Cisco Linksys E2500 Advanced Dual-Band Wireless-N Router

No Gigabit Ethernet. Performance at 5 GHz band not as robust as that of the E2000, last year's model. No bridge or AP mode.

With the Cisco Linksys E2500 Advanced Dual-Band Wireless-N Router, users upgrading from last year's E2000 give up an antenna and Gigabit Ethernet however gain simultaneous dual-band connectivity, better ease of use, and better 2.4Ghz-band performance. It's a good router, yet better throughput at the 5 GHz would make it better.

Still, the E2500 is good enough for lighter multimedia streaming and connecting multiple devices, and it's decently priced for a dual-band router. I suppose it was designed to meet the needs of those who do a bit more with their home networks than just surf the Web however don't need all of QoS, traffic-shaping, or high throughput required by gaming enthusiasts or those hosting a server or VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) devices. If you have the average home network, like as not a gaming console, a laptop or two, like as not an iPad and you want to simultaneously have those devices connect; the E2500 will suffice. It won't wow you, although.

The E2500 is as well snazzy looking—

The E2500 is as well snazzy looking—it has a matte, black finish and an art deco brushed metal strip across the top. The design is minimalist, with nothing nevertheless four Fast Ethernet ports, a WAN port, corresponding LEDs for each port to display connectivity status and a reset button.

Observant readers will have noticed that the previous paragraph points out one problem, and my first serious disappointment with the E2500: the lack of Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. Why would Cisco put only 10/100 ports on a dual-band router? In all probability, if you are in the market for a dual-band you probably want to take advantage of the 5 GHz band to connect NAS devices, gaming consoles and other hardware to do some streaming and file sharing. Most such devices today are capable of Gigabit Ethernet, so using mere Fast Ethernet will slow down home network including them. According to Cisco this was done to keep the costs of the router low.

The network in an in the extreme flexible way

Bsecure's Whole Home Protection feature extends parental control to every device on the network in an in the extreme flexible way. No other full-scale parental control system has anything like it.