Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster, 802.11g, b
1 Great Router with a Very Effective Firewall
I finally decided to jump on the wireless band wagon because I wanted to have the ability to use my laptop anywhere on my property. The router was easy to setup right out of the box. It was also easy to enable WPA encryption. WEP is also supported by this unit but WEP is much less secure. Because the router has 4 ethernet ports, you can setup a wired and wireless network to work together. You can also just use this for wireless internet access if that's all you need. Range is very good if you use this with it's partner adapter WPC54GS which also has speedbooster. You can see how good the firewall is on this unit if you test it by going to www.grc.com and using the SheildsUp program.
Whatever you do, make sure you enable some sort of encryption, either WEP or the stronger WPA. You will also need to make sure your other wireless equipment supports the type of encryption you decide to use.
2 EZ Set-up, but Use the Linksys Website
A CD is included with the Linksys router which guides you through
the physical set up (which is very easy). It also guides you
through the software set-up. However, I encountered a few
problems with the software set-up.
However, Linkysys has an *on-line* set up Wizard through their website. I found the software installation much easier using this on-line service. My computer and a laptop were up and running in a few minutes. I suggest people who are new to this technology might skip the enclosed installation CD and go straight to the website for set-up
Once I was up and running, everything worked well. My desk top (not wireless) works fine and my new laptop downloads at an incredibly fast rate. Aside from the software installation glitch, I am very pleased with the product.
3 excellent IF and ONLY IF sveasoft firmware used
Thanks largely to Cisco the WRT54GS *becomes* a great appliance when one uses the GPL licensed Sveasoft Alchemy firmware. The default firmware is so-so. Since Linksys released the firmware under GPL license the Sveasoft firmware is also GPL. This means anyone can distribute the Sveasoft firmware, and anyone can use it without paying anyone else a dime!
Google for: sveasoft individual
to get your legally free copy today!
This appliance works well as a MULTIPORT wireless bridge. Use it for your Xbox! It's waaaay better than the junk microsoft is pushing. :D
4 Great Router
Before I purchased this router, Linksys had a bad stigma in my mind -- I would try to avoid it at all costs, but this router was highly recommended and there is 3rd party firmware that allows you to add even more functions.
Setup was a snap, as is with pretty much every router. I was up and running in about 5 minutes with a great diversity of computers (Apple iBook and Compaq on the wireless and a Dell on the wired side)
I also use this with Packet8 VoIP service and have not had any problems, nor did I have to re-configure anything -- the both work seamlessly.
5 Wireless is liberating!!!
When I opened the box & saw what was inside I whispered to myself, "here I go again", and it was nothing too difficult. Everything went smooth from the beginning to end. The best experience I have had in a long time. The router it self is very well built & sturdy, unlike the D-Link. I guess it's true what people say, you get what you pay for. For anybody in the market for a wireless router, I would highly recommend you spending a few dollars more & getting a quality product from a well known company like Linksys / Cisco. The installation was a no-brainer, & the configuration process was just as easy. The configuration wizard walks you step by step & explains what each setting does. Till this day, I haven't had any problems with reboots or disconnects when the phone rings. The best part is my Linksys PC Card doesn't freeze my notebook, & does have slightly better range than the D-Link. Another thing I love about the router is that it has all the bells & whistles for those who like playing with the advance settings. The transfer speeds are slightly faster than the D-Link's, but I really doubt they even come near of what they claim.
Being disconnected from the modem is heaven, no more DSL is cleaver...and best of all, Wireless broadband is liberating.
6 OK product...good Speed
Constant d/c is annoying...have to reset it everytime the signal "disappeared" from the computer, even if the broadband connection are in excellent condition.
7 Fragile box and non-existant support
Mine has worked for less than 2 hours. When I moved it to another outlet to improve signal pick-up, it ceased working becoming an ordinary hub. Support was impossible to contact, had to call its parent company (Cisco) to get an answer.
The answer I got was that even though Cisco existed in Brazil, I would have to ship the thing to the US and they would only ship it back through UPS International Express (cost: $88 one way).
8 Do Not Buy if you play WoW
If you play World of Warcraft, save yourself a lot of grief and get something else. But don't take my word for it, search the forums there for this model number.
9 Wonderful wireless router
I have had my router for several months now and I have had no problem with this unit. The unit was really simple to set up and start using. Now all I purchase is linksys products for my networking needs.
The parental control are great to if you have kids you need to control on the internet.
10 Nice system
I am very pleased with this system. Installation was very easy and I receive a very good signal to my notebook even when I'm outside.
11 Great stuff!
I bought this router two weeks ago and I have no complaints...I think is great!. I have two desktops connected and a wireless lapto and it works great!
12 Amazing wireless and fast
This wireless is mad fast. When i bought it though i had a hard time setting it up and had to call for arristance but other then that its recommended.
13 Excellent
The signal is great, it never drops, and is dead simple to configure. Great value for money!
14 flawless installation
I have bought many things through Amazon, yet this is the first review I have ever written. I am computer illiterate and didn't even know what a router was until a few days ago when I purchased a laptop to go along with my desktop, and I wanted to use the wireless feature. I had read so many horrible installation reviews on this site, that I was prepared for a horrible experience, but my nature is to always plow through and I decided to get the router. They have a installation cd that comes with the router and I began following the instructions, but when I got to a few items that they wanted input--such as my network name and my WEP, I had no idea what they were talking about. So I stopped and called tech support and spoke to a guy in about 20 seconds who referred me to their installation website that explained in much more detail (but still simplistically) for me to finish my step by step installation. It literally took about 5 minutes to complete the installation, and the instructions were redundantly clear. The router works great--powers my laptop out to my patio (about 50') when the signal begins to lose strength. I don't know how much further it will go. So, again, I would rate the installation of this product as about as easy as it could be. I don't know why so many people have been complaining, but for me, who knows next to nothing computerish, I found this easier than any recipe to follow.
15 Tech Agent Retirement Act!
Bought the unit (and the respective Linksys pci card and antenna)in November through Dell. First unit failed internally and had to be sent back for a new/refurbished unit. Then in mid-November began the conversations with LinkSys tech help. Setup went reasonably well, but signal strength and loss of network connection have been episodic ever since. Estimate I've spent ten to twelve hours on the phone with them, easily the most time I've ever spent with computer tech help for ANY reason! The router does not have the signal strength I expected (I only needed about thirty feet) and the unit is not functionally reliable. Performance has been marginal at best, and while the Tech Help from India has tried hard, I am resigned to periodic time spent with them as long as I use the system.
16 Happy camper.
My router had to be 3 things; An internet connection sharing device, a switch and a wireless access point. Based upon these demands I decided to buy the WRT54GS.
(Although the WRT54G costs a few bucks less then this one, I never considered it, it's just a few bucks and I am going to use the device for years, so I advice you to spend a few bucks more for the small advantages, i.e. double memory for embedded software and higher network performance because of a bigger cache). But enough about that.
The thing works. It just does.
Installing was a dream, default configuration via the software, which checked my internet connection type and configured the router automatically.
Wireless range is excellent. Network speed is high. (I use cat 5e btw). computers plug into my network and are totally connected and have immideatly connection to the internet. wireless excryption is easy to set up. Configuration web interface is very clear and full of options.
I have nothing but good things about this device. I would recommend this to anyone.
17 Good Router, Rebate Refused
This is an excellent router, and you're gettting wireless service that doesn't randomly cut out like the Belkin "free after rebate" special I used to use.
On the other hand, Linksys refused to honor my mail-in rebate for $10 for no apparent reason. Get it on sale for at least 10% off and don't screw around with Linksys rebates you'll never get back.
18 Good Performance, Decent Tech Service
Contrary to what other reviewers have written, there are errors in the install how-to. I called tech service twice to rectify the problems - the first tech was difficult to understand so we broke it off and I called again and got good, efficient help. We're running one desktop wired, one wireless and three laptops wireless and are not having any dropouts anywhere in the house, even 50 feet from the transmitter. I had been on the verge of buying the Belkin pre-n rig and I'm glad we saved the bucks - the Linksys stuff cost us about half since we got in on a good rebate deal.
19 Great performance for the price
I was a bit hesitant to purchase this with Speedbooster -- wondering if I would be throwing the extra $20 away. I was very pleased to find that it is well worth every penny.
Setup is extremely simple. All documentation provided is sufficient to setup your home network. The software was quick to install and was not confusing at all. I have networked three PC's with the Speedbooster router and PCI cards.
Connection strength remains quite strong, with no issues with the router being on the 2nd floor and me using a laptop on the first floor.
I would highly recommend the Linksys.
20 sveasoft alchemy
Just add the free Sveasoft firmware and you're good to go. While the default firmware is "OK" it's not good enough. Sveasoft is bound by the GPL of the original firmware as another reviewer mentioned so you need not pay the $20 extortion fee to Sveasoft. Google for it; and read up on GPL while you're at it.
21 Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router
The Wireless- G router by Linksys is an ideal machine I have one myself. I also purchased a wireless-G PCI card from Motorola. I am a student at Michigan State University but I purchased these items the summer before my freshman year. The reason I decided to purchase this product was so I could have my computer anywhere in my dorm room and not be limited to ten feet around the internet jack and also so if later I had purchased a lab top computer I could be on the internet anywhere in my room. Since I had purchased this product I have not been able to get it to work here up at State but I was able to make it work at home. I have called Motorola and Linksys about this problem but they blame each other for the error. The product works awesome when it is operational but up at school it just collects dust on the shelve. But it is definitely a must buy for the owner of multiple computers.
22 Nice!
This router is basically the WRT54G, with the addition of Linksys' Speedbooster technology. It can service all 802.11g, as well as the older 802.11b, based networks. Or it can serve a network consisting of a mixture of those two standards. In short, this is a very versatile router to have.
The Speedbooster technology provides an additional increase in network speed over the typical 54mbs of the 802.11g standard. This is very useful if you like to transfer large files between your computers. The extra speed should help things move along just a little quicker. But keep in mind that this will probably not give you any additional increase over the internet. Probably because the wireless connection between the router and your computer is not the bottleneck. The Speedbooster capability can only be fully utilized if your operating system is either Windows 2000 or Windows XP.
Setting up this router was easy. My PCI wireless desktop adapter is also made by linksys. The ethernet card on my older computer is a standard issue IBM.
I highly recommend this wireless router to anyone who frequently transfers large files from one computer to another. I have had the router in operation for over a week, and so far, it has not dropped my internet connection.
For your information, my current network consists of two desktop computers (Dell 8200 and an IBM 300PL). The Dell is connected wirelessly, using a Linksys wireless adapter with the Speedbooster capability. The IBM has the original IBM network card. Speedstream DSL modem. The Dell is running on Windows XP Pro and the IBM has Windows 2000 Server.
23 Great product
Got this router last week and instantly installed it with out any hassles. It was up and running in no time and was able to link to it with my wireless pci card WMP54GS(from linksys also). Had a big issue getting it to link with my wireless adapter for my laptop(WPC54GS), but the customer chat service guys at linksys where just terrific in assisting me to get it connected. Just needed to change the broadcast channel from the default channel 6 to channel 11. By the way, my systems where all running windows xp with sp2. Impressed with their customer care. Kudos to them.
24 Better, stronger, faster than before...
I have had Linksys routers off and on over the years. I changed frequently due to ferreting out bugs with my connection, which has slowly improved due to various reasons. Most recently I had a Netgear WGT624 (108Mbps) which seemed to have a fast connection with the accompanying wireless cards. However, I was frequently getting dropped off the network at which time I would have to do a router reboot - even with the latest firmware installed.
After reading the reviews here and on www.dslreports.com, it seems I am not the only one with this problem. Now, since this router has received rave reviews, I figured I would try out Linksys again. I did, and am very happy with it so far. I have not had a drop within the last 24 hours.
The only caveat I have had with Linksys is how unbelievibly ugly the hardware is. Why they keep using a dark blue Cisco box is beyond me. I spend quite a bit of money in order to keep things looking clean and consistant in my work area and this box sticks out like a blue flaming sore thumb in my sea of black/gray hardware. They need to take design lessons from Netgear, they would sell more routers.
25 Great for Mac Powerbook
This product simply works great on my Powerbook. If you want it working on your Mac, follow these instructions. If you have a Airport card on your Mac, you need to remove it before preceding (refer to your Apple owners manual). Install your new Linksys network card into the external card slot and power up your Mac. OS X will configure the new network card as Airport card (how easy is that!). Varify by clicking on the wireless icon at the top of the apple menu bar (Apple should have check mark and not Linksys). Turn off your modem and connect the ethernet cable from the modem to the Linksys router. Power up the modem and router. Open configuration page using the web browser per Linksys instructions. Leave it on auto configuration DHCP with no changes except your password. Save and exit. Power off both the modem and the router. Power on the modem first and than the router, it may take the router few minutes to configure itself. Happy surfing!
26 very dependable, easy to set up
This router has served me well for nearly a year now. It is easy to set up and has pretty good wireless security. This is my second Linksys router, and I really can't see myself ever buying another brand. I've used their KVM switch, and an 8 port switch and they all have worked very well.
27 It worked right out of the box
When my wired router went out i decided to upgrade to wireless, with the aniticipation of getting a laptop. I first bought a D-link wireless router (my wired one was a D-link and was happy with it). After setting it up i did a internet speed test and was shocked. i was getting about 300kbs. I was normally over 2000kps. I called d-link and they told me that was the nature wireless. I did not believe them. I then bought the Linksys. I installed the router, then installed the ethernet card. I then turned on the computer to install the software. Running on windows XP i did not get that far. It recognized the card and routher and i was on the surfing internet in about one minute withoug loading the software. I called tech support to make sure i still did not need to load the software and they told me that it would not be necessary. Then on the speed test i was back up to 2000kps. I now have a laptop and tested the reception by walking down my street. after about 200 feet from my house and my neighbors wondering what i was doing, i was still getting a signal. I highly recommend this router.
28 Linksys WRT54GS Parental Controls Disappointed
I bought this router for the Parental Controls capabilities that they partnered with Netopia on. I specifically was interested in the ability to create an "approved buddies" list for each user profile.
The major issue is that it only allows you to enter 15 approved buddies per person. My daughter has close to 100 that we approve of and I can only enter 15. This has made the whole point of buying this router worthless (considering I already owned a Linksys wireless G router but it didn't have the parental controls).
Maybe Netopia or Linksys could fix this issue but my hope is dwendling since I contacted Linksys and was routed to 8 different people over an hour and a half. Most of them had no clue what the parental control features were in their product.
The router hardware and interface is very good and is terrific for networking. I highly recommend Linksys as a wireless router. Just don't buy this router for only the Parental Controls as of right now. I'm using firmware 3.37.2.
Very disappointed!
29 Excellent Choice
I purchased what seemed like a good wireless router, which will remain nameless, but eventually the performance dropped, pages timed-out, etc. I scoured the internet, but found that my particular model had persistent problems, and neither the company nor anyone else had a fix for it. Eventually, I replaced it with a Linksys WRT54GS. Not a problem since.
As for nice touches, the ports are fully stealthed, and the encryption algorithm is a bit more apple friendly - I have an iMac - since the WPA security has options for AES and TKIP, and the Apple only uses TKIP; other devices don't allow a choice. Also, the router has 4-wired ports, in addition to its wireless capabilities.
30 Good for nerds and novices alike
So far, so good, with little issue. Set-up was a breeze - plugged it all up, restarted my computer's networking, and hit the administration site. WEP + MAC filtering are made pretty well idiot-proof, so there's no excuse not to use these security measures with this product. For the non-nerdly: That will help keep strangers off your wireless network - Make sure and use them. If you haven't realized this with most standard-hardware networking products - you don't need the included CD; just toss it. Waste of time.
Caveat the following with the facts that my house is not the largest around (3 bed/2 bath; 2 story; 1,600 sq ft), and that the router is very centrally positioned, but wireless speeds have been outstanding thus far, all over the house - haven't seen it drop below 54 Mbps yet (note that I'm using a random Dell-factory-installed 802.11g card, not the companion Linksys card).
Port forwarding seems to have worked ALMOST flawlessly - the one hitch (nerdery follows) is that I run a mailserver behind the router, which upon receipt of mail, retains a copy and forwards a copy to an external account. The mailserver receives mail fine, and sends locally-initiated mail fine, but for some reason, the forwarded copy never makes it. The mailserver does send it (according to the logs), and the router's (limited, but still a nice feature) log shows corresponding SMTP activity through port 25, but it never gets delivered to an external account. I'm not sure of the reason, all I can say is that "it worked before I put the router in". Still digging into it.
I may eventually look into using another firmware for the router (OpenWRT, etc), but it's stock firmware is fine, intuitive enough (with decent documentation/help) for the non-nerdly, and enough native features to keep most nerds happy (things like DynDNS support, the aforementioned port forwarding, additional routing tables, etc).
Overall, a great product.
31 Hard to set-up with a westell modem
This was my first time setting up a router so I had some difficulty with my westell modem. I had to change the IP address of the router and then hard code the gateway IP address. Once installed it worked as advertised.
32 Horrible customer service! Beware, not compatible w/ Macs!!!
My husband received this for Christmas from my family. I feel I must include that he works with hardware/software in his job, so he knows his computer stuff. Well, he spend SEVERAL late nights trying to hook this router up with our Mac. While our Mac could find the Linksys router (we have an airport card, obviously) it still wasn't actually connecting and we still couldn't get online through the router. So he called customer service. Thanks to Bush for giving tax breaks to companies who outsource jobs to other countries, Linksys must have outsourced their customer service department to India, because my husband got this Indian woman on the phone who didn't have a clue. She was NO help at ALL. My husband told her that he was having trouble hooking up the Linksys router with our Mac, and she told him that she didn't know anything about Macs so she didn't know what the problem was, but she still continued to give him useless advice about what he should do to hook it up. Well, later, my husband was glancing over the router box and in TINY TINY TINY print on the side of the box it says that the linksys router is not compatible with Macs. So, ok, our bad. (Why this router doesn't work with BOTH PC and Macs is beyond me, but then again computers aren't really my thing) But why didn't the lady my husband talked to through the Linksys customer service just tell him that this router isn't compatible with Macs and save him hours and hours of frustration? It's beyond me. If you have a Mac, I'd recommend Netgear.
33 Easy Internet
This is a very good product from linksys. Our internet always works well and you can get a lot of options from the computer. So far I have no complaints about it.
34 I'm composing this review from bed...
...on a laptop wirelessly connected to this router.
In reality it is my machine 30 miles away at the office composing the review, via remote desktop each keystroke on the laptop is wirelessly submitted to the WRT54GS Router, which in turn forwards the keystroke over the wire to my work machine 30 miles away, which then processes the keystroke and puts an updated screen graphic on the wire to be transmitted back to my laptop - all without any discernable delay (well... maybe a tenth of a second or so). I am truely amazed by modern technology - and since I've purchased this router I've been able to telecommute to work, walking anywhere around my house that I choose, unteathered.
The unit has performed without error, and I found setting it up to be a snap with the bundled software. I have an xbox, a desktop, and a wireless laptop all connected without issue. It did take a little investigation to get a few of my windows games functioning, by enabling port forwarding on the appropriate ports, but this would be common to any router. The setup utility to enable port forwarding was easy to use - and the documentation guided me through the necessary configuration changes not only to the router, but to the gaming computer as well.
35 Excellent Product!
This is the best thing that ever happened to wireless! I got it for Christmas and it was the simplest thing to install. I just popped the CD into my cp and it basically self installed itself. I use it for my Clie UX 50 and it is super fast. The only thing is the range. I'm not too pleased with it, but overall, I had no problems intalling it or keeping it up to date. I would recommend this to anybody.
36 Poor Customer Service, Great aftermarket products
having played with several "super g" routers from various manufactures recently, this is probably the best of the bunch (see my review on netgear wgt624 and it's flakiness).
i would agree the customer service is abysmal and offshoring has made things go from bad to worse.
however the best part (at least for me) and for which i recommend this router is the number of aftermarket firmwares available. Linksys' firmware was based on GPL code and so they had to release the source code. take a look at Openwrt, or Wifi-box or (my personal favorite) Sveasoft. they are all excellent. replace the stock Linksys firmware with these and you've got yourself an extremely powerful box.
however installing a third party firmware won't get you any Linksys support but i figure it is better to participate and ask questions in various internet forums than deal with clueless customer support reps. also playing with firmware is not for the fainthearted and it does require some amount of technical skills.
anyways that's my 2 cents. i guess this router may not be for everyone (especially the group who want to open the box and have "everything just work"). but for the more technologically inclined, this is a great little toy to play with and to have several cool features (like BGP, OSPF, bandwiddth shaper etc.) which one can only get in enterprise routers and never in a sub-$100 router
37 Poor functionality; abysmal service
I couldn't agree more with Fred, below, regarding service. How in the world is a company like this going to expect mass consumer acceptance of this technology given the difficulty and confusion surrounding its installation and use? And then to follow that up with such useless tech "support" - as oxymoronic a phrase as I've ever heard.
Buying into the g speed claims, I bought this router and two adapters (WUSB54GS and WPC54GS notebook card) to install a new wireless network after moving into a home that did not have a cable outlet in the room where we needed to put our main family desktop. In my former house I had a Netgear MR814 b router that worked flawlessly.
After almost four hours on the phone with levels 1 and 2 "support" and a still unreliable and unconfigurable system, I am returning these products to Amazon. I am a loyal Amazon customer who has purchased 1000s of dollars worth of merchandise and am glad the company has a solid return policy. I will buy a Netgear system and try that.
Among the technical issues:
a) the setup/configuration tools are seemingly straightforward, but apparently the device doesn't have the capability of detecting the presence of WinXP SP2, thus there are incompatible drivers to deal with right from the start. Encryption simply doesn't work.
b) after downloading drivers that allegedly were going to fix the problem, connctivity remained spotty - for the two weeks I've had this device I've had to spend about half of the time resetting the router/rebooting the computer and various other contortions to catch a few minutes of the internet.
c) Today I was on the phone for almost two hours with level 2 "support", trying to understand a man whose English was barely conversant. A core issue became quickly apparent - his script was clearly directing him to compel me to find and use the wireless connection utility in Windows XP, but all of the linksys literature/CD said to use the linksys configuration manager which is what I used to set the thing up. I followed the installation instructions exactly. Speaking about two words per minute, he failed to ever tell me - I had to find this on my own through some forums - that a Microsoft KB article speaks to the exact issue he was failing to recognize. Finding no other answers in his script, he insisted that I needed to reinstall the entire operating system, including SP2. Unbelievable. Just how did my operating system suddenly "lose" important files right after I installed the router?
Needless to say, I will never again buy another Linksys product. Good luck if you do.
38 complete junk
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.
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!
39 Great !!!
I'm not a Wi-Fi expert, nor a frequent reviewer, but after installing this product I am forced to let people know I am extremely pleased with it.
Plug and Play. Yeap, that easy. I have an old IBM netvista running Windows XP with only 128Mb with a DSL modem and a printer. On the other hand I have a very fast T30 IBM laptop with WiFi which I prefer to use. Now, I'm writing this review in the kitchen of my house without any cables, I also hook this laptop to my Hi Fi equipment in the living room and stream my entire iTunes 7 Gb music library located on the "main" Netvista. I also print out documents from my laptop into the main computer printer and can even use it's scanner and CDROM !!
I know it's a silly review, but I'm just excited for the good performance of this product and it's very easy installation. I even was scared with my cordless 2.4 GHz phone but so far it hasn't given me any trouble.
In terms of range of operation: I live in a concrete/bricks house, the main computer with the router is located in the top floor. All rooms in the top floor have excellent signal (the furthest one located at 30 ft), in the bottom floor, those rooms located "underneath" the router have also excellent signal, but the signal starts to decay at those rooms located 50 ft (straight line) from the router at the bottom floor, but there is still a good signal. I'm able to use it at the garden, the garage (inside the car), the external patio and even the basement (two floors underneath the router) although with poor signal.
Buy this product without fear. It's simply great.
40 Technology is good but support and administration are awful.
The good? Wireless speeds are in excess of the 802.11g spec, so I am getting 100-110Mbps (12.5-13.5 MBps) from the basement to the living room easily. Once the initial horror of setup was over, I've been happily connected ever since. And you can't beat the price: Linksys gear is dropping in price, likely due to a ramp-up of pre-N gear on the horizon. (That's the new 802.11n standard which promises 6x the g-rate, and pre-N Belkin gear is delivering triple the speeds, so 150Mbps, or nearly 19 MBps).
The bad? Customer support, or lack thereof. I had a problem with the client not seeing the router. The *real* problem was the firewall on the basement machine. However, mention the words "Workgroup" or "file and printer sharing" to a Live Chat Specialist and watch how fast they come back with "we don't support configuring Windows" and a link to a knowledgebase article that will not give you a step-by-step diagnostic.
That's a shame, because a troubleshooting map would come in real handy. I fixed the problem myself -- I usually do with rare exception -- but for the non-IT professional, I fear for you. It's Belkin or Netgear for me next time.
The ugly? Router configuration. It has almost all of the tools you'd expect, and some tools you wish it had. A Netgear router will show you current connections from a single link; not so with Linksys. Their configuration pages ask you to drill a few clicks and manage a popup window (don't forget to shutoff your popup blockers!). The help links don't correlate 100% to the actual configuration pages (apparently the help wasn't revised with the product), and you're eventually frustrated enough to pop over to the website for in-depth explanations. The last straw? No direct download of patches to firmware. Linksys makes you visit the webpage, download it locally, then load it locally. Dumb.
I have companion reviews for the WMP54GS and WUSB11, also Linksys gear. They won't be very flattering, either, but it's XMas time, and readers should not be giving bad gifts.
Fred
41 MAC filtering doesn't work
Helped a friend set this up a month ago.
When you turn on MAC filtering, nothing can connect. It's supposedly a known bug.
The Linksys laptop speedbooster also won't connect if you turn WPA on. Friend called tech support (the $5/hr in India kind) and they told him to turn off encryption to get it to work! Guess that's what you get from $5/hr support :-P
Linksys' USB speedbooster adapter works ok w/ WPA.
42 I like this trouble-free router.
I just set up a home network, which is now working very fast with zero trouble. I use all Linksys produts, Linksys BEFCMU10 EtherFast Cable Modem, this router and Wireless-G PC Adapter for my notebook computer. The set up of this route was easy, and I like the fact that I can stack up the router on top of the modem. Smart idea from Linksys! The point is my network works great without me paying any attention to thses equioment. I am happy with this network.
43 lan party
i love it it works great had a lan party everyone had a wireless card and it instant acess great gameing speeds yay weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
44 i only have to say
now i am on my bed at second floor!!!!! good reseption, good quality, good rest!!!! the only bad thing about this is maybe can make your life easy!
45 Easy setup, Fast, Flawless
Linksys remains #1 in my book. I never have a problem with any of their products. This router is fast and worked as soon as we connected it. It DOES work with ReplayTV, despite what the previous person said. We connected it to the Ethernet port on the ReplayTV, changed the settings, rebooted the devices and it worked perfectly. There is not much in the way of docucmentation (it's all on the CD), but then again you don't need any.
46 Perfect for getting to the internets!
This router makes me raise my hands in the air, and then I wave them like I just don't care (care about waving my hands that is).
This router was a breeze to set up with my 4 computers and has been rock solid since - much more so than my last two netgear routers.
(oh, and as a sidenote, the complaints about support and service... c'mon! For a 70$ item, I don't expect a lot of service from the company. Just send it back to amazon and get another. As far as tech support, there are zillions of good resources out there or techy friends to bribe.)
47 Extremely easy to setup
Just received the Linksys WRT54GS Wireless G Router this evening and, using the Setup CD, it took just 7 minutes to complete the installation. It took another 5-10 minutes to configure the unit. I purchased this router after returning a Motorola router last week that would not install, even after 45 min. with tech support. I highly recommend the Linksys if your looking for ease of use.
48 Working Great!
Purchased this wireless router in Sept. '04 and has worked very good. Setup and installation was easy, just pop in the CD and follow the directions. The only small drawback I had was when I located the wireless adapter in the basement about 30 feet away from the base, which is on the first floor. It worked at 2 to 3 bars signal strength, but I wanted a better signal for a better data flow. So I bought an extension cable from Radio Shack and relocated the wireless adapter inside a closet on the same floor as the base. Now the signal is full strength and data flow is at its maxium. The only other small snag was a dropped DSL connection from time to time, but I found out that my 2.4 ghz phone was interferring. Linksys recommended changing the channel on the router. After that I've had no dropped connections with my DSL service. Great product. No problem recommending this product to others.
49 Chose it over Netgear and D-Link
I compared this router to the two others which compete in the 108 space - the Netgear WGT 624 and the D-Link DI-624. The D-Link would not work with the Apple Airport 802.11 b cards; they didn't even detect the signal. The Netgear worked well when hooked up but lost the connection every day and had to be rebooted to come back up. The Linksys has worked perfectly since hooking it up -- good speed and range, stable connnection (for the last week). In a side-by-side comparison the only one that worked for me was the Linksys.
50 Bad Out of the Box
I received this router and port 1 on the ethernet was dead. Wouldn't even light the LED up. darn. That was the worst part. The best part was Amazon...or can I say Amazing.
I called in, they shipped me a new one and sent UPS to pick up the bad one. I had a new router in my hands in less than 24 hrs because Amazing (Amazon) shipped it overnight.
The second one worked fine.
Amazon did me fine. From now on this is my first stop....besides, they have the best prices available here.
51 Disappointing experience
Well, in the end I found this to be a disappointing product. Though all features worked, every couple of weeks I must reset the router to regain wireless service. I've tried using different channels, but it always drops eventually. I did not have this problem with my older netgear router (though it was only a 802.11b router). I've recently purchased a Netgear WGT624 to see if it stays up longer.
I have not tried the recently updated firmware (late october release), but the release notes do not mention any updates concerning wireless connection reliability.
52 WRT54GS frequently drops connection
Just received the WRT54GS. I expected a stable 50Mbit/sec connection but this device only operates reliably at 11Mbit/sec. I tried several G-compliant cards without success.
I also have the WRT54G, which works rather flaky at higher connection speeds. I think the Linksys products are not really working as advertised. At 11Mbit/sec speeds they are ok.
If you decide buying a wireless router running at higher speeds, be careful with this product. You may succeed if you are running it in a small apartment.
53 Effortless setup
After debating whether to purchase an a+b+g router I went with the G speedbooster. Setup was effortless and my connection was instantaneous - I did'nt even need to follow all of the instructions. I would highly recommend this router for home users.
54 Excellent and Easy to Install
This is my third router in 2 weeks. I tried Bliss, and D-Link, both of which were a pain to install, and the wireless worked sporadically at best. Read: worked once than never to connect wirelessly to the router again.
A friend at work had a Linksys router, and recommended it. I ordered the Wireless-g with Speedbooster router and the notebook card. They arrived the next day.
The installation was flawless -- the router was working within a couple minutes. It actually took longer for the computer to go through its regular re-boot than it did to install the router.
The notebook card was the same. Flawless and worked within minutes. Again, the regular re-boot sequence took longer than the install.
These work seamlessly -- not only on the desktop machine plugged into the router, but I have excellent reception all over the house with the notebook computer. Finally a networking company that steps up to the plate when it comes to a home network. Congrats to Cisco!
After my first two router experiences, I am completely sold on Linksys -- I couldn't be happier with the ease of install and continued performance.
55 Equipment works well - so do Parental Controls
I bought this router mainly for the parental controls feature. I didn't want to buy software to control each computer in my small business network and this looked like a good solution. Here are some points:
- setup of this router is fairly easy. I was able to get my wired and wireless clients set up within 1/2 hour. Be warned - in order to get that "Speed boost" you have to buy special linksys equipment for EACH computer - not worth it in my opinion. Speed of the router is definitely better than 802.11b, but don't go looking for a full 54mb. Theoretically, that's possible, but practically it runs around 22 or 23.
- the parental controls work very well. I tried to go looking for gambling, violent, and smut websites on the internet after purchasing ($29/year) the router-based program. It blocks almost everything! The only way I've found around it is to go to a few select foreign-language websites (and you reaaallly have to work hard to find those). Even then, you can report these offending websites and they will be added to the database. The other way around it is to Google search (or other engine) for images. The parental controls allow you to bring up thumbnails (because of search engine caching), but don't allow you to go to the original site. I don't think there's a way to block that kind of content.
Overall, I would recommend this router specifically if you are looking for a speed boost and haven't already bought other wireless equipment, or if you are looking for robust parental controls for your kids or small business. I favor this method of parental control over software because it allows you to control all access from one central point easily.
56 Very fast installation!!!
It's incredible how fast you can install Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster. Since I had the linksys Wireless-B Broadband Router I know how hard it is to install this Linksys Router. It took me almost 4 hours to install the wireless-b broadband router with my DSL Modem. With the Wireless-G Broadband Router it took me only 5 minutes. I definitely recommend this product if you want to go wireless.
57 Great Product
We've just bought this fine product and all we can say is that a child could connect it and be up & running in under half an hour. My laptop is a "b" and my hubby's is a "g" and he's on the couch jamming online radio winamp and I'm surfing the heck out of the net. We're both runnig at 54 Mbps... in case you're not sure if that's fast... it's fast. I don't see a difference between this and my desktop cable connection. ^_^ A GREAT BUY! a steal for the price!
58 Works fine - but be careful of installing firmware!
I'm using this router at home with two notebook/adapter combinations: WPC54GS/WinXP and WPC11/Win98SE. The router seems to work just fine.
The only problem I've had was with trying to upgrade the firmware, which fried the router somehow. I went through troubleshooting with customer service, got a RMA, and had a replacement in about a week - with the new firmware already installed.
Customer service itself was fine, even if the phone queue was sometimes a bit long. Considering they provide 24-hour free human support, I think it's decent. When problems went beyond what the first level of techs could manage, they bumped me up to the more experienced people. There's the added bonus of being able to trade balut stories with the people on the other end.
59 WOW!!! Fantastic product!!!
This is my third Linksys router and continue to be impressed with the improvements they keep making. The product was easy to install. My wired and wireless interfaces were easy to configure and I was up and running in minutes. I never even used the included software. I am amazed at how fast websites load, not only on my laptop but also on my wired desktop. They have improved the firewall features. I checked the "stealth" aspect of the firewall and found it to be totally "stealth"; something I didn't quite achieve with the previous router. They even added parental control. I haven't experimented with it yet, but plan to shortly. The only thing I had to do when I replaced routers (which is in their documentation if you choose to read it) was to reset my cable modem. I didn't do it at first, but quickly overcame the problem. I highly recommend this product.
60 Works great with both 802.11b and 802.11g
I originally bought a DLink router, but it did not work with my laptop that has a 802.11b card even after spending hours with tech guys on the phone.
This router was easy to set up including the WEP. And so far has worked great with both the 802.11b laptop and a 802.11g laptop.
It's more money than I wanted to spend, but it's worth it.
61 Simply THE BEST router available!
This Router will boost your 802.11g network even WITHOUT speedbooster adapters! Yes! Unlike Netgear's marketed "108MBps" Super-G and D-Link's advertised "108MBps", you need to buy their associated PC Card, PCI adapter in order to fully utilize the potential speeds. SpeedBooster (by Broadcom) technology doens't require you to purchase a Speedbooster equipped PC Card or PCI/USB adapter to increase network speeds. Alot of people don't know that but my 802.11G is NOTICEABLY IMPROVED with SpeedBooster router. I have the regular Linksy 802.11G PCI Adapter and a SpeedBooster 802.11G PCI adapter - both are FAST!
Router is fast, reliable, stable, and the range is EXCELLENT. This is a must buy if you want a fast file transferring, and secure home/business network! I recommended my friend and he couldn't be happier - he's a programmer so he uses a 3rd party firmware which allows a TONS of features for this router since it's Linux driven.
A+
62 Tech Support stinks, good product, flakey Parental Controls
I had trouble installing one of the PC cards. Tech Support must be in India and there was a serious language barrier going on when I called. (At least three times I said "I'm sorry sir, I can't understand what you are saying!!!). After I described the problem several times (setup wouldn't run to install the card), he still was having me troubleshoot the router. I got frustrated and hung up. Long story short, removing and reseating the card fixed the problem.
The router was fairly easy to set up and the only major problem I had was getting decent signal strength to a PC that was fairly far away. The PC housing is actually in the way of the signal, since the antenna is somewhat "hidden" behind the PC, so I kind of expected it. Might need an antenna extension to increase the signal strength a little more, but repositioning the router and antennas seemed to help a little. Our laptop works all over the house and my PC (same room as the router) is fine too. No problems with the laptop card.
WARNING: The default router settings leave you pretty open to hackers, so change your SSID to something less obvious than "default", turn off SSID broadcasting and use MAC address filtering as soon as you can change those settings! Write down your MAC addresses before you install the cards; it will save you some time trying to get them using Windows.
I don't have any data to support this, but the reliability seems to be better after I installed SP2 for XP. I can't remember the last time I had a problem connecting and it happened many times before I did the upgrade. I either couldn't connect when I booted, or it would just drop during the middle of something. I think I remember hearing that SP2 had better wireless support.
The parental controls feature works great when it's actually working (and it's nicely priced), but it was flakey during my free trial, so I didn't sign up. When Parental Controls are turned on, it appears that all Internet traffic gets redirected through their Parental Controls server. Guess what happens when that server goes down? You either have (1) no access or (2) unlimited access. When I emailed Tech Support, they said they had never heard of that problem (yeah right, even a popular Internet reviewer mentioned it in their review). One more thing, you either have Parental Controls for everyone on the router or no one. So, Mom and Dad have to log in on their PC's if you want your kids to surf safely. A smarter move might have been to use a MAC filter to only have Parental Controls on certain PC's.
The reporting options outside of Parental Controls are next to nil. You get a weak outgoing log that only lists IP addresses. It doesn't even appear to be accurate, from what I can see (entries missing?). Tech Support said they don't have a utility to pull better logs yet (They do have one for earlier Linksys routers).
I have never installed a wireless network before, so I can't give you any comparisons to other manufacturers. However, setup and speed are very good to excellent. Tech support stinks. Parental Controls will be very good if they get their servers to be more reliable.
63 Works as expected.
I am new to the wireless lan area. I considered this rounter as well as that of D-Link and chose the Linksys based on other's recommendations. I got the router up and running in about 30 minutes with the help of the instructions. Everything has been stable thus far and I'm happy. For those of us who are new to the wireless scene, this seems to be a really easy product to use. Use the enclosed CD to help with the setup. Have fun.
64 Unbelievable
How long does it take to have wireless in your home? Less than 5 minutes!!! Setup couldn't be easier. This is how computer products should communicate with your computer and service provider.
65 Plug, play and go!
I've recently replaced my Linksys 802.11B router with this G-version and had no issues at all with the switch. Plugged in, installed new software / drivers and I was ready to go in a matter of minutes. The new version of the router has easy-to-use access to built-in firewalls and other tools to limit wireless access. I'm using this with an updated PCMCIA card (also Linksys) without any issues - very fast, much faster than the old 802.11b. I can actually use for online gaming without any significant degradation vs. being plugged directly in. All in all, a solid product which I'd recommend if you're looking for a wireless router.
66 The only thing difference between this and the WRT54G is...
I love the WRT54G which I have bought for my home a year ago. I am a college student and just bought another one since I moved off campus. At first, I had trouble deciding between the WRT54G or the WRT54GS( with speedbooster). From first glance, the speedbooster tag seems enticing since everybody wants fast wireless transfers that would hopefully come close to wired networks. After reading some reviews and speaking to my best friend who works for Linksys , the only difference between the WRT54G and the WRT54GS is the flash and Ram memory. It is an upgrade from 4mb to 8mb for the flash, and 16mb to 32mb for the Ram. Basically you wont surf the internet any faster. The benefits of this is just transferring files from one computer to another will increase. For those who just want to share an internet connection, stick with the WRT54G and save the extra 20 bucks for a 30 pack of beer. If you like to transfer files between computers, spend the extra dough.
67 It works!!
Just pluged it in and EVERYTHING works! Let's see how long this router can last, so far so good.
68 Nice Upgrade
It all started one evening when my visiting 19 year old son, picked a fight with his 14 year old sister. I had an established 802.11b home network that was functional and dependable. My son decided that to deprive my 14 year old daughter of internet access, he would just unplug the Wireless Access Point... to my dismay, the access point did not come back after this incident. I decided instead of using a BEFSR81 router with another WAP11 access point, I decided to go G, replacing the access point and the router. I see an appreciable difference in reception reaching all corners of the house. The setup was simple as with all of the Linksys products I've owned. Completly compatable with all my PCMCIA/PCI/USB devices, so I'll purchase a Linksys WPC54GS Wireless-G Notebook Adapter with SpeedBooster and see how it goes. It's been a cool summer and I enjoy computing on the deck.
69 Completely Disappointed
Review of the LinkSys WET54G bridge point, and WRT54GS router
Completely Disappointed
("two Stars", both for the support, and none for the products)
These LinkSys wireless device both failed utterly. The WET54G was replaced, and the replacement failed identically.
Who will repay me for my lost time, and productivity? Noone.
I have used LinkSys wired devices for years, and have found them reliable. This is why I purchased the LinkSys WRT54GS wireless router and WET54G bridge point despite their higher price, and negative reviews.
I must start by saying that LinkSys gets full points for the fine women and men in India whom they employ as their technical support staff. While I have mixed feelings for the socioeconomic ramifications of the North American jobs being outsourced to India, I must say that the general level of courtesy and expertise was higher than I have ever experienced before. Kudos to India for training such superior technicians who can work so much more cheaply than North Americans. In all, I spoke with eight LinkSys support technicians, and seven of these were from India. The Senior Support technician I spoke to in the end was in California, and he was also most excellent in his demeanor and knowledge.
That said, the devices don't work.
At first, I thought the router (WRT54GS) was working, and that I was experiencing signal drop out on the Bridge point side (WET54G). There was some initial contact, but it faded quickly to nothing. I suspected that the doors between the two points were affecting the radio signal, or that the local airport was interfering. Bringing both devices into the same room didn't help, though, and the airport shuts down at night - removing that as a source of interference. The senior support person I spoke to suggested that my wireless phones (also operating in the 2.4 GHz frequency range) could be interfering with the LinkSys products, but it made no difference when I disconnected them.
The Bridge point (WET54G) repeatedly power cycled itself - establishing a link for a few seconds, up to a few minutes, and then mysteriously shutting itself off, and losing the link. This happened every few minutes forever, and eventually it failed to find the wireless connection at all. It just sat there turning itself on again, and off again. After speaking to several technicians in India, I was advised to have the Bridge point replaced. The replacement failed identically.
No amount of tweaking, configuring, upgrading, or resetting makes it work for more than a few minutes. The failure is unrelated to distance between the nodes, time of day, version of the firmware, temperature of the product, OS of the host machine, or any other feature I may discern. It simply does not work. In fact, the two of them failed identically.
I had thought that at least the router (WRT54GS) was working, but I was wrong.
The router functions (or it's supposed to) as a 4-port wired router with a wireless connection. I was attributing the failure of the wireless connection to the Bridge point (WET54G). It took me a while to suspect that the wired connections to the router were perhaps failing sometimes as well. When I did notice that the configuration web page on the router was sometimes inaccessible through the wired ethernet port, I upgraded the firmware (on the advice of the local senior technician). This didn't seem to help, and in fact I then found that there was a complete failure of the wired machines to ping the router.
Unfortunately, when I re-reinstalled the firmware (guessing that the first reinstall had perhaps failed partially), the wired connection to the host failed in mid-upgrade, leaving the firmware corrupted, and unfixable. (There was no firmware to tell the machine how to upgrade the firmware - a sad state.)
The unit started lame, and died completely. Dead, dead, dead.
LinkSys has offered to replace the units, and to replace the bridge with the more recent version (WET54GV2), but I have declined the offer. At best, the units were sometimes working - transmitting with a 50% packet failure rate, which is unusable for me (and most people, I suspect). I now realize that I will fare much better with a trench, and a buried cable to my garage. Ironically, I had initially opted for the wireless equipment on the notion that it would be quicker and easier than digging a thirty foot trench. That was three painful weeks ago. I am now looking gleefully at the trench as the cheaper, quicker, easier, and more reliable option.
After having been a happy and loyal LinkSys customer for years, I am sad to say that I am utterly disappointed with my most recent experiences.
What a major drag. I am very frustrated. If you need speed, and reliability in your network solution, I strongly advise you to seek another solution than LinkSys Wireless devices
70 Good signal strength, good connection, no problems
Setup was easy, even with another vendors wireless NIC and 128 bit WEP. Firewall setup is easy. Many options for lan gaming. My only complaint is I can't hack it the way was described in the latest issue of Linux Journal. No ping back door, they sewed it up. Oh well, I could go and load an older version of firmware I suppose.
71 inept support and lousy product
I am on my third LinkSys wireless-G Model WRT54GS. The first one didn't work out of the box. After 2 hours with LinkSys tech support telling me the problem was my computer or my DSL modem, I gave up, exchanged the router for a new one and amazingly the new one worked.
Two months later the router ceased to function. Again I called LinkSys, spent 2 hours with their tech support and got the same run around as the first time that I had called. Again the problem could not possibly be with their product. According to them the problem had to be my computer, my DSL modem, my ISP/DSL provider. LinkSys tech support insists that no other customers are experiencing failures of their routers.
Tonight, my third router died and I cannot connect to the internet through the router either hard wired to the Ethernet port or with the LinkSys wireless card. As a matter of fact the wireless card does not even gat a "link" light. I tried to connect with another notebook computer using the built in wireless antenna and could not detect the router. I then tried to connect through the Ethernet port without success.
I spent 2 hours on the phone with LinkSys tech support again tonight. After hours or changing settings and not being able to connect through the LinkSys router, the LinkSys tech again gave me the party line. "The problem has to be my computer, my DSL modem, my ISP/DSL provider. LinkSys tech support insists that no other customers are experiencing failures of their routers.
I told the Tech that I was working with that I was sure that if I were to go out and buy another LinkSys router that it would work. I asked him if it did work would he agree that the one I currently have had died and is defective. I was told no; It would only prove that the problem is with my computer, my DSL modem, or my ISP/DSL provider. When I asked him to explain his reasoning, he couldn't.
I give up. Doesn't any company provide support anymore or do they just try to push their problems back off on the consumer? Purchasing a LinkSys router has been the worst choice that I have ever made. I will not make that mistake again.
72 What Speedbooster?
Ya ya ya, Turbo mode this turbo mode that. Super G, Afterburner,
4x Speed... is just a marketing hype.
First of course, you have to buy the Wireless adapter that
support the Linksys Afterburner. Another $$$.
Also, speed improvement is maybe only 7Mbps more than the
standard 802.11g Wireless Router.
Second, during Turbo mode the other brand of wireless adapter
won't connect.
Maybe speed booster is good when you use Wireless LAN with
only one or two Wireless adapter that has the same technology.
but not in a multi-vendor enviroment such as Small Office and
Public hotspot...
I would wait for the new 802.11n standard which is 100Mbps
in Real throughput and not just on Specs and marketing hype.
73 Works like a charm
I bought this router to replace a Netgear 802.11b router that I've used for a couple of years. This one worked from the time I plugged it in. The DSL service I use required some changes to the MTU setting to pass along secure webpages, but the customer support solved it easily and it's described (a little obscurely) in the online documentation from Linksys.com. It provides good distance (>100 feet at highest speeds) and solid connections.
74 Great product
I recently upgraded my network (3PCs, 2 laptops, 1 Tivo, 1 NAS) from b to g, and the WRT54gs works flawlessly with both b and g equipment. The feature set is very rich, but the administration interface is not that easy to navigate. The only problem I have seen so far is that the Linksys EFG80 NAS has come to a screetching halt after the upgrade, but I suspect it is a problem with the NAS box, not the router.
75 Worth every penny!!!
This router works wonderfully. I have set it up wired with my desktop and wireless with the Lynksys wireless-G PCI with Speedbooster for another desktop. Both run at or near the same speeds when Im browsing the internet or downloading. Setup was so simple. I do not know how this router will work with other wireless devices, but the linksys products connect to each other without out any problems.
76 excellent product
no problems so far with 1 airport extreme card and one linksys PCI 802.11g on a win xp box. using stock firmware.
worked well immediately, is fast, and stable.
avoid the d-link pci card, had problems with this router.
77 Not dual-voltage -- don't buy if you live overseas
Don't bother reading this if you live in the States or Canada, but if you are one of the many Americans stationed overseas who buy electronics online, you might benefit from my frustrating experience.
When the router arrived, I read the box very closely; even though every other piece of computer equipment I've purchased in the last few years has been dual-voltage, I wanted to make sure this one was, too. The box doesn't specify the input power requirements, but it does say "For all EU countries" and specifically refers to using it in France and Italy. So I logically assumed that I would indeed be able to use this product in Europe without needing a transformer.
But no. The power adapter is 120V only. I've been trying for over a month to get Linksys to send me a 220V-compatible adapter -- I know they make them; Linksys is worldwide. But every call and email I've sent (and there have been many, to the UK and Germany as well as to the States' outsourced customer service locations) has only resulted in being told to call someone else. Customers can request a replacement power adapter from the Linksys website; I did that, specifying the 220V version, and was sent another 120V one (incidentally, I had to have it sent to my parents, who forwarded it to me, as Linksys refuses to ship to APO addresses). I guess the good people at Linksys thought I didn't know what I wanted.
So -- I can't evaluate the product itself because I haven't used it yet. But the customer service has been extremely disappointing.
78 If the router doesn't work, you are out of luck
I bought a Linksys router in October 2003, and still have not gotten it to work wirelessly. The box did not include the installation CD, and I was told by Linksys that I could BUY one if I wanted. I have emailed, faxed, wrote, and of course called, with no help. I have asked for an RMA, and was told "I think that has something to do with returning the product". Linksys tech support is terrible. Buy at your own risk.
79 horrible product
Router worked great when first installed, but within a day, I was no longer able to connect to the Internet OR communicate w/ the router. Returned the Linksys router and bought a D-Link router which has been working wonderfully so far.
80 great router highly recommened
i bought this router without no knowledge and it was very easy to hook up i have a wireless laptop and works very very good am very pleased.
81 EXCELLENT PRODUCT AND EASY TO SET-UP
Whomever wrote the negative reviews for this product are sure scammers in the form of employees of other manufacturers of wireless equipment.
This router is EXTREMELY easy to set-up and use and I was online and wireless in less than 15 minutes. I sat at our pool 275' away from the router and was able to still be on the web (through 1 wall and 1 tall brick fence.)
I also bought the Laptop Seedbooster card and it worked flawlessly. Excellent equipment....I would buy Linksys again !!!
82 Its worth the installation headache
Yea... it was a pain to setup. Especially because I'm using AOL DSL. I tried the setup disk and everything seemed to be going great but in the end, the computer didn't recognize my modem. I looked online at Linksys.com and under support I typed in AOL and then it showed a list of Q&A. I read a couple of them and tried it. I figured out that the instructions were a little off and eventually got it all working in just under 3 hours. If I were to do it again, I think I could set it all up in like 20 minutes.
As far as performance, My Sony Viao PCG-Z1VA has a built-in 802.11b but I wanted the best performance possible so I got the Linksys WPC54GS Wireless-G Notebook Adapter with SpeedBooster to match. Connection to the web from my laptop is unbelievable. Its as if I was on the desktop, wired directly in the modem. I ran some speed tests and it shows that I'm on par with the desktop.
My signal strength is around 80% throughout the entire house. The transfer rate is consistently around 125.0 Mbps.
Its as if the notebook is just another drive in my desktop. I couldn't ask for better performance.
83 Tech Support Nightmare
I spoke with six people in technical support over three hours, and at the end of it all, I could only get an apology. The software problem appears to lie more with the wireless card than the router, but why have one without the other. You can have mine.
84 Works great plus Parental Controls
I got this router primarily for the parental control feature so I will primarily comment on that, but routing and wireless functions seem to work great and I have had no problems with them.
I know this smacks of big brother, but I really didn't want to have to hover over my 12 year old's shoulder every time he was on the computer and explain all the **** out there.
So far the parental controls have worked well for us. You can set up accounts for all family members if you want and set the limits accordingly. The drawback is there is a login prompt when you first try to access the internet. You can setup limits for the time of day that the internet can be accessed and what type of content can be viewed. My main objective was to filter out hardcore porn type stuff which it seems to do fairly well without interfering with normal surfing.
It works for me a lot better than Norton's Internet Security software which really slowed my computer down. With this solution once you log on, you hardly know its there. The down side is there is a yearly subscription fee (about $40). Of course Norton has a subscription fee as well. I don't mind paying it as long as they keep their end of the bargain by providing up-to-date filters.
Another thing that I like about this solution (but it can be a drawback) is that it works for all things connected to the network. For example if a friend brings a laptop over or you have an X-Box that connects to the internet, etc. It may cause problems for some devices (e.g. ReplayTv). I had to switch my ReplayTv back to a telephone connection. With a 802.11b PocketPc I still had to login to my account (through the browser) but I was able to access the internet.
85 Great Product
I bought this about a month ago and it works great. Just stick in the CD and it will automatically configure everything for you. Its so simple. It also comes with a Cat5 cable which is nice.
86 Flawless
I've had this product for about 6 months now and it works excellent. Setup is easy yet advanced enough to do port
forwarding and hardware address forced DHCP.
87 really really bad
Bought this based on reviews, thinking it will ber great. never worked for more than 5 minutes at a time, after having to spend over an hour with tech support each time. after the 5th time, (I was being patient) the tech told me something must be wrong with the router.returened to Amazon, thank god for the hassled free return policy. will never get this, or any linksys again, going to try D-link next, ope to have better luck.
88 Superior product at a reasonable price
I've been a Linksys user since my first 4-port DSL router. Unfortunately I made a bad decision when I upgraded to a 802.11g AP. I bought a Netgear 802.11g AP based on the recommendation from CNET. Then my nightmare began!! Whilst the wireless signal strength was quite decent, the connection was dodgy.
After months of suffering it finally came to an end today... from the moment I setup the WRT54GS router. :-) The web GUI is well organized and easy to follow. Connection speed as well as response time is far better than my old Netgear AP that has a very high latency in initiating connection. I used to have problems in maintaining my PPTP connection to my office. Now it's stable as rock!! Overall this is a very well built product with solid support (in terms of firmware updates/bug fixes).
89 Very Good Router & Xbox Live Compatible
I have had this router for about a week, upgrading from an outdated router, and have been very impressed. It is easy to use and set-up (even the security settings: WEP, MAC address control, etc.). I am running a mixed wireless network (802.11b & g) and file transfer, internet, etc. work great. I initially had trouble with Xbox Live (on LAN), but when you go into the Xbox's "Network Settings" and have it find the router again, it works fine. The problem was the Xbox had a different IP address that needed to be reset to the IP address given to it by the WRT54GS (firmware version 2.07.1). DO NOT turn off your your security settings like previous reviews have suggested, it is unneeded. Overall, a great router.
90 Don't rely on tech support, you'll be fine.
The -4GS is a piece of cake to set up. Running the primary computer on XP, it's promptly recognized and instantly connects to the web. Setting up the wireless on a Mac PB G4 didn't go as smoothly, but, within 10 minutes it too was up and running. I was surprised by the speed of internet connection working wireless on the Mac. The 4GS boasts speed with its SpeedBooster--and it's indeed valid.
91 Installation for dummies
Decided to go wireless. Reviews sounded great! How hard can this be. I am a Test Pilot, so this should be no challenge. We also ordered the wireless WPC54GS notebook card to go with the router. My son, being a typical 20 year old know-it-all decides to configure the notebook card first (against my wishes). Every time we put the card in the notebook, it locked up. The Linksys tech support people said "oh yeah", you need to download new drivers! The ones on the CD ROM won't work. OK, back to my original idea, lets do the router first. Put in the CD ROM, followed instructions and WA LA. We were on the net (hard wired) through our cable modem in less than 5 minutes!!! My recommendation on the WRT54GS - BUY IT (but DO NOT let your know-it-all teenager or 20 year old, install it. Do it yourself). One major problem! Back to the notebook card. The second Linksys tech support person told us "the card is bad, send it back to Amazon.com to have it tested" What??? How can this be??? The dang card is brand new!!! Lets try other options. Card still locks up computer! Third Linksys tech support person helped, but the computer still locks up on start-up. WOW the card is bad! Amazon.com, you guys are great! Within 5 minutes we had the return information, and about 10 minutes later we were notified by email that another card would be sent out tomorrow. Great!!!
Ok lets review - Buy the WRT54GS router!
DO NOT buy the WPC54GS notebook card - even the Linksys tech support people seem to think it is junk. I guess the quality control guy in that department is always out to lunch!
Read all the reviews that are shown on Amazon.com under each piece of equipment. There are some very good tips there that you will not learn from the installation information (like turn off the Windows XP fire wall before you start installation or you will get a lot of nasty windows "Hey idiot, you can't do that" messages.
AMAZON.COM You guys are great as usual. We also ordered our print server this morning. Keep up the good work.
Linksys - You guys have a lot of work to do. First thing I would do is fire the Notebook card quality control guy.
92 Great g card but Customer Services drops the ball
Well, I purchased my card (WPC54GS) and the router to match (WRT54GS) last Sunday for my work computer and after a week I finally got it to work no thanks to customer service at Linksys. There only help was to tell me the card was broken and I had to reinstall my operating system after 4 hours on the phone with them trying the same thing over and over again. But I'm sure that if you have windows XP or 2000 you wont have any problems but, my company gave me a great laptop but with windows 98SE which for those of you who have moved on to XP as I did with my home PC remember what a piece it was. If any of you purchase this card with 98SE and get stuck you can e-mail me at GEO1277@comcast.net and I can help you get it up and running. But as far as the product goes it gets great reception and as long as one of the antennas is pointed in the direction you are using the laptop or pc you can go through 3 well built floors and at least 100ft that I know of from my experience. Oh one more down side to this card if you have Windows 98SE you can't use the SpeedBooster unless you are using XP or 2000 just some info that I think was left out on this website but will be on the box when you get the card or router. I would give the Router 5 stars the Card 4 Stars and the customer service negative 5 stars.
93 Excellent Product
Having read all the reviews for this product, including some not so favorable, I decided to upgrade my wired router to wireless.
Setup couldn't have been more straightforward. I didn't use the setup CD, but followed the setup guide. Within ten minutes, I was connected. The router is connected to a custom built P4 and my laptop is a Sony Vaio. I used the Linksys WPC45GS to connect my laptop to the network, another easy and flawless install.
After the initial install of the router, it is strongly suggested you do the following:
- Change the SSID
- Disable SSID broadcast
- Change password for admin access
- Enable MAC filtering
- Change SSID often
- Use highest encryption possible
- Change encryption keys often
For me, this router has been working flawlessly for the last week. Installation and configuration was simple. With my laptop, I can go anywhere in my 1800 sq ft. home and get a strong signal with no dropouts.
Excellent product. Highly recommended.
94 Excellent technology and great customer support
I don't usually write comments but I was so impressed I felt it necessary. I followed the enclosed instructions but was not able to get my Win2000 computer to resolve some IP conflicts. I called customer service at 0530 eastern time. I connected quickly to a very friendly and knowledgable person. With some specific point, clicking, and typing, I was up and running. I am an engineer and would not have figured these specific chages myself. A golf clap for Linksys customer service. Everything is working great!
95 Linksys WRT54GS
I purchased the WRT54GS to upgrade an outdated router that I'd had for about 4 years.
Ultimately I was hoping this router would allow me to use my laptop anywhere in my town home (~1300 sqft) AND work with Xbox Live despite it's absence from the list of approved routers; I figured "how much different could it be from the WRT54G", which IS approved for Xbox Live.
With some minor difficulties I was able to get it to work with Xbox Live. You'll need to toy around with the security settings (SPI, Anonymous Internet Requests, and DMZ) a little bit, but it WILL work. Once Xbox Live is connected you can re-secure everything until you turn off the Xbox... at which point you'll need to go through the routine again when you want to reconnect. This has something to do with the way Xbox initiates communications... hopefully Linksys releases a firmware patch to correct this simple, but annoying issue.
The laptop network connection works anywhere in my town home, but if I take it outside onto my deck the signal is eventually dropped. To be fair the router is on the complete opposite side of the town home when I'm on the deck. I'm betting that I could improve my coverage area if I could move the router to a central room and elevate it a little bit. The WLAN coverage is about what I'd expected.
The browser interface is a breeze so adjusting your settings to work with Xbox and secure your WLAN is not hard at all. Initial setup was incredibly easy. I literally plugged the router into my cable modem, plugged my desktop PC into the router and I had internet. The router automatically spoofed the MAC address required to get through the cable modem.
I haven't had to use Linksys technical support, but their knowledge base is decent enough to solve the most common problems. This product is fairly new however, so knowledge base articles for out of the ordinary problems are somewhat sparse as of right now.
96 Poor Customer Service
The Linksys customer service rep didn't speak English well (an understatement). Sounded like he was from India: why did he ask me for my cashew over and over? (case number?) The whole conversation was a garbled mess. I couldn't tell if knew a router from a VW bug. It was a real pain dealing with them.
97 Not compatible with xbox live!
This router is good in terms of speed. But it is not compatible with xbox live. I was working with this thing for two days spending hours with the technical support, and wondering why it wouldn't work. It's plain and simple if you want to play xbox live only get a router that has the xbox compatible logo on the box. Trust me you will save hours of endless frustration.
98 Seems good to me
This thing seems like a decent piece of equipment. The setup was easy and it worked without a problem. One MINOR annoyance, you can change the internal IP address of this thing to 192.168.XXX.XXX but the DHCP server will only hand out IPs in the range of 192.168.1.XXX. No real biggie, just personally annoying.
99 Easy to Set Up After Reading the Manual
Once I read the manual and understood the instructions, the router worked as advertised. It operates at 54 mps no matter where I am in the house. It is a keeper.
100 WOW!
Got my router today. Installed in about 15 minutes, one wireless Toshiba with g, and one wired computer. Wireless internet is FAST! Set-up is straight forward and easy. Highly recommend.
