Page 5 - Conclusion
The Linksys WRT3200ACM is a rare breed of products in 2017. While most companies conform to common design languages appropriate for its time, the WRT3200ACM explicitly violates all these rules. The design is totally 2003. Heck, it even has a blue and black color scheme. But this is exactly why I like it. Being the spiritual successor to the WRT54G, this router is the reborn of a modern classic -- and props to Linksys for putting something on the market that is proud of being what it is. And while many products look the part without being the part, the WRT3200ACM certain lives up to the WRT54G legacy, too. Besides open source firmware support, this router is a solid performer by today's standards; delivering over 500Mbps of real world throughput in close proximity, and never dipping below 300Mbps in any of our test locations. It seems to me the antennas are slightly weaker in propagating the signal up than down or around, but this is still a seriously fast Wi-Fi router nonetheless. If you are not into DD-WRT or OpenWRT, Linksys' stock firmware is also really good. The layout and graphics are visually appealing, and it has lots of options that are organized logically. Plus, flashing it with DD-WRT will cause you to lose smartphone app support, which allows you to control your router remotely. My only complaint firmware-wise is the pre-configured application priority list is from the WRT54G era as well; they need to update it to make it useful for 2017. On the hardware side of things, the WRT3200ACM, packed with powerful hardware like a 1.8GHz dual core processor, is pretty massive to behold. It would have been nice if it was a little more compact. Other than that, for about $225 at press time, the Linksys WRT3200ACM is a router for the enthusiast. It delivers in performance, it has open source firmware support, and it comes at a reasonable price. What more do you want?
Belkin provided this product to APH Networks for the purpose of evaluation.
APH:Renewal Award | APH Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.6/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
The Linksys WRT3200ACM is a reborn of the famous WRT54G, and lives up to its legacy by offering solid Wi-Fi performance along with open source firmware support.
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Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Configuration and User Interface
4. Performance Tests
5. Conclusion
