Customer Ratings & Reviews

This is the best router that I've ever owned so far. I ran into a few problems during set-up and had to chat with tech support, but after they put me on the right page, set up was a breeze. I have an AT&T Uverse modem/router. The Linksys EA9500 connects directly to the Uverse and then wirelessly to everything else without conflicting IP addresses. It has 8 portals one of which is a guess portal for visitors. We stream TV frequently and with this router there are no more freezes or stalls. My Laptops are no longer sluggish. Would highly recommend.

I swore I would never buy another linksys router, but the sales clerk talked me into it as it had a 3yr warranty and was the most cutting edge router on the shelf. Cutting edge? It turned out to be the safety scissors of routers. Linksys admits they need a firmware upgrade as the router randomly boots wireless clients from the network and the graphic interface incorrectly reports LAN vs wifi clients. I got tired of waiting for a firmware update and exchanged it for the newest Netgear router.

For the price I expected a greater range, what a disappointment. Not complicated to understand yet not delievering as promised.

This is a fully loaded, top of the line, feature packed router - the MU-MIMO (multi-user multiple input multiple output) is at the top of the list, and should future proof your home office/entertainment purposes for some time to come. While you may not have MU-MIMO capable devices in your home right now, they will be coming to you soon. This allows individual continuous streams to be delivered to separate devices simultaneously, taking full advantage of your internet connection. The ideal situation for using this router would be for a multi-user home that is ready to "cut the cable", i.e. dumping their cable provider in favor of using Netflix, Hulu, HBO & Showtime GO, etc. They would then be able to maximize the throughput to each individual device without buffering, stuttering, etc. There are eight antennas built into the unit, and each can be individually pointed to maximize signal strength to any particular device. Four of these are on the 2.4 GH band, the other 4 on the 5 GH band. The initial setup was pain free, as I have experienced with other Linksys products. I have used my fair share of lower priced products, and had to invest hours of time dealing with incomplete and badly translated manuals, non-existent websites and tech support, and incomprehensible directions. I've always found Linksys to be at the top of the chain in this regard, and this router is no different. Connect this to your current modem, it will auto-detect and assign itself a new IP address. From there, it's as deep as you want to go. I can't imagine anyone other than a serious professional that could use all the features available. Great web interface with a network map to visualize, rename & observe signal strength and quality on each device. A smartphone app (Smart WiFi) that allows you to prioritize devices, cut them off (it's bedtime, kiddies - lol), or create a guest network to protect from prying eyes (hey neighbor, can i borrow your wi-fi!) Make no mistake, this is one serious piece of equipment. And it's expensive for sure. But for those willing to spend the bucks, it's top performance and insurance for the future, even at a time when technology seems to leapfrog your current equipment every 6 months.

This router was very difficult to configure and I've configured many wireless routers.

Had this router for 3 weeks, and did not see a difference in my speed, at least not 350 dollars worth.

I bought this router because I needed 8 ports. Once hooked up it works properly. Had a little issue hooking it up.

So I compared this product to my existing AC1900 from another brand-- I thought what I had was already fast. I have 200Mbps of cable internet-- but my AC1900 couldnt maximize the speed but was already good enough. I measured through speedtest my existing router and this one in my 1600 sq ft home-- right around the router area, in my living room separated by a wall, in my bedroom where there are multiple doors in between, and my driveway. This Linksys was extremely fast in obvious areas like around the router and my couch area. The 2.4Ghz was as fast and the 5ghz was off the charts. This is comparing different devices-- my android phone, android tablet and a top tier workstation laptop. So in near obvious areas, the 2.4Ghz is mostly the same speed while the 5Ghz improves by 50mbps, in mid areas only separated by a wall, this is where this Linksys outperforms my other router- -we are talking about 80-100mbps more-- even beating my subscription speeds by over 40mbps (240mbps). The issue with this router is the far areas like my bedroom or the driveway. The 2.4Ghz is stable on my previous router even on far ends-- this Linksys though has issues staying connected. When it is connected, it has the same speed but the connection drops and is outperformed by my AC1900. However, when this one performs, it is blazing fast. It shows when I use this as a media server. I have Blu Ray copies of my movies in my external drive connected to the usb 3.0 and I slide the movie search bar anywhere and it gets you right in the scene. No lags or anything. This is a good router in the mid range and when it is connected. In far ends though, that's a little bit of a concern. I recommend this for houses like mine around 1600 sq ft. Beyond that, you might have to use range extenders. Oh, by the way, if you tinker with routers, I don't think you need technical help-- but it might be good to know that setup on this thing is SUPER EASY.

It works ok I just didn’t like the setup and only lasted a few months then went out

I love my new WiFi! It is extremely fast and extremely reliable. We were having problems with too many devices running at the same time, and we were losing speed with every device that was running. This solved that problem. The Tri-Band quad stream insures that all my devices run at optimal speeds. Even with guest in the house the very easy to use app allows me to prioritize which devices get priority, and allows me to set a limit on how much speed is allocated to my guest. I am extremely happy with my purchase.

The "good" here is the EA9500 works great, have 32 devices running (wouldn't say flawless) all together on the network. The family watching online movies, gaming, and watching live shows over the internet - this router seems to handle it all. WiFi coverage area is better than my old router. Easy to setup and the 8-port gigabit switch is nice to have.The Linksys App works from anywhere, can control couple separate other linksyssmart WiFi enabled routers that i have. "Not so good" - This unit is expensive, even on sale.Also it is huge and heavy, takes up a lot of room. The Linksys App is basic, and doesn't give you enough info. The UI is also basic and not laid out well, there is so much more info that could be displayed for the administrator. This is a top of line EXPENSIVE router and I expected more. On a (relative) cheap older ASUS router, the UI has CPU & Memory usage in addition to the signal strength of each WiFi device! On this EA9500 the network map is horrible, for some reason it has 5 of my MacBook Pro IP info under 1 device picture. DHCP list is under troubleshooting section and not listed in order. Lastly the WiFi is dropping devices intermittently, have everyone on 5GHz and once a awhile i will see no WiFi signal on an iPhone or iPad when you pick it up, second later Wifi comes on - weird. Didn't have that with my old router. Hope new updates will fix an otherwise good router.

Being that my house is full of wifi enabled gadgets, it was only right that I have the correct router to complement them. There are very few brands that I normally trust, but with Linksys, you know you are getting quality. The EA9500 MAX-STREAM™ AC5400 TRI-BAND WI-FI ROUTER was perfect for my home. Their products are so easy to set up, so you really can't go wrong with this product, especially if you will be running lots of cool gadgets throughout your home. It's practically a "plug and play" setup. I opted to go the extra mile and download their app so that I can control the router from pretty much anywhere, so that's an extra step that is optional if you want to be in full control from anywhere. I have to say that the Linksys app isn't the best looking, but it does what it is supposed to do. The ability to control this router from anywhere makes it that much better to have around your house. This router is full of great features, especially for parents, so worry no more about that. The connection reliability has been pretty solid for the last couple of weeks that I've had the router. There has been an issue where I lost connection when the router tried to switch from one band to the next, but this was only once or twice. I'm hoping that this won't be an issue later on down the road. Aside from this small issue, the connection range, and speed, have been really consistent. The router has kept up with my TV, phone, tablets, etc. This router comes equipped with Mu-MiMo technology and a USB 3.0 port to make things better. The Mu-Mimo feature is great! I am able to run all of my devices without losing speed. The only other issue with the router is the size. It's a bit on the bulky side, so it couldn't be placed in the same location as my previous router. I just put up a corner shelf up high for maximum reliability and called it a day. I guess that all other similar routers will be around the same size, so you can't really complaint if you want something with similar features. This thing is surrounded by antennas, so it just looks like a space ship that is ready to take off into space, so it's really cool looking. If you're out looking for the latest and greatest, seriously consider giving this router a shot. It's overall performance was great. Aside from that small connection issue that I had once or twice, I haven't witnessed any other issues. This, and the actual size of the router, is the only reason I couldn't see myself giving it a perfect five star rating. The router comes equipped with all of the latest technology and features. I highly recommend this product to anyone in the market for a new router!

Linksys - AC5400 Tri-Band WiFi 5 Router - Black NOO

Nice features but missing one glaring option, the ability to connect to VPN. Had to return due to that.

This beauty was shipped to me last week, and I just now had a chance to install it. I have a pretty complex network I am installing it on. Our home is a 170 year old, brick, three story (4 levels including the basement) house with a detached two stall garage on a little less then 3/4 of an acre. To maintain a healthy, stable wifi signal through out has been quite a challenge. I have one main router in my attic, that connects via hard wire to several different routers throughout the levels as repeaters/switches. That main router was approximately 5 years old, and was due to be replaced/upgraded. Our Armstrong Internet service/hardware was recently upgraded to 50Mbps, but a speedtest showed that to see those increased speeds, the home network would require an upgrade. That is where this LINKSYS EA9500 MAX-STREAM™ AC5400 Tri-Band WiFi Router comes into play. I have to mention that when I opened the box on this beast, I was impressed. Everything about it screamed, speed. To it's eight antenna array around the base of it, to it's robust footprint, and its gorgeous led dispaly. This thing is a beaut. It's ashamed that in my install it is tucked away in my data closet, not to be displayed in all it's geeky glory!!! Remember what I mentioned about the footprint, this thing measures 10.4 inches deep by 12.5 inches wide and stands 2.6 inches tall (without antennas). That is not your father's Router. It will not stand on end either. But I imagine the size and antenna array are all designed specifically for the robust speed it advertises on LinkSys's website, up to 2166Mbps. I just did a speed test, and can I get a drum roll....the test results improved considerably. Our download speed was 32Mbps, and now it is 55.5Mbps. Thank you LinkSys. If your looking to drop some cash on a current, fast router. This is one I would suggest. The only downside to it, is it's size. But to get the speeds it promotes, you'll figure out where to "display it in all of it's geeky glory!"

Set up was fairly easy. Was up and running in less than 15 mins. Problems soon followed. Blocked one of the desktop connections, blocked NAT game console connections. Speed it great. 4K streaming flows wonderful. Tri-Band coverage is excellent. Smart Wifi app works well. PROS: A preconfigured wireless network makes set up easy. CONS: Huge piece of hardward, and weighs 4.5lbs.

This latest Max-Stream router from Linksys is their top-of-the-line router with MU-MIMO technology. It has one radio for 2.4GHz and two radios for 5GHz in order to get the maximum throughput for multiple users on the 5GHz bands. A nice touch with this model is an indicator light on the router to show when you have MU-MIMO devices connected. I'm not sure how often one will use it, but there's also a button on the router for completely enabling or disabling wireless. Like the other Max-Stream Linksys routers, this model can be managed by the "Smart Wi-Fi" phone app that you can use to manage your home network from anywhere. Besides seeing what devices are connected, the handiest feature for me has been the ability to enable and disable guest wireless. Most of the time I have it off, so I can just flip the switch "on" via the app when guests are around needing access. If you decide to purchase this model, know that it's physically bigger than most home routers so you'll need to make sure you have a clear spot to place it. It's also designed to sit flat and not be wall mounted (which is an option for the EA7500). But this limitation is well worth it considering it has 8 ethernet ports built in. For me, that saves having to use the external 4-port switch I've always needed for all of my devices. Another nice feature with the EA9500 is that it comes with a 3-year warranty as well as 3 years of support. Since it's got all the "next-gen" wireless features I can easily see this router at the core of my home network for three years or more. One final thing to mention is the Max-Stream routers, along with a MU-MIMO range extender, can allow you to cover a large house with "seamless roaming." The access points all broadcast the same SSID so your mobile devices can automatically stay connected to the strongest signal as you move around the house. This feature, combined with the MU-MIMO bandwidth, make this a very worthwhile router in my book.

Full Disclosure: I was chosen to review this product by receiving this item for free. This is my honest opinion and the fact that it was free does not alter my view. With that being said, The Linksys EA9500 is a behemoth of a wireless router. It has 8 antennas on it which allow it to cover I would say 5,000-6,000 square feet of area. I live in a one bedroom apartment and I could go outside to my garage which is behind my apartment and still get full bars. I have this plugged into a Netgear modem which has WiFi built into it, but I disabled it and replaced the WiFi with this router. Now, lets get to the performance of this router. After some fine tweaking (channel setting, channel width, separating the 2.4ghz from 5ghz etc) I did a speed test on my iPhone 6S Plus. Wow, I have never gotten such an amazing speedtest on wifi before! 225 MBS Download and 27 MB upload, it was literally just as fast if not faster than my wire! This thing covers such a wide area and has 3 different bands that it could easily support up to 20 devices at once. There are so many settings within the wireless admin panel I could not believe it. These are settings I only see in my line of work with enterprise grade routers. You can set VLAN tags, create a DMZ, QoS, tons of security settings, use a single SSID for roaming and much more. Honestly, it is going to be overwhelming to anyone who is not familiar with networking. I myself can't even find a use for all the settings, if I tried i could though! My biggest gripes is that I don't feel as if the auto steering of the 5GHZ channel works as well as it can. I found my stability of connection was more iffy with this setting on than with it off and setting each 5GHZ band on its own channel. Also, I tried using a range extender with this wifi router and experienced a dropped connection every 30 seconds. Now I do not know if because my range extender was too close to my router or if it just has issues with range extenders. My place is too small to determine. Also, I hate how the guest network is an open network and you can not change it. Yes, you have to enter a password once you join it, but I just do not like it being broadcasted as open because then your neighbors try to hop on it and it just bothers me, I hope they allow a feature in the future to make it a private network. All in all, after a few firmware updates, this thing will probably be the best wireless router for large home networks or even small businesses that need powerful and secure WiFi with lots of customization.

Router worked well enough, but lacks many advanced features for the price.

This router would be complete were it not for it being incapable of supporting a vpn client.