Review on 🔁 Renewed Linksys Max-Stream AC4000 Tri-Band Router with Alexa Compatibility by Sam Doucette

Update January 10, 2019: Conclusion: If you are lucky and get a "good" router, you will undoubtedly be happy with this router (I think this represents most if not all of the positive reviews). If you are unlucky like me, then you may have the following experience. I received (September 2018) a defective EA9300 certified refurbished router with non-working WiFi radios. After several calls to Linksys, I sent back (at my own expense) the defective router, which Linksys replaced with a new EA9300 router in October. Initially I was very happy with the new replacement. The new router worked almost perfectly. Eventually (in January) the new router had the same problem I had with the original router - no wifi. I originally bought this router for business. Linksys customer service for this model is definitely not business-friendly. A nightmare! You can read the rest of the review for more details, but instead of having to go through the painful experience of dealing with Linksys customer support again, I now just use the EA9300 as a router and the old Airport Express for WiFi. So far this system works great. I didn't get what I paid for, but that's Linksys fault. When the EA9300 finally stops working as a router (hopefully not soon) I will buy a new router, not from Linksys but from another manufacturer. Oh, and by the way, LinksysCares gave me hope for a while (maybe Linksys really cares?). LinksysCares emailed me a few times but the replies were mostly that I was in good hands with Linksys customer service. Initial Review: I purchased this Linksys EA9300 Router (model AC4000) from Revain as a refurbished device in September 2018 (Linksys Max-Stream AC4000 MU-MIMO Tri-Band WiFi Router compatible with Alexa (EA9300) (Certified Refurbished)). It arrived with the wifi not working. See my attached photo of other Revain customers having a similar Wi-Fi experience. About an hour later, on the phone with Linksys, they sent me a replacement (brand new). I was (at first) satisfied with this compromise. The new router worked right out of the box, including WiFi. Everything seemed great. The software that interacts with the router has made it. I received this new replacement router in early October (2018). In December, I noticed my devices dropping their Wi-Fi connection. Initially I thought it was the dual band, so I disabled the 5GHz radios, thinking it would force the devices to always use the wider 2.4GHz band. However, I found that the problem with WiFi drops persisted (made a habit of checking the WiFi on the device and almost always had to reconnect). Okay, now it's January 2019. I had to power cycle my router due to another issue. When the router came back to the network, I saw the SSID, but the signal was so weak that the device couldn't connect to the router (even standing next to it!). By the way, the original refurbished router I received had exactly this problem - wifi didn't work. After more than 2 hours on the phone with Linksys yesterday, they sent me a new replacement router. However, I now believe that there must be a fundamental flaw in the design of the wireless radios in this model of router. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but my money is also due to a wireless bug on a third router. When that happens, I just buy a cheap wifi hotspot to connect to the EA9300. I don't have time to spend hours on the phone with Linksys every time the router can't find a replacement. BTW, my first call to Linksys yesterday was delayed by half an hour and then they hung up on me. If you buy this router, be prepared for the WiFi not working either immediately or several weeks after installation. This was an expensive business router so I'm definitely not happy with the whole experience. I hope LinksysCares helps - I'd be interested to hear what they have to say. Right now I'm very disappointed with Linksys - I expected more from such an expensive router. Update - January 9, 2019: First of all, I was very pleased to receive a quick response from Linksys (Jay's comment on my original review). I called Linksys customer service yesterday to arrange a replacement and get an RMA to ship the (second!) defective unit back. However, Linksys customer service informed me that I was not entitled to a replacement as it was out of warranty. The? So I was told the repaired router was under warranty for 90 days and because I received the original faulty router in September it had exceeded 90 days and I was no longer entitled to a replacement. I explained that the original router arrived defective and that it would be unfair to run warranty hours before receiving a working router (in October). They told me they're sorry, it's politics. Is this policy even legal? Can you run the warranty clock on a defective product? Guys, maybe we should consider a class action lawsuit? I then told them about this review in Revane and Jay's comment. I was put off several times so he could talk to the manager about my case. After a total of 2 hours on the phone I was told that they would give me a one time special replacement for the refurbished unit with no warranty whatsoever (ie if it arrives dead on arrival I no longer have a chance to seek help). Needless to say, I didn't accept her for this "deal". For any Linksys staff following my review, my case number is 10623121. The original refurbished router that arrived at DOA had serial number 18R10605704598 and the replacement (new) serial number was 18R10608803964. Brian ID# 21432, Linksys Customer Service. Responsible for keeping me in touch for more than two hours. Phone. I am writing to inform other potential buyers of the risks involved in purchasing Linksys products. This is not a $50 router. To be fair, I know you can have similar experiences with other electronics suppliers, but I definitely came up short with this purchase. In the end I am pissed and feel cheated as I am now fairly certain that there is a design flaw in the wireless radios in this particular Linksys router model and I believe Linksys could have handled my situation better. I will post another update if Linksys decides to fix this issue for me. I'm not holding my breath.