We have come a long way with our technology. Not to many years ago you were a state-of-the-art company if you had a computer in the office. A home basic business was very special if it had one computer. Today, every home and/or small business has at least two or more computers. We have 2 to 4 computers running off our network at anyone time.

How we distribute our internet connection is with an old Linksys 4 port wireless router. This is the one that is a blue and black box with two antenna sticking out the back.

Because we stream movies from Netflix on one computer and the other computers have trouble with any major major internet usage. After we investigated the issue, it was determined the router was the bottleneck. This meant it was time to start looking for an upgrade to our router.

Because we have such good luck we decided to stick with Linksys. I you do not know Linksys is the home version of Cisco company. However in the past few years the name Cisco has started appearing in stores like Best Buy and Wal Mart. So went out to compare the  four major offerings of the Cisco/Linksys routers for the home and home/office.

There are three models; E1000, E2000, and E3000 ranging in price from $79.99 to $179.99.

Cisco-Linksys E1000 – The Linksys E1000 uses Wireless-N technology in your home.  You can get wireless connection speeds up to 300 Mbps. Included Cisco The Linksys E1000 gives you basis.

Cisco-Linksys E2000 – The Linksys E2000 offers a selectable dual-band Wireless-N technology and extended range to provide wireless coverage throughout your home. either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz radio bands. These selectable wireless bands help you avoid network interference, enabling smoother file transfers and media streaming. The Linksys E2000 is perfect for entertainment and wireless gaming at Gigabit speeds.

Cisco-Linksys E3000 – The Linksys E3000 is a powerful dual-band Wireless-N router just for wireless entertainment. Faster HD video streaming and wireless gaming performance that simultaneous dual-band technology enables. A built-in USB port and UPnP AV media server let you share files over your network, as well as stream media content to an Xbox 360, PS3, or other compatible device.

What is interesting is the more critical users do gaming  and stream HD video give the E3000 5 out of 5 stars. The E1000 and E2000 have a 3 1/2 to 4 stars out of 5.

There has been some issues with tech support not getting back to customers, and having to reboot. I found no major issues with any of these routers.

Bottom-line: We are going with the E3000. Yes it is the most expensive. However, this will give us room to grow. I do not seeing our internet usage shrinking anytime in the near future.

Tags: Cisco, Home Router, Linksys, Linksys E1000, Linksys E2000, Linksys E3000, Routers, Wireless Router