WRT 3200ACM A very nice product, setup was very simple.
Overall performance verses my 4 year old WD N900 router is much better; improved signal strength, improved throughput and so far no drop outs. I started getting drop outs on the old router when we exceeded 12 devices, the WRT has run flawlessly with up to 21 devices so far.
The unit runs quiet and cool – no fan needed, which is nice since fan noise can be quiet annoying.
I manually configured the router (enter 192.168.1.1 into your browser) and used “Smart Setup Tool” to get connected to the internet and do a basic configuration, the setup tool makes this very easy. After that I manually edited a few parameters to “personalize” the network, simplify management and optimize performance as follows:
Changed name of the 5GHz network rather than accept the default of “Name of 2.4Ghz” appended with _5Ghz.
Edited the guest network names and password and turned it off, I will switch it on if needed.
Renamed some of the devices on the network map so that it is obvious which device is which. This make the network map much more useful.
Edited the Host Name and Network Name, personal preference.
Turned off the ability to manage this router wirelessly via Linksys Smart Wi-Fi (Connectivity – Administration tab) to reduce the chance of a wireless hack.
Wireless networking defaults were not optimal for our network so I made the following changes:
Set the 2.4 GHz network to 802.11gn. This router does not support 801.11b so I don’t think there is a difference between the mixed setting and the 802.11gn setting. I don’t have any legacy b only devices so this is not a problem. Not supporting 802.11b avoids the 2.4 GHz radio having to do gymnastics to talk to any b devices this helps 2.4 GHz throughput and avoids the slight decrease in n or g throughput that results from a mixed (with b) setting. I thought about using n only but since g and n can play together (the overhead associated with sending a legacy preamble before the HT preamble is small and g devices can interpret the n preamble) I left g available. I left the channel width setting on auto and it selected 40 MHz i.e., twice the width and double the data rate of the legacy channels.
Set the 5 GHz network to ac only to allow optimum 5 GHz performance, I left the channel width setting on auto and it selected 80 MHz i.e., four times the width and four times the data rate of the legacy channels. I am not quite sure what they mean in the advertising info with regard to 160 MHz channel width since this device only has 4 antennas and 6 are needed to get 160 MHz bandwidth.
I left the channel selection on auto for both networks.
Restricting the router protocols has some potential disadvantages:
1. Legacy devices that are restricted to 2.4 GHz b and/or 5 GHz a and n only will not be able to connect, so if you have older devices this might be a problem.
2. If there are devices running 2.4 GHz b and 5 GHz a and n nearby they might interfere with your network and your network router might interfere with them. I am too far away from my neighbors for this to be a problem but if your neighbors are close you should probably use mixed mode.
Given that the 802.11g protocol was released in 2003 and that manufactures built 802.11g chipsets before 2003 I doubt that many people have many 802.11b devices only.
I would like to know if there is a difference between the between the 2.4 GHz mixed setting and the 2.4 GHz 802.11gn setting. Does the router listen for 802.11b signals and back off to allow legacy transmission to a legacy router when 2.4 GHz mixed is selected? I called tech support but the person I spoke too did not seem to know what I was talking about.
Some users have reported signal strength gains, I measured the signal strength (using a Wi-Fi Analyzer on my phone) before and after installing the new router (in the same location).
On the 2.4Ghz band the signal strength increased by an average of 3dB (double the power) running g and n protocols. This is not a huge improvement but will help in areas with marginal signal strength that are prone to signal drop outs. The increase in signal strength on 2.4Ghz varied from -1dB to 8dB, in looking at the results it looks like beam forming is working and increasing the signal strength in the areas with 2.4Ghz devices with up to an 8dB increase and an average of 4.5dB.
On the 5 GHz band the signal strength increased by an average of 16dB (40 times the power) running mixed mode. This made some previously unreachable (for 5G Hz) areas of the house usable for Wi-Fi and is a great gain in signal strength. The 5 GHz radio designs have probably got a lot better in the last few years and this result alone is a good reason to buy this router. The increase in signal strength varied from 11dB to 20dB and did not seem to be affected by beam forming (possibly due to the fact that phone that I used to take the measurements was on the 5 GHz Wi-Fi network when I took the measurements).
It is a good idea to back up your router configuration (Troubleshooting – Diagnostics tab) to allow a quick restore in the event you have to reset your router.
The Troubleshooting Status report pages are very nice to have.
It would be nice if you could search the router help information embedded on the router. The user guide does not cover as much as the help information on the router and he use of screen shots in the manual limit your ability to search (e.g., you cannot find Backup or Restore by searching the user manual).
I am very happy with this product.
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
|---|---|
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 1 |
