Linksys Shows Off EA9500 Max-Stream AC5400 Tri-Band MU-MIMO Router

By Ken Brown

linksys EA9500 ac5400 triband routerThe show floor at CES 2016 is already packed with convention folks and new products, but there are a few products getting a ton of attention. The Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream Tri-Band AC5400 Wi-Fi router is one of those products getting tremendous buzz. Even before the router was officially announced, Nate was given an exclusive look and tour of Linksys newest Enterprise-Grade Wi-Fi router.

linksys-ac5400-router

The Linksys EA9500 Max-Stream AC5400 was designed provide WiFi to multiple devices at once supporting Mulit-User MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output or MU-MIMO) technology which is the latest Wireless-AC Technology for simultaneously streaming and gaming on multiple wireless devices. The EA9500 is geared toward those with large households who need a powerful Wi-Fi connection throughout the house who need to experience lag-free gaming, videoconferencing, and file transfers while other parts of the network continue without interruption.

Linksys Shows Off EA9500 Max-Stream AC5400 Tri-Band Router at CES 2016

The new Linksys EA9500 will be offered at a retail price of $399.99 and offer three independent Wi-Fi bands to deliver speeds of up to 5.3 Gbps! This router will be powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core processor to handle multiple streams of data from the eight adjustable external antennas. This antenna and processor combination is also enhanced by Linksys Beamforming technology which directs Wi-Fi signals to each of the wireless clients connected to the router. The router then focuses each signal to provide increased coverage and reception.

Linksys EA9500

The router weighs just under 4 pounds (60.94 ounces), and features 8 Gigabit LAN ports plus a Gigabit WAN port, a USB 3.0, USB 2.0, 8 external adjustable antennas, and 64/128-bit WEB wireless encryption.Linksys EA9500

Some other key features:

  • Wi-Fi Technology:
    • AC5400 MU-MIMO Tri-band Gigabit, 1000+2165+2165 Mbps
  • Router Features:
    • Tri-Band (5 GHz + 5GHz + 2.4 GHz)
    • 4×4 AC, MU-MIMO
    • Advanced Security
    • USB 3.0 Port
    • Dual-Core CPU
    • Beamforming Technology
    • 8 Adjustable Antennas
    • Smart Wi-Fi
  • Wi-Fi Speed:
    • AC5400 (N1000 + AC2615 + AC2615)
  • Wireless Encryption:
    • 64/128-bit WEP, WPA2 Personal, WPA2 Enterprise
  • Operation Modes:
    • Wireless Router
    • Access Point
    • Wired Bridge
    • Wireless Bridge
  • Easy Setup:
    • Browser-based Setup
    • Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Setup

Linksys will even be offering a USB dongle to upgrade your current machines to MU-MIMO. This will obviously make MU-MIMO access much easier for those with ‘legacy’ wireless devices. We should officially hear from Linksys regarding pricing, but we expect that this dongle to be around $70. Linksys mimu-usb-dongle

Even though Linksys has not announced when the router will be available, the Linksys Product Page is taking pre-orders with free ground shipping!