A Week With: The Linksys x3500 router

Make life a little less complex

Impressive range: the Linksys x3500 router

Specification

Price: £139
ADSL or cable/fibre modem connections.
Simultaneous dual-band N delivers wireless networking speeds up to 450Mbps Four gigabit ports for faster file sharing
Free mobile app

What is it?

Getting your home wireless network up and running is one of modern life's challenges. The x3500 wireless route from Linksys aims to take some of the pain out of this with a straightforward step-up process and one-touch connection for additional devices.

It has a Cisco badge on it but Linksys was sold by Cisco to Belkin earlier this year, so it still gets the free Cisco Connect Express app. This mean you can use the app on a smartphone or tablet to keep control of the network, add guests and easily add new devices in three simple steps.

How easy is it to set up?

Incredibly straightforward. There's a CD included with step-by-step instructions to set it up as a modem and wireless router, or you can use it as an additional wireless base station. The clever bit is adding new devices; just enable WPS on the device you wish to connect and tap the WPS button in the mobile app to establish a secure connection

Any technical highlights?

There's a clever guest feature, too, with a password you can give out to visitors. The range is impressive as well. I set up my test unit in a three-storey flat and the signal was strong throughout.

Should I buy one?

Nobody really gets excited about routers, but if yours is showing its age or you want to run multiple networks with dozens of devices this isn't a bad piece of kit.