14 DAY TRIAL // We used to think that AC1900 routers were a big deal, since it wasn't that long ago that they were the strongest routers you could find for sale, at least on the consumer and SMB front. However, Linksys wanted to blow everything out of the water, so it created the Linksys AC3400 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router, whose technical name is EA9200.
You read the name well. The EA9200 is an AC3200 Tri-Band Wi-Fi router, which means it can achieve a total performance of 3,200 Mbps.
The company also has a somewhat less insane router for sale or will soon enough, called AC2400 Dual Band Wi-Fi Router (part number E8350). This one reaches 2,400 Mbps, obviously.
Ironically, the second product could be considered even more insane than the first one, since it achieves that performance using just two Wi-Fi radios instead of three.
The Linksys AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router (EA9200)
This beast of a product has one 2.4 GHz radio working at 600 Mbps, plus a pair of 5 GHz radios with 1,300 Mbps performance each. Each has three spatial streams. There are six antennas in total, three of which are external and removable. Beamforming technology maximizes range by the way.
If you have computers with LAN cables, you will be able to connect them to any of the four integrated connectors. USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports are available as well.
Virtual USB is supported as well, and you also get parental controls, remote troubleshooting and network map, plus integrated DHCP server with dynamic and static IP address assignment. A 1.0 GHz dual core CPU runs everything.
And yes, all three Wi-Fi radios run at the same time. All in all, the total transfer rate of 3,200 Mbps is really, undeniably overkill, but it will definitely allow a whole bunch of desktop PCs, laptops, smartphones and tablets to connect through the router to the Internet without a problem. The Smart Connect technology will automatically manage the connections so that the bandwidth is optimally allocated.
The Linksys AC2400 Dual-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi Router (E8350)
It has a 2.4 GHz radio with 600 Mbps performance (3 antennas) and a 5 GHz radio with 1,733 Mbps performance (4 antennas). This is why we said it was even more absurd than the EA9200: the 5 GHz band doesn't usually come close to this level.
A single-core 1.4 GHz CPU is sufficient here, and the specifications are mostly similar to those of the other router, although you get eSATA support in addition to USB.
Pricing and availability
The Linksys EA9200 won't sell until October 19 (a few days from now) and has a price of $300 / €235 - €300. The Linksys E8350 is already shipping though, for $250 / €195 - €250.