Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Product!!
Review: I took delivery on this router today - wow amazon.com was fast!! Anyway, the router was purchased to replace my SMC peice of junk. The SMC would constantly drop the connection, even when sitting right in front of the router. But back to this router! The setup was incredibly easy and took me all of 10 minutes to get all of my pc's up and running including my 802.11b laptop. The setup interface is amazingly simple but yet very powerful. It allows you to configure all of the standard stuff like WEP and addressing but I was really blown away by the security options - the SMC was nowhere this powerfull! You can disable broadcasting the SSID and most importantly you can create an access list of MAC addresses that are allowed to connect to the wireless interface - so sorry warchalkers!!! I could go on and on - the setup is great. The performace has been excellent so far using my 802.11b laptop - sorry I can't tell you how great the 802.11g speed is - I only have a 802.11b card. Actually I have a Dell so I am waiting to see if Dell releases a mini-pci 802.11g card - now THAT would be cool!! AWESOME ROUTER!! Great delivery and service from Amazon.com!!

Rating:
Summary: After looking for hours and comparing...
Review: this one seems to be the best on the market with regard to pricing and what you get. An all in one deal w/ the new g. Easy to install and configure, although be careful if you have a 2.4 ghz cordless phone, as it may cause some interference, but all in all works great.

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this yet!
Review: It may be a good deal, but it's based on drafts of standards and not the standards themselves (which haven't been released yet), which means it may not be compatible with wireless-G products made in the future.

Rating:
Summary: AOL Home Network
Review: The router installed very easy but the WRT54G router will not work for sharing broadband connections if you use AOL as your service provider. AOL uses their own version of PPoE and Linkysys routers won't work without special firmware. Linksys technical support told me they have no information on whether or not they intend to provided such firmware for the WRT54G, although they do have it for two other routers. If you want to share an AOL broadband connection, make sure you check the Linkysys site before ordering this router.

Rating:
Summary: Will not work with AOL Home Network
Review: The router is easy to install, but you cannot use this router to share a Broadband connection is you use AOL. AOL uses their own version of PPoE and Linksys does not have AOL firmware for the WRT54G. I contacted Linkysys technical support and they were unable to give an estimation of when they will release it. If you want to share your AOL Broadband in a home network, I would suggest checking the Linksys website to see if they have released firmware yet.

Rating:
Summary: I wish
Review: Im looking forward to buying the Linksys WRT54G Router. Actually my house is wired with Cat6, but the WRT54G is for my laptops. The first person that reviewed this product said that he/she is buying this in time for the holidays, *sigh*, if only that were true. As far as I know its not for sale anywhere yet, but I want to be first in line, whether it be cyber or physical.

Rating:
Summary: Game, Set, Match
Review: Delivering 54G in time for the 2002 Holiday Shopping Season has put Linksys head and shoulders above the competition in this market. We are putting a wireless network in our house this season and it just makes sense to invest in the next generation of wireless networks.

Rating:
Summary: Problems
Review: I bought this router a few months ago and have had a host of problems with it. First, it frequently drops the radio connection. This is apparently a common problem - I've seen quite a few people discussing it on various message boards. Second, the VPN pass-through just stopped working. The customer support people were not particularly helpful (I agree with an earlier post that the people at the call center in India are very difficult to understand), but they did arrange to have a new unit sent out to me. Overall, I wonder if a different brand would have been a better bet for me.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent router
Review: I use this router for a mix of B and G clients and speed and coverage are excellent. The stock firmware was OK but the router would hang after 3-5GB of files transfer from wireless to wired clients. The HyperWRT firmware fixed this problem and combined with WallWatcher (Windows application receiving in/out log from WRT54G) provides excellent logging functionality.

I use Linksys, Netgear, Orinoco and AT&T wireless cards and not a single one gives troubles with this router.

There is only a piece of funcionality that is missing in the router; ability to pin DHCP address allocation to the same client (aka static DHCP). It is more convenient to have persistent IP addresses without dealing with static IP.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: 5 stars no less unless you dont know about how wifi works
Review: This router is my 3rd router in various places. The one key component for Linksys G/Super G routers is the QoS feature. QoS allows priority of internet packets. This feature is a MUST for VoiP services. I have never had any issues setting up ANY router, crappy or not. The low stars are due to people not understanding the basics to router setup period. This router is FLAWLESS.

Things to do once you get the router to ensure it works perfectly:

1) Upgrade the firmware right away if it's not the newest version. One key for upgrading: Newest factory firmware upgrade gives you QoS support!!
2) Disconnect your 2.4Ghz cordless phone. You will always have issues with it, so eliminate it right away to make sure your wifi setup is up and running first. You might live in proximity to neighbors with 2.4ghz phones, so be wary of that interference. Dont blame the router right away.
3) Ditch your 2.4ghz phone if possible for 5.8ghz cordless phones, i did this knowing the technicalities of the interference which i experienced.
4) Enable QoS for VoIP users, this is the ONLY reason i purchased this router. VoIP (vonage) is working flawlessly in any situation where I am downloading heavily, the VoIP packets get priority.
5) Read the dam instructions before posting negative reviews on the product.
6) Do not setup encryption on intial setup to test that it's up and running first, then move onto more complex setup with encryption. Read the instructions !!! And you SHOULD enable encryption for godsake.

Those 6 steps should allow any non-technical person to get this, or ANY 802.11b/g router up and running. Remember, 2.4Ghz phone usage will kill your wifi connection regularly, especially in big buildings with many tenants!!!