Linksys Ships Entry Level New Tri-Band MU-MIMO Wi-Fi Router

PLAYA VISTA, Calif., April 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Linksys®, a leader in networking solutions for the home and business and the first to ship 100 million routers, today announced, it is shipping its new 802.11ac Tri-Band MU-MIMO Router. The Linksys Max Stream™ EA8300 is an AC2200 Tri-Band MU-MIMO router priced under $200, giving users MU-MIMO technology and up to double the performance of a dual-band router* for even faster speeds for downloading, streaming, gaming and surfing. Offering MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple-Input, Multiple Output), the next generation Wi-Fi 802.11ac Wave 2 technology, helps improve overall performance and efficiency of a Wi-Fi network while providing dedicated bandwidth to MU-MIMO capable client devices as if they have their own dedicated router.  Linksys offers the largest and broadest portfolio of MU-MIMO home Wi-Fi solutions on the market.

MU-MIMO is Growing Fast
According to a white paper by ABI Research The Importance Of MU-MIMO In The Wi-Fi Ecosystem more than 84% of all wireless 5GHz chipsets will be MU-MIMO enabled by 2019. To keep up with the speeds and performance of client devices coming to market such as 4K TVs, laptops, smart phones, tablets and game consoles, consumers will want to make sure they have the latest Wi-Fi router that can support all the latest devices that have come into the home.

"The introduction of the EA8300 Tri-Band MU-MIMO router to our Max Stream line-up signifies our commitment to the latest 802.11ac specification," said Justin Doucette, senior director of product management at Linksys. "With the rise of bandwidth intensive activities, such as 4K streaming and movie downloads, the importance of an efficient and optimized Wi-Fi network is more critical than ever. Tri-Band and MU-MIMO enables multiple devices to communicate with the router and/or range extender simultaneously, so the result is a faster and more reliable Wi-Fi."

Room to Room Wi-Fi leveraging Seamless Roaming Technology
Introduced by Linksys last summer, seamless roaming brings an enterprise-level Wi-Fi experience into the home.  This technology helps enable client devices to roam around the home always connected to the optimal access point, either router or range extender, seamlessly without having to manually connect or lose connection. Seamless roaming works much the same way devices work in an office environment where users can move room to room, floor to floor, always staying connected to the office Wi-Fi connection.

When Seamless Roaming is added to routers as it has been to the new EA8300 as well as our other Max Stream routers, range extenders (RE7000) and mobile devices, the mobile devices are able to switch and connect to the strongest Wi-Fi signal at all times. Users can run an uninterrupted Facetime® or Skype™ session on their smartphone, or watch YouTube®/Netflix® on their iPad® while moving from one room to the other without dropping the signal.

Another advantage of seamless roaming paired with a Linksys RE7000 range extender is a single network name (also known as SSID) for the entire network, making it easier to always staying connected to the best Wi-Fi signal. In traditional router and range extender pairing without Seamless Roaming, it's best to define multiple network names and manually switch clients from one network to another to optimize performance. This proves cumbersome and frustrating to many users.

Linksys Max-Stream™ AC2200 Tri-Band MU-MIMO ROUTER (EA8300) 
The Linksys Max-Stream AC2200 is outfitted with Next Gen AC Wi-Fi technologies such as Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) and Tri-Band that work in concert to deliver powerful Wi-Fi at the same time and same speed to multiple connected devices including TVs, gaming consoles, wireless printers, laptops plus others at combined speeds up to 2.2 Gbps‡. The Linksys Max-Stream AC2200 provides easy setup options to get a home office up and running quickly along with the exclusive Linksys app that provides added control of the EA8300 Wi-Fi Router from anywhere at any time using a mobile device. The Max-Stream EA8300 Wi-Fi Router also features a robust set of advanced offerings:

• Tri-Band AC2200 – Up to 2.2Gbps (867 Mbps 5Ghz + 867 Mbps 5 GHz + 400 Mbps 2.4 GHz)†
• MU-MIMO Wave 2 for simultaneous 4K Streaming on multiple devices at the same time
• Powerful system processor: Quad-Core 716Mhz Processor (Equal to 1.4Ghz Dual-Core Processor) 32-bit, ARMv7 compatible, 5.5K DMIPS
• RAM: 256MB DDR3
• Flash memory: 256MB
• Four active high performance antennas with 6x High Power Amplifiers to provide the best performance and coverage                                                                                                 
• Five Gigabit Ethernet Ports (4 LAN + 1 WAN) 
• USB 3.0 Port - connecting shared network storage devices as well as a range of other peripherals.                                                                                                                 
• Linksys Advanced Beamforming technology- Maximizes Wi-Fi coverage for both 2.4 and 5GHz radios while enhancing the performance and coverage                                         
• Airtime Fairness enables faster devices to transmit at faster speeds while the slower device will not impede the speed of Wi-Fi network
• "Smart Connect" band steering- balances your 5 GHz Wi-Fi connections and intelligently choose the best radio band for your devices for the best Wi-Fi performance of your network
• Seamless Roaming with Max Stream Range Extenders provide Room-to-Room Wi-Fi with one network name
• Linksys App – Remote Manage, monitor, and control your Wi-Fi network from anywhere, anytime
• Linksys AUTO Firmware update- Linksys automatically pushes the software update to your router overnight and seamlessly bring the latest features and security to your home network
• Amazon Alexa support- Three new skills including turning guest access on and off, obtaining guest Wi-Fi credentials, as well as getting main network credentials read back to the user.
• SPI Firewall and DoS Protection provide the best in class network security                                                                                                         

Availability
The Linksys AC2200 Tri-Band MU-MIMO Router (EA8300) is available immediately on Linksys.com, Amazon and Best Buy.com (April 7) and is planned to be available at Best Buy, B& H, Fry's, Meijer, Micro Center, Office Depot and Walmart in May for an estimated street price of $199.99. 

About Linksys
The Linksys brand has pioneered wireless connectivity since its inception in 1988 with its leading innovation and engineering strategies, and best-in-class networking technology, design, and customer service. Linksys enables a connected lifestyle for people at home, at work and on the move, and with its award-winning products, simplifies home control, entertainment, security and Internet access through innovative features and a growing application and partner ecosystem. For more information, visit linksys.com, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or watch us on YouTube.

Specifications are subject to change without notice.

* Actual performance may vary, including lower wireless network capacity, data throughput rate, range, and coverage. Performance depends upon many factors, conditions and variables, including products used, interference, and other adverse conditions. An active, customer-purchased Internet Service Provider broadband account is required for connection of this router and other connected computers and devices to the Internet. Some devices may require additional wireless adapters or an Ethernet cable to connect to this router. Maximum performance derived from IEEE Standard 802.11 specifications. An 802.11ac adapter may be needed to achieve 11ac data rates. In order to achieve the best performance, router must be used with a compatible AC2200 wireless device.

* Two or more 1x1 MU-MIMO-enabled client devices must be connected to achieve the two (2) times faster physical data rate.

† The standard transmission rates—833 Mbps or 867 Mbps (for 5 GHz), 300 Mbps or 400 Mbps (for 2.4 GHz)—are the physical data rates. Actual data throughput will be lower and may depend on the mix of wireless products used and external factors.

© 2017 Belkin International, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Belkin, Linksys, Max-Stream, and many product names and logos are trademarks of the Belkin group of companies. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. iPad and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

SOURCE Linksys