Linksys MR8300 Router Review: Mesh Wi-Fi for Advanced Users

There are a ton of great mesh Wi-Fi systems on the market, but many of them offer only the basic of features, The new Linksys MR8300 mesh Wi-Fi router combines that simplicity with a more traditional router experience.

I’m a huge fan of Eero, which make its own mesh Wi-Fi system that’s really easy to set up and use. The big problem, however, is that it’s severely dumbed down, and most of the advanced features you’d find on many routers aren’t there. Obviously, you could still use an existing router and have Eero in bridge mode, but then you just have two interfaces to deal with and you lose the simplicity of the Eero experience (which is the fundamental selling point).

Of course, a basic interface really isn’t a problem for most every day, novice users, but there are still plenty of people out there who would love an easy-to-use product, but still want access to more advanced features if need be, as well as a network that can handle anything you throw at it.

Enter the Linksys MR8300 mesh Wi-Fi router. It comes with 802.11ac tri-band Wi-Fi radios (one 2.4GHz and two 5GHz), MU-MIMO support, and a blazing-fast 716MHz quad-core processor—not really something you’d find in just any mesh Wi-Fi router.

Setup: There’s An App For That

Setting up the router works very similarly to how you would normally set up any other mesh Wi-Fi system. There’s an accompanying app that you download to your phone and use that to configure the router.

The app makes the process really easy from start to finish, including providing steps on how to plug the router in and connect all the various cables. It’s likely you already know how to do all this (especially if you purchased this kind of product), but nonetheless, it’s definitely helpful for those who might need a bit more assistance.

Once the router itself is set up, you can then use the app to set up any Linksys Velop units, which is what gives the MR8300 its mesh Wi-Fi powers. More on this later.

Features: A Mixture Of Old And New

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via: howtogeek.com