Linksys E4200v2

[hanime]

I know E4200v1 is one of the best, but anybody have the E4200v2? How is it compared to the v1? Thinking about buying it, but wonder if it's worth the extra price.

[jhl1989]

I know E4200v1 is one of the best, but anybody have the E4200v2? How is it compared to the v1? Thinking about buying it, but wonder if it's worth the extra price.

I went to best buy the other day but even they didn't know. 450Mbps support?

[downloads]

Linksys E4200v1 uses Broadcom SoC BCM4718- part of it is 2.4GHz radio capable of 300mbps.
Since E4200v2 is capable of doing 450mbps on both bands (at least in theory as 2.4GHz is too overcrowded to pull that off) they had to replace the main chip meaning build a completely new router.

E4200v2 has nothing in common with E4200v1- apart from the chassis.
v2 is based on a Marvell chipset and will not be supported by 3rd party firmware solutions (at least not in foreseeable future)

Recommendation: stay away from v2- buy v1.

[hanime]

Wow thanks download. Didn't realize they changed the chip. I am all over the DD-WRT or TomatoUSB firmwares on these, as Broadcom are more supported. Too bad, I'll stick with the v1 then.

[tijo]

That's too bad for the v2's lack of support for third party firmware. Any idea how the marvel chip fares in the throughput area vs the broadcom in the v1. The boradcom was a good chip, let's hope they didn't nerf that to brag about 450mbps on both bands.

[downloads]

I'm more worried about amplifiers and antennas- E4200v1 had an outstanding 2.4GHz range because those parts were very good.
I'm afraid Linksys might do what Netgear did with WNDR3700v2 and cut costs.

[mrblings]

i have a question. I have a bigfoot network 1103 and wondering is the Linksys E4200 is a the best router for that wiresless card. I heard that there aren't many dual band routers that give 4450mbps on both bands.

So Im wondering what the best router is for the Bigfoot Network 1103

[downloads]

You won't be able to achieve 450mbps on 2.4GHz bands since there is no chance of you finding three free neighboring channels.
The only way to do it is on 5GHz band- which E4200 can do.

[mrblings]

You won't be able to achieve 450mbps on 2.4GHz bands since there is no chance of you finding three free neighboring channels.
The only way to do it is on 5GHz band- which E4200 can do.

so the best router for Bigfoot 1103 is linksys E4200?

[downloads]

There's no such thing as the best router for a given card.
If you want to take advantage of 450mbps you need a three stream router capable of transmitting it on 5GHz.
There are several routers like that- Linksys E4200, Netgear WNDR4000, Netgear WNDR4500 and Belkin N750.

If I was to recommend one it would actually be Linksys E4200 since it offers both exceptional 2.4GHz range (and this band is used primarily for range not for throughput) and 450mbps theoretical throughput @5GHz (where the range is rather poor)
So it is the best of both on one package.
I didn't consider the price as a factor though- if you get a great deal on another router it may change the picture for you.