A few weeks ago, however, the connection to the notebook card died. I thought to myself that it was the notebook card and I needed a new system anyway so I purchased a desktop with an internal (MSoft) wireless adapter. I thought I was being smart; oh how wrong I was! Now the internal adapter senses the network, but the signal strength is so low that it cannot sign on for more than a few seconds, if at all.

After repeated calls to the terribly unhelpful "technical support" (who seemed convinced that the problem was everything BUT the router - very suspicious - and who sent me firmware that refuses to install) and a sore neck from long hold times (at least 45mins. at 12AM-3AM EST!) I am convinced that this router is a lost cause. Engineered obsolescense is understandable, but a year or less is ridiculous. I'm going to purchase a new, g-level model, but it won't be Linksys.

I will break this down step by step:

Installation:
Couldn't be easier. Had the whole thing setup with my Cable Modem and my desktop in less than 30 mins and was surfing the net. in an additional 30 mins or so had my wireless laptop going and didn't have a single problem. Switching from an Orinoco or a Cisco wireless card on the laptop was easy and no problems there either.

Initial Usage:
It had problems. It would keep stopping and requiring a reset or a full power down/power up. I updated the firmware (keep on top of firmware updates) and this problem went away. Updating the firmware is very very easy.

Performance:
I will review only the wireless part this. For internet browsing and basic stuff, it performs great. No complaints here. It was a little slow on some of the more heavier network utilizing applications but its wireless you can't expect the speed of a Lan line.

Range:
I didn't have problems with ranges in my townhouse. It worked everywhere without any degradation. When I moved to a two story colonial, I started to see some range problems. It would work fine on the floor where the router was. On the ground floor however it would move from excellent/good to fair frequently. Sometimes just turning the laptop a certain way would do miracles. I never had a complete dropoff though. Never did try the basement :-)

Features:
I couldn't have asked for a more easy to configure and more featured router for my usage. Supported all the protocols (IPSEC/PPOE) for me to VPN to work. Had nice control over ports and traffic. The control of DHCP and static IP addresses was nice too. Didn't use much of the other features.

Now with all that said here comes the BAD part:

about a month ago, the wireless part stopped working. I was surprised at first. I checked the router. Lan activity Lights were on but not the wlan activity lights. I hit the reset button no go. Checked my desktop.. the lan connection was fine. Did a full power down and power up. Still nothing. Checked the website for firmware updates (in case I missed one that fixes something).. nope I had the latest firmware. This was on a friday so I just let it be. Saturday.. still no luck. After going nutz on Sat, I finally emailed Customer Support on Sunday. They responded fairly quickly (within hours) and after a couple and back and forth emails.. the response: "This can happen if you are under warranty we can replace it" Well the warranty is a bleak 1 year and I had had this router for 2 years...soo.. bottom line.. I am getting a new router and probably not going with Linksys again. A response of "This can happen" is not acceptable to me.

At this point, I just don't think that any other company (Netgear or D-link, etc...) would be any more reliable. I don't think that WiFi is reliable, period. The product reviews by CNET, PCWORLD, PCMAG are never accurate for networking products because they are not tested over the long term (ie, 1-6-months, year) when they usually break or stop functioning. No one should have to buy new networking routers/adapters every 3-6 months or even a year, not at this price. Hardware like this should last at least 3-5 years, but it just isn't the case with so many of these WiFi networking products. Seems like people go through these things like they go through toner cartridges. This should not be!

The only problem i had was setting up my wireless laptop. The laptop not the router. I couldn't have the wireless bridged like it was when i bought the laptop the sec i unbridged it it worked.

THIS IS GREAT

In late December, I noticed that my connection speed was down significantly. After working through my cable internet provider's technical support, they pointed me to the router. I called LinkSys and was told I needed to update the firmware. Hours of frustration later, the thing is 'dead in the water'.

I undertsand that the this is a common problem over time. Now I am looking at what to replace this with. Be aware that you may buying a time bomb - may work for a while then die.

Highly recommended!

After the initial installation, I haven't had a single problem with it. I can get a signal from anywhere in my house and it hasn't even dropped the connection below "11 mbits" yet (though I'm not actually experiencing 11 mbits :-) ).

Just keep in mind this runs on the 2.4 GHz band, meaning if you have a 2.4 GHz cordless phone (which I don't, thankfully), it will interfere with your connection. Supposedly a microwave can also interfere but I wouldn't know, my router and microwave are on completely opposite sides of the house. The only peculiarity I'd like to note is that I was unable to set up a network between my Windows ME laptop and my Windows 98 desktop. I've since gotten a new Windows XP desktop and it networked just fine with my laptop.

Overall, an excellent router. But don't buy it if you absolutely must network your computers as it may or may not work (I would think the problem is mainly with older computers). And don't buy it if you have a 2.4 GHz phone (If you do, consider 802.11a (not b)).

Two notes of advice: 1) Do NOT set up your aol (if you have it) first before you set up you wireless on a new notebook. Lots of retracing my steps to connect to the internet. Set up the network first then worry about aol. 2) Set up the WEP so your neighbors won't find your connection when they turn on their new wireless notebook! Go into the device manager and follow the steps.

RuShep

I almost exclusively use linksys equipment. I have found it to be the easiest and the most reliable to set up. If you are using this product, you will not need a router/bridge as one is built in.

I recommend that you connect it to the linksys adsl/cable modem/router for maximum ease in administration and compatability. Otherwise, the WAN out of your ADSL or Cable box to the WAN in on your wireless is all you should need to do. Initially, the WAP will broadcast the station ID (SSID) as linksys. You'll obviously want to change that... as the one reviewer noted, Linksys is easily hackable if you do not change the default settings. I must admit I "see" and sometimes browse unprotected linksys routers around town (and even in my neighborhood). An unprotected WAP is not a good idea.

You should definitely shut off the SSID broadcast once you get things established. I also recommend the WEP encryption. Be sure to write down the keys.... otherwise, you'll probably be unable to connect and have a hard time.

I also recommend you allow the MAC filters. This will prohibit anyone other than your hardware from accessing the router/WAP. Even if someone hacks the WEP or finds/figures your SSID, they cannot tell the router to do anything unless they also clone your MAC address... something not easily done "blind."

All in all this is a good product... worth the 60 bucks... most definitely. Personally, unless you have some compelling reason to set up 802.11g (like you are doing video conferencing over it) - 802.11b is fast enough for home environments.... especially since the FASTEST ADSL/CABLE lines usually go 3MB TOPS (and that's virtually never seen - even inside the given network).

BTW - I also use my Linksys with Mac and PC's. The PC's are a bit easier to configure to use with the Linksys... but once you plug in the WEP keys into the Airport card configuration, Mac's work just fine. Linksys' is much easier to administer than Airport Base station... I'll tell you that much... and a Linksys base station is 60 versus Apple's $200 (or 100 bucks on eBay for an old Snow 2 version - 200 bucks for the Apple Extreme=802.11g standard).

If you are a total novice - I recommend you stay away from wireless. Wireless products expose your PC to both the "net" and people who are wandering/close by to your physical location. If you don't know what you are doing - it is easy to "eavesdrop" on your system and hack your way in... however, if you stop broadcasting your SSID, edit your MAC filters, and enable WEP - it's going to be pretty tough to hack the way into your network.

Of course the install on my mac went flawlessly the first time.

Using the laptop downstairs, upstairs, in bed, in front of the tv while still online is such a pleasure! The unit works very well.

The web based interface for the router's settings is just fine. Created some firewall rules - for port forwarding to one desktop in my lan - everything works very well.

Get this if you want to go wireless! Just make sure you save yourself a minor headache during the setup and RTFM!!

I would definitely buy this unit again - it is worth it!

I'd give it five stars except for the crappy support from linksys. Four stars.