LinksysLN1301 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 was initially hesitant about ordering this router, but I decided to bite the bullet, trusting Amazon's wonderful return policy.To my surprise, this router turned out to be one of my best purchases! It may only offer basic functionalities, but it excels in what it does. The support for WiFi 6 is fantastic, and I can finally enjoy the full speed of my internet connection over WiFi. The coverage is also impressive, the best I've experienced with budget routers. (Of course, if you're already using a flagship router, you won't probably be reading my review.)There are a couple of downsides worth mentioning:- The power adapter is enormous, requiring at least 4 inches of space for installation. I'm considering finding or buying a compact adapter with compatible specs (12V, 3.0A).- The feature set is pretty basic. I knew going in that it didn't support mesh networking or fast roaming, but I do wish it had per-device usage statistics.I've seen online that there's a good chance OpenWRT will be ported to this router, which could address some of the feature limitations.Overall, I'm very satisfied with my purchase and would definitely recommend this router to anyone looking for a reliable budget option.

I purchased the Linksys LN1301 WiFi Router and decided to install OpenWRT firmware on it—and it was absolutely worth it. After the upgrade, the router now delivers full ISP speeds without any throttling or bottlenecks. The tri-band WiFi setup ensures strong, stable connections across all my devices, and the added flexibility from OpenWRT lets me fine-tune my network just the way I want it. The hardware handles the custom firmware like a champ, providing smooth and consistent performance. If you’re comfortable with installing third-party firmware, this router has great potential.Pros:- Compatible with OpenWRT for full customization- Achieves full ISP speed with no slowdowns- Strong, stable tri-band WiFi coverage- Great hardware performance at an affordable priceCons:- Requires technical knowledge to install OpenWRT

Signal is great for these routers, very easy to set up. Good range in big house with thick walls. Hardly any dropped signals and keeps my network going. You are also able to install open source on these.

Purchased this WiFi router (two of them from Amazon and two from another vendor) as supposedly you can do a mesh with two of these. Even without the mesh, this router blows out my prior NetGear Nighthawk, which I paid over $100+. I did the speed test and it doubled the download speed what I was getting from the Nighthawk. As for the mesh, I wasn't even sure if it was done correctly. The best way to know is to download the app, which tells you if the two routers are online or not. For the price point, this produce is super great, so great that I purchase these for my brother and parents. Overall awesome purchase. Hope you can get it for the price I paid (around $25.00).

You can't find a better deal than these routers. Stock, they work well and can do mesh if you set it up correctly. With a non-stock openwrt version installed, they are extremely flexible (not locked down) and can do so much more. I'm not doing anything crazy with mine but I could if I wanted to, lol.For the memory, which is much larger than is usual with routers and the more spacious storage, these can't be beat. Also, they have a a/b rom setup so if the os crashes you can switch to the stand-by rom.Amazing for the price.