Linksys WAG160N – ultra-portable sprint sibling Review

The Linksys WAG160N is a feature-rich Wireless-N certified home modem router, that is identical to its sibling the WAG120N in terms of design, build quality and form-factor. Assuring the promise of decent performance with neck-to-neck scores against the WAG120N, it makes a nice product. However, the price tag of Rs. 7,925 is ridiculously expensive and it hardly makes a point in the value for money segment. Although, the street prices could be much lower at this time.

The Linksys WAG160N is coated with metallic grey on the edges of the body frame, which adds a stark contrast against the glossy black finish on the body. The contrasting colours promote a touch of class and beauty to the design aesthetics. The sleek and ultra-portable form-factor contributes to the appealing look of the router. The WAG160N justifies the tag of being the ultra-portable sprint sibling of the WAG120N in terms of features, design aesthetics and identical performance.

[RELATED_ARTICLE]The following are some of the salient features of the WAG160N:

• Incorporates high-speed ADSL2 modem for fast and uninhibited Internet connection through the RJ-11 port.
• Internet sharing through built-in wireless access point and 4-port switch.
• 4-port Ethernet switch for connecting to wired devices
• Wi-Fi Protected Setup for establishing a secure wireless configuration, at a push of the button.
• In addition, it includes advanced security features identical to its younger sibling the WAG120N which we have reviewed earlier. Some of the key security features worth mentioning are: Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall that filters out unauthorized access into your network, 128-bit encryption using WEP, WPA and WPA2 standards, NAT (Network Address Translation), Port forwarding and DMZ for controlled access to your network resources from the Internet, QoS and VOIP.

The modem router bundles with a Wireless software setup CD, Ethernet network cable, telephone cable and a power adapter.

Setup and configuration

The setup and configuration is quick and easy. Connect the power adapter to the wall outlet and the other end at the rear of the router. Then connect an Ethernet network cable from one of the ports at the rear of the router to the Ethernet port on the computer. Turn on the power button at the rear of the router and the LEDs should start glowing indicating the power “ON” status, active Ethernet port status and the wireless activity status.

Read on to know the performance, conclusion, ratings, price and performance test results in the next page…

Performance
[RELATED_ARTICLE]We subjected the router to various real-world and synthetic benchmark tests. During the real-world test, we used the 50MB assorted and sequential files across the zones one and two. To our surprise, the WAG160N bowed down to the younger sibling in the overall performance results. Although, real-world scores were neck-to-neck with its younger sibling (WAG120N), it lagged behind in the synthetic benchmark scores by about 30%. The weak signal strength was once again the sore point, as depicted by the WirelessMon software test which consistently hovered at 1%. This lead us to believe that it could be a bug or an issue with the limited signal reception range of the router. The average data-transfer speeds did not make any impression either, and even failing to outplay the likes of the sprint champ – the WAG120N.

Since the test was being conducted on 802.11b/ g compliant wireless device, it would limit the router to 802.11g data-transfer speeds. Hence, it would be fair to forgive its shortcomings, reiterating the fact that an 802.11n compliant device could deliver much higher data-transfer speeds.

Conclusion
The Linksys WAG160N is a feature-rich Wireless-N certified home modem router that is identical to its sibling the WAG120N in terms of design, build quality and form-factor. Assuring the promise of decent performance with neck-to-neck scores against the WAG120N, it makes a nice product. However, the price tag of Rs. 7,925 is ridiculously expensive and it hardly makes a point in the value for money segment. Although, the street prices could be much lower at this time.

Specifications: Router type: ADSL; Protocols supported: Draft 2; WAN port type: ADSL; External Antennas: None; Internal Antennas: two; RJ45 ports: four; USB ports: None; MIMO support: Yes; Encryption types: WEP, WPA, WPA2;

Ratings
Features: 6.5
Performance: 5.5
Build Quality: 7
Value for money: 5
Overall: 6

Contact: Cisco Consumer Products
Phone: 1800-419-5797
E-mail:consumersales-india@cisco.com
Website:http://www.linksysbycisco.com/APAC/en/home
Price: Rs. 7,925

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Vinod Yalburgi