Linksys WRT1900AC Dual Band Wireless Router Review

Today we are looking at the WRT 1900AC dual band wireless router from Linksys. This is the current flagship model sporting the latest dual band technologies along with the 802.11 ac wireless specification. With a theoretical transfer speed of well over a Gigabit per second, wirelessly, can the WRT1900AC make ultra high-speed WiFi connections a reality? Let's find out... The WRT1900AC is similar to the old WRT54G in terms of design and also brings back support for the popular OpenWRT and DD-WRT open source firmware. Aside from that, this router is already set to deliver class leading performance thanks to the cutting edge AC1900 chipset. Specifications: N600 + AC1300 Mbps. 'Beam forming' technology. 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 USB 3.0 port. Four Gigabit Ethernet ports. WPA 2 encryption and SPI firewall. 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU. Four high performance antennas. Open source firmware developed by OpenWRT. 1x eSATA port. 128MB flash storage. 256MB DDR3 RAM. 2.4 GHz and 5GHz simultaneous operating frequencies. The Linksys WRT1900AC comes packaged in a sturdy box, the inside is lined with foam to ensure that the router won't get damaged during shipping. The two sides of the box show off a full list of specifications and the back I/O connections. The router itself feels very premium with its sturdy build quality, gold plated antenna connections and adequate ventilation for cooling. You'll also find a driver disc, power adapter and four antennas in the box. On the rear you'll find plenty of connections including four Gigabit Ethernet ports, an eSATA port, two USB connections, a reset button and power switch. On the front of the router you'll find several LEDs, notifying you which wireless frequencies are currently active, if WiFi is being used and which Ethernet ports are active. In terms of looks, the Linksys WRT1900AC is likely going to cause a divide, not everyone will want to proudly display one of these in their home. However, in terms of features, the WRT1900AC is already looking rather impressive. The setup process is completed via the Linksys Smart WiFi software. The initial setup of the Linksys WRT 1900AC allows users to name their 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz connections and set passwords. You'll then be asked to create an overall router password to access the settings menu and finally, you can opt in to create a Smart Wi-Fi account, which will allow you to access your router's settings via a smartphone app. Linksys has been a leader in terms of easy router set ups over the last few years, so it should come as no surprise to learn that the WRT 1900AC only takes a minute or two to initially set up. Now we can take a look at this router's long list of useful features. The main page for the Smart Wi-Fi application provides a number of 'widgets' on the home screen alongside several tabs to access different settings and features. The widgets displayed on the home page can be customized by the user to allow for quick access to your most used features. Some tabs can also be adjusted to suit preference. Guest access can be turned on or off and you can cap how many people can have access. This network shows up separately and has its own unique password. Linksys also incorporates a parental control panel, which allows you to restrict Internet access on certain devices connected to the network. You can also block select sites for select devices. The parental controls are extensive and very easy to set up. Another useful feature packed in to the WRT 1900AC is media prioritization, allowing you to designate up to three devices as 'high priority' on the network, you can also set certain applications or online games as high priority. Linksys provides a good number of preset applications and online games in a drop down menu. However, if you don't find what you're looking for, then you can manually configure a high priority application or game. Additional tweaking allows you to cap the network's downstream bandwidth, you can also turn on Wi-Fi Multimedia (WMM) support, which can be useful for regular users of VoIP software. This router also comes with a pretty nifty external storage feature, which allows you to plug an external storage device in to the router and create a media server for local devices. You can create specific shared folders and restrict access on certain devices on the network. You'll also be able to set different username and passwords. However, not all external drives or USB sticks are currently supported so you may run in to issues. A basic speed testing tool is provided by Ookla, the same company behind Speedtest.net. The tool allows users to check a list of previous results, which could come in handy if you have reason to believe that your ISP is intentionally throttling your connection. However, I found this tool to be inaccurate in my testing, showing much slower speeds than I actually get. My Speedtest.net results also differed greatly from the Linksys tool results. The 'Connectivity' tab is where users can change their network name, password and check for firmware updates. Linksys allows users to apply updates automatically or manually. Advanced connectivity settings are accessible via a series of subsection tabs. The 'Wireless' section provides users with access to the settings for both the 2.4 GHz and 5GHz networks. Here, you can adjust the network mode, security mode, channel width and channel used. You can also adjust the WPS settings here. Linksys provides users with an adequate number of adjustable security settings, allowing you to set up various filters, a VPN passthrough and firewall. You'll also be able to set up the DMZ and forward ports for specific applications and games. To test the Linksys WRT 1900AC router, we copy files across Wi-fi to/from a Synology DS1813+ NAS. This NAS is wired to the LinkSys WRT1900AC via a Netgear 24 port GB Switch. We read results from a Mac Pro 2013 workstation system which features 802.11 AC capable hardware. The Synology DS1813+ NAS features a full population of 2TB Western Digital HDD's. For our short range test, the system will be positioned around 3 meters away from the router in the same room. This represents a typical usage scenario where the 1900AC is required to provide a wireless signal for multiple devices in the same room. For medium range testing, our system was positioned around 6 meters from the router on the building's floor below. This way the signal will have to travel through the floor and a couple of plasterboard walls. These tests are being run in a typical four bedroomed house, so its a fairly common usage scenario for our readers. We'll also be running a long-range test with the system positioned around 10 meters from the router horizontally on the building's floor below. The signal will have to travel through several walls and the floor, making this procedure the most demanding. This represents a typical usage scenario in which the router is required to provide a wireless signal to multiple devices located in separate rooms of the house. We'll be using a Mac Pro 2013 Workstation for these tests. This supports 802.11ac wireless as well as 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands. Mac Pro 2013 System: CPU: Intel Xeon e5 2697 V2 SSD: 1TB Apple PCIe Graphics: AMD Firepro D500 (x2) Memory: 64GB 1866mhz DDR3 ECC. Operating System: OSX 10.9.5 Short Range results: These speeds are very good indeed, hitting 723Mbps in the read test. Medium Range results: Speeds drop a little, although not too much, to around 600Mbps. Long Range Results: This is the most intensive test and if you want maximum performance then a dedicated range extender would be beneficial to maintaining and possibly improving the signal. The speeds dropped to around 380Mbps. The Linksys WRT 1900AC wireless router is a powerful device that is packed with useful software features. Transfer speeds were impressive in all of our tests, making this an excellent choice for home use. We weren't able to achieve 1300 Mbps speeds but make no mistake, this router is still no slouch. Additionally, I found the media prioritization and external storage features to be particularly useful and easy to use. Being able to plug in an external hard drive and set it up as a media server for the whole house was easy and eliminates the need for a dedicated NAS if you're not taking up multiple terabytes of space. I imagine that many home users will find this feature useful. While I didn't make much use of the router's parental control features, I have to admit that I was impressed by all of the options available, particularly being able to limit blocks to specific devices on the network. The Linksys WRT 1900AC is a fantastic router but it doesn't come cheap. Overclockers UK do sell them for £219.98, although they are out of stock at the moment. Alternatively, you can can pick one up from Amazon, which does have stock, for £219.99. Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE. Pros: High transfer speeds. Simple setup. Useful software features. Open source firmware. Media server capabilities. Extensive and easy to use parental controls. Cons: Expensive. KitGuru Says: The Linksys WRT 1900AC is a fantastic router, it is expensive but it is also loaded with the latest technology and is built to last, making it a worthy investment.