just saying 2350 because thats all it can currently do out of the box weather 2600 will be added or not

 

[avtella]

Thats funny, i wonder if it is actually any different then netgear r7500v2 or if netgear is just saying 2350 because thats all it can currently do out of the box weather 2600 will be added or not

The R7500 is 3x3 for 2.4 Ghz vs EA8500 which is 4x4 on 2.4Ghz, hence the naming convention difference.
The D7800 is pretty much the same as the EA8500 plus the VDSL modem. The "R" equivelent of the D7800 is not yet out, though there are FCC filings for such a model as of November.

 

[sfx2000]

At the end of the day, the 2.4GHz performance/range isn't really that big of a deal - it's good, that's all that matters...

 

[connorm]

at the end of the day 2.4GHz range and performance at range is very important to me

currently im living in condo so doesnt really matter, but if in a house its very important to me to have coverage as far off the property as possible

sometimes 5GHz just wont cut it

 

[avtella]

at the end of the day 2.4GHz range and performance at range is very important to me

currently im living in condo so doesnt really matter, but if in a house its very important to me to have coverage as far off the property as possible

sometimes 5GHz just wont cut it

Having used both the R7500v2 and the D7800 Modem, I can assure you the difference is not very much on the 2.4Ghz despite that one extra antenna on the band. Well, least in my 2,605 Sqft home. Router is on the top floor and I got pretty good 5 Ghz and 2.4 Ghz reception 2 floors down in the basement such that I had no issues streaming with a 1st gen Chromecast or Roku HDMI stick. Infact even the R7000 manages to do ok though slightly slower at those distances.

If you still believe that the one extra antenna is worth it on 2.4Ghz, the EA8500 is probably what you want as there is no Netgear model released at the moment.

I believe the WRT AC1900 has greater range on both bands than the EA8500 according to some reviews like CNET's, so you might want to take a look at that one as well.
http://www.cnet.com/products/linksys-ea8500-max-stream-ac2600-mu-mimo-gigabit-router/2/

 

[sfx2000]

at the end of the day 2.4GHz range and performance at range is very important to me

currently im living in condo so doesnt really matter, but if in a house its very important to me to have coverage as far off the property as possible

sometimes 5GHz just wont cut it

Should be fine... there's one four houses down from my place, and I see it as a candidate network... (I've actually attached to it from his guest network, but that's another story...)

 

[connorm]

so basically you dont own the unit you were playing with...? lol

 

[avtella]

so basically you dont own the unit you were playing with...? lol

I gave some of them to relatives to use after I finished testing as I don't need so many routers lol. The rest sit in storage....

 

[dfran1]

I have now purchased for my work (well they paid) a refurbished EA 8500 from amazon, and just like home, this router is outstanding in both 5 and 2.4GHz.
So far comments are "Blazing fast".
I will keep this tread updated.


。❤。。
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Happy New Year
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[sfx2000]

so basically you dont own the unit you were playing with...? lol

No, that was another one in a more controlled environment (friend in a test lab setup) - seems like a lot of folks are very interested in MU-MIMO, and since the EA8500 was one of the first consumer devices, they picked up a few to test against their client device.

 

[Andy Foster]

Just picked up one of these on eBay to replace a WD MyNet900C acting in wired bridge mode on the end of a powerline connection from my main router (BT HomeHub 5 - I'm in the UK) up on the 2nd floor.

First negative observation is looks like storage doesn't work when configured to Bridge Mode unlike the old MyNet. The MyNet was slow, but at least it served up data.

Second observation is driving me insane. I have a pair of Airport Express A1264's which run audio to my stereos on the ground floor and a Pure Contour i200 speaker in the kitchen. I use TuneBlade most of the time to drive to them. The idea behind the EA8500 was to have better 5GHz range to drive to the AE's and 2.4GHz to the Pure. I have over a dozen competing networks here on 2.4GHz. There appears to be something seriously amiss with the AirPlay support. I have had all sorts of results but none of them correct. Most of the time if the AE's are linked to EA8500 I cannot see them from TuneBlade or they disappear as soon as I try to allocate them. I can ping them, and I can configure the AE's through the Airport utility but have to key in the ip to get at them, they do not show up in the scan. Before I waste any more time is there a known issue with AirPlay and this unit ? Is there a setting I am missing to get it working ? What is crazy is that if I wifi the AirPlay receivers from the main router in the house I can access them no problem when my laptop is wifi'd from the EA8500. Problem is that router doesn't have the range to reach where needed, hence the EA8500.

UPDATE: Please see later post as AirPlay performance is now fine.

 

[chadster766]

First negative observation is looks like storage doesn't work when configured to Bridge Mode unlike the old MyNet. The MyNet was slow, but at least it served up data.

What is crazy is that if I wifi the AirPlay receivers from the main router in the house I can access them no problem when my laptop is wifi'd from the EA8500. Problem is that router doesn't have the range to reach where needed, hence the EA8500.

1. External Storage is disabled in the EA8500 when in Bridge Mode. That's just the way Linksys engineering designed it. The only way to get around that is to configure the EA8500 as a router instead of a gateway. I don't know if configuring the EA8500 as a router would help in this case because AFAIK Airplay isn't a routable discovery protocol; at least from my experience.
2. I recommend all software and devices involved in the Airplay setup be connected the EA8500's 5Ghz (no 2.4Ghz) and LAN.

 

[Andy Foster]

The loss of shared storage option is not a major loss, just an annoyance since the old MyNet did support it when bridged and was not I think generally considered the best router in it's time. Also the reviews never seem to pick up on these things. The rest of the stuff that isn't available when not routing makes sense.

As regards using as router mode acting as AP, I tried it on the EA8500 and a TP-LINK C7 I tried before and kept losing the connection on the laptop. DHCP was switched off but appeared to "possibly" be some DNS issue. And yes had problems with AirPlay.

As regards AirPlay, unfortunately the Pure Contour is a 2.4Ghz g device. The laptop built-in is a 2.4GHz n chip. I have used an EDiMAX AC1200 but couldn't see the AE's as I recall. And I do intend getting a AE6000 for the laptop. In fact in the last setup I linked the laptop at 5GHz to the EA8500 with one of the Airport Express and couldn't see it although the other Express was linked to the main router. What confuses me is that if the laptop is linked to the EA8500 and the Expresses to the main router I can see them fine but just doesn't have the range for final placement. I will try just linking the Expresses at 5GHz and the laptop at 5GHz to the EA8500 tonight and see if I was wrong.

And what is really frustrating is that everything worked fine on the MyNet900C but I want to move up to ac for new gear.

UPDATE: Please see later post as AirPlay performance is now fine.