Linksys E5600 Router Review: A Value Budget Router

Linksys E5600 Router Design

The Linksys E5600 router is easily one of the best-looking routers at this price range. It comes with a dual-tone design and uses quality hard plastic, giving it robust build quality.

As per the I/O, the Linksys E5600 router has a single RJ45 port and four LAN ports, which can be used to connect different devices to the internet via a wired connection. There is also a physical reset button and a WPS button, which lets users connect to the router without entering the passcode.

The overall form-factor of the Linksys E5600 router is pretty compact for the features and specifications it offers. It has no external antenna, unlike most of the routers of this class. However, even without an external antenna (it has four internal antennas), I had no issues when it comes to Wi-Fi connectivity on both the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz WiFi network.

Networking Capability

Linksys E5600 is an AC1200 class router, which means, it can offer up to a peak download speed of 1200Mbps or 1.2Gbps. Hence, even if you have a gigabit-class internet connection, the Linksys E5600 router can easily offer full-bandwidth without any issue.

The company claims the Linksys E5600 router can offer up to 1000 square feet of internet coverage and can easily support up to 10 devices at the same time. Though I didn't try connecting 10 devices at the same time, at least five devices were always connected to the router (2 smartphones, 1 smart speaker, 1 laptop, 1 smart bulb).

I had no issue while accessing the internet on either of these devices. In fact, even when I connected to multiple devices to the router, I was able to access the internet with full speed (50Mbps). On top of that, I was able to replace my existing router with the Linksys E5600 without any help from my internet service provider.

Additional features like guest account, parental control mode, and WPA2 personal wireless internet protection protocol makes the Linksys E5600 a truly modern Wi-Fi router.

Linksys E5600 Performance

When it comes to performance, I was quite surprised with the results I was able to achieve with the Linksys E5600. While claiming the internet speed, most ISPs only offer the designated download/upload speed when via LAN port, and those speeds are likely to take a hit with the WiFi network.

I have an unlimited 50Mbps plan. On both Fast.com and SpeedTest.Net, I got an internet speed of over 50Mbps on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi network with 2ms ping, which is good for online gaming.

Verdict

The Linksys E5600 router seems to offer all the features that a user might seek in a budget router. It is built well, indicating that it can easily last longer. On top of that, it also offers a good range, especially for those, who live in one BHK house/apartment.

For the asking price of Rs. 3,699, the Linksys E5600 is definitely one of the best routers available in the market, which is easy to set up and easy to use, and it also offers stable internet connectivity, given your ISP supports the same.