At a Glance
Expert’s Rating
Our Verdict
The Linksys EA6900 is a relatively competent draft-11ac router performance as good or better than its much dearer sister product, the Linksys WRT1900AC. It offers cloud access if you don’t object to Belkin’s current terms of use, and an attractive modern interface with which to configure the unit even if you use it without the Smart Wi-Fi cloud service.
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Linksys EA6900 review: Build and Design
The EA6900 is a compact flat table-top design in matt black with cooling vents around the sides, underside and also on top, with a metal-coloured plastic strip running through its middle. The Linksys name now sits on this band and is backlit in white when the router is powered up.
At the back are the familiar four gigabit ethernet LAN ports and single WAN port labelled Internet. Two USB ports are sited horizontally next to each other, one USB 2.0 and one v3.0.
Build quality is good and the style relatively unobtrusive, if spoiled a little by the flashy aerials although this does give the unit an image of more serious intent.
Linksys EA6900 review: Interface
Cisco-owned Linksys introduced the controversial Connect Cloud software management for its EA (enabled app) series of routers, which has now been ported to the range sold by new owner Belkin and renamed Smart Wi-Fi. The remote administration system was first plagued by privacy issues as the company forced users to agree to Ts&Cs that would enable the company to monitor your home internet traffic, and give it power to switch off its service; for example if you accessed what it deemed inappropriate material. The terms were hastily changed after the inevitable outcry from concerned users. More recently under new ownership, malware nicknamed TheMoon was discovered that exploited the cloud management facility and was spread between routers by a self-propagating worm. The EA-series firmware has since been patched for this particular vulnerability.
Once you do log in to the admin interface, you find a modern, stylised and animated environment with all the usual features of a high-end domestic router – guest access, device priority QoS, parental control with remote monitoring, port forwarding and so on. See all Wi-Fi and networking reviews .
Linksys EA6900 review: Performance
At close range the EA6900 was able to lock to the maximum 2.4 GHz 11n rate for suburban dwellings (217 Mb/s with MCS Index 23), and provided real-world transfer speeds of 170 Mb/s, in line with the group. Longer range speed was in the upper half of those tested, averaging 126 Mb/s here, albeit let down by a low recorded client-to-server performance of only 97 Mb/s.
Using its draft-11ac mode, we saw a respectable average of 571 Mb/s at 2 m, although in the 10 m test it slipped to fourth-best among those six tested, with an average of 308 Mb/s.
Specs
Linksys EA6900: Specs
- Dual-band wireless router with draft 11ac
- 3×3:3 MIMO
- 1300 + 600 nominal speed rating
- 3x external detachable antennae with RP-SMC connectors
- 2x Broadcom BCM4360 RF tansceivers
- Broadcom BCM4709 (1 GHz ARM Cortex-A9)
- 128 MB flash, 256 MB RAM
- 1 x gigabit WAN, 4 x gigabit LAN
- 1 x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
- 285 x 185 x 50 mm
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