New Linksys E Series including E3200, E2500, E1500 and E1200 have been shipped into the market and many people think that these new E Series are replacing the previous E Series –including the E1000, E2000 and E3000. Let’s have a look at the E2500 and E2000, are there any differences?
At a glance, the new E Series have more stylist look than the first generation of E series. Unlike the differences between Linksys E3200 and Linksys E3000 which almost have the same specs, Linksys E2500 and E2000 have some significant differences. The differences between the two routers and also Linksys E3000 can be shown in the below table.
Wireless Technology
In the period of one year time since the E2000 was released until the time E2500 was released, you might not expect that there is no wireless technology difference between the two. Actually there is. The Linksys E2500 is powered by the latest 802.11n with simultaneous dual band technology. Each band delivers the high speed of up to 300Mbps (N600 technology). On the other hand, Linksys E2000 is powered by the 802.11n with selectable dual band technology. This means the router can work in a single band in a time with the speeds up to 300Mbps (N300 technology).
Linksys E2500 is designed with 4x internal antennas to cover larger network coverage than E2000 can cover which is designed with 3x internal antennas. Both are designed with smart MIMO antenna technology for higher speed and larger coverage. However the first generation E3000 supports simultaneous dual band with 6 internal MIMO antennas.
Interfaces
Both routers include 4xEthernet ports but different speed. E2500 includes 4×10/100 fast Ethernet and E2000 includes 4xGigabit Ethernet ports. It is likely that E2500 is emphasized for wireless connection than E2000. If you have some brand new computers with gigabit NIC enabled such as Samsung AIO desktop computer and Dell Inspiron AIO, and wireless clients with 5GHz enabled, you can consider E2000 for optimum data rate throughput.
Table 1 Linksys E2500 Vs E2000 Vs E3000
| Click For Spec Detail | Linksys E2500 | Linksys E2000 | Linksys E3000 |
| Wireless Technology | Wireless N600 Simultaneous dual band technology | Wireless N300 Selectable dual band technology | Wireless N600 simultaneous dual band technology |
| Antenna | 4xInternal antennas | 3xinternal antennas | 6 internal antenna, 3 antenna each band with MIMO |
| LAN ports | 10/100Mbps: 4xLAN ports and 1xWAN port | Gigabit: 4xLAN ports and 1xWAN port | Gigabit: 4xLAN ports and 1xWAN port |
| USB port | No | No | Yes, with built-in media server |
| Cisco Connect Software | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Guest Network | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Should you require hosting external shared storage, you’ll be disappointed since both routers do not include a USB port. First generation of Linksys E3000 includes one USB 2.0 port for share storage and new generation of Linksys E3200 and E4200 support USB port for shared storage too. Except the new upgrade of Linksys E4200V2 can either share the storage or the printer and it is also a faster router with N900 technology.
But if you require hosting both storage and printer concurrently, none of Linksys routers can support the feature. You can consider other routers which include two USB ports for example Asus RT-N56U Black Diamond or Netgear WNDR4500 N900 router. Both routers include two USB ports to let you host both shared storage and printer concurrently.
Guest Network
Both Linksys E2500 and E2000, actually all generations of Linksys E series including E1200, E1500, E1000 and the other E series support guest network feature. Guest network is a feature to let you create separate network with limited access for your guests or visitors. By providing internet access to your visitors without granting access to your local network you can feel safe having other users access the internet without compromising the security.
Both routers include Cisco Connect software to let you manage the Guest network, the security settings and so on.
The figure shows the Linksys E2500 networking diagram for your home network.
Amazon Customer’s rating:
Linksys E2500 receives averagely four stars (out of five stars) customer ratings for speed; ease of setup and signal strength.
Linksys E2000 receives averagely four stars customer ratings for ease of use, delivery, technical support and longevity.
Summary:
The major difference between the Linksys E2500 and E2000 is on the dual band technology used. Linksys E2500 uses simultaneous dual band with N600 technology. Linksys E2000 uses selectable dual band with N300 technology. Both routers do not support USB port.
You may also like:
- The new Linksys E4200 with N750 wireless technology
- Linksys E4200v2 N900
- The new Netgear DGND3700 simultaneous dual band with built-in ADSL2 modem
- How to choose the best wireless router
- Linksys E2500 Vs E2000
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