Old Generation Linksys WRT120N, will you upgrade to new Linksys E1200 N300 router?
Considering upgrading your existing Linksys WRT120N router with new Linksys E1200 series is reasonable for better performance. The table shows the manufactures specs and features and how good the customer responses to the product. Let’s have a look how they are different.
Wireless Standards
The old generation of WRT120N router is powered by the draft 802.11n technology, while the new Linksys E1200 N300 is powered by the ratified version of 802.11n technology. Both routers are backward compatible with 802.11b/g standard devices. Basically not many changes between the draft and the final 802.11n version except some options addition.
Antenna
Not many differences between the two regarding the antenna; both include two internal antenna with MIMO antenna technology. Both are not designed to let you upgrading for better gain with external antennas. For better range coverage you can compare with the new E1500 series which includes 3x internal antennas with Speed-Boost technology.
Ethernet Ports
Both Linksys WRT120N and new Linksys E1200 series include 4x 10/100 Ethernet LAN ports and 1x 10/100Mbps WAN port with autosensing technology – means you can use either cross or straight through twisted cable. Should you require gigabit ports you need more money, nearly twice as much as the price of standard router or even more, for example new Linksys E3200 N600 router. With Gigabit ports you can connect your computers with gigabit NIC ready for fast and reliable gigabit speed.
USB Port
Both routers do not support USB port for shared storage or shared printer. if you require network to support home theater environment, the router with USB port for shared storage is very essential to help you stream the video and other multimedia files from the storage to the home theater devices (Blu-Ray player, XBOX console or HDTV).
High performance network that support the USB ports for shared storage and printer concurrently is very important for “work and play”. You can consider the new Asus RT-N56U Black Diamond that includes two USB ports.
Guest Network
All new generation of Linksys E series support Guest network but old generation WRT120N doesn’t. With guest network feature you can create separate virtual network with different password for your guests to get access to the internet without compromising your local network.
| Linksys WRT120N | Linksys E1200 N300 | |
| Wireless Standards | Draft 802.11n standards – backward compatible with 802.11b/g | New ratified 802.11n standards – backward compatible with 802.11b/g |
| Antenna | 2x 2dBi internal antennas with MIMO technology | 2x internal antennas with MIMO technology |
| Ethernet Ports | 4x 10/100Mbps LAN Ethernet ports and 1x 10/100 WAN port | 4x 10/100Mbps LAN Ethernet ports and 1x 10/100 WAN port |
| USB Port | N/A | N/A |
| Guest Network | No | Yes |
| Customer Ratings | Averagely 3.4 out of five stars customer ratings for ease of setup, ease of use and installation, but averagely 2.5 for reliability | Averagely 4.3 out of five stars overall customer ratings and 4 stars for range |
Read the customer reviews about their experiences with the products how their opinions and satisfactions about the products. In Amazon, the Linksys WRT120N receives not so good customer ratings with averagely 3.4 out of five stars for ease of setup, ease of use and installation, but averagely 2.5 for reliability. As opposed to the new Linksys E1200 series, the router receives very positive responses with averagely 4.3 out of five stars customer ratings.
Networking Diagram
Install the new Linksys E1200 router as the center of your wireless network in home and connect it to the modem to share the internet with many computers within the household as shown in the above figure.
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Great review. Loved the summary of Amazon ratings.