As we mentioned earlier, the Linksys E3000 is actually a rebadged WRT610N. We’re taking a second look at it now because it remains Cisco’s best consumer router; as such, we owe it to our readers to compare it to the best of what the rest of the industry has to offer.
The Linksys E3000 scored dead last in most of our benchmarks--and left us wondering which of its two radios we were testing.
We updated the router with the latest firmware for this review and downloaded fresh drivers for the Linksys AE1000 dual-band USB client adapter, so we were quite surprised to see the router perform more poorly than it did when we tested it several months ago. Cisco Connect remains the easiest tool we’ve ever used to establish a connection to a router, but Cisco’s “fix” for a problem we described in our initial review has rendered the router a whole lot less appealing.
In that earlier review, we discovered that using the router’s web interface to change the router’s SSID broke Cisco Connect. The new firmware not only forces you to use Cisco Connect to change the SSID, it uses the very same SSID for both the 2.4- and 5GHz networks. So when your client Wi-Fi adapter surveys the airspace, it sees only one network plus the guest network. That’s just dumb.
A brain-dead zombie could connect a wireless client using Cisco Connect.
Crap benchmark performance; NAS feature doesn't support NTFS drives; can't share a USB printer.
| 2.4Ghz | |
|---|---|
| Bedroom, 10ft (Mb/s) | 56.1 |
| Kitchen, 20ft (Mb/s) | 55.9 |
| Enclosed Patio, 38ft (Mb/s) | 4.8 |
| Bedroom 2, 60ft (Mb/s) | 3.8 |
| Media Room, 35ft (Mb/s) | 2.3 |
| Outdoors, 85ft (Mb/s) | N/C |
| Linksys E3000 | |
|---|---|
| Radio Frequencies | Dual-band: 2.4- and 5GHz |
| Guest Network | Yes, on the 2.4GHz band only |
| DLNA-Compliant Media Server | No |
| USB Ports | One (for storage only) |
| NTFS Drive Support | No |
| WDS Bridge/Repeater Support | No |
Belshazer
November 08, 2010 at 7:55am
I don't know if it is due to an upgrade in the firm ware, but I just bought one of these a couple of weeks ago and I have 2 NTFS drives connected through a USB hub attached to the USB port on this router and I don't have any problems reading and writing to them.
patrickmaher
June 23, 2010 at 4:24pm
Michael,
In early May you commented on your Cisco Valet Plus review that this E3000 review would be released at the same time as the July issue but you also mentioned other router reviews would be out in a few weeks (late May).
I need to get a new router but have been holding off to see your other reviews. I am tempted to get the Netgear WNDR3700 that you gave a good review of but some commenters mentioned new routers that they wanted to see reviewed and compared to the Netgear. A lot of the routers look good on paper so your real world benchmarks have been helpful to see which actually preform well. Are those other router reviews coming anytime soon?
MrMick
June 24, 2010 at 2:24pm
In a word: Yes. I've benchmarked two more but I've been buried in a couple of projects for the print magazine and haven't had time to write them up. At the risk of stealing my own thunder, I have not yet tested anything that beats the WNDR3700--yet.
Michael Brown, Reviews Editor
Twitter: brownieshq
patrickmaher
July 05, 2010 at 8:27pm
Hey Michael, thanks for your reply and heads up on the WNDR3700. Still looking forward to those other reveiws. Keep up the great job on the magazine.
michaelh
June 23, 2010 at 10:36am
From a non-benchmarking perspective, I did notice this was a vast improvement over my previous router (an old Netgear 802.11G) in terms of range and speed (with 802.11G devices). I was pretty thrilled about the media server / USB connection, not having a dedicated HTPC.
The web interface is abysmal, though. I was amazed that it was more redundant, less powerful, less intuitive and less user-friendly than my NetGear router's from 6 years ago. The media server interface and disk management utility is one of the most tedious and frustrating applications I've used and the lack of customization of the disk layout is inexcusable. I'm okay with hunting through abstractly-named root directories but my less tech-saavy girlfriend has given up trying to find our music collection on it via the PS3 - and she's mastered setting up PC-PS3 XM streaming (a fairly involved task).
big_montana
June 22, 2010 at 12:02pm
Mr. Brown, in the negatives you state that you cannot share a printer over a network. That is a basic functionality of any router, and you do not even mention tis in the story, detials, details, details please. And who cares if it does not come with a BT client,a s most users have a preference of one client over another.
Caboose
June 22, 2010 at 2:26pm
No, sharing a printer over a network is a basic function of a print server. In most businesses this is handeled by a server, usually a file server doubles as a print server. In the home, the printer can be shared by your local workstation, or if the router has a built in print server, then via that feature. Some printers act as their own print server (those are network printers which have built in LAN or WiFi) A router's primary function is to route network traffic from one location (ie. your tubes) to another location (ie. your desktop PC via LAN, or laptop via Wireless) through the 4-port switch or WLAN.
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
Ntldr
June 22, 2010 at 11:26am
I have one of these routers and I have the following: 2 Network Printers and 2 Computers. I am able to share both printers on the network and print to either one from both computers.
MrMick
June 22, 2010 at 2:45pm
I'm referring to connecting a printer to the router's USB port and sharing it on your network that way. If your printer has an Ethernet port, you can of course share it on the network using any router. You can also plug your USB printer into one of your networked PCs and share it over the network that way--as long as the PC is turned on in order to function as a printer server.
This router is equipped with a single USB port and it is limited to sharing a USB storage device on your network. As stated on Linksys' website
"USB port for centralized file sharing with built-in UPnP AV media server."
http://homestore.cisco.com/en-us/Routers/Linksys-E3000-HighPerformance-Wirelessn-router_stcVVproductId97826163VVcatId551966VVviewprod.htm#
Michael Brown, Reviews Editor
Twitter: brownieshq
BuLLg0d
June 22, 2010 at 1:11pm
Bad wordplay. The writer is referring to the usb connection and print sharing, not the network ports. The usb connection can only be used for a mass storage drive. Hell, I guess....
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