WEBVTT 00:00:06.879 --> 00:00:13.080 Hotspot Shield service makes your internet browsing safer more secure and 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:18.240 fully private click now to learn more the lyus wrt 54g router which links's 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:22.760 claims and I believe them is the top selling router of all time earned its 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:26.039 legendary status by being a solid piece of Hardware with great support from the 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:31.279 open source Community who built firmwares for it that performed better 00:00:28.560 --> 00:00:35.440 were more stable and added features that especially at the time were only 00:00:33.360 --> 00:00:42.840 available on expensive commercial grade routers now we have finally got its 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:46.079 spiritual successor the wrt 1900 AC in 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:47.719 our hands but making a video about it 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:52.160 right now puts me in a bit of an awkward position two months ago I could have 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:56.039 gotten on the hype train and said OMG lynxis is going back to their roots and 00:00:54.120 --> 00:00:59.440 super powerful Hardware they're going to collaborate with the open source 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:03.160 Community it's going to be awesome and by two from now linkis might have 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:07.400 completely smoothed out their relationship with the makers of popular 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:11.680 thirdparty firmwares like open wrt and DDWRT and that message might be 00:01:09.360 --> 00:01:15.200 completely valid again but right now is an in between stage where the hardware 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:19.200 is available but none of the big aftermarket firmware guys have announced 00:01:17.119 --> 00:01:22.040 any kind of timeline for support for this router with most of the 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:25.759 communication from these communities being fairly critical of lynx's 00:01:23.759 --> 00:01:30.280 collaborative efforts so far and their use of a Marvel Wireless chipset rather 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:34.720 than a more widely supported Broad chipset but there's good news if you ask 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:38.560 link sis there's a ton of work being done behind the scenes to get support 00:01:36.360 --> 00:01:42.799 rolled out in a timely manner so stay tuned for the time being though all I 00:01:40.759 --> 00:01:48.840 can say is what you're getting now when you buy what is one of the most 00:01:44.880 --> 00:01:50.680 expensive consumer routers on the market 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:54.680 physically the unit is a real throwback to the old wrt series with a black and 00:01:52.759 --> 00:02:00.200 blue look and stackable design that will look very familiar to fans of the old 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:04.000 WRT54G on the bottom we find T T of ventilation holes and rubber feet that 00:02:01.960 --> 00:02:07.439 include wall mounting support a nice touch the front is mostly taken up by 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:12.239 the usual indicator LEDs for connectivity and activity on the sides 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:16.959 we find two of the four included antennas which are not internal or 00:02:14.519 --> 00:02:19.640 permanently attached a baffling Trend that plagued us for a couple of years 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:23.959 and now thankfully seems to be going away so you can easily upgrade these if 00:02:22.040 --> 00:02:29.239 you want moving around to the back we've got 5 GB Ethernet ports one of which is 00:02:26.239 --> 00:02:31.640 designated for when a WPS button a power 00:02:29.239 --> 00:02:35.599 switch a power in Jack a thankfully easy-to-reach Hardware reset button huge 00:02:33.760 --> 00:02:39.280 thumbs up there and a couple of storage ports that appear to be labeled 00:02:37.160 --> 00:02:43.440 similarly to Internal SATA connectors as ports 0 to three except that there are 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:49.239 only two of them further investigation reveals that the right one is a USB 2.0 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:51.560 / EA combo Port labeled USB 1 and the 00:02:49.239 --> 00:02:56.599 left one is a USB 3 super speed Port labeled USB 2 funnily enough for all the 00:02:54.480 --> 00:02:59.480 marketing around Wireless speeds and all the cryptic labeling of these ports 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:06.080 these are actually one of the biggest differ differentiating points for this router and they're capable of throughput 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:09.080 in the 60 to 70 megab pers second range 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:11.560 on EA and USB 3 numbers that put this 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:16.200 router cleanly in the mix with dedicated Nas Hardware in terms of drive 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:19.440 performance finally on the back two more removable antennas bring our total to 00:03:17.959 --> 00:03:24.400 four although it should be noted that the router supports three spatial 00:03:21.440 --> 00:03:29.159 streams so only the most optimal of these three will function at any given 00:03:26.440 --> 00:03:32.200 time finally on the top we find shiny prominent link branding I guess they're 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:36.519 happy to be out from under the Cisco umbrell and more ventilation holes over 00:03:34.760 --> 00:03:41.239 a temperature controlled cooling fan that didn't even turn on throughout my 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:45.560 testing but will ramp up under extremely heavy load and the largest heat sink I 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:50.200 have ever seen on a router I mean seriously that is one big old hunk of 00:03:47.640 --> 00:03:54.480 metal down there feature-wise things are a little bit light for a premium router 00:03:52.079 --> 00:03:58.000 with no VPN support and fairly limited options in terms of Parental and 00:03:55.720 --> 00:04:01.879 advanced Wireless controls but lynus does support both a wireless compet mode 00:04:00.480 --> 00:04:05.920 and bridge mode although I wasn't able to test these since I've only got one of 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:09.480 these at the moment the software setup process is pretty straightforward 00:04:07.239 --> 00:04:14.560 overall linkis includes a password on the Wi-Fi out of the box thank you by 00:04:11.760 --> 00:04:18.479 the way and both their easy setup Wizard and advanced UI will be very familiar if 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:22.479 you've used any of ly's last couple of generation smart routers it's pretty 00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:27.759 Snappy but a feature that I was sad to see missing from my older EA 4200 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:30.800 non-cloud connect router is the ability to apply almost all changes without 00:04:29.720 --> 00:04:35.320 restarting the hardware that was freaking awesome for a trial and error 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:38.600 network configuration guy like me but I suspect for most people it's not really 00:04:36.919 --> 00:04:43.320 that big of an issue now on to Performance well unfortunately I can't 00:04:41.400 --> 00:04:46.680 replicate the assortment of routers used for comparative analysis and the 00:04:44.960 --> 00:04:50.320 wellestablished test procedures that Tim Higgins at smallet builder.com used for 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:54.840 his review of this router which you should definitely check out by the way it's linked in the video description 00:04:52.880 --> 00:05:01.280 what I can do is run it through the paces by testing both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 00:04:58.160 --> 00:05:04.160 speeds on my delx P S2 with an upgraded 00:05:01.280 --> 00:05:08.360 Intel 3160 AC wireless network card to give you guys an idea of how satisfying 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:13.039 the experience is overall the router was installed on one side of the main floor 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:16.759 of a three-story house and my four test locations were right next to it with no 00:05:14.720 --> 00:05:20.560 obstructions about 10 ft away directly upstairs through the floor upstairs on 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:26.039 the other side of the house in the W showroom and finally through two 00:05:22.960 --> 00:05:27.600 exterior walls in the garage where it's 00:05:26.039 --> 00:05:30.759 really nice to have decent Wi-Fi connectivity for like if you're working 00:05:29.280 --> 00:05:35.479 on a or something you want to have a movie to watch or whatever the case may 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:38.840 be for the measurements I used I perf with the following arguments which gave 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:43.000 me consistent results but I would definitely be open to suggestions about 00:05:40.680 --> 00:05:45.840 how to improve our results in the future I'd also love to hear from you guys if 00:05:44.520 --> 00:05:50.639 you'd like us to do more wiress networking videos we really haven't done 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:52.080 almost anything ever um and if we did 00:05:50.639 --> 00:05:55.000 then we might have actually something to compare against in the future so post 00:05:53.680 --> 00:06:01.759 your thoughts in the form I Linked In the video description if you'd like to see more of this category from us or if 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:06.160 you just can't be bothered so conclusion time the 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:10.759 WRT54G was revolutionary because it delivered stable and for the time very 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:14.840 powerful Hardware with a user flashable firmware it captured the hearts of the 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:18.759 modding and Enthusiast communities with a variety of thirdparty firmwares 00:06:16.880 --> 00:06:23.479 available for it that enabled features that at the time could not be found in 00:06:20.479 --> 00:06:25.599 rers at that price point and that's the 00:06:23.479 --> 00:06:30.360 big gap I see in the new strategy the 54g was very competitively priced I mean 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:34.280 I mentioned the price twice just now which drove widespread adoption which if 00:06:32.880 --> 00:06:37.680 there's anything I've learned about the open source Community it's that they 00:06:35.919 --> 00:06:42.599 want their work to be enjoyed by as many people as possible which drove that open 00:06:40.880 --> 00:06:45.759 source development that created a pretty amazing positive feedback loop as that 00:06:44.400 --> 00:06:50.120 open source development drove more sales of the router and I think that's 00:06:47.840 --> 00:06:54.880 something that without that inexpensive factor is going to be challenging for 00:06:52.479 --> 00:07:01.879 something so expensive to achieve especially with competitors like the 00:06:56.479 --> 00:07:04.479 ASUS RT ac68u and r7000 available for so 00:07:01.879 --> 00:07:08.759 much less with similar performance albeit without the impressively beefy 00:07:06.599 --> 00:07:14.120 build quality so that's where we sit right now is the wrt1900 AC a capable 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:18.280 platform that given adequate support could compete for your hard-earned money 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:22.840 the answer is yes but whatever linkis might wish it is going to have to re 00:07:20.400 --> 00:07:27.520 earn that legendary status because their competitors have had over a decade to 00:07:25.400 --> 00:07:31.240 catch up to the concept of great Hardware with support for open firmware 00:07:29.960 --> 00:07:35.720 and there are plenty of other great options from moders many of which are 00:07:33.080 --> 00:07:39.599 ready to go now and not waiting on future firmware changes so I want to 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:44.639 hear from you guys in the comments is it too little too late for the wrt 1900 AC 00:07:42.599 --> 00:07:49.120 or do you think this is just the tip of the iceberg and lynxis is going to build 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:54.759 on what a little bird might have told me already is a very successful product H 00:07:53.319 --> 00:08:00.280 anyway guys thank you very much for watching my team and I worked hard on this video we hope you enjoyed it if you 00:07:57.840 --> 00:08:03.319 did please like and sh share it if you didn't please dislike it and leave a 00:08:01.919 --> 00:08:06.720 comment with your thoughts we do take constructive criticism very seriously 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:10.319 also linked in the video description is a support link so you can buy T-shirts 00:08:08.520 --> 00:08:14.199 give us a monthly contribution or use our affiliate code when you buy stuff 00:08:12.680 --> 00:08:18.400 all these are good things and again thanks for watching and as always don't forget to subscribe to line This Tech 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:21.759 tips for unboxings reviews and other computer videos