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Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router

Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router

List Price: $99.99
Your Price: $59.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very problem-free
Review: I've used this router with a number of clients on Windows XP and W2K, with both USB and PCMCIA adaptors. It has been very problem free, including connecting to a corporate VPN. Two issues to note - with XP clients, don't disable SSID broadcast, even though manufacturers recommend this for security... it doesn't work (its OK with W2K). Also, I had some very frustrating intermittent disconnects from VPN services which were eventually solved by reducing the MTU setting ON THE CLIENT NOT THE ROUTER (using Dr TCPIP). Overall a good experience, trivial setup and problem-free operation (other than the aforementioned).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Stay Away!
Review: I bought mine at CompUSA. Right out of the box it would work five minutes then disconnect my wired connections, including my DSL modem connected to the WAN port. I could still ping the router via a wireless client, but I could not ping any wired computers or the DSL router. The network connection lights on the router remained lit even though my PC would pop up a message "network cable disconnected" and the DSL modem connection light would go out. Even if I manually unplugged the cables from the router, the connections lights would stay on. I bought new cables, same problems. I upgraded the firmware, same problems. I reset the router to default configuration, same problem. I am sending it back. And this was to replace a US Robotics 8022 which is equally poor performing piece of cr*p. The USR will disconnect me if I try to transfer a file larger then about 500k. I guess I'll try Netgear next or D-Link. Can't anyone make a freakin router that works? BTW, I have been a network engineer for over 10 years and have a BS in Computer Science, I'm not just an ingnorant newbie who can't configure a router. And to think I liked Cisco!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy Setup
Review: I dont know what these bad reviews mean? I was online in about a half hour, just used the install disk and followed prompts. I am very happy with it. The range is fantastic. The configuration problems came with the receiving unit, router installed very easy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Life is grand when things work the way they are supposed to.
Review: I recently decided to move up to a wireless router from a Linksys model BEFSR41 wired router. Although I was predisposed toward the Linksys brand because of a good experience with the BEFSR41, I was somewhat concerned about the mixed reviews on the WRT54G Wireless-G Router. After extensive research about the various alternatives, I decided to opt for the Linksys model, primarily because of its compatibility with VPNs, which I use to access a corporate network from outside the office. Set-up was as simple as plugging in four wired PC connections and the power cord. The default settings worked beautifully and I had immediate web access on all four PC's at speeds that appeared to be even faster than the old wired router. I then accessed the Linskys DHCP server and made some fine tuning adjustments based on the well-laid out instructions. Then came the big test. I have an older house with mostly plaster walls and brick exterior. Damned if the thing didn't go right through them all like a hot knife through butter. My wireless range provides outstanding coverage throughout the three floors of my home, covering about 5000 sq. feet. I also was able to receive excellent reception outside at ranges easily exceeding 150 feet. The VPN works like a charm and coverage is even better than I expected. All in all, I couldn't be more thrilled. No spotty coverage, no need to call tech. support. Just plugged it in, fine tuned some security and wireless adjustments and away I went at wireless speeds equalling the speeds of the hard-wired PC's. It's hard to understand why there is such a variance of opinion about this product. It's performance in my case has been absolutely flawless.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: very happy so far!
Review: I purchased the Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router and the Wireless-G PCI Adapter WMP54-G. I've got a laptop with a built in Wireless card already and I wanted to network the laptop with my desktop. This was my first time setting up a network like this and it went rather smoothly. I used the CDROM for the install, then after that went in the web based interface to fine tune it. The desktop worked immediately I was very happy with that one. The laptop took a little playing around with the drivers for the built in card. Once I got the drivers right it hooked right up to the network. The range/signal seems very good with this router. I'm in a house approx. 2500 sq. ft. and get good coverage throughout. I have not seen any interference with my cordless 2.4 ghz phones either. All in all great product for the price, hard to beat.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I own 4
Review: I own 4 of these bad boys. Router #1 decided to start messing up, so I called up tech support and got walked through destroying my config (I had 38 mac addresses in there). Completely irreproducable problems for the second half of its life. Turns out it evidently is a transmitter problem as the range is down to 30 feet now.

Router #2 is much better, it's a different model, different plug, I think Cisco had bought them at that point. No problems so far.

Router #3 (home) likes to get funky when I go bittorrenting on it. I will watch as my maximum number of open connections goes from 500 or so to 100, resetting the cablemodem has no effect, resetting the computer has little effect, resetting the router fixes it right up.

Router #4 (located at some apartments I own) seems stable, does not appear to have any issues.

I am overall, annoyed with the tech support, have read numerous complaints about Linksys choking on bittorrent. It's stable for the average user, but not the power user.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The WRT54G is a true gem!!
Review: This has been one of the best technology investments I have ever made. Me and my wife have laptops and we also have a desktop machine. I had heard good things about LinkSys, so I purchased the WRT54G and 2 cards to go with it. Wow! It worked right out of the box. Configuration was easy. And it allows you to do just anything without having to be a network guru. It has given us true freedom of movement and we have never had ANY problems. In addition, the G network is fast enough to use WEP security without any noticeable decrease in performance. And I am able to set up a web server by using port forwarding. I also was able to use DHCP and static IP addresses on my local network and even configured it to work with the SBC 2Wire router.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Do not buy a Linksys network router
Review: I consider myself above average in computer-related knowledge. I have been struggling to get the WRT54G and the linksys PCI adapter card - WMP54G - to work for three months. One day it works, the next day it suddenly doesn't. It all starts once you start trying to figure out and use the various security features. Then it's all downhill. Sometimes I get a good signal, sometimes I don't. The distance from router to receiving computer is less than 100 feet, with three thin walls in between. I haven't been able to get it up and running for the past 6 weeks (although I have tried everything - reinstall, reconfigure, re-set settings, disable zone alarm firewall, disable norton antivirus, etc.) The Linksys written instructions are worthless. Their tech support is in India and they are difficult to understand, often rude and ultimately don't help you solve the problem (and only after you wait eons before you get to speak to an actual human.) If you don't care about security, you might be able to get the network to work. But if you try to set up and utilize any security feature, you'll run into problems and you'll be stuck like I have been. I have tried reinstalling the adapter card three times, re-set the setting on the rourter but nothing. I have checked that the channels are the same on both the router and receiving computer, that the SSIDs are the same on both, etc. etc. but no go. After I bought this Linksys hardware, my friends warned me this would happen. I have given up and am returning it. Trust me. Don't waste your time and energy - buy your networking hardware from another manufacturer. I am going to.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: extremely frustrated
Review: from day one, this product has caused me trouble. it didn't work straight out of the box. I was on hold waiting for tech support for over 2 hours. my wired connection works fine on my pc while the network is up and running. It goes down 1-2 times a day, and I need to unplug and replug it. It works fine with my mac laptop, but it's not a linksys network card. And the most major problem is the poor signal being received by my other pc on a wireless linksys card about 250 feet away from the router. even when it does get a strong connection, the dsl speed is often slower than a 56k modem. tech support say I need another wired router (another $99) to make my connection work. even if it's true, it doesn't account for the network going down every day. wouldn't recommend this product.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Solid wireless network; one dead spot
Review: I use this Wireless Broadband Router to connect two Windows XP Dell laptops to a wireless broadband modem. (That is, the connection to the ISP's receiver is a non-cable, radio frequency connection. The connection between the Router and the modem is, of course, a wired one.) In each of the laptops I use Linksys WPC54G Notebook Adapters. I have used the laptops a maximum of about 50 feet and three walls from the Router, as well as from an outside deck.

In general, this has worked fine. At its maximum distance from the Router, I have seen degradation in the displayed speed from the rated 54 Mbytes to as low as 11 Mbytes and Signal Strength from "Excellent" to "Good". None of this degradation has ever seemed to result in an actual slowdown of Internet response time, which has been as good as I had experienced with past fully-wired setups. (By default, installation puts an icon in the System Tray that allows you to easily monitor the Speed and Signal Strength, for whatever that's worth.)

However, I have discovered one dead spot in my house from which the connection frequently fails. I've been unable to discover what characteristic of the situation might be causing this failure. Moving the laptop a few feet over, even while maintaining the same approximate distance from the Router, has always solved the problem. What has not solved the problem has been using a different frequency for communication (the Router offers a choice of 11 channels ranging from 2.412 to 2.462 Ghz).

Setup was easy and worked for me without any extraordinary efforts or changes to the default configuration values. This was true despite the fact that my ISP warned me of other users' problems using Linksys Routers to connect through the supplied modem.

I find the configuration interface using the latest firmware (I'm using version 2.02.2) is fairly intuitive and well-documented, and I rank myself as only a few steps above novice. Accessing the Linksys web site to check on and download new versions of the firmware and the adapter driver has often been problematic. Persistence is required.

Overall, I'm more than satisfied with the Linksys choice for a wireless home network.


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