Linksys LN1301 WiFi Router - Tri-Band WiFi - Plug-n-Play Setup - Covers up to 2700 sq. ft. - Speed up tp 4.2 Gbps - Handles 40+ Devices

1-week Update: so far so good, no failure or drop out. Coverage inside the house is decent; coverage outside (or at exterior walls / extreme corners) not so good. I tried a couple of range extenders but they are still slow. Router signal to exterior garage is still not great. But good router in all other respects, so I will keep in service. At $25 each I’m tempted to buy a 2nd to try as à wireless node at the extreme end/corner of the house.I have been using the TP-Link routers for the past several years. They work fine but when I saw this special deal ($25 !!!) I decided to give it a try. Wasn’t 2-day delivery but it arrived the day before my trip. I was going to wait but I just couldn’t. 😄The instructions are very sparse, just a 2-page pamphlet. There’s a QR code at the bottom that takes you to the Linksys Smart WiFi webpage to manage the router. This required me to enter my name and email and other information that should not have been needed. Then for some reason it didn’t even work properly. So instead I downloaded the iOS app, entered the router’s password (on the bottom), and that seemed to work much better.It picked up the Internets from the cable modem ok, and after 2 tries it let me set my SSID and WiFi password to the same as that of my old router. That way all of the devices would reconnect. Only a couple did not right away, and one still does not for some reason. (Upon further reflection this might not be the fault of the router.)As far as information for diagnosis, the router has a single colored LED on top, nothing else. I have my router set high on the top shelf in my closet to provide the best coverage; the LED on top is therefore not directly visible. I can sort of see its reflection on the ceiling, but not so much in bright sunlight. I wish there were more LED’s like other routers, and on the front or side. It’s basically a single minimalist tower, with no external antennae.It gives just a little higher speed than my old one. It’s supposed to be WiFi 6 capable but it seems to assign the same channel as the old 5 GHz signal.What I care about more is network signal reach and strength/stability. Inside the house seems to be ok but I was hoping the signal would do better reaching out to my detached garage. The door opener hub didn’t quite work at first; but I was able to unplug it and plug it back in which seemed to correct it. My outside camera also had a hard time connecting until I restored my range extender.The app has a lot more options for configuration and status than that of my old router. I haven’t tried the webpage on my PC yet to see if there are more (signal strength, VPN, DNS, etc.).It’s not clear if this has mesh capabilities to provide more coverage. It lists itself as a “node”, implying that other “nodes” could be added. Whether this is true, or how they get added, is not clear. If I were to get a second one of these, would it need a physical Ethernet connection, or would it connect via WiFi? I think even the product information on Linksys’ website implies this is not mesh-capable. (I would bet a lot of people initially bought this thinking it was, only to be disappointed, hence the clearance price.)Overall meh. For $25 it’s a really good value if you need a new router and want an easy setup. Also nice if you want something simple , elegant, and minimalist. For somewhat more advanced users I’m not sure if this fits the bill. But the options for those users are FAR more expensive. Really this is not much better than my old router, if at all.

I am in my 50s and am by far not very tech savvy, but the set up was easy. The hardest part was reconnecting all my streaming devices and computers to the new router, but it seems to have good strong power and I needed an upgrade. My old router was 15 years old so this should service me until technology gets so far ahead that I have to replace it again. The only thing I didn’t like was when I changed the router name to my choice it still hasn’t updated and when I look in my Wi-Fi, it still has its product name.

First off, some notes:- These DO support mesh, check the Slickdeals thread on for the LN1301. Instructions copied below for reference.- They can mesh while in AP mode. To do this, put it in AP mode first and then follow the mesh procedure. When in AP mode, it becomes a DHCP client, so you'll have to find the IP address for the Web UI in your existing router.- They're plenty fast. Under ideal conditions (line of sight, 16 feet) I get 800+mbps on my phone and 700+ on my laptop. Under more realistic conditions (one wall and 20-30 feet), I get 300-500 mbps. Roughly twice as fast as the RT-AC68U that it replaced.- The web UI is hot garbage and the phone app (at least on my units) doesn't work- The setup and pairing process is iffy at best. I had to hard reset all three of my nodes, and it took multiple tries to get them to mesh even after that.Shown in a speed test taken from my home network. My Internet speed is ~2400mbps down / ~360 mbps up. Using this in bridge mode connected to an external router, it achieved 833 down, and saturated my outbound bandwidth.Instructions on meshing:How to enable mesh:Setup your Main router completely.Plug your child node using the wan port to the main router lan port, wait for a solid purple light on the child node before proceeding.Log into your main router web admin.Click on CA at the bottom right.Click on Connectivity and CA Router setup.Click on both Add Wired and Add Wireless nodes buttons. Wait for the Add wireless button to re-enable.Click Done adding Child Nodes and then Apply.Now the child node light should start flashing purple and turn into a mesh mode when it turns blue.Disconnect Ethernet and wait for blue light again.Move node to desired location.How to set up as access point:Disable DHCP (optional).Set the device to Bridge Mode under Connectivity tab.Connect cable from your router to a LAN port.Get some nail polish and a round sticker to cover the annoying flashing right light.Click the 'AC' at the bottom of the page to see the detailed configurations of wifi.

This is a great deal for a wifi 6 router that can work as an access point and mesh. But this has no support so you need to search the internet for info how to set up. Ignore all the reviews that say no mesh. Ignore the customer support that says no mesh. There is mesh in the stock firmware. Bottom line - if you want a cheap well functioning router/AP/mesh, this is a bargain. But zero support and you will spend time getting this up and running. If you want something with quality support, get something else.

Unbelievable this router was sold at $400+, now it is only $20 or less.it works well with openwrt