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The Linksys Max-Stream AC2600 MU-MIMO Gigabit Router or Linksys EA8500 Router in short was released on 4th August 2015 exclusively at Challenger and is now available in most electronics stores. The recommended retail price of the Linksys EA8500 is S$399.

Despite having a model number of EA8500, it is not exactly a lower end model when compared to the Linksys EA9200 Router. The Linksys EA9200 is a AC3200 router and hence it is capable of speeds up to 3,200Mbps while the EA8500 is an AC2600 router capable of speeds up to 2,530Mbps. But let’s be honest here, even in the perfect case environment, we will not be able to get up to the theoretical speed.

The WeMo Switch + Motion is retailing at Funan’s Challenger for S$109 (member’s price is S$89) while the WeMo Switch is retailing for S$79 (member’s price is S$71.10).

For a member’s price difference of S$18, I can get the additional motion sensor, and hence I chose the WeMo Switch + Motion instead of just the WeMo Switch.

The D-Link DSP-W215 WiFi Smart Plug as the name suggests is a plug that is connected to your wireless network and that makes it “smart”.

It runs on 802.11n wireless network and is currently retailing for S$69.

The D-Link DIR-890L AC3200 Wireless Tri-Band Gigabit Cloud Router was released in Singapore back in February 2015 and is retailing for S$399 making it the same price as the Linksys EA9200 Wireless AC3200 Tri Band Smart Wi-Fi Router.

I wonder whats up with router names these days, is like each company is trying to add in more keywords to the official name of the router.

Previously, I was using StrongVPN on their StrongVPN Special PPTP which I paid US$55/year (S$75/year).

After my one year contract with them ended, I didn’t renew it because I felt that their server switch quota is kinda limiting though I have never hit the limit before. Server switch basically allows you to switch to different VPN servers.

The new Linksys WRT1200AC router will provides users with the high-end features of the Linksys WRT1900AC router at AC1200 speeds and a lower price point. The Linksys WRT1200AC will retail for S$329 from 4th June 2015 at Challenger stores and at other consumer electronics retail stores by the end of June 2015.

I attended the launch of the new Linksys WRT1200AC in Singapore yesterday and I realised that the WRT firmware received a new update (service pack 4) which includes one of the features that I am looking for, which is a VPN server (Linksys is using OpenVPN server).

The Linksys EA9200 Wireless AC3200 Tri-Band Smart Wi-Fi Router was launched in Singapore on the 6th February 2015 and the recommended retail price of it is S$399. It is only available at Challenger stores for now.

Linksys EA9200 is the new flagship router after the Linksys E8350 AC2400 Dual Band Gigabit Wi-Fi Router and personally I think the EA9200 is the true successor to the Linksys WRT1900AC Router which was launched last May.

The Linksys E8350 AC2400 Dual-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi Router was available from 7th November 2014 at a recommended retail price of S$399 exclusively at Challenger and their online store. This is the second router to be priced at S$399 after the Linksys WRT1900AC Router.

Personally, I think Linksys should stop pricing their router so high because at that price point, no one in the right mind will get a Linksys. Gone are those days that Linksys is a top consumer brand for router. Their features just pale in comparison with the Asus RT-AC87U which is also priced at S$399.

Western Digital (WD) produces the best hard drives and Synology produces the best prosumer Network Attached Storage (NAS). I have two NAS at home, both are from Synology and using WD hard drives.

My Synology DiskStation DS210j is on 2x WD Green 1TB running 24/7 since 2010 and my Synology DiskStation DS413j is on 4x WD Red 1TB running 24/7 since 2013. After all these years, both NAS and their hard drives did not give me a single problem at all.