14 DAY TRIAL // Dual-band wireless routers used to be considered powerful when they reached 750 Mbsps, and that was just a few years back. Now, though, the best ones attain 1,900 Mbps, and Linksys has just released an example.
Dual-band Wi-Fi wireless routers communicate over both the 2.4 GHz band (the normal one for Wi-Fi) and the 5 GHz radio frequency.
The former is much more widespread, but also much slower than the latter. However, the 5 GHz band has been gaining quite a bit of ground.
No wonder, when you factor in the way it can move data at twice the speed of 2.4 GHz, or even more in some faces.
The Linksys WRT1900AC dual-band wireless router is one such case. While data can be transferred at 600 Mbps over 2.4 GHz, it reaches 1,300 Mbps on 5 GHz.
Some PCs might have what it takes to fully utilize either band, but you're unlikely to find a mobile device that can use all that bandwidth.
That's the whole point though: to allow more than one device to communicate with a network, and the Internet.
Linksys has even implemented beamforming technology, which maximizes signal range. Even through walls and furniture, it should be able to reach well beyond 10 meters / 33 feet. Entire floors should be serviceable by it alone.
Moreover, the newcomer doesn't need to be configured as a router. If you already have one, or if you manage a particularly large office floor, you can set up the Linksys WET1900AC as a range extender (aka repeater) or wireless bridge as well. The four exchangeable external antennas help.
What's more, there are other connectivity technologies and physical ports as well, and we don't just mean the LAN ports, or the Gigabit Ethernet WAN. The newcomer has an eSATA/USB 2.0 port as well, plus a USB 3.0 connector.
Then, there's the ease of use brought about by browser-based setup (you can install it by means of PC/Mac, smartphones or tablets), the ability to hide SSID broadcast (you can set up two SSIDs even, one per band), and browser access to Linksys Smart Wi-Fi (or from iOS/Android app on phones).
You'll have an easy time sharing devices through USB/eSATA. Streaming DLNA media, prioritizing devices when it comes to bandwidth allocation, etc.
Everything is run by a dual-core Arm processor with 1.2 GHz clock speed and backed by 128 MB of integrated flash memory.
Sales of the Linksys WRT1900AC dual-band wireless router will begin on April 13 for the price of $280 / €280.