INTRODUCTION

   Even though as we've pointed out numerous times in our past reviews wired connectivity is pretty much the best one can do (at least not currently) both in terms of performance and security there's simply no denying that wireless connectivity is much more convenient. Because of that as expected really manufacturers are always looking for new and innovative ways to improve the performance and signal strength/range of their wireless network devices. Several semiconductor manufacturers like Broadcom, Marvell and Qualcomm are always releasing improved CPUs and wireless chipsets which also make use of multiple bands so as you all know in recent years we've seen many modem/routers using both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. Still it wasn't until last year really that the more powerful AC5300/5400 models were introduced in the market featuring one 2.4GHz band and two 5GHz bands and one of them was the Linksys EA9500 MAX-STREAM AC5400 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router.

   The Linksys brand has pioneered wireless connectivity since its inception in 1988 with its leading innovation and engineering strategies, and best-in-class technology, design, and customer service. Linksys enables a connected lifestyle for people at home, at work and on the move, and with its award-winning products, simplifies home control, entertainment, security and Internet access through innovative features and a growing application and partner ecosystem. Linksys is part of Belkin International.

   The EA9500 MAX-STREAM AC5400 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router by Linksys is a tri-band quad-stream router which outputs a combined Wi-Fi bandwidth of up to 5333 megabits per second (thus belongs in the brand new AC5400 category). To achieve that extremely high number the EA9500 features two 5GHz bands each able to output up to 2166.67Mbps (AC2166) and a single 2.4GHz band which tops out at 1000Mbps (N1000). Inside the EA9500 Linksys placed Broadcom's BCM4709C0KFEBG dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU running at 1.4GHz along with 256MB RAM, 128MB NAND flash and three BCM4366 4x4 radios. The EA9500 also fully supports Beamforming (directs Wi-Fi signal to your wireless devices), MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output - efficient handling of bandwidth) and Seamless Roaming (automatically switches to the strongest Wi-Fi signal when paired with Max-Stream range extenders). Last but certainly not least the EA9500 comes ready with a total of 8 high performance adjustable Antennas (can't be replaced), 8 Gigabit RJ45 Ethernet ports (Link aggregation is not supported), Gigabit RJ45 WAN port, USB 3.0 port and a USB 2.0 port.