BRAVO ANALYSIS

BRAVO TECHNOLOGY CENTER

Linksys Routers

by Sam C. Chan
Comparison from an IT Perspective

First Published: June 3, 2011   Last Revised: March 18, 2015 

Linksys Routers E900 E1200 E2500 E3000 EA2700 EA3500 EA4500 EA6500 EA6900 WRT1900AC WRT54G
Cost MAR 2015 n/a n/a $70~100 $250! n/a n/a $95 $120 $180 $240 $60~75

Market Segment

SMB Lifestyle Enthusiasts
IEEE 802.11N 802.11AC G/B
Speed Mbps 300 300 + 300 300 + 450 450 + 450 450 + 1300 300
MIMO 3 3 4 4 4 5 6 6 6 4 2
Ethernet 10/100 10/100/1000 10/100
QoS     Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  
Custom Firmware   DD-WRT?   DD-WRT, Tomato
IT Approved YES No!  Intended for Consumers ONLY. Maybe
SpeedBoost           Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  
USB Storage           1 1 2 2    
Home Theater           Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  
DLNA Server             Yes Yes Yes Yes  
Cisco Connect   Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes    
Cisco Cloud         Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes    
NFC               Yes Yes    
 
  • Features common to all models (except WRT56G): 802.11b/g/n backward compatibility, IPv6 supported, WPA2 PSK (Personal) w/ AES encryption, SPI firewall

  • Special features of WRT1900AC: USB 3.0 + eSATA

  • Intentionally Omitted Features:
    WPS, WEP, TKIP... all due to well-known exploits without any feasible remedies, hence must be disabled

  • Custom Firmware Notes:
    WRT54G from v5.0 no longer Linux-based (now VxWorks), and reduced memory to half. WRT54GL is the new moniker for Linux edition. e Series mod with DD-WRT is not mature.

Revision History:

  • July 2012  e2000 discontinued, replaced by e2500
  • Sep 2013  expanded coverage to include "fluff" features, for sake of completeness
  • Feb 2014  Consolidated and streamlined core tech features (top rows)
  • Mar 2015  Completely recompiled list, with major data refresh + adding "Lifestyle" line EAxxxx

SEE ALSO

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