Rating: 
Summary: it works FINE - actually VERY cool
Review: From the prior bad reviews I read, I have to assume this unit used to have issues. I needed the VPN functionality in addition to wifi/NAT/Radius, however, and I REALLY liked my past linksys experiences. I was so wary from reviews, however, that I paid a ton at a local staples to get one since I expected to return it.
This thing RULES. It is just like the wrt54g (bought one at same time) with more features. The GUIs are very similar, but this has more features. They aren't limited to the VPN. It also has other more advanced cisco-esque features including syslog, email alerts, RIP (come on - who uses that anyway) , config file backup/restore, better firewall control etc. It has been extremely stable. I just tried the l2l vpn and got a tunnel up with a friend on a netgear in about 10 minutes - and that's with him behind a NAT box! The logs are great - very informative. The tunnel has not flinched since we established it, and the router connection is great. Signal strength and general performance have had no issues. I have not had to reboot it once. Note: I DID load the latest (Feb 04) firmware immediately on unboxing it - so let's assume that helped. This thing is ready for primetime.
Rating: 
Summary: Try #2 wth the WRV54G
Review: Ok, after reading thr reviews and noticing that there was updated firmaware, I decided to try the WRV54G again.Still very disappointed. 1) Everytime you enter http://ISP_PROVIDED_IP_ADDRESS the router goes to the Router Setup Page, even though I have PORT 80 forwarded to my webserver machine. The only way to see your websute is to either use a machine outside of your router or use the webserver internal IP address. 2) The wireless range is significantly smaller than the WRT54G Ver 1.1. I get about an extra 60 feet with the WRT54G. 3) Everytime you make a small change, the router must reboot. And rebooting takes about 15-20 seconds. The WRT54G doesn't require a reboot as often. 4) You cannot use the Microsoft PPTP VPN server that comes installed with XP Professional. The router does not allow for the correct forwarding of the requests. If you want to use VPN you have to go through the routers VPN setup which is a little confusing. So my advice is to wait till this thing is a little more stable. After further reading reviews of the WRV54G at BroadBandReports I am going to stay away from this unit for a while. Plus the WRT54G Ver 2 had been released which has all the same functionality as 1.1 version but is built on a faster processor. I will probably go with that since my need for a VPN isn't that great.
Rating:
Summary: Some experiences in using WRV54G
Review: a. Restore to factory default after upgrading firmware (newest 2.10) b. WRV54G acts a DNS server. If another DNS server is required, key in the IP address of the specific DNS server in Setup > Basic setup >> DHCP page and save it. This feature is available after 2.10. c. IPSec tunnel just allow the connection between specific local subnet and specific remote subnet and remote IP addr. ANY to ANY IPSec Tunnel would be available after 2.2X d. Why the same settings (Encryption, Authentication, pre-shared key, DH Group, PFS,...) of two endpoints can not get connect ? Try to disconnect and connect once again. e. Unknown reason causes freeze, crash,..
I think 2.2X could solve those mazes.
Rating:
Summary: WRV54G Not Ready for PrimeTime
Review: This unit is the worst Linksys product that I have ever encountered. The ISP assigned IP does not renew except when rebooted (must do once a day). The VPN quit working after a week. Linksys' support is even worse. They say "yeah we know but we can't do squat right now". So I say why the hell did you release that to the public. Haven't you heard of testing.... what a concept. I guess that's what happens when you get too big.
Rating:
Summary: fantastic
Review: I recently purchased the LINKSYS WRV54G out of blind rage when the second Microsoft MN-500 Wireless Base Station I had, died on me much the same way as the first. I had heard nothing but good remarks about LINKSYS, although I was aware of an Internet connection drop-off with their other wireless products if the firmware wasn't upgraded from the factory default. Thus far I have not had a single problem with this router, despite the bad remarks. It is fast and I do not suffer from any connection drop-offs. I use port forwarding for a web, ftp, and ssh server and they all work flawlessly. I also use the DDNS function for hosting my personal web site and have no problems with that, either. However, I have not used the VPN function yet, so I cannot comment on its abilities.
Rating:
Summary: WRV54G is shlock
Review: These reviews are dead-on. Believe me. Bought one of these a couple months ago and have had all the same issues with dns and vpn. I've owned a previous 802.11b linksys router and it was flawlessly for over a year up until a week ago but that's another issue and the reason I won't buy another linksys product. The WRV54G should be recalled. I've been on the phone with tech support, written emails, returned the item to place of purchase for a replacement, returned a 3 router to linksys for another replacement because I couldn't believe I would get a 3rd router that was defective. Sure enough the SAME problems plage this unit. The authoritative dns is defective, vpn is flakey, administering the router is flakey.. freezes or hangs often during reboot. Updating firmware does nothing to fix these issues. Basically i'll eat the loss on this router since I can't sell it on ebay as a previous reviewer stated. I'd get a negative for selling a defective product. You've been warned.
Rating:
Summary: Shocked by the reviews
Review: I am in the IT field, so I can't claim that this product is for beginners. But with that said, this thing was EASY to set up. Some of the config screens were a bit glitchy and I had to refresh the page to get the "save settings" button to draw (which caused me to lose entries a few times before I learned to check for the buttons first) but everything worked perfectly. DSL setup took about 2 minutes, wireless took longer (like 5) because I wanted to record all my WEP settings for posterity. VPN was the hardest, I do not have much experience with it, so like maybe 10 minutes? I did not even open the instructions. I just tried the default IP and username/password combo, and "felt" my way from there. Despite what the other reviewers have written, I found this to be an impressive device.
Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY, Horrible product and Support
Review: I have never been so disappointed in a networking product and I do this for a living. I ignored the reviews and give this product a chance. I waited on-hold for support on average 45 mins. Never again will I buy another Linksys product. I went back to my never failed 3com office connect product. VPN never worked, wireless was constantly plagued with disconnects, DHCP requested were slow, even after a firmware upgrade. Just a terrible product all around. I guess Cisco has brought to Linksys it's terrible Quality and lack of testing.
Rating:
Summary: Bad product!!!
Review: After recently purchasing this unit, I was astonished that any respectable company would put such a product on the market for consumer use. The unit does not and can not negotiate an 802.11g connection with other LinkSys 802.11g adapters. This was confirmed by LinkSys and is awaiting a firmware patch to correct the issue. I am concerned that LinkSys is not currently developing updates as the acquisition by Cisco is no doubt causing procedural changes. I only hope this is not the case and a release is made soon. I have begun communications with LinkSys on this matter and believe anyone looking to purchase this device should give it a read. It can be found at http://www.vanausdoll.com/wrv54g.html. Bottom line, do not purchase this product! I learned soon after that if you update the firmware to 2.10, you will have to release and renew the WAN side to reestablish the internet connection if you make any changes to routers configuration. This of coarse is if you are using DHCP based service from your provider.
Rating:
Summary: Unreliable, slow and flaky
Review: I purchased two of these routers - and have had nothing but problems. The second unit was dead on arrival. It's first replacement failed after 3 days. The third unit basically worked - except the VPN functionality. The routers couldn't hold a VPN tunnel for more than 4 minutes. Linksys technical support was unable to assist in resolving this matter and stopped responding to e-mail requests. The setup screens don't work properly with Netscape or Mozilla-based products, whcih makes admin using Linux painful.
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