Linksys offers a router to a happy family life

IT GOES without saying that modern families whose digital lives revolve around a lot of online content, like streaming on-demand videos and digital music as well as Internet-based TV stations, need a reliable, high-performance connection.
And the Linksys Max-Stream AC2600 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router (EA8500) can match just about every demand.
The EA8500 is powered by a fast processor, equipped with MU-MIMO technology and a speedy wireless protocol of 802.11ac to handle huge data traffic.
A survey by IDC found that a high-performance router with MU-MIMO technology is essential to ensure a smooth digital life. The survey found that participants had at least three wireless access users in their homes. It also found that people are doing more on their home networks using older wireless technology that is not suited for the type of wireless connections needed in today’s households – which have multiple users and multiple devices.
The survey found that 84 per cent of the respondents were streaming movies/TV and another activities such as streaming music, playing games, or surfing the Internet at the same time, and nearly 50 per cent still used routers running versions of Wi-Fi at least 12 years old.
The report found that an average house has more than eight devices connecting to the Internet and they are not used for just sending emails. Devices such as smart TVs are used to stream movies and TV shows in high definition while video chatting and video games were eating up a lot of bandwidth. As a result, during the family rush hour, the network is often clogged, leading to sluggish online video streaming or lagging online game-playing, even although the family may have subscribed to fast broadband connection.
The EA8500 has a solution for this network clogging. The flagship Linksys router features the 802.11ac Wave 2 MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple Output) technology, which helps ensure uninterrupted Wi-Fi connectivity to all devices in the home and functions as if multiple devices have their own dedicated router. With MU-MIMO, the whole household can play video games, listen to music, check email, shop, stream movies, and more, all at the same time.
The Linksys EA8500 router is powered by a Qualcomm MU EFX MU-MIMO technology, which helps to provide up to three times faster speeds compared to current Wi-Fi. 
It provides combined Wi-Fi speed of 2.53 Gbps, which is comprised of up to 1733 Mbps for 5 GHz connection and 800 Mbps for 2.4 GHz bandwidth.
The router can handle the heavy traffic because it is powered by a supercharged 1.4 GHz dual-core CPU. It also has four Gigabit ports to offer wired blazing-fast speeds perfect for heavy-bandwidth gaming. 
The unit also comes with a USB 3.0 port and a combo USB 2.0/eSATA port for uninterrupted personal cloud content streaming or data sharing across a network. A hard drive can be attached to store digital music or HD video files for sharing. The sharing can be done with ease.
You can also attach you printer to the remaining USB port and share your printer without the need of a complicated network setup.
The EA8500 has four removable external antennas, which are adjustable for maximum coverage. It uses Beamforming technology to concentrate the Wi-Fi signal to each device for stronger performance and increased mobile speed and range. 
During the test, I found the EA8500 had wide coverage. I could comfortably browse web pages from the third floor while the router was located on the ground floor.
I found that the EA8500 handled huge data traffic very well without clogged the network. I tested by using three notebook computers to watch HD movies from video-on-demand iFlix.com and streamed 4K videos from YouTube.com simultaneously. The notebooks were connected to the EA8500 using 802.11ac protocol. 
At the same time, two other users in the house were also playing online games, and I used a smartphone, connected to the router using 802.11 ac protocol, to stream high-quality digital music from Joox.com. 
All of these online activities were done without network hiccups. The HD videos streamed smoothly and the music played cleanly as well.
I tested the router on True Internet’s FTTX fibre-optic service at 16 Mbps.
The EA8500 router supports Linksys Smart Wi-Fi technology that allowed easy setup. During the test, I simply connected to the router using the provided SSID or router’s wireless name and Wi-Fi passwords. Then, I simply launched my web browser and the Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Setup began automatically. I needed to connect a LAN cable from my True FTTX modem to the EA8500’s Internet port first before starting the setup process.
After the Smart Wi-Fi Setup process began, it automatically made adjustments without requiring me to select any Internet or network protocol. I simply needed to change the EA8500’s SSID to be the same as my current router and the same Wi-Fi password and all my of my devices went back online in a snap.
Linksys Max-Stream AC2600 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router is highly recommended if you have a busy Internet family who stream a lot of digital movies and music at the same time. 
It is available at leading retail stores and online stores, such as Lazada, for Bt11,390. The price may seem high but it will be worth it in the long term and can save you complaints from your digitally-centric family members.

KEY SPECS
- Processor: 1.4 GHz Dual-Core ARM-based
- Wireless Standards with Link Rate: IEEE 802.11ac (up to 1733 Mbps for 5 GHz), IEEE 802.11n (up to 800 Mbps for 2.4 GHz/up to 600 Mbps for 5 GHz)
- Wireless Encryption: WEP 64/128-bit, WPA2 Personal, WPA2 Enterprise, WPA2/WPA Mixed Personal, WPA2/WPA Mixed Enterprise
- Memory: 128MB Flash, 512MB DDR3 RAM
- Storage File System Support: FAT, NTFS, HFS+
- Ports: 1 Gigabit Internet port, 4 x Gigabit Ethernet ports
- Power: Input: 100-240V-50-60 Hz; Output: 12V/3.5A
- Minimum System Requirements: Latest versions of Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari (for Mac or iPad), or Internet Explorer versions 8 or newer
- Package Includes: EA8500, Quick Start Guide, 4 Detachable Antennas, Ethernet Cable, Power Adapter, CD-ROM with Documentation