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Linksys WRT600N Dual-Band Wi-Fi Router
Posted 03/07/08 at 07:58:43 PM | by Michael Brown
The Linksys WRT600N is the first 802.11n draft 2.0 router we’ve tested that can operate on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands simultaneously. It’s also the most expensive Wi-Fi router we’ve ever tested.
We tested the router at its default settings: The 5GHz radio operating in 802.11n-only mode and the 2.4GHz radio operating in mixed 802.11b/g/n mode. (Both radios have access to the same integrated four-port gigabit switch.) We used the latter for data and the former for streaming media to Linksys’s DMA2200 (reviewed below). The router delivered impressive results, especially while simultaneously transferring data and streaming HD video.
In fact, the WRT600N bested our previous favorite (D-Link’s DIR-655) by a whopping 43 percent at close range (see chart). The chasm widened to a staggering 170 percent when the client was placed at its furthest point from the router inside the home, but the gap narrowed to just 5 percent when we compared performance inside the well-insulated media room at Maximum PC Lab North. D-Link’s product beat Linksys’s when the client was outside the house.
The dual-band feature really came to the fore when we streamed 1080p video clips over the wireless network: The DIR-655’s data throughput dropped by nearly half in some situations; the WRT600N’s was unaffected.
Not everyone needs a router that can handle conventional traffic, VoIP, and high-definition media all at the same time. If you do, or if your neighborhood is simply jam-packed with competing access points, Linksys’s WRT600N should be at the top of your router shopping list.
Linksys’s Storage Link feature allows you to plug any USB storage device into the WRT600N and operate it as an inexpensive NAS device.
Linksys WRT600N
www.linksys.com
www.linksys.com
Delicious
Dual-band blows all other routers we've tested out of the water; Storage Link give ad-hoc NAS functionality.
Malicious
Expensive.
| Benchmarks | ||||||
| Linksys WRT600N (Data Only) |
D-Link Dir-655 (Data Only) |
Linksys WRT600N (Data & Media) |
D-Link Dir-655 (Data & Media) |
|||
| Home Office, 5 feet (Mb/s) | 129.0 | 90.5 | 124.0 | 50.1 | ||
| Kitchen, 20 feet (Mb/s) | 117.0 |
67.4 | 95.2 | 45.3 | ||
| Patio, 38 feet (Mb/s) | 114.0 |
59.6 | 98.2 | 46.0 | ||
| Bedroom, 60 feet (Mb/s) | 78.1 | 28.9 | 70.7 | 23.6 | ||
| Media Room, 35 feet (Mb/s) | 28.8 | 27.3 | 36.0 |
12.0 | ||
| Outdoors A, 90 feet (Mb/s) | 2.1 | 8.4 | 1.4 | 4.6 | ||
| Outdoors B, 85 feet (Mb/s) | 1.1 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 2.0 | ||
Best scores in each scenario (streaming data only and then streaming data and media) are bolded. See here for detailed test criteria.
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Best of the Best - Router
Submitted by jproulx on Wed, 2009-03-11 15:44
Seriously... you raved for months how great having the Best of the Best online was going to be. It was mentioned in many a podcast how it could be updated more often and more time would be spent on it and blah blah blah (written with a smile not a sneer).
Guys... Review posted 3/7/08. As of my posting, your Best of the Best router review is over 1 year old. Is this really still your top pick?
Thanks
Oh yeah and... LOVE the podcast. love you guys. With a little l.
J
After researching this
Submitted by icebird on Fri, 2009-01-30 11:11
After researching this product and reading reviews, I can only conclude that as one reviewer stated, this "isn't worth the box it came in." If you want something fast and unstable that you will get poor support on, buy it now! Time to get with the program MPC!
Submitted by icebird on Fri, 2009-01-30 08:41
My router just crapped out yesterday. How about an update on this BotB item? Still the best? Sounds like a lot of people are having reliability issues--not something that should be happening on a BotB router. A lot of times you guys forget to evaluate reliability in your reviews.
Submitted by shawn Harris on Mon, 2009-01-12 18:26
You make the wrt600n sound like a giant killer. Well i have had in the past linksys routers and in general they usually fail within a short period of time. I currently use a D link dir 655 gigabit extreme N router. Ihave had alot of trouble with it as of late. I wonder if you had to chose which router would you choose. Consider that your recomendation for the wrt600n was made last year, do still standby it or has it changed?.
Submitted by shawn Harris on Mon, 2009-01-12 18:24
You make the wrt600n sound like a giant killer. Well i have had in the past linksys routers and in general they usually fail within a short period of time. I currently use a D link dir 655 gigabit extreme N router. Ihave had alot of trouble with it as of late. I wonder if you had to chose which router would you choose. Consider that your recomendation for the wrt600n was made last year, do still standby it or has it changed?.
Submitted by t3e871 on Mon, 2008-11-24 11:12
OK, I now know that the web based gui does not play well with firefox. It woeks best under IE, but still doesn't show all connected devices. The storage link is very picky, and I can only get it to work with a few 1 GB Corsair USBsticks. No luck with my 250 GB passport drive, or anything larger than 1 GB. After 2-3 months of use, it's still working. I have it running under a linksys cable modem.
Submitted by cola65 on Thu, 2008-10-02 10:25
This was my first WiFi experiment. Initally the install went smooth with my cable modem and even used the supplied program to get the other computers added with security. I was experimenting with Windows Vista Ultimate, which is supposedly compatible, but your mileage may vary. Looking back, should have been smart and just used XP Pro to load the Linksys Advisor program. I'm giving it a year, then considering dd-wrt, hopefully I won't lose the storage port.
One week after the install, the fun started happening. It lost connectivity to the internet. Resetting was a pain and then the GUI software decided that it didn't see the device anymore. This has happened multiple times over the months and I just unplug it and let it get another IP from the cable modem.
I did flash to the most recent firmware and did go through the web based interface to make sure the timezone and DHCP option were set correctly. Why it cannot consistently get a lease renewal is anyones guess, the wired router version I had before it never had a problem.
And everyone is right, this thing gets extremely hot. It doesn't help that I live in the south and it get hot here anyway. It's been better since I keep a fan blowing on it, but it still goofs occasionally and I have to reset.
Other than that, the 1GB links work fine with my PC and I've never had problems plugging in cat5 cables that I've made.
Submitted by t3e871 on Mon, 2008-08-04 13:00
OK, I was a bit harsh on my last review. Now that I have a working unit in use in my house and I have been able to fully test it out, I'd like to add some thoughts. The router is actually really fast - and I haven't even tried the "N" band. I still don't like the fact that most of my cat5 cables will not fully seat in the ports. Also the firmware is still buggy. I have not been able to get the storage link to work on either of my routers. I think with a firmware update this might actually be a good router.
the wrong side kick
Submitted by blueaball on Fri, 2008-03-14 09:30
what about an adapter that attaches via USB?
Submitted by blueaball on Fri, 2008-03-14 09:26
the one that you said is for laptops, but what about ones that connect with a USB port?
Anyone else use this router
Submitted by Chumly on Wed, 2008-03-12 22:27
Anyone else use this router and not get near the performance they did at the same distances? And I'm not talking lead popcorn ceilings and dense walls. I mean straight shot throughput.
With all firmware versions, the throughput on this one drops very linearly the further you get from it. Can't get past 109MB/s at 5ft even with bonded channels and 90MB/s seperate (Up/Down) on 2.4Ghz...and worse for 5ghz.
Do you test throughput with any security enabled, or just open? This thing drops about 65% w/ WPA-TKIP and Wep-128! WPA2 wasn't nearly as bad and just hit it at about 10% difference on or off. I could see getting the listed throughput with an open router, but you don't run open routers.
I tell ya, this thing's getting handed off very soon and putting the D-link DGL-4500 back in it's place.
Submitted by blueaball on Tue, 2008-03-11 09:44
well, it's good and all that you mention the router, but what about the adapters?!? you don't mention those, and it would be great.
Wi-Fi Adapters
Submitted by MrMick on Wed, 2008-03-12 09:11
We use each manufacturer's companion adapter in our tests. When I tested the dual-band Linksys WRT600N, I benchmarked it using the dual-band Linksys WPC600N adapter.
Submitted by t3e871 on Fri, 2008-08-01 13:25
The first one crapped out after 1 month, ethernet port went out....linksys replaced withing a week or so with a remanned one, after 1+ hours of tech support, broken english, getting to the bottom of the problem that I told them in the first 2 minutes of the call. Firmware is buggy, for example...no way in hell to see the attached devices on your network. Hot as fire! comes close to burning your hand when in operation. Beware if you make your own cat 5 cables...all my factory crimped cable snap into place fine, but three different DIY cat5 ends won't snap into place...not three single ones, I'm talking about NONE of my cables made with three different style of cat5 ends. Range is nothing to brag about, my old netgear g was way stronger. I might try to use that open source firmware in this months mag on this POS and see if I can make it usable.
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