Linksys EA6500 HD Video Pro AC1750 Smart Wi-Fi Router

Pros: This router is perfect for those with no idea on how to customise a router to do all things you expect it to do out of the box.

The UI steps them through procedures and makes it easier, but not too easy for an average person to be able to set it up.

Cons: Wasn't easy to set up at all. I'm using a Netgear DM111P ADSL2+ modem. Instructions are inadequate to get you on the net if you have anything beyond a basic setup.

Summary: This router is nothing like I expected. It certainly doesn't qualify as a top of the range router, given that it hardly performs any better then my old Linksys WRT610N.

The setup disc and the instructions were useless to me, as my setup must be something out of the ordinary. I don't know why that would be, but it refused to recognise my ADSL modem and couldn't get me on the Internet.

After a number of hours of mucking around with settings in the ADSL modem and the EA6500 I finally got the two to place nice together, but it was far more difficult then Linksys would have you believe and far more harder then setting up my original WRT610N.

I have also found that the wireless performance on 2.4GHz and 5GHz in the 802.11g/h bandwidths to be on par, but no better than the WRT610N. Though, since I don't own any 802.11ac devices yet the product may come into its own there, but the vast amount of devices using 802.11a/b/g/n have not gotten any faster speeds using this device.

I am pretty disappointed with the EA6500 and in hindsight I would have stayed with the WRT610N, but sadly that router gave up the ghost after many reliable years of service. I don't hold many hopes for this device or place it in the same league as the WRT610N.

Do your research before buying this router and make sure you weigh up all the pros and cons before laying out your hard earned cash for this device.