| Linksys Wireless-G Cable Gateway (WCG200) |
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Model: WCG200
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 138
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Product Type - Gateway
Warranty - 3 Years Limited
Share the Internet -- connect one PC to the integrated Router via USB and four more via Ethernet using the built-in 10/100 Switch
Wireless Access Lists and WPA to enhance wireless security |
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| Description: |
| The Linksys Wireless-G Cable Gateway is the all-in-one solution for Internet connectivity in your home. The Cable Modem function gives you a blazing fast connection to the Internet, far faster than a dial-up, and without tying up your phone line. Connect your computer to the Wireless-G Cable Gateway via USB, or take advantage of the built-in 4-port 10/100 Ethernet Switch to jump-start your home network. You can share files, printers, hard drive space and other resources, or play head-to-head PC games. Connect four PCs directly, or daisy-chain out to more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. The built-in Wireless-G Access Point allows up to 32 wireless devices to connect to your network at a blazing 54Mbps, without running cables through the house. It's also compatible with Wireless-B devices, at 11Mbps. The Gateway's Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share that high-speed Internet connection. To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G Cable Gateway features an advanced firewall to keep Internet intruders and attackers out. Wireless transmissions can be protected by powerful data encryption. Safeguard your family with Parental Control features like Internet Access Time Limits and Key Word Blocking. Configuration is a snap with any web browser. With the Linksys Wireless-G Cable Gateway at the heart of your home network, you're connected to the future. |
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| User Reviews (138 total): |
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 of Total 7 Pages
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Do NOT buy this!!!, August 30, 2007
By mjs151
I have had this for almost a year and it has been nothing but trouble. Linksys knows that there is a problem and they won't fix it or refund your money.
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Compact, reliable replacement for cable company's modem, August 17, 2007
By Lindsay Murphy (Bloomfield Hills, MI United States)
I'm quite surprised to see all the negative reviews of this unit. Perhaps we just got lucky, but we've never had trouble with it (see below).
We bought the WCG200 to replace a Linksys WRT54G and a Motorola Surfboard, which itself replaced the string of cheapo RCA modems Comcast provided us with our service. The router/modem combinations managed to "de-synchronize" (the Comcast tech's words, not mine) and completely, irreparably drop their connections on a daily basis; the RCA units did it every two hours or so, the Motorola every 24 to 36 hours. You would have to kill the power to both devices, wait thirty seconds, turn the modem on, wait for it to completely start up, then (and ONLY then) turn the router back on in order to get your internet access working. Short of replacing the rental modems, which they did about half a dozen times, Comcast claimed they couldn't do anything about it. We went to the WCG as a last resort before chucking the service, reasoning that one device shouldn't have to synchronize itself with anything.
So far, we've had the WCG for two years, and have experienced exactly one problem: the fight to get Comcast to provision a device they weren't renting to us. The de-synchronization problem has not recurred since, the connection's up-time is measurable in months rather than hours, and we have stable, strong signal on all floors and out to the back yard. I do have one quibble with the WCG, and that's the lack of firmware upgrade ability, but that's a small price to pay for reliable high-speed connectivity.
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Defective product, defective technical support, August 15, 2007
By M. Gold (Concord, NH USA)
Like so many other reviews, this Linksys WCG200 is dropping the
connection to the Internet. The dropped connection is due to the
Linksys WCG200 resetting itself anywhere from once to 20+ times
a day. After months of frustration, it turns out that it's a known
and very common problem most likely due to Linksys firmware
for this product.
The fact that the product doesn't work correctly as so many have
pointed out is one obvious reason to avoid it. But there are three
other reasons why I recommend against this product and why I
will not purchase or recommend to clients any other Linksys
product:
1. The Linksys tech support (1st level, 2nd level supervisor) claimed
that it isn't a known problem and gave me the run-around despite
numerous discussion groups mentioning the problem over and over
(including Linksys' own forum on this product where 80%+ of the
messages are about this problem). Tragically, the tech support
people can continue to claim it is not a known problem because
they are blocked from viewing their own forum web pages on the
Linksys site. It was especially frustrating that technician
and supervisor refused to find a way to view their own forum
to see this unresolved problem mentioned over and over again.
2. This problem has been going on for over a year (as anyone can
see by doing a search online) and despite many calls to them
there is not a hint of a resolution from Linksys. Some people have
resolved the problem by getting their ISP to rollback the firmware
version -- but that only works if your ISP is willing to go the extra
mile to fix a Linksys-caused problem.
3. The fact that technically-inclinded users can't download and install
their own firmware (to upgrade or rollback) in cases such as this is a
major flaw. If the ISP upgrades your modem with new Linksys firmware
as they are often allowed to do and that Linksys firmware causes
incessant modem malfunction, Linksys will not provide a resolution
to the situation caused by their defective firmware.
In the end, I finally got through to someone at Linksys who seemed
to care at least a little bit about the problem, but he could still not
provide a resolution.
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Solid, reliable gateway, August 13, 2007
By M. Fassio (Lodi, CA)
Having been a user of networking hardware for both DSL and Cable for the home over the years, it was nice to be able to find a gateway that was designed exclusively for cable internet. The integrated Modem/Router/Switch features that the WCG200 has makes it ideal for simplifying and streamlining your internet hardware setup. It is a quality unit, something that is synonymous with the Linksys name, and there are plenty of advanced options to set up and secure your internet connection. The only odd things that I have found about the firmware is that there is not an option to change the login name and there is not a logout option which requires you to close your browser in order to log off. Other than that I would definitely recommend you picking this unit up if you are going to be using Cable internet.
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Poor Product, August 10, 2007
By boneyard (Bay Area, CA USA)
I bought this Cable Gateway in July for use with Comcast. The first day I installed the modem, my Internet connection dropped 3-4 times/day. After several calls with Comcast and Linksys, I was unable to resolve the problem. It continued to drop connections several times/day. The issue seems to only occur while using the wireless function. I can't believe there are so many other people having the same issue with this product. I bought a Motorola Cable Modem Gateway (Model#SBG900) to replace the Linksys WCG200, and this Motorola Cable Gateway works great! (no dropped connections). Stay away from the WCG200 unless you want to take a chance.
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WCG200 - stay away from this, August 10, 2007
By Scallywag (NJ, USA)
I have had exactly the same problems with this unit that everyone else is describing: wireless signal drops several times a day during use. At first I thought it was my cable provider but coincidentally my brother bought the same unit and he runs into the same problems. Linksys could not be more unhelpful about it either.
Avoid like the plague.
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Constantly Drops Connection, August 7, 2007
By Knowlegde Pimp (Orlando, Florida USA)
I've owned this for about a year now. Initially it kept dropping the connection & I thought it was an issue with my cable provider. I have since moved, and have the same issue. After reading the other reviews on this item, I wish I never purchased it.
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Do not buy this modem, July 19, 2007
By David M. Hyton (Asheville, NC)
This product fails when you send any large amounts of infomation through it with certian isps. "Google" it. Unlike every other router by linksys you can not update the firmware. Your isp is suposed to do that, but ISP's like charter do not provide this service.
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Very Flawed, July 16, 2007
By SJH AZ (Arizona)
Has to be reset 2 to 3 times a day on average just loses connection. Very disapointing!!
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Better get two devices instead of one, July 4, 2007
By Hasan Guclu (TROY, NY United States)
I have WCG200 for about two years. At first everything was smooth. Then every now and then it started dropping connections even sometimes every hour. I called Comcast many many times and I argued even I yelled at the supervisors just for this reason. They apologized and sent a technician.
By the way just to silence me they extended my introductory rate period from three months to a year. But who cares? Poor technician could not find anything but he was a good guy so he changed all the old and rusty cables and connectors in my building. Did this solve my problem? Of course not. Then it started loosing connections again but less frequently. I lived with this about two years. I resisted just because I like cable more than DSL because I don't have a landline at home.
Last month I moved to another part of the town. While I was abroad for a conference the technician came. My wife was at home. The poor technician (another one) tried to hook my WCG200 but this time the comcast could not even recognize it. So he had to hook up a stupid model of their cable modems. Voila! It works perfectly fine.
I read in the forum page of Linksys that one guy wrote that downgrading the firmware to 1.1.2.9.4-1104 solved his problem. You don't have to do that. Just tell Internet Repair Supervisor to rollback your firmware. This should solve the problem but for me I do not have patience for that. I'll proabably buy a regular wireless router (yes again Linksys). To simply put, Cisco, although a great company, failed to design a robust wireless router/modem.
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AVOID THIS PRODUCT!, July 4, 2007
By D. Smoak (S.C.)
I'v actually had this a little over a year. Last week it just quit.
If mine was the only one that died, I probably wouldn't have a problem.
My son had the same one and his also quit. I have another son that works
at Radio Shack and they had a customer bring one back because his quit.
This seems to be a trend with these devices. I can't speak for anyone else,
but if I spend that kind of money on something, I expect it to last more
that a year and a half.
Sorry guys.. Three strikes and you're out.
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Linksys admitted this product is defective!, July 3, 2007
By A. Osborn (Seattle, WA)
This product works fine when it doesn't die. A couple of times a day it loses connection and needs to be reset. After talking to multiple Linksys customer service reps, they finally admitted that this is a common problem that cannot be fixed unless your ISP has the latest firmware. STAY AWAY
Andy: you really think it's defective even though the last one did the same thing?
Maria U. (24652): Yes, it is actually a known issue with the device. Our product engineers are currently working on it and we are consistently looking for a specific fix for it.
Andy: ok well if its a known issue then i'm just going to buy a non linksys one
Maria U. (24652): I do apologize Andy. I do understand your point.
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Happiness is wireless, June 27, 2007
By Margaret Moir (Escondido, CA United States)
The Linksys Wireless-G Cable Gateway lets me use my laptop anywhere in the house. Glory Be.
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Drops connection frequently, get separate modem & router, May 19, 2007
By HH (Fort Worth, TX)
Linksys has always done well by me but this product dropped a signal after/during anything from basic secure connections to large downloads to small uploads. On its own, it's a real pain to go back and turn it on and off - but may have survived it if the uploads and connections that caused it to crash weren't a major part of our business day. No firmware update to fix it and does not appear to be hope of one anytime soon. It also won't connect a Wii online without first getting it online through other means (friend's house, etc). Everything else about it seems to be just fine, the setup is easy, security is good, it just won't keep a connection live for anything.
From reviews and articles I've read, it looks like this happens with all 'combo units' across the board and, while it's a cool idea to get a modem and router all in one compact package, the problems it causes aren't worth the space, which if you get a compact modem and/or router isn't a big deal anyway.
I replaced this with a Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router and a Motorola Surfboard SB5101 Cable Modem(which in total cost around the same as I paid for this) after less than a month of use and, weeks later have not lost a connection yet and am getting the same level of security with the same ease of setup. Linksys makes good products - this is one, however, to stick away from.
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Waste of Time, May 10, 2007
By Salma (California)
My cable company provided me with a basic non name-brand router that you cannot buy in the store. Works ok but no extra features. Never had any problems. The Best Buy Rep recemmended the WCG200 V2. I ran home and hooked it up and tested the speed. Slightly faster than what I had before and then in less than an hour it crashed. Lost all connectivity. I turned off my computer and the router and then turned everything back on again. Modem worked fine for about 20 more minutes then crashed again. Repeated the steps and it crashed again after 10 minutes. By the way I was doing P2P Torrent Downloading. I imagine for basic Internet activity this is a good product but not for high speed downloading. By the way I am paying for the premium service Speed in in LA which is very fast. The problem is not the Service Provider but the WCG200. I wasted about 4 hours off my time with this piece of junk. Aferwards, I read the reviews to see what other people had to say. I am returning this for the Motorola SURFboard Wireless Cable Modem Gateway (SBG900). I cannot beleive that after being out in the market for 3 years CISCO still has not fixed the problems. Over all the SBG900 is a piece of junk.
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Terrible reliability, May 7, 2007
By Sully (Tempe, AZ United States)
This router/modem is complete garbage.
The router frequently reboots itself spontaneously, causing you to intermittenly lose network connectivity.
This is a replacement for the last WCG200, which I returned because it did the same thing. This last one, however, would also lock up entirely, requiring you to power cycle it.
The spontaneous reboot issue seems to be load based, opening multiple pages or graphics intensive pages seems to trigger it. (I work in an enterprise datacenter, and can't IMAGINE that a device has trouble handling such small loads.) I have contacted Linksys technical support about it a couple of times, and they were remarkably unhelpful, suggesting that I may have recieved not one, but two bad routers, and should exchange them at the store I purchased them from.
I do NOT reccomend this product.
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Poor product, poor service., May 6, 2007
By Maximum Spider (TX)
I had a Linksys WCG200 v.2. I was experiencing loss of connection when I started downloading torrents, from P2P applications, even updates from Symantec or Microsoft. I contacted my ISP (Suddenlink) who had no firmware updates and Linksys who had no other suggestion rather than to replace my router with the same model. I had thought of Linksys products to be sub par prior to their alliance with Cisco, but it seems like they still are sub par for the course. I then started reading reviews and Linksys forums to see if anyone had a solution for this, and to my surprise none was found. The reviews I had read prior to ordering this device was only half of what everyone thought of it. I finally got tired of my WCG200 and started reading reviews on other cable gateways and found that the Motorola Surfboard SBG900 is receivng excellent reviews. It not only has the capability to configure more advanced settings than the WCG200 but it is keeping my connection steady, regardless of what I'm downloading. I immediately noticed an improvement in connection stability and I've even got a built in firewall! The only downside to it is that it only has one ethernet port, which is fine as long as my wireless is moving at the fast speeds that it should be. As soon as I noticed the improvement in stability, I packed the Linksys back in its box and took it back. My advice to anyone experiencing this issue: if your ISP does not provide firmware updates for this device, purchase another cable gateway.
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Oh darn, I bought a wcg200 Cisco thing also, May 5, 2007
By pearlwash (NJ)
Had a been flooded lost my motorola cable modem. Purchased the wcg200 without checking first and now I am stuck. BUYER BEWARE
CISCO IS NOT THE COMPANY THEY USED TO BE.
I was a ccna, ccnp and I tell you what. I never would have thought Cisco would care less of there product. This complaint is 76 pages long going back well into early 2006.
BUYER BEWARE CISCO IS NOT A GOOD PRODUCT
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Wireless extremely slow (unusable), drops frequently, April 29, 2007
By J. Duncan (TN)
Using the wired ethernet connection it's very fast, ping times are 1 ms. But the point of buying a wireless unit is to not have to use cables.
Using it wireless, the ping times average in the range of 150-200 ms, with highs in the 300's, even sitting 5 feet from the unit. Pages are extremly slow to load or won't load at all.
The wireless connection drops frequently when there is more than one pc on the network.
If you enter an administrator password more than 8 characters, the unit hangs and you have to do a hard reset, losing all your settings. (undocumented "feature")
Previous wireless units I've used on my old DSL setup were fine. (Linksys wrt54g, Diamond dsl642wlg, even an old NetWave Base G4). This latest piece of hardware I bought (Linksys wcg200) to make the conversion from dsl to cable isn't usable in a wireless setting.
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Wonderful !!!, April 16, 2007
By Ryan R. Tucker (Tn)
I bought this cable gateway to replace the NetGear cable modem supplied by my internet provider. The NetGear would not allow access to everything on the web, and after a week of talking with NetGear and my IP, I decided to try the LinkSys gateway. I received this cable gateway yesterday, spent less than 10 minutes installing and setting it up. And now I have all the protection offered by the NetGear, but I am able to access everything on the internet. I would highly recommend this produc to anyone looking for a cable gateway/router combo.
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