The internet has become more of a necessity in today’s world, and choosing the right devices is crucial for promising internet speed. A lot of times, instead of the internet service provider, the device you are using may be the reason why you have been experiencing a low internet speed.
There is a multitude of options available on the market, which can make it really hard to narrow down your choices to a single product. Linksys routers are undoubtedly one of the best products available which have a high-performance rate and carry multiple innovative features.
Therefore, we have decided to compare two of the most iconic Linksys routers, which are known to be of great quality. The Linksys EA9300 and the EA9500 are two of the most highly regarded routers by the brand. But if you had to choose one, which one should you pick?
This post will be answering that question precisely. Thus, to find out more, keep on reading!
Our Top Pick
We understand if you don’t have the time to read the entire article. To cut to the chase, the better option is the Linksys EA9300! Now, we do explain why in the later sections, however here are a few quick reasons.
- The product displays an overall high performance as it has a powerful 1.8 GHz Quad-core processor, enabling smooth and fast internet.
- When it comes to the price point, the unit is a more affordable option, which makes it more accessible to a larger audience.
- It can work on multiple devices and is capable of handling heavy internet usage by each one of them at the same time.
What Do I Need To Know Before Buying?
When it comes to buying a router, there are certain factors that need to be taken into consideration. These ensure that the product you invest in is worth your while by being high-quality and highly functional. Let’s take a look at such factors in detail to simplify the process for you further:
Speed
Anyone would hate it if they were experiencing lag while playing a great game or buffering when seeing an amazing video. Everyone wants superior speeds and a smooth sailing internet experience. There are multiple features that govern the speed of your router and need to be looked into. The CPU of your router has a major part, thus opt for a more powerful multi-core processor. Furthermore, look into multiple band Wi-Fi routers as they offer more consistency in the speed when more than one device is using it. This is very important.
Updates
It is crucial for a router to be future-proof. This requires the product to be easy to update. Therefore, it is important to opt for a unit that gets updates so it can perform better and provide you with high functionality and optimal performance. A very good example of such products is Linksys routers. They have an auto firmware update, which means when Linksys pushes the latest software and feature updates, the router overnight brings them to your network without any fuss.
Accessibility
If you have children in your house and you would like to monitor the content they are exposed to or perhaps the hours they are online, a great way to do this is by setting up parental controls on your router. This option isn’t available on every router; thus, if it is a feature you are interested in, look for a router that offers it. Furthermore, if there are multiple devices connected to your Wi-Fi, it is important to opt for a router that caters to the situation. This means that you must get a Wi-Fi that supports multiple devices and provides consistent signal strength to all of them.
EA9300 vs. EA9500 Comparison
It will only be a fair comparison, if we looked at some major points of interest for the consumer and battled off the two products, to simply see which one performed better under those measures. You would get a better understanding of which product among the two is better, this way.
Encryption
You can think of the encryption of your Wi-Fi as the defense your router possesses and utilizes to fight against cybersecurity threats. This includes people accessing your viewed pages, your personal information, etc. by means of hacking, which could result in valuable personal information or bank details leaked.
There are two security protocols one often sees in router descriptions which are, WEP and WPA/WPA2. WEP stands for wireless encryption protocol, and WPA stands for wireless protected router access. WPA2 is the secondary version of the WPA.
When it comes to encryption, the EA9500 features both WEP, WPA/WPA2. However, this doesn’t mean much as the WEP is no longer considered as secure as one would want thus was surpassed by the WPA and WPA2.
When it comes to the EA9300, it features just the WPA/WPA2 encryption protocols, which are needed, enabling it to be the better choice and the more secure router.
Wireless Speed Rating
The speed of the router is a major concern for most consumers. They want the best router in terms of speed. Even though the two products have similar technicalities, there still was a clear winner in this category too.
When it comes to the EA9300, it features a quad-core processor with triple-band technology. The quad-core technology enables the product to be more efficient as each CPU performs a separate task. Furthermore, even though it only has six external antennas and nine amplifiers, which is less than the EA9500, it is able to provide six powerful data streams for your devices, which further ensures the complete coverage of your home.
Meanwhile, the Linksys EA9500 features a dual-core processor and eight external antennae that are only capable of providing 4 powerful data streams, which on its own is great but not when compared to the more powerful EA9300 which proves to be the clear winner in this category.
Streaming Capabilities
Streaming, for most people, is an important factor upon which they judge the performance of a router. Everyone hates the buffering sign in the middle of videos, which can be rather frustrating. Thus, it would be only fair to look at their respective streaming capabilities.
The EA9300 is a triple band Wi-Fi router that can deliver speeds up to 4.0 Gbps. This is excellent. When combined with the airtime fairness feature, it is capable of distributing the Wi-Fi signals equally, which enables every device to experience consistency in terms of streaming and speed.
However, when it comes to the EA9500, the router is capable of providing a speed up to 5.3 Gbps, which is a significant jump from the 4.0 Gbps offered by the former. This allows the user to have improved streaming experience. This makes the EA9500 the more capable unit for better streaming.
Coverage
Coverage is the most important factor for the majority of people when they start looking for routers. This accounts for the area your router is able to project Wi-Fi signals to. When comparing these two products, one does see a clear winner.
As far as the EA9300 is concerned, the product features 6 external antennas, which is less than the EA9500, as the latter carries 8. Furthermore, the EA9300 is able to successfully provide efficient and effective coverage for a large house as compared to a very large house that the EA9500 is better for.
When it comes to the EA9500, Linksys claims that the product is capable of having an area coverage of 3000 sq. ft., allowing it to work for very large households. With this unit, you won’t feel like you have dead spots as the product is capable of providing excellent coverage. This unit allows your router to have excellent and seamless routing when connected to a range extender. You can easily expect it to deliver strong signals even in your garden while the router is in your house. The obvious added benefit is because of the high power eight antennae featured by the unit as compared to the 6 by the EA9300. Thus, it gives the unit a very obvious advantage and makes it better in terms of coverage.
Performance
A major factor that people are curious to know about is how the products perform in comparison to one another. When we talk about performance, we basically mean how they handle intense usage, extensive gaming, streaming, and all such activities.
As far as the Linksys EA9300 is concerned, the product has an incredible 1.8 GHz quad-core processor, which is built to deal with extensive usage. You could run 4k videos, play multi-player games online, and you would notice consistent performance, without any lag throughout your usage. This is because each individual core performs a task and is the multi-core CPU is therefore responsible for its effective and efficient performance.
Meanwhile, when we look at the Linksys EA9500, it carries a powerful 1.4 GHz dual-core processor. This is what enables the product to be slightly more susceptible to lagging with intensive usage when looked at in comparison to the previous product. Even though the CPU is pretty good and performs well, when compared to the EA9300 on how it handles intensive usage, there is a difference. This makes EA9300 a clear winner in this category.
EA9300 and EA9500 Differences
There are a lot of similarities between the two products as these two are fundamentally good products. However, the EA9300 and the EA9500 have some differences, which are very important to know so you can differentiate between the two products and make a more educated decision about which one would work best for you.
Processor
The EA9300 features a 1.8 GHz quad-core processor, which allows the users to experience fast data transfers. The incredible processor also enables you to perform very intense tasks such as streaming in 4k, playing games, browsing, etc. but you won’t have to fear slowed performance. Each CPU will handle a different task and improve the efficiency and overall performance so that you’ll feel a difference. However, when it comes to the EA9500, it features a dual-core 1.4 GHz. Even though it isn’t as powerful as the former, it does an excellent job of supporting multi-player online gaming, heavy browsing, video streaming, etc.
Antennas
EA9300 features 6 active external antenna and 9 high power amplifiers. This enables the model to present six powerful streams of data to your device. This translates to faster performance, smoother functionality, and reliability across all the areas covered. It can be very frustrating when a part of your house or area under Wi-Fi coverage doesn’t work or is slow. With this product, you wouldn’t have to worry about dead spots as it provides consistency.
Meanwhile, the EA9500 features eight antennas, which is impressive but can only deliver up to six powerful streams of data to your device. This isn’t less generally, but in comparison to the previous product, it is lower in number.
Price Point
This is one of the most significant differences the two products have. EA9300 is more affordable than EA9500, making it the more accessible option to the masses. The reason behind the significant price difference is that the EA9500 features 8 LAN ports, where the EA9300 features only 4. Furthermore, the EA 9300 features the 3x3 MU-MIMO, which means it has 3 simultaneous streams, whereas the EA9500 has 4x4 MU-MIMO featuring four simultaneous streams. All of these factors are the reason why you will see a slightly marked up price on the EA9500 as compared to the EA9300. But the price difference is justifiable.
Overview of Our Winner
Previously in the post, we discussed briefly why the Linksys EA9300 is our preferred choice and gave a few brief reasons. This section will be discussing in detail how buying the EA9300 over the EA9500 is a better purchase. It’ll talk in-depth about all the reasons why the product stands out and performs better.
It was a close call between the two products; however, there was a clear winner among the two, which in our eyes is the Linksys EA9300. It has a more powerful CPU, which is a very important feature to have in your router. The incredibly strong 1.8 GHz Quad-core processor enables the product to perform well and handle intense usage. So, you could be streaming 4k videos, playing heavy games, browsing, but you won’t experience lag or slow performance.
Furthermore, the unit has three bands. This allows it to perform incredibly well, even if there are multiple devices connected to the Wi-Fi. This can be crucial for people living with large families where multiple users are connected to the internet that, in turn, slows down the performance, resulting in poor internet quality. The Airtime fairness ensures that the Linksys EA9300 distributes the Wi-Fi evenly to different devices and minimizes the lag associated with slower Wi-Fi devices. Plus, it also has smart connect band steering. This feature is responsible for choosing whichever radio band works best for your device.
When it comes to the price point, Linksys EA9300 provides the users with a better deal. It performs incredibly well and is, in certain places, even better than the EA9500 plus; it is more affordable. This is a major consideration for many users as they want to score a better value for money, which the EA9300 does offer you. It is accessible to a larger audience by not breaking the bank as it has a considerable price difference from the latter, whereas the performance comes very close.
Conclusion
Selecting the right router is incredibly important to observe a noticeable change in the performance and speed of your internet service. Once you spend money on the right router, you’ll notice a considerable difference in how fast and smooth your internet works. This will translate to faster streaming, enhanced multi-user performance, lag-free video streaming, etc. which is amazing.
However, picking out a product can be a rather daunting process. This is because there are many options available on the market now, and one seems to get confused as to which one to pick. Some of the available products are duds and a wasteful investment, which further complicates the process.
Hopefully, this post was able to help you decide which of the two Linksys 9300 and 9500 routers is better for you by providing all the relevant information about their features and performance.
