Question 1

Do I need a modem with this router?

Accepted Answer

This router is a router while a modem is a modem. There is generally only different generations of one kind of router - one sporting wifi and a switch (which is neither a router or a modem... just to be confusing) while there are different kinds of modems. Cable is IMHO easily winning the home networking war (which encourages them to overcharge). Thus, you will likely want a cable modem (which this device does not include). If you want a combination cable modem router, you don't want either a modem or a router, but a cable modem router. Netgear and Motorola came out with a couple models a few years ago but unlike receivers (being both a tuner and an amp), they haven't caught on. I would say it's not fair to call this just a router (although it really is) because it is one of a new generation of "super routers" intended to replace a normal router and a couple repeaters for better signal coverage. This is why it costs so much (although it is actually a good price for all it contains). If you own a small computer, tablet, and phone say and live in an apartment, a cable modem router combination would work (as would cheap entry separates - my preference for providing many more options). Note: I think you will do better to buy from established network companies and stay away from new cute plug and play devices. Now, I have a large Plex Server and a large Yamaha MusicCast network etc supporting about two dozen active devices in a multi-story house that had required several repeaters (which are now media bridges). That's why I got this monster - I had use for one. Which modem should you buy? Dr Google can give you a few good suggestions and explain all of this much better.

Question 2

Question regarding the Linksys MAX-STREAM AC5400:    NewEgg is shipping which Hardware version of this Wireless Router 1.0 or 1.1?

Accepted Answer

I received the 1.1 firmware. And you can check the box in setting to auto update.
So even if you were to get 1.0 you could update it immediately to the newest firware.
This is the best linksys has made, It is super fast.

Question 3

This router claims to be tri-band, but I only see 2.4GHz and 5GHz listed. What is the third band?

Accepted Answer

The three bands are 2.4 GHz, 5Ghz, and 5GHz. Tri-band routers essentially host three different Wi-Fi networks to improve the total bandwidth it can deliver to all of the devices in your home, rather than add a new wireless frequency to communicate on. This allow two high bandwidth devices to be placed on separate 5GHz wireless networks, improving the speed of each as they are no longer competing for bandwidth on the same network, while your low-bandwidth and legacy devices are connected to the 2.4GHz network.

From the description:
Band 1 is 2.4 GHz with speeds of up to 1000 Mbps for older wireless-N and -G devices. Band 2 is a high-speed 5 GHz band for extremely fast file transfers and videoconferencing, while the third 5 GHz band delivers blazing Wi-Fi speeds ideal for online gaming and streaming.

Question 4

Feedback appreciated.  I just bought this router and a new modem so that I could return the cable companies monthly lease devices.  My question is....which do I hook up first?  The new modem or the new router?  If I do both and I get stuck then I have no internet connectivity until both are set up.  It's a quandary.  Thanks for your help, oh knowledgeable ones!

Accepted Answer

The answer to this is usually "it depends on what you're trying to do" (and the full details of the cable modems and providers).  From your description in your message, I'm understanding/assuming you currently have a cable modem connected with one port to a cable tv wire which is also acting as a router+wireless access point with one or more hard wired ethernet ports (zero or more in use). You're wanting to replace the cable modem with one you purchased -- which is NOT a router and use this as your router and wireless access point. Many cable companies require registering your cable modem with them before it works.  Some companies have a self service page which they show in your web browser when you try to access the internet from a non-registered modem.  Others make you call them to swap the modems.  It'd be good to figure out what yours requires. Then, I'd cable the internet/WAN port of this wireless router to your old modem and setup wireless and make sure you can access the internet through it.  You might be double NAT'ing (chaining two routers together) but it should work for basic web browsing. If this doesn't work right out of the box, you'll want to make sure the LAN IP range from this router is different from address your old router gives out to connected computers (i.e. Use 192.168.1.x and 192.168.0.x but not 192.168.0.x on both) if they both are the same it may cause issues in this double NAT configuration.  The added benefit by cabling this router to your old modem is you can still use the internet the old way in case you get stuck.  Once you have this router working, swap the cable modem in from of it, cable this router to the new cable modem's network port and do any registration steps with the cable company required.

Question 5

Can this router work out in the country because my internet is not working well and wanted something better?

Accepted Answer

Interesting but confusing question.  If you have wired or satellite this Wi-Fi router will extend the range between your router and Wi-Fi equipment,  Our smart phones keep their connections to the street which is about 100 to 125 feet from the router.  But if your question is about will it help your internet reception between your router and internet provider, it will not.  You just need a stronger signal.  Hope this helps.

Question 6

How many data streams will this unit provide for all three bands?  Can all three bands be run simultaneously?
Thanks!

Accepted Answer

Currently, I'm streaming 15 different devices.  At anyone time, I have seen all 15 running at the same time.  My wife's laptop uses a dedicated band due to school work.  I have an extender running on one of the other bands.  I've had the router for about 8 months without any issues.  My son's desktop is connected through Ethernet cable.  If you have more than a dozen devices that you stream, don't forget to include phones in the group, you will need something similar to this Linksys.  In short, yes, all three bands are broadcasting at same time.  Obviously, not at the same time on the same device.  You will have to choose one of the three for each separate device.  If you have a big house, put it in the central upstairs room.  The higher the better.

Question 7

Does this router offer link aggregation? Seeing hows it has 8 Gigabit ethernet ports it should. If it doesn't it will be a shame.

Accepted Answer

I'm not sure what the term 'link aggregation' means but if it's the same as what LinkSys refers to as 'cascading', then yes it does. I have a LinkSys 1200A cascaded from my EA9500 via an ethernet cable and it's been working well for several months. I get solid Wi-Fi all over my 3-story house with the system.
BTW, LinkSys tech support helped me set the system up for free. They have really excellent tech support in general.

Question 8

How many SSIDs does this router support?

Accepted Answer

Lets see you have one for the 2.4ghz and 2 for the 5ghz, if band steering is on you have only 1 on the 5ghz. you also have the guest network on both bands

Question 9

Has anyone else had trouble setting this up on a laptop with the instruction provided?  I was not able to set this up on my laptop, but was able to only do so on my mobile phone.

Even after it has been setup and been operational, the web interface will still not work, but the login credentials are the same on the mobile app that allow for any changes after the router has been setup.

I am looking for if this same issue has been encountered by anyone else on the initial setup.

Accepted Answer

Thanks for your reply.

Ok, so I have called Linksys and had a level 2 tech support help me with this. After 30 minute of troubleshooting, the fix was the factory reset was not taking. After a few resets, the rest went through. The default gateway finally took and reset to 192.168.1.1.  It seemed to be that the reset, even done the same way multiple times did not take. I count this as just a random isolated issue.

Question 10

Can it work from a hotspot sim card?

Accepted Answer

It is not an LTE Modem.   But WIFI on both of our cell phone ( plus guests) works superior!

Questions & Answers