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).
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.
The Asus RT-AC87U is the world’s first AC2400-class dual-band 802.11ac wireless router with a four-transmit, four-receive (4×4) antenna configuration. It is also the first in the world to employ multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) technology. It offers 5GHz speeds of 1.7334Gbit/s along with 2.4GHz speeds of 600Mbit/s for a combined total of 2.334Gbit/s. It comes with feature such as Asus AiRadar universal beamforming, adaptive Quality-of-Service (QoS) and AiProtection with exclusive Trend Micro security.
It was announced back in January 2014 at CES 2014 and it will finally be launching in Singapore at COMEX 2014. COMEX 2014 will take place at Level 4 and 6 of Suntec City Singapore from the Thursday, 28th August 2014 till Sunday, 31st August 2014. Opening hours are from 12pm till 9pm and admission is free. After COMEX 2014, you can get the router from all authorised Asus reseller like Challenger.
The Linksys WRT1900AC box got to be the biggest box for a router that I have received. When I opened the box, everything is held in place with foam instead of cardboard and there is sponge sticked to the top of the box to protect the router. I have not seen such premium packaging before for a router.
The Linksys WRT1900AC will be retailing for S$399 which makes it the most expensive consumer router that I come across. It is even more expensive than the Asus RT-AC68U. It will be exclusively available at all Challenger outlets from 22nd May 2014 (yesterday) to 22nd June 2014. After that, it will be available at all other leading IT stores in Singapore from 23 June 2014 onwards.
I was using the Huawei MiFi E585 which I bought 4 years ago till the battery life decided to give up on me. The battery will go flat after about an hour of usage. On top of that I am spoilt with 4G because the 3G speed is way too slow in Singapore, due to bandwidth congestion.
The DIR-868L is a draft IEEE 802.11ac router that supports simultaneous dual band (2.4GHz + 5GHz) and can give you speed up to 450Mbps + 1,300Mbps. It is also a “cloud router”, in the sense that you can access your router basic settings via mydlink Lite app on iOS or Android.
Asus launched the world smallest router last week measuring 6.5cm long and weighing 17.5g, the Asus WL-330NUL. It is available since 20th May 2013 for S$59.
The Asus WL-330NUL is a 4-in-1 router, it acts like a router, USB Ethernet adapter, Wireless adapter, and supports hot spot sharing!
Western Digital is entering into the router market with the launch of 3 routers and 2 routers with built-in storage. These routers are priced pretty competitively!
I will be reviewing the My Net N900 which is retailing for S$239.