Linksys MR8300 Mesh WiFi Router, AC2200, MU-MIMO

My old Linksys E4200 router has performed admirably for quite a few
years now, but may be getting a little long in the tooth. I've been
browsing routers for awhile now. Yesterday an ad for the Linksys AC2200
popped up in my inbox. It looks perfectly well-suited for my home
network (3 Win 10 PCs, two android tablets, HVAC system, 2 Windows
phones, network printers/scanners, Amazon TV, and of course internet
connectivity)...

The kicker is that it requires downloading an Android or iOS app in
order to set it up. We still use Lumia 950 Windows phones. Why would I
need Android or iOS to install a router which will be running a Windows
wi-fi network?

Second question - when I do decide on a router, will I need to
re-install all the peripherals or will the new router recognize the
current network and take over from there?

Thanks in advance for any enlightenment! -Walt

Walter Boyd wrote:

My old Linksys E4200 router has performed admirably for quite a few
years now, but may be getting a little long in the tooth. I've been
browsing routers for awhile now. Yesterday an ad for the Linksys AC2200
popped up in my inbox. It looks perfectly well-suited for my home
network (3 Win 10 PCs, two android tablets, HVAC system, 2 Windows
phones, network printers/scanners, Amazon TV, and of course internet
connectivity)...

The kicker is that it requires downloading an Android or iOS app in
order to set it up. We still use Lumia 950 Windows phones. Why would I
need Android or iOS to install a router which will be running a Windows
wi-fi network?

Second question - when I do decide on a router, will I need to
re-install all the peripherals or will the new router recognize the
current network and take over from there?

Thanks in advance for any enlightenment! -Walt

The app is to allow remote access to your router; i.e., you are away
from home and want to see what's happening or reconfigure your router
when not at the router. You might want to consider the security
ramifications of allowing remote (external) access to your router. Make
sure to change the default admin logon password after getting the
router.

https://www.linksys.com/us/support-a...icleNum=274486

As the instructions mention, you can setup the router using a wired
(Ethernet) connection from an intranet host to the router. With a wired
connection, you connect to the internal web server in the router.

In article , VanguardLH
wrote:

The app is to allow remote access to your router; i.e., you are away
from home and want to see what's happening or reconfigure your router
when not at the router.

nope. it's for easy setup, done locally.
remote access is *optional*.

You might want to consider the security
ramifications of allowing remote (external) access to your router. Make
sure to change the default admin logon password after getting the
router.

always, which has nothing to do with any app or remote access.

In article , Walter Boyd
wrote:

My old Linksys E4200 router has performed admirably for quite a few
years now, but may be getting a little long in the tooth. I've been
browsing routers for awhile now. Yesterday an ad for the Linksys AC2200
popped up in my inbox. It looks perfectly well-suited for my home
network (3 Win 10 PCs, two android tablets, HVAC system, 2 Windows
phones, network printers/scanners, Amazon TV, and of course internet
connectivity)...

The kicker is that it requires downloading an Android or iOS app in
order to set it up. We still use Lumia 950 Windows phones. Why would I
need Android or iOS to install a router which will be running a Windows
wi-fi network?

because it's generally easier to set up and just about everyone has at
least one android or ios device. you say you have two android tablets,
so it's not an issue.

you can still use a browser if you want.

Second question - when I do decide on a router, will I need to
re-install all the peripherals or will the new router recognize the
current network and take over from there?

the latter. there is no 'install peripheral' for a router.

however, you will probably want to reboot all of the devices to renew
their dhcp leases.

Walter Boyd wrote:
My old Linksys E4200 router has performed admirably for quite a few
years now, but may be getting a little long in the tooth. I've been
browsing routers for awhile now. Yesterday an ad for the Linksys AC2200
popped up in my inbox. It looks perfectly well-suited for my home
network (3 Win 10 PCs, two android tablets, HVAC system, 2 Windows
phones, network printers/scanners, Amazon TV, and of course internet
connectivity)...

The kicker is that it requires downloading an Android or iOS app in
order to set it up. We still use Lumia 950 Windows phones. Why would I
need Android or iOS to install a router which will be running a Windows
wi-fi network?

Second question - when I do decide on a router, will I need to
re-install all the peripherals or will the new router recognize the
current network and take over from there?

Thanks in advance for any enlightenment! -Walt

Some comments here.

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/01/07...mr8300-router/

So it's a router with four antennas, that can't reach your
entire house. Unit costs $250 in local currency. You're
supposed to buy multiple of them, using the mesh support it
has, to extend coverage to the whole house.

Seems like a conflict of interest in there somehow :-/

Like buying a car with 3 wheels and needing to pay $2000
for the 4th wheel.

If the "meshness" is such a deal, a second plastic box and
power supply should be included right in the box, with the second
plastic box "dumbed down" and there purely to extend reach.

The lack of a user manual may be due to the release of
the device during CES. Even though, you know the user manual
was put in the box when they ship units, and to do that,
the user manual was ready to go, months ago.

The day that's announced at CES, that document should just
"pop up" on the Linksys server.

A user manual is in a sense, a "contract" between the manufacturer
and the user, as it contains "promises of functions". Distribution
of user manuals as a pre-sales tool is a common feature with a lot
of companies, and that's why. It fills in all the gaps the marketing
people glossed over.

*******

In a "desperate" situation, you could use the EA8300 manual, which
is presumably similar but lacking the mesh software inside. The EA8300
doesn't have mesh, so purchasing two EA8300 devices, there would
be no "magical connection" between then for whole-house coverage.

http://downloads.linksys.com/downloa...ernational.pdf

On page 8, you use a web browser at http://192.168.1.1 or similar.

Once you've connected to a Linksys server and "set up an account",
at that point an Android app might be able to also "log into the
Linksys server", use the information there in the DDNS sense,
and from there the Linksys server connects to your router.
It would be something along those lines.

In other words, it doesn't absolutely have to be bootstrapped
with an Android. Classical web browsering to 192.168.1.1, like
with older products, will suffice.

If you didn't set up an account on the Linksys server, then
perhaps logging in from the WAN side or something, would not
be supported. Or would take "good ole hacking skills". Personally,
I'm not in favor of *any* WAN ports for such functions, as
it's an unnecessary attack surface. People will still get
in, and it's really a matter of what kinds of exploits the
equipment supports. Some routers are riddled with holes, and
people search for those with Shodan. This is why we have routers
arranged in botnets.

Paul

In article , Paul
wrote:

So it's a router with four antennas, that can't reach your
entire house. Unit costs $250 in local currency. You're
supposed to buy multiple of them, using the mesh support it
has, to extend coverage to the whole house.

Seems like a conflict of interest in there somehow :-/

Like buying a car with 3 wheels and needing to pay $2000
for the 4th wheel.

nothing like that at all.

covering a large area with a good wifi signal using a single wifi
access point is difficult to impossible and setting up multiple access
points where users can seamlessly roam among them is non-trivial for
most people and usually requires cabling each one.

mesh solves that problem, and more.

If the "meshness" is such a deal, a second plastic box and
power supply should be included right in the box, with the second
plastic box "dumbed down" and there purely to extend reach.

and that's exactly what some mesh routers do.

however, that's not ideal for every situation.

example, eero:
https://ad3d98360fa0de008220-e893b89...8245.ssl.cf5.r
ackcdn.com/eero-wifi-2nd-generation-router-review-49-hp.jpg

main unit:
https://d2vw57jh8139vw.cloudfront.ne...8b392d4af7c0c6.
jpg
beacon unit:
https://d2vw57jh8139vw.cloudfront.ne...9a9a0e542e27d4.
jpg
and it's even a nightlight:
https://d2vw57jh8139vw.cloudfront.ne...505bebd15a4e54.
jpg