Linksys EA6900 review

The Linksys EA6900 is an AC1900 wireless router, which means it should be one of the fastest routers available. It has a theoretical maximum throughput of 1300Mbit/s when using 5GHz 802.11ac and its wireless chipset also supports the Turbo QAM standard, which can theoretically bring 2.4GHz 802.11n performance up to 600Mbit/s.

The router has three replaceable antennas, a Gigabit WAN port, four Gigabit Ethernet ports, one USB3 and one USB port. These are all at the back, as are a hard power switch and a WPS button. Like most AC routers, it’s a bit chunky.

We were pleased to find that the wireless network comes with a pre-set password, so there’s no chance of anyone getting on to your network while you’re in the process of setting the router up. It’s worth noting that, by default, both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless networks have the same SSID: if you want to make it clear which one a user is connecting to, you’ll want to rename one or both.

The web interface includes a smart setup wizard, which automatically searches for firmware updates and allows you to change the default admin and Wi-Fi passwords. You can create a Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Account, which enables the router’s optional remote administration features.

The web interface is clear, and excellent QoS settings let you easily prioritise the likes of Netflix

The router’s features include a wireless guest network and basic parental controls that let you define when a specific device on your network is allowed online, as well as allowing you to add a simple blacklist of undesirable sites for that device. A QoS media prioritization tool not only lets you assign priority to selected applications, but also lets you select specific machines, so the living room Netflix connection need never be slowed just because someone’s playing online games. If you connect a USB drive, you can set it up as an FTP server, network share or DLNA media server; you can also use one of the router’s USB ports to connect a USB printer and share it across your network.