Linksys WAP54G Wireless-G Access Point

Wireless-G is the upcoming 54Mbps wireless networking standard that's almost five times faster than the widely deployed Wireless-B (802.11b) products found in homes, businesses, and public wireless hotspots around the country but since they share the same 2.4GHz radio band, Wireless-G devices can also work with existing 11Mbps Wireless-B equipment.

The Linksys Wireless-G Access Point lets you connect Wireless-G or Wireless-B devices to the network. Since both standards are built in, you can protect your investment in existing 802.11b infrastructure, and migrate your network clients to the new screaming fast Wireless-G standard as your needs grow.

To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G Access Point can encrypt all wireless transmissions. The MAC Address filter lets you decide exactly who has access to your wireless network. Configuration is a snap with the web browser-based configuration utility.

Future-proof your wireless network with the Linksys Wireless-G Access Point. You'll enjoy Wireless-B connectivity today, and be prepared for a high-speed Wireless-G tomorrow.

Set up a high-speed Wireless-G (draft 802.11g) network in your home or office
Data rates up to 54Mbps -- 5 times faster than Wireless-B (802.11b)
Also interoperates with Wireless-B networks (at 11Mbps)
Advanced wireless security with 128-bit WEP encryption and MAC filtering

The Linksys Wireless-G access point lets you connect Wireless-G (802.11g ) or Wireless-B (802.11b) devices to your network. Because both standards are built-in, you can protect your investment in existing 802.11b infrastructure, and migrate your network clients to the new screaming-fast Wireless-G standard as your needs grow.

For more information on the differences between an Access Point and a Router with Access Point, see the following table:

access point vs. router

To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G access point can encrypt all wireless transmissions. The MAC address filter lets you decide exactly who has access to your wireless network. Configuration is a snap with the Web browser-based configuration utility.

Future-proof your wireless network with the Linksys Wireless-G access point. You'll enjoy Wireless-B connectivity today, and be prepared for a high-speed Wireless-G tomorrow.

The Linksys Wireless-G access point is compatible with Windows 95, 98, Me, NT 4.0, 2000, and XP.

See a comparison diagram of the different wireless technologies.

Wireless networks are rapidly becoming more popular and coming down in price. Since they don't require cables, you can use the devices anywhere in an office or home, even out on the patio. There's no need to roll out an Ethernet network cable to each room of a house; you can network anywhere -- without wires. Outside of the home, wireless networking is available in hotspots at coffee shops, businesses, airports -- great when you're on the road and need to get some work done. For convenience, wireless networking is the answer.

What Wireless Standard is Right for Me?
Now that you've decided to create a wireless network, the next step is to figure out which wireless standard to use.

Basically, a standard is a set of specifications for a device. All devices that follow a specific standard share operating characteristics, such as the radio frequency used and maximum data transfer speed.

For wireless networking, there are three standards to choose from at this time:

802.11b

802.11a

802.11g

To learn about the differences between the standards and select the right one for your network, click here for an easy-to-understand chart.

1 Not so great if there are 2.4 GHz phones being used around u
Set up was (almost) a breeze. But I started experiencing mysterious disconnections almost from hour 1. This went on for the rest of the day till I figured out that the 2.4 GHz phone system I have at home is the culprit. I would happily replace the phone but neighbours using their phones have also been responsible for my disconnects. I know this for a fact because I actually had them use the phone from their yard and there was an instant disconnect. I'm returning this to the store and hoping that a better connected solution turns up.

2 Excelente, pero hay que configurar
Es mi primer router inal‡mbrico, y en cuanto a rendimiento, conectividad e instalaci—n inicial es excelente. Sin embargo, es necesario un conocimiento mas detallado del equipo para programar la seguridad requerida. Luego de varios ensayos y errores, se aprende a conocer el router muy bien y los cambios o modificaciones se realizan muy r‡pido (acceso Web inclusive). Es verdad que frecuentemente se desconecta, por lo cual es bueno cambiar de canal (frecuencia) el enlace con el router, debido a que es principalmente por interferencias.

3 Better than I expected
This is the first time I have ever set up a wireless network. The installation was a breeeze and the connectivity is excellent. I'm typing this in my dining room, with my access point downstairs. A sold purchase.

4 Works like it is supposed to.
It took me 15 minutes from the time I opened the box to adding wireless capability to my existing home LAN. The directions were perfect. Operation is perfect. Speed is great. I would look no further for an low cost way to add wireless.

5 Excellent choice for a Wireless Access Point.
I purchased this item with the Linksys WPC54GS Wireless-G Notebook Adapter with SpeedBooster and had no issue's that other reviewers spoke of. Installation and setup was straight forward to the point that it seems silly to mention it but all I did was follow the step by step instructions. I have the notebook adapter installed in both a IBM T40 running WinXP SP1 and a Gateway Solo 9550 running WinXP SP2. We have a 2400+ sq. ft. home and even when I am on the other side of the house the speed only drops to 36 Mbps or so. The access point is setup in a front bedroom in our home so the signal goes through many walls to reach the laptop when in use. So from my perspective, this works wonderfully and am thoroughly enjoying the freedom to roam around the house with my laptop. I should also note that we have 5.8Ghz cordless phones. My previous experience was that 2.4Ghz phones interferred with the wireless network.

6 Easy to use and very robust
I went from zero to fully secured (WPA protected) robust Wi-Fi network in 10 minutes flat! It was harder to set up the Wi-Fi access on the Windows XP side of things than it was for this Linksys router. Connection speeds are awesome, though there is some interference from my cordless phone (I drop from 54MBps to 3MBps when phone is in use typically), however I'll fix that with a new phone sooner or later. Kudos to Linksys on another easy to use networking component!

7 Junk. You don't need the headaches!
I get disconnected at least 3 or 4 times a day using these linksys wireless routers. They are junk. Do your research and buy something like netgear or dlink. At first, i thought it was just one bad apple. However, I currently own 3 linksys routers and dozens of wireless pc and laptop cards, and all of them are giving me problems.

Stay away from these linksys routers. At best, each time i get disconnected i have to restart my pc and the router and wait 10 minutes to get back online again. if you're doing something important, forget it!

8 no confusion
this product is great. i can connect all over my house and sometimes i get the option to connect onto one of my neighbors. when i wasn't paying atteniton my computer automatically connected me to my neighbors and i got bad service, but otherwise my mac and all the other types of computers in my house connect great.

just make sure you do not buy the wireless "B" one. my brother originally bought the wireless "B" and i had problems. my boyfriend had it and i couldn't connect in his room very well.

my friend put security on her G so that people can't use hers in her apartment, so i think all of the bases are covered. oh yeah just remember the password. she had the hardest time remembering her password and that was a pain in the @$$.

9 easy setup, good performance
Setup was easy. I did not install the included setup software, but rather accessed the WAP54G console via the http address using IE6.

The console was easy to understand. All security features are set to "off" out of the box. You must manaully go in and change setting to provide any level of security.

They provide excellent directions on how to tighten up security
(http://www.linksys.com/splash/wirelessnotes.asp).

I am connecting this to my Linksys 4 port dsl/cable router.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with this product.

10 Do not buy this product
Performance is spotty. Sometimes the broadcast is ok. Other times it fades in and out making work with it impossible. Sometimes unplugging and re-plugging will solve the problem, other times it won't.
Stay away from it.

11 Great for small networks... very small. And unimportant.
Don't buy this if you just want to use it as a repeator - it doesn't support WPA, and given that WEP security will only last 3-4 hours (if you're lucky) its not a very secure device to use to try and extend your wireless network.

If all you need is a small access point to make your home network wireless (and don't plan on extending that wireless coverage), go for it.

12 A Wireless Repeater That Works. Documentation the Doesn't
In response to Mr. Frandzel's later posted comments, I'll add that the SSID for the WAP54g should differ from that of the router. Otherwise, in some circumstances, one or more wireless adapters can switch from the WAP54g's signal over to the router's signal, and then perhaps eventually visa versa. That type of switching may lock up the WAP54g. At the very least, that arrangement complicates troubleshooting. Now, back to my original review:

I purchased the WAP54g to work as a repeater in my network. I have one pc wired to my wrt54g in my basement and another pc in the far corner of a bedroom 2 flights up, as well as a wga54g in same room as the wireless pc. Although the signal strength had generally read from about 18% to about 40%, I suspected that the signal was fluctuating much more, since the signal would drop out for several seconds at a time. Also, the signal would become unreliable in the summer, perhaps due to high humidity. The wre54g that I had purchased had been a nightmare to setup, and caused my wga54g to lock up. I decided I was better off without it.

Anyway, with the 2.07 firmware the wap54g, and the wap54g positioned on the first floor (between the bedroom and basement) I'm getting a consistent signal strength of 46-60%, with no dropouts.

This being a Linksys product, there are bound to be gotchas. One gotcha is the lack of wpa support. Another gotcha is the lack of written documentation for the repeater function (not even written on the box). The repeater function is also poorly documented in the online setup help included with the wap54g. That help section tells you that if your wrt54g uses MAC filtering, you should type in the LAN MAC ID for the router in the appropriate box of the wap54g's web utility. That won't work. Instead, as the Linksys internet site states, you should type in the Wireless MAC ID for your wrt54g. Finally, the repeater function only works in comibination with select wireless Linksys products, such as the wrt54g.

BTW, one reviewer complained of being unable to find antenna to fit the wap54g's "non-standard mounts." That person apparently never visited Radio Shack, which has 5.5 dBi antenna (catalog #278-844) that fit the wap54g just fine. I'm using them now.

The same reviewer complained that the wap54g was so old that it complied only with the draft 802.11g draft standard. The 802.11g standard was finalized in mid 2003, which was some time after several other 802.11g products had been on the market.

13 Great access point with updated functions
This access point is fast and performs well in a wide area. Additionally Linksys just updated the firmware so the device can now act as a repeater on the same network (e.g., doesn't have to be connected via ethernet cable)to expand a network.

14 Easy Conversion to Wireless from Wired Network
I have a SOHO that uses a wired 10/100 switched network. Already part of this network is a Linksys single port Cable / DSL Router. When it came time to make the jump to wireless, the WAP54G seemed the logical choice, as I would not have to reconfigure anything on my existing network. For the record, I selected the WUSB54G and WPC54G adapters for two different purposes. Look for reviews on those items posted separately.

I had no trouble installing my original piece of Linksys gear. Now, since Cisco acquired Linksys, this effortless installation is even easier. The software installed seamlessly and I was able to modify the default settings, to match my network and increase security, occurred without any problem. A nice touch is the included patch cord to perform the initial setup. If you have a single port Cable / DSL Router already on your wired network, simply plug the other end of the patch cable into any open port on your switch or hub and the WAP54G will establish communication.

One small item left out of the manual was how to access the Web based administration interface. For first time installers, this may be critical. You need to open you web browser by entering the IP address for the Access Point. Once there, you can access the proper screens to assign a static IP address, strongly advised, and set any key options.

If you are not familiar with WEP Keys, these are electronic codes that keep your network private. While not as fool proof as wired security, they do go a long way to keeping strangers from using your network. If you create a key, keep a hard copy somewhere secure but handy. Like any password, treat them as a guarded secret. If you enable WEP Keys on the access point, any network adapters must be supplied with the key before a connection can be established.

Once the Access Point is configured, place it a good location and your done. Now you only need to add a wireless network adapter to any PC and your good to go. One nice feature is this model is also compatible with the 802.11b spec and will handle the slower traffic of this spec. With the 802.11g adapters, the network will send traffic at the full 54 Mb/sec for that spec.

Bottom line: nice price, nice performance and painless installation.

15 Linksys - Worst Customer Service Ever!
Beware of the incompetent customer service for Linksys. After easily setting up a wired/wireless network I called for help making it secure. 4 hours and 4 phone calls later my internet service didn't work, my network didn't work, my router didn't work, and Linksys said it was a faulty system (it had worked before I called for help). I had to call Earthlink to fix the internet connection and then bought a Motorola. They had it fixed and secure in 15 minutes. I told a friend this story and she said she had a friend with a similar Linksys customer service nightmare. Beware! Also, I never received a rebate from an earlier item I bought in '02, even after calling about it.

16 Warning: Some issues on compability.

WAP54G is maybe the oldest 802.11g out there. It's been
out before the 802.11g was finalized!!! (802.11g draft).

This access point have some compability problem with
many brand of Wireless Adapter, such as random disconnection,
poor range, and even cannot connect problems.

Plus the antenna connector on Linksys is RP-TNC which is
non-standard compared the more famous RP-SMA. It's hard
to find an external antenna that has the RP-TNC connector.
I have no idea why Linksys do not follow the market standard.

**Linksys is what people (end-users) know for Wireless LAN
eventhough there are some great products with the same price
and a lot more to offer (Proxim, Zyxel, Buffalo, etc).

17 Decent product marred by bad documentation
The unit performs well with my Mac iBook, even WPA security works as advertised and without connection drops. The range is reasonable, I'll be trying out a better antenna soon.
Note: WPA security does not work when the unit is configured for wireless repeating. This is an issue with the WPA standard, it does not allow for that.

The documentation is as good as worthless for setting these things up. The troubleshooting section is actually a glossary, and is useless for getting things to work. Linksys can learn a lot from Apple in this respect, their configuration utility just works, and the documentation is actually useful. Apple's gear is about three times the price of Linksys', however.

If you're a gearhead you can get this thing to work (hint: the default IP address is 192.168.1.245/24, empty userid password 'admin'). Otherwise keep looking.

18 Works Great, but more detailed instructions needed
Good Product, More detailed instructions needed.
This was my first WAP setup, needless to say I was a little disappointed in the instructions. It only showed how to use it right out of the box and nothing on how to use secure the network using MAC address and or WEP.
If I wanted to use the product out of the box, takes about 5 minutes to setup, but I wanted to secure it, took about an hour.
Still happy with the product though.

19 Definitely worth buying if you like speed!
Fantastic - this worked right out of the box with very little setup time required. It is backwards compatible so we are able to use it with every wireless card in our home (even the older ones). But the wireless-G cards scream with speed compared to the older cards. Definitely worth buying.

20 LOUSY Tech Support
I called the "No-Help" line after running into a minor issue with the WAP54G that I was setting up as a repeater. The individual who "assisted" me was worse than anything I could do alone. After I got off the phone, over 2 hours later, my laptop could not even connect to the wireless network at home. This individual would not pay attention to anything I said, instead seeming to read off a script. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, he said he was the floor supervisor.

IF you buy this product, search the help section on their website for articles. Because if you have to call their "no-help" line you are in for trouble.

Work on it yourself or find a store that will come out and set it up for you instead. Linksys tech support = worthless!!! The lack of adequate tech support is the main reason for the poor rating.

21 Like all Linksys products..
No, I am not a Linksys employee and yes I have lost money in Cisco stock. But like all Linksys products the setup works like its supposed to and the units work flawlessly.

I downrated this unit because of the difficulty of using it as a bridge. The box insinuated that you could bridge with it. When I tried to make it bridge it didn't work and tech support told me that bridging is not supported.

I did find a work-around. E-mail me if you want the secret.

Otherwise this is an excellent as usual product from Linksys at a great price.

22 Wooks Good - Bad Instructions
I feel the state of consumer level wireless is one step above gadget level - after a lot of screwing around, it works but I would still prefer to be able to run cable and have a wired connection.

That said - I decided to play around with wireless mostly out of curiosity, and since I already had a router and firewall, I decided to just get a WAP instead. I've used Cisco's own WAP's at work, and since they own Linksys now, I decided to give this model a try.

Quick review is it works fine for me running my newly wireless home network consisting of 2 computers, a stand-alone 80hr Tivo, and two Xboxes, and a Linksys Wireless Network Camera.

It wasn't as simple as taking it out of the box and getting it up and running, mostly thanks to the lousy documentation included with - basically a quick-start guide and a PDF file both of which didn't explain much of anything.

But after downloading the latest firmware from the Linksys website, and doing a lot of online research, I did get everything up and running acceptably.

Don't forget to turn on one of the methods of encryption - I noticed a lot of my neighbors unknowingly running totally open.

23 Good range and OK speed - one caveat
I recently spent 4 hours troubleshooting a new installation of this WAP which I purchased to increase signal strength and range. (It was a WAP54G). After much troubleshooting where the Xbox network adaptor (MN-740) would drop the network connection as soon as I attached the XBOX itself to the network adaptor, I realized that the reason this was happening was the MAC address filtering. In order to have the network adaptor actually join itself to the network, you need to add BOTH the MAC for the adaptor itself AND the MAC for the XBOX into the MAC address filtering ALLOW table for the Linksys access point.

I believe that this may solve other issues that people are having with attaching multiple devices to through wireless to these WAPs.

I was very surprised that this information was not documented. It should be stated in the user's manual that if you are using MAC filtering, that you need to add all MAC addresses of all units that are bridged into the WAP into the ALLOW table of the MAC filter.

Right now I'm working fine with MAC filtering enabled and 128bit WEP turned ON as well. FYI - with these Linksys units throughput goes from 54mbps to 18 when 128bit WEP is turned ON. Must be due to the cheap CPUs in these units.

The speed drop when WEP is enabled plus the lack of MAC filter documentation keeps this from being a five star review.

24 It makes it happen
I recently moved to a new office building with a prewired T-1. Connecting the existing network together was not difficult and the wireless range is astounding.

There is nothing like having coffee at Starbucks and using the office network connection and not adding to starbucks bottom line for anything other than overpriced coffee.

25 WAP54G - misrepresented
Beware of Linksys and the WAP54G. They advertise that the WAP54G supports WPA security, but it only supports WPA in certain modes. Also, my experience is that Linksys technical support is substandard. I urge caution. There are other, better vendors out there.

26 Many WAP54G s are defective
I bought a WAP54G and found it keeps on dying every day or so. Even after a firmware upgrade I still have nothing but problems.

The wireless link always works, but the _wired_ connection to the rest of the network hangs quite often. A total factory reset seems to solve this problem.

The Linksys on-line chat support (from www.linksys.com) is quite useless. The staff doesn't seem to know their products well, nor do they seem to know anything about network architectures. ie. expecting to see a fixed IP device show up in a DHCP server table.

Here's a quote I got from the support staff about their WAP54G:
"That means that the accesspoint is hung. It either a proble with the firmware or it may be getting high throughputs from whatever device it's connected to, causing it to hang."

Buyer beware!

27 Works Flawlessly
I set up the access point and and installed the notebook card on my laptop in less than 30 minutes. The speeds are as good as my wired desktop machine. Be sure to carefully read the instructions thoroughly before installing. It will save you time. If you have trouble connecting at first, be sure to review the ip address settings on the access point. My only glitch was not putting in the correct default gateway on the access point. Once I corrected that, I was connected. If you already are using a router, go with the access point.

28 Good functionality, but stops periodically
I like this router and really need it to work well, but it stops working every couple of days. It can easily be reset by pressing the button on it's rear, but that's ridiculous and if I'm offsite connecting to this computer it's no go.

Thinking perhaps it was a dud I exchanged it and had the same problems with another one. I even went to a local store and bought another brand name (D-Link) and subsequently returned it before 30 days as it had the same problem. It seems that all of these wireless APs simply stop working after a few days, but I'm not sure why. The only thing I can think of is that I send a lot of data through as I'm using terminal services a lot and often to multiple computers simultaneously. I am disappointed with the uptime of this device.

29 Just keep calling cust. service until you get someone good
The paperwork/instructions did not match the hardware in the box. First customer service rep was clueless. Second and third were excellent. I am technology challenged and not mechanically inclined but had no problem with customer service help. Five stars because it has been about three months with no problems and the system is fast!

30 Excellent WAP
I purchased this WAP to add wireless capability to my existing wired network at home. It worked correctly right out of the box with minimum configuration. During installation I changed the following values:

1.) Changed the default IP address to coorespond with my addressing scheme.

2.) Changed the gateway address to point to my existing wired router.

3.) Changed the default SSID and disabled SSID broadcast.

4.) Enabled MAC address filtering and added the MAC addresses of all five devices on my wired and wireless network.

This device has worked flawlessly and I am getting very acceptable data rates with no lost or dropped packets. Overall, I am very satisfied with this WAP and I would recommend highly for someone looking for an inexpensive way of adding 802.11g capability to an existing wired network.

31 Works Great
I have 3 desktop computers which are wired to an 8 port router; I bought a laptop with a wireless 802.11b card built it. I wanted to add it to my network and so installed the AP by connecting it to my router. Works Great. Support from Linksys has also been a plus.

32 Quality issues, but good performance
I received one of these DOA -- actually, it appeared to have been a customer return that had just been reboxed and shipped back out the door! I replaced it with one purchased locally, and after a few minutes' setup time, the thing has performed very reliably, as reliably as the 802.11b unit it replaced. Might be worth getting the signal booster or an aftermarket antenna, but I have no problem pulling a good signal from my WAP in the basement to the 2nd floor of my house. Price has been reduced recently, making it an even better deal.

33 Good product, tricky setup
Very nice product. Getting upwards of full 54Mbps within 20-25 feet, 24Mbps within 50 feet. The trick to confguring this thing not to disconnect every 3 minutes is this: after enabling WEP security, DISABLE 802.1x authentication in Windows. You'll fly trouble free after that.

34 I like it
This WAP54G has performed as advertised and given me great speed and reliability throughout my house. My only problems are in the details. With the firmware upgrade it performs like it's supposed to even with the security settings. My problems:

1. The logging function is worthless. I wanna know MAC and much more detail for all connections and attempted connections. Don't even try Linksys tech support - they don't know: how often the unit attempts to update the log on the selected IP, how it does this, or why. The details are critical when configuring a firewall on the receiving machine. Nobody's got them.

2. There is virtually no way of knowing when and if anybody is actually connected wirelessly. Even the WLAN indicator lights don't work. In the user guide, WLAN link lights up when you've got a successful connection, and WLAN act lights up when packets are sent. In reality: WLAN link lights up solid and WLAN act blinks constantly - no matter what's going on wirelessly. The super-duper e-mail tech support says to "click disable wireless" on the setup page to turn off the light. This is not only a silly solution, but I don't even have a "disable wireless" button to employ the ridiculous solution.

This thing could be great. I really hope firmware upgrades eventually fix these little (but crucial) issues. If it does it'll go 5 stars for me. Linksys has gotta get some experts on the other end of the tech support lines as well.

35 Piece of Junk!
Bought two of these from Amazon to bridge connectivity from one room to another. Despite having all the settings correct, neither AP was reachable. The Linksys tech support people were terrible - it is pretty clear they were just reading from a script. They sent me a firmware upgrade, and once loaded, it killed the AP. Completely unreachable - the tech support person said "uh, I guess you should return it".

After the RMA, I got it up and running (finally) with all the default settings. Tonight I foolishly tried to change a setting - and now the AP I didn't exchange is only reachable via the wireless AP - the ethernet port seems to be dead. Power cycled, factory reset, etc... to no avail. I can reach it from the AP - but there's nothing going over the ethernet port.

The most frustrating part - I work in a NOC and do this for a living. I'm sending these back and shelling out the extra money for cisco - at least they work.

36 An honest and thorough look at the WAP54G
Short version - great unit, but the logging leaves much to be desired, and the latest firmware seems to have a few minor glitches. If you want to know the details, read on...

Bought a WAP54G recently. Performance is decent. Range is good. Anyone who claims that they don't see a speed difference between a wired and wireless connection probably isn't looking close enough - a 100Mbps full-duplex ethernet has much faster throughput than a wireless connection. Try comparing an FTP of a file that's a couple of hundred megs and you'll see what I mean...

The issues I have with this unit are what I believe to be firmware bugs, and their tech support claims they can duplicate them but hasn't done anything in the way of fixing them in the last month that they've known about them. I was told that a future firmware release "might" address these things, but no indication as to when or if at all.

I feel that security is critical, especially on a wireless device that any passer-by can potentially connect to if in range, and the logging on this unit falls short of my expectations.

Powering up the WAP54G while the logging utility is capturing yields two log entries stating that the syslogd and system have been started. Attaching to the network using a laptop equipped with a WPC54G yields an additional message stating there was a "Wireless PC connected" with the date and time - "Somebody" is connected, but who? (MAC address would be nice, but none given). As far as the logs are concerned, I've never seen any additional messages generated. Short of resetting the WAP54G, I've never seen another log entry gererated depsite the activity on my network. The logs entries captured by their loging utility are always four hours ahead of the correct date and time, and that ought to be addressed as well. Disconnecting and reconnecting (rebooting the laptop) does not generate any additional log entries. For MAC address filtering, you can specifically permit or prevent up to twenty MAC addresses. If you make your entries on that screen, and then refresh the page (either by logging off and then back on, or by resetting the WAP), the addresses remain, but the indication of whether you're permitting or preventing those addresses disappears. This might be cosmetic, but I'd still like to know what my devices are doing... Using XP Pro and setting up WEP took some trial and error - not as intuitive as I'd like.

If speed and convenience are what you're looking for, this unit will probably fit the bill. If you're interested in security and knowing what this device is actually doing at any given time, the logs are sure to keep you in the dark. If/when they release a firmware upgrade that addresses this issue, I think they will have a five star product.

37 easy set-up, good connection at reasonable distance
Put unfinalized standards and security aside for one second and this access point works awesome. It works throughout my average size house and gets signal (albiet weak) thoughout my yard. It was added to my existing wired network with full access to the internal network as well as the internet within 5 minutes. I will be turning on the WEP security later, but as long as it doesn't massively change performance this is a great product. Also, as long as you are within about 40 feet you can get flawless mp3 playback from a network machine.

38 I wish I'd waited.
I purchased a WAP54G, two PCMCIA 54G cards and one PCI 54G card to replace/upgrade an Orinoco RG1000 that was damaged in shipping. As long as everything was set for 802.11g only (no backwards compatibility) with NO security, everything worked brilliantly. If you ever played with netstumbler, then you probably know how dangerous having a wireless setting with no security is. I am using the latest firmware and drivers as of June 11th, 2003. All my machines run Windows 2000; they are a Compaq NX9005 laptop, a Sony PCG-C1VN laptop and a homebuilt Athalon desktop. The laptops are typically in a place with 90% signal while the desktops gets closer to 80%. The problems I've encountered with Linksys's 54G products fall broadly into three categories.

Interface bugs with the AP config.
Connection problems with security settings.
PCI card flakeyness.

Interface problems.
1. Enabling WEP consistently erases the the SSID.
2. If you select MAC address filtering, apply and then go back into the config, MAC address filtering displays as not applied. It actually is, but displays incorrectly.
3. Logging only seems to work if MAC address filtering is selected and is inconsistent even then. An inconsistent log is a useless log.

Security problems.
First, let me define what I consider a good and secure setup.

WEP encryption, ideally with a fix for the weak key flaw.
Custom SSID.
SSID broadcasts disabled.
MAC address filtering (access list)

The moment I try to enable any of the above (even one at a time), except for address filtering, all bets are off. The clients will not reconnect immediately once their configs have been updated. Sometimes a reboot works, sometimes leaving the machine sit for 30 minutes works, several times the machines have sat for several days and then miraculously connected. Because the problem is inconsistent it is both difficult and frustrating to deal with.

PCI card problems.
This probably won't affect most people, but it's worth mentioning. Unlike most companies that use a unified driver for all their NICs, the 54G PCI card uses a completely different driver than the PCMCIA laptop cards. The interface is different, not all of the options are available and it seems to have more problems than the laptop cards. It is possible that this is because the PC has a slightly weaker signal, but at 80%, I suspect it's just buggy.

All in all, I guess I knew what I was getting into when I decided to buy a product before the standard was ready, so I shouldn't really complain. If I could switch back to my 11MB Orinoco AP, though, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It just worked.

39 I wish I'd waited.
I purchased a WAP54G, two PCMCIA 54G cards and one PCI 54G card to replace/upgrade an Orinoco RG1000 that was damaged in shipping. As long as everything was set for 802.11g only (no backwards compatibility) with NO security, everything worked brilliantly. If you ever played with netstumbler, then you probably know how dangerous having a wireless setting with no security is. I am using the latest firmware and drivers as of June 11th, 2003. All my machines run Windows 2000; they are a Compaq NX9005 laptop, a Sony PCG-C1VN laptop and a homebuilt Athalon desktop. The laptops are typically in a place with 90% signal while the desktops gets closer to 80%. The problems I've encountered with Linksys's 54G products fall broadly into three categories.

Interface bugs with the AP config.
Connection problems with security settings.
PCI card flakeyness.

Security problems.
First, let me define what I consider a good and secure setup.

WEP encryption, ideally with a fix for the weak key flaw.
Custom SSID.
SSID broadcasts disabled.
MAC address filtering (access list)

40 Outstanding
I was up and running in less than 10 minutes at speeds equal to sitting directly on the network. Very impressive speed. Make sure you use WEP for security.

41 Useless product
I purchases the WAP54G and the WPC54G. Set up was easy.
I found the WAP54G was unstable when I used a VPN over the wired connection. A firmware upgrade corrected this problem.

My first attempt at wireless also worked on the first try. Then I tried 128bit WEP. The wireless connection fails at very regular intervals (3 minutes 6 seconds). 64bit WEP was stable and it was stable with WEP disabled.

Linksys service made several suggestions (all obvious). After trying all channels and various hardware placements, both 64bit and 128bit WEP now fail at 3min 6sec intervals. With WEP disabled the connection is stable.

I have wasted many hours on this thing. I am now shopping for a different brand.

42 Works great... if you don't need to change any settings...
I've had the same problem others have. the box works great until you try to change any settings. then it stops responding to the wired network. support was pretty sad, it hardly seemed that the person responding had read my email. i had to go as far as sending screenshots, which didn't help. i returned one WAP54G back to linksys under RMA, got one back, and it has all the same problems so far. Right now, it only works as a very light doorstop. This is the first linksys problem i've had any problems with. I have 3 NIC's, an 8 port hub, a router, usb network adapter, and wires card from them that i've had 0 issues with.

43 IT in Texas
I purchased the WAP54g in tangent with the WPC54g Notebook adapter, also from Linksys. I was able to set up the access point in a matter of minutes in unsecured mode. After changing security settings in the access point I have had intermittent difficulty with maintaining connection. The access point stops responding requiring a hard reset and reprogramming. After several attempts to resolve the problem with Linksys they have stopped responding to support requests. I have installed more than 50 Linksys products in the last five years and this is the first disappointment I have with any Linksys product (also the first time I have ever used their tech support). With many comparable products by other companies offering similar performance, options, and price I would recommend shopping elsewhere for wireless networking.

44 Great Product - No Problems!
I have to admit, some of the reviews made me think twice about purchasing this WAP and the WPC54G card. However, I had absolutely no problems and I'm not an IT professional. I have WEP, MAC filtering and I'm configured to not broadcast an SSID. As far as I can tell this is a secure system.

Range is not a problem. No matter where I am in my 2 story house I get a signal at 60% strength or better, and I'm mostly above 80%. I know that does not sound too good, but I can't tell the difference between 100% and 60% based on the performance. I use the wireless mostly for web browsing on the laptop.

All in all this is working great for me.

45 Simple to install and setup, great value (price to features)
Over all, my experience setting up this router was a brezze. Once I was receiving an internet IP everthing had been working without a problems. I use it for wired and wireless access at home for all my PC's and PDA.

46 Don't buy unless you have an IT background
I bought this as an upgrade to the BEFW11S4. I already had plenty of the WPC11 cards so thought this would be a simple change of boxes. It wasn't. The new box found the Internet right away but I could not get any of my laptops to communicate with it wirelessly. Finally, I found an article on the Linksys knowledgebase suggesting changing the transmission rate on the Advanced tab to Auto from whatever it was at out of the box if you have a mixed (b) and (g) network. After that, my WiFi laptop with XP found the network. I still can't get my other laptops that have actual WPC11 Linksys cards to work with it. I've fiddled with every advanced setting there is--simple things like Beacon rate, fragmentation threshold, preamble mode, RTS threshold. Still no luck. I'm about four hours into it so far. Big loss of valuable time.

47 Its a nigthmare....
I dont know whats the reason linksys dont upgrade the firmware of the WAP54g if it seems so inestable, I bougth a WAP54G installed and used until i tried to chance the WEP key(BIG Mistake), the AP just stop working, i tried everything and nothing seems to work until i hard-reset it, finally it work again, but if i want to chance anything and apply it then the AP just become a piece of junk.

I try the Firmware upgrade and the same problem appears, Tech Support? Dont Exist...! Go elsewhere if u want to go 802.11g

48 has some bugs...
This works ok but my onw quam is that it will now work woth my i paq 5455 on 802.11b. It seems to have some issues there. It is a known bug. that some b equipnment may not work with it. htere are some people that hacked it to make it b only and the stuff works, but that is not a normal option in the menu.

49 Don't Waste Your Time
This product never worked for me. I was fooled by the linksys reputation and the fact that I had a working BEFSR41. I wanted to keep everything Linksys so I bought this and the G notebook adapter. I could never get it to recognize the access point although everything appeared to be working. I then called support which was an absolute horrible experience. I called 6 times, waiting on hold and average of 40 min each time. I was hung up on twice, put on hold about 200 time to "check the knowledge base", lied to about being sent something in email and was told that it didnt matter to them if I returned it or not. I was also told by support that I was trying to set up a "complicated network" even though all 3 products were linksys. So after 3 days worth of headaches and horrible support I took it back and went with Belkin which setup in 5 minutes!!! Please go with them instead of Linksys. Don't be fooled like me.

50 great when it works, but... very flaky
I've lost count of the number of times I've reset this unit to factory defaults - then it's the roll of the dice whether or not the setup wizard will find the thing on my network. When I've got everything configured, it will work great for awhile, but chances are that I'll have to spend an hour fooling with it before I can use it again. I upgraded the firmware to the latest on the LinkSys site, which seemed to help - but I'm singin' the blues again...

51 very good WAP
I have recently purchased your WAP54G. I did so becuase I have used other products like your 4 port BEFSR41 router/hub and it has worked great. Installation was a problem. I tried to install on a hardwired computer on the network with WinME OS. It didn't detect the access point. But I called and got a rep in less than 2 min and I had WEP installed and turned out the WAP was actually working with no installation at all. I popped the wireless notebook card (WPC54G) into my notebook with WinXP OS and again in less than 5 minutes, it was working. The hardest part of the install of a wireless network using your devices was actually typing in the WEP encryption key. I am very impressed. Total time to install a workign wireless network, less than 10 minutes. Hard to beat that. You won't get 54 MBPS though. Still very very fast. No problem with online games etc..

52 Works as advertised.
Got the WAP54G today along with a Linksys wireless 54G card bus adapter. Had no problems, installed in only a few minutes and it works as advertised. Be sure to download and install the latest drivers from Linksys for the WAP and network card - it makes a difference. Even works well with my Cisco VPN client. I'm using W2K on a IBM StinkPad. Good signal strength throughout my old house - mostly 54Mb - sometimes 36Mb. Didn't need phone support so I have nothing to complain about in that vain. I don't have legacy devices so I don't have anything to report on there as others have.

53 Works great
I purchased this WAP since I already had a Linksys 4-port router. This WAP is the perfect complement to the router, and it works well.

I followed the quickstart guide and the setup went as described, including configuring WEP from the start. No reset was required after using the configuration tool on the CD.

Next, I installed the separately purchased Linksys Wireless-G PCI card in a PC across the house without problems. The PC's orientation is worst-case, directly in line with the WAP and NIC antennas. But signal strength is "good", and it's getting 18Mbps connection rates. Not bad for being totally blocked.

In half an hour the wireless network was running, and had WEP protection from the get-go. I've used Linksys products for a few years, and while their support is lacking, the products work very well.

Also, I have cordless phones also on the 2.4GHz range. They have not been affected, and others I have talked to said their 2.4GHz phones have coexisted with this particular WAP.

54 WOW! Another great Linksys product!
30 minute to set up & be online... while watching a one-year old! Fast and easy setup and very fast internet speed. Can't tell any difference between my wireless and wired connections. Very pleased and a great addition to my wired network.

55 CAVEAT******CAN'T USE WITH AOL DSL
Let the buyer beware. The 802.11g is incompatible with AOL DSL. There is no disclaimer on the box alluding to this fact. Considering AOL is the largest ISP in the WORLD, you would think we would be told this little tidbit. I love my 802.11b by Linksys, i just wanted a faster speed. I think the support at Linksys is awesome. They are always very nice, even when I am screaming!!!

56 Excellent WAP -- 802.11g Linksys Rocks!
I plugged this WAP54G into my existing home network, slapped the Linksys PCMCIA card into my laptop, and I was up and running in unsecure mode immediately. I then had no problem enabling MAC address filter, 128-bit WEP, and the SSID Change for security. It was a piece of cake. I flashed the firmware to the latest version and have had no issues. I consistently link up at 36 Mbps to 54 Mbps.
The thing screams. I can't tell the difference between file transfers across my 100 Mbit home network and file transfers across this wireless network. The speed and range are fantastic.
I read the other reviews and I am surprised that this is the same product being reviewed. I have been in the I/T industry for almost 10 years and I researched wireless security for a year before buying -- and this product is fantastic.

57 junk
I guess it was greed that made me want an access point based on technology that isn't ready yet. Despite the fact that I just wanted wirelss for ssh and maybe a little web browsing, I had to have 54Mbps.

Well, it isn't ready. When I received the first unit, I couldn't get it working. Its web interface didn't play nicely with Mozilla; using MSIE worked better, but even with the simplest of settings, I couldn't find it through the air. Finally, a call to tech support revealed that the pattern of its status lights was totally unnatural and that the device was defective.

I got a replacement, and within seconds of plugging it in, the same pattern of lights came up. I wasted hours on this piece of junk, and ended up with nothing. At least I got a refund. ...

58 Good product...
I like it. It was easy to set up and get working right out of the box. Think about your network changes before you buy. Had i have spent more time doing that I would have spent a little more and bought the model that has the router (I already have a router, I could have doubled my connection options.) The only down side is that I would like to see a lower price point for this item considering it's mono functional.

59 Don't buy this!!
This product is at the bleeding edge. I have spent HOURS on hold trying to reach Linksys tech support, spent more time talking to their first level support then gotcut off after reaching second level support. They were never able to help me get it working.

60 Better Wait On 802.11g
Had it running for a short time with not much luck. 802.11g has the same interference problems as 802.11b, as it will fight cordless phones, etc. I had the WAP in one room and the PC in the other. Connections would take a long time and would fail periodically. The fastest speed it would connect at, only two rooms away was 24Meg. Sometimes it would connect at 36Meg but quickly drop back down, sometimes to 10Meg. Someone around my house is running an unsecured WLAN as the card in my PC would get a week signal and pick up in IP address from somewhere else. Oops. I had to configure the PC end to look for my network only. If you follow Linksys's instructions, it will us the default configuration, which is wide open, and leave your network assessable to anyone around you. I soon tired of messing with it and got an RMA and shipped it back. I'll wait for 802.11a's prices to come down or see what new wireless protocol comes out next week.

61 Screamin Fast
I bought the WAP54 G Router with 2 Linksys wireless G Notebook PC Cards and I am very pleased. I am upgrading from Linksys' BEFW11S4 Wireless Router and the WPC11 Wireless PC Card. The increase in speed is definitely worth the cost of the upgrade. I am getting excellent signal quality compared to poor quality with the old system when using laptop in the same location. My DSL connection seems noticeabley faster and I am able to work with shared files on my desktop PC upstairs - old system it was just too slow to do that. The only reason for 4 instead of 5 stars is that configuring the router was tricky. The Win XP setup instructions made it look very simple, but getting all the settings correct, especially for WEP, took some time. It could be just that my ISP required that I enter more settings than most. But now that it's set up, it's wonderful. Highly recommend. But keep your old 80211.b system for awhile just in case you have any problems.

62 It's the specification
Some other reviews are complaining that if there are 802.11b and 802.11g cards in the area, the access point drops to 802.11b speeds only. This is NOT the fault of the router or access point. The 802.11g specification requires that behaviour. The Apple AirPort Extreme does the same thing according to the fine print on their web site.

So...if you want g speeds you need to convert all of your equipment to g cards...or maybe have a b and a g access point.

63 Buggy configuration interface, lousy support
If I were you, I'd wait before buying this or else look to another 802.11g vendor.

The problem I have is that if I reconfigure the device via the web interface (say, to change the password or SSID) then the WAP dies. Wireless seems to still work but I can no longer connect to it via the LAN port. Hard reset is the only fix. I suspect this is a simple firmware bug (v1.05), but it's a good reason not to buy the product.

The other problem is that Linksys support is awful. The website doesn't even have support pages yet. Calls to the 1800 number indicate "heavy call volume" no matter what time of day or night. Their email support guy in the Phillipines ignored my detailed request for confirmation of this bug and just gave me the generic "reset your device" instructions. Not helpful.

64 Buy the AirPort Extreme instead
Connecting a single 802.11b client drops the entire network to 802.11b speed, according to CNet's review of the item (which another person here mentioned). That's disappointing, to say the least. Most people buying 802.11g probably have some 802.11b equipment already. So without the ability to support mixed networks well, this is just an overpriced 802.11b access point.

In contrast, an AirPort Extreme base station will continue to give 802.11g cards faster connections than 802.11b ones, according to Apple's knowledgebase document 107372. This difference is more than enough to justify the AirPort Extreme base station's higher price.

65 Backwards compability is a joke
CNet reviewed it and found that, if you had any 802.11b clients, the access point forced everybody into 802.11b mode. I'm not touching this puppy until it can have b and g running simultaneously (just like having 10Mbps and 100Mbps devices hooked up to the same Ethernet switch). It ought to be possible, after all, even if it has to run them on separate radio channels.

66 Interface is a bit flaky but so far so good...
I just got this for my work, and have set up using the web-browser based setup interface. It's a bit flaky user interface, but gets the job done and is straight forward. Also, it seems to have lower sync rate than SMC 802.11b Barricade wireless access point I have used before with my Netgear MA401 card. It takes a while for the computer to recognize (like 20 seconds instead of instantaneous) that it is receiving a good signal after waking up from a standby. The signal strength is excellent, though I will be increasing that with their optional signal booster WSB24. Tech rep said that 802.11b signal booster also works fine with this 54G access point to increase the signal strength because both protocols use the 2.4GHz range, which is a definite plus if you need good coverage. I will be getting their 54mbps card within a couple of days, so this will be interesting, as I am using the Netgear MA401 card right now and experiencing this slight delay in re-synchronizing after a wake up from standby. I've had problems making Macintosh to access with the WEP enabled (both 64bit and 128bit), but may be likely that is a Mac problem. All in all, it is so far an excellent value, should be interesting to see what the signal booster and a 54G card should do in addition to this access point...

67 I think you meant to say the 2nd to go 802.11g
If I'm not mistaken, Apple was the first to put out a 802.11g wireless router in their Airport Extreme unit released this past MacWorld (Jan 7).

68 It should have been increased to 5 GHz
Although the new 802.11g 2.4GHz is backward compatible with 802.11b 2.4GHz it is NOT compatible with any 802.11a 5GHz network. Even though it is 5x faster at 2.4 GHz its range is still 100-150 feet.

69 New Promising Technology
Many different wireless technologies have emerged over the past years. The first one to be seriosuly adopted as "main stream" was undoubtely the 802.11b standard. It allowed many homes to jump on the bandwagon of good networks, but without having the mess of ethernet cable webs.

Despite 802.11b popularity it was insufficient for some cases. While it was perfect for sharing an internet connection over multiple computers, it was missing good speeds needed for example to have one of your computers store all music/movie files and constantly listen to it while never copying over the file to your computer. The connection couldn't simply keep up with the needs. So there came 802.11a, same idea as the B version - but much faster and doing practically anything you would want in a home office or a private residence. Even on corporate locations it did a great job, just required more powerfull access points (the "broadcasters" of the signal).

802.11a is a great technology, but it has one significant weakness - it's fairly expensive. A counterpart of 802.11 standard is almost twice as expensive as the B version, and if you shop around. Here is where the new emerged 802.11G standard comes in. It allows speeds sufficient for majority of tasks (of course, transferring a backup of your entire harddrive isn't going to happen in a millisecond.. but that's to be expected even on a wire connected network). And the best part its only slightly more expensive then the B standard, while delivering a whole lot more. Speed is increased drastically, and the distance covered is also bigger.

The product htis review is supposted to focus on, apologies for getting slightly carried away, is the 54g access point by Linksys. As you probably know if you've been looking around different reviews is that LInksys is undoubtly one of the best providers of wireless network technology. They provide good drivers, excellent hardware, and fair support all at competing pricing.

So going back to slight general info about networking... a signal is broadcasted by the Access Point, which will be your primary device in a typical small network. This product does an amazing job at it. It's very failry priced and it packs all of the great new features of 802.11g. So, the soon you order, the faster you'll get it! :)

70 nice and smooth
The new Linksys 54g products work very well, as advertised. I am using the access point and pc card, very smooth transition, excellent signal quality. I also am using an SMC, and Orinoco 802.11b pc cards with this, it is great to be able to get all these devices together talking. One thing to watch out for is antenna atitude. The dual antenna system works best when straight up and down, I got over a mile range outside, very satisfying. You cant go wrong with these products, also very reasonable price for a new line.

71 Simple to setup, fast, and with good coverage
Received this today and was up and running in less than a half hour. I live in a three story brick row and the wired router and wireless access point are in the basement in the center of the house. My notebook worked well from throughout the house with the signal getting a bit weaker as I went to the back of the yard but I still had coverage. I would attribute the weakening to the placement of the access point as its around the corner from the backend of the house. I chose WEP encryption, configured it with no problems. I recommend it

72 Be Careful!!!
Be careful folks. The 802.11g standards specification has not been finalized by the IEEE. In fact it is still going through major revisions. Linksys jumped the gun on this one. Be careful on first generation products.