Linksys Routers Sold at Walmart 900% Slower Than Advertised, Class Action Alleges

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Linksys Router Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: A Linksys router customer is suing Walmart and Belkin International.
• Why: The plaintiff says Linksys WiFi routers are falsely advertised as having faster internet speeds than they do.
• Where: The class action wants to represent consumers nationwide. 

Walmart sells Linksys-brand WiFi routers that have internet speeds more than 900 percent slower than advertised, a new nationwide class action alleges.

Lead plaintiff Jeremy Shepherd lodged the class action against Walmart, Inc and consumer electronics company Belkin International, Inc on Oct. 21 in a New York federal court, alleging Linksys Dual Band AC1000 WiFi routers are falsely advertised.

He says the pair advertise the Linksys AC1000 as being a “very fast” WiFi router for the internet, with enhanced speeds up to 1,000 Mbps.

Shepherd bought one of the routers from Walmart based on the advertising, and discovered that it only operated at WiFi internet speeds between 80-90 Mbps, “more than 900 percent slower than the advertised speeds,” he claims.

Linksys Router Investigation Reveals Cheap Technology, Says Walmart Class Action

The plaintiff says that after an extensive investigation, his lawyers determined the Linksys AC1000 was not capable of transmitting WiFi internet speeds greater than 100 Mbps because the Ethernet port on the Linksys AC1000 router that connects to the cable modem caps internet transmissions to no more than 100 Mbps. 

He says this is because it lacks the more expensive Gigabit Ethernet technology contained in competing router models. 

Despite this, the 1000 designation in the name of the Linksys AC1000 leads consumers to believe that the router can operate at internet speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps, he says.

Walmart and Belkin also claim the Linksys AC1000 is 2.3x faster than Wireless N or WiFi 4 technology, which the plaintiff alleges is false.

“Many consumers who purchase falsely advertised Linksys AC1000 routers will never know that the router is not running at the advertised WiFi speeds,” Shepherd says. 

He’s looking to represent anyone in the United States who purchased a Linksys AC1000 Router between Jan. 1, 2019 and the date the action was filed.

Shepherd is suing under state consumer protection laws, and for breach of contract, breach of implied warranty, unjust enrichment, negligent misrepresentation, fraud. He’s seeking certification of the class action, an injunction, restitution, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial.

Consumers have been dealing with falsely advertised WiFi speeds on a number of fronts, lodging class action lawsuits against Time Warner and Spectrum in recent years. 

Would you know if your router had internet speeds slower than advertised? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by James C. Kelly of The Law Offices of James C. Kelly.

The Walmart WiFi Router Class Action Lawsuit is Jeremy Shepherd, et al., v. Belkin International, Inc. et al., Case No. 1:21-cv-05862 in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York

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