Linksys WRT 610N

Full Review

As a high-end product from Linksys, the WRT 610N Dual-N Band Wireless Router has an onerous task at hand. Its performance did not let it down while in accessible range as you will see in the performance tab of this review. We were requested to refer to the brand as “Linksys by Cisco”, but we are only going to speak about the router itself so you’ll see all references being made only to the model name.

In a world of routers with rectangular design, the WRT610N is quite different looking. With its blue and black glossy design it is not hard to see why some called it a “UFO” shaped device. That this prevents it from being stood up vertically isn’t an issue since it is fairly compact (though larger than previous Linksys routers with a similar design). It has to placed horizontally, or can be wall-mounted. The front panel has indicators for power, USB, uplink (Internet), wireless, WPS button and 4 LAN ports. All the wires connect at one side – power, USB, Ethernet uplink, and 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports. Package contents include a quick guide and setup CD, with the LELA (Linksys EasyLink Advisor) for easy setup.

Supporting 5 GHz band operation is good to avoid excess interference from other consumer equipment.

The 3 antennae are concealed, so you can’t tweak them around to make micro improvements to the signal quality received by your wireless client device (laptop/phone/desktop PC/etc). Dual-band capability is bound to be a major reason for anyone to pick this pricey router. It has radio antennae to send and receive Wi-Fi signals simultaneously over the usual 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band (this band helps avoid excess interference from other consumer equipment).

Multiple internal antennae mean that you can expect better performance. The combination of multiple antennae and dual-band radio capability would help when multiple wireless devices are connected and all are active. We did see very good file transfer speeds over the wireless network at close range on both, Wireless-N and G devices. Under our real-world testing, the signal managed to cover a radius of 80 feet (23.38 metres) with a WiFi-N device, across multiple walls and two floors, which bodes well for larger homes. The farther you go, the lesser the signal stability, and the connection experience degraded badly beyond that distance.

Bottom Line

The Linksys WRT 610N wireless router performs quite well, with its speeds within the coverage area. There are no adjustable external antennae, so you so you cannot adjust them for best speed and range according to your own usage environment. This is a trade-off for its cool design. The extra features found in its web interface make it a good choice for purchase, though a little costly for now. Those on a budget might prefer to go with the Linksys WRT320N instead.