| Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router |
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Model: WRT54G
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 1702
Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4, Windows NT 5, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows
Operating system: Windows XP Professional Edition
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
All-in-one Internet-sharing router, 4-port switch, and Wireless-G (802.11g) access point
Wireless data rates up to 54 Mbps--5 times faster than 802.11b
Shares a single Internet connection and other resources with Ethernet wired and Wireless-G clients
Interoperates with 802.11b clients at 11 Mbps
Advanced wireless security with 128-bit WEP encryption, MAC, or IP address filtering |
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| Description: |
| LINKSYS WRT54G - Wireless-G is the emerging 54 Mbps wireless networking standard that's almost five times faster than the widely deployed Wireless-B ( 802.11b ) products found in homes, businesses and public wireless hotspots around the country. The best part is, since they share the same 2.4GHz radio band, Wireless-G devices talk to existing 11 Mbps Wireless-B equipment. Operates as a DHCP Server NAT technology to protect against Internet intruders Supports VPN pass-through Easy configuration with web browser based configuration utility |
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| User Reviews (1702 total): |
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Works like a dream!, January 16, 2006
By Nutmeg (Connecticut)
When I did research on the G router, I was concerned with it interferring with my cordless phone and microwave (both run at 2.4mhz). However, the router hasn't been "bumped" off when using either item. It was literally plug in and play and I couldn't be happier!
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Buy WRT54GL instead, January 15, 2006
By mikeg (Washington, USA)
I just wanted to add some information about this product that should be known by anyone considering purchasing this.
First of all, it is important to know that Linksys has changed the WRT54G from earlier versions of the same model. The latest version of this product model has less RAM and runs a different firmware (essentially an operating system) than previous versions of the same product. That's right; Linksys completely changed the product, but continued to use the same product model. Is that even legal? It shouldn't be in my opinion. :(
This newest version of the product (version 5 or "v5") is what I have, and it's been nothing but trouble. I bought it after reading dozens of glowing reviews... which turned out to be for the older versions of the same product model.
Linksys has now created a new product model which is identical to the older WRT54G versions (v4 and newer) which received all the 5 star reviews. This is now called the WRT54GL. It is identical to the WRT54G v4 and newer. Again, this should not be legal. They had a highly regarded product, then took that product model and applied it to an inferior product calling it the same, and then took the old product and gave it a new product model, and started charging more for it. I'm so disappointed in Linksys. Linksys is not the premium manufacture which I once thought they were.
In a nutshell, all the 5 star reviews you see here, are for the WRT54GL product model. Buy that instead. All the 1 star reviews, are for this product. Take a look at the older reviews for more evidence of this.
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Simple to install; works great., January 11, 2006
By Edwin Johnson (West Chester, PA)
I found this router very easy to install and can't understand all the negative reviews. The only requirement for easy installation is the ability to read - maybe this was what was lacking with the disgruntled reviewers!
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From someone who's basically "computer dumb"..., January 11, 2006
By Jessica Nicole (Peoria, AZ)
I was slightly apprehensive when I bought this wireless router. I'm not very confident in my ability to configure ANYTHING computer-related, as in the past I usually depended on my more technically-savvy friends to fix computer problems for me. But, since I now have two roommates who both use laptop computers, and with our house only having Internet access in one room, I figured it was time to finally bite the bullet and see if I could set up a wireless connection for us. Initially, my expectations were low and I pretty much anticipated the worst: that the router flat-out wouldn't work and we'd end up stuck on the phone with condescending technicians trying to baby-step us through the process.
Amazingly, it actually worked smoothly. The setup wizard included on the CD-ROM was simple, direct and incredibly easy to follow, and the only glitch we experienced was quickly remedied by re-booting our modem. My desktop computer (connected via an ethernet cord in the 'main room') is running the Internet perfectly, and both of my roommates' laptops (which were both equipped with pre-installed wireless cards) are now magically running high-speed wireless internet. Setup was a total breeze.
In summary, if a "computer dummy" like myself could hook this up and get it running, anyone could. Buy with confidence.
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Does not work well with Mac OS X, January 11, 2006
By Alan Gardner (Syracuse, UT)
I have been a loyal Linksys customer for several years and so when I wanted to upgrade to a 802.11g router, I didn't even consider other products and simply bought this Linksys Wireless-G router.
From day one I had issues with the router not keeping a signal up for more than 15 minutes. I have two Apple PowerBooks (one with an Airport extreme 802.11g and the other an older airport 802.11b card). After several calls to Linksys (they do have friendly tech support) over several days, we both agreed that the router needed to be returned. I exchanged the router for another hoping that it was just a bad router but the second router had the same issues.
I finally purchased another router from another vendor and had my network back up in minutes without any signals dropping.
If you have macs in your environment with both 802.11b and 802.11g wireless cards - You'll probably have better luck with another vendor.
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Very Impressed - No Issues Here!, January 10, 2006
By S. Donnelly
Hello,
Just wanted to say that I purchased the WRT54G v.5 device and installed it without any issues.
Admittedly, due to the poor reviews, I was somewhat leery about purchasing the v.5. In the end, I just couldn't justify investing the time to hunt down a v.4, especially since I had absolutely no need to install or run 3rd party firmware on the router. Solid wireless 54MB routing capability, including the built-in QOS feature for my Vonage hookup (Linksys PAP2) was all I really needed. That being said, I simply purchased the version 5 unit. Besides, if didn't work I could return it for a full refund.
I removed my old Microsoft MN-500 router, and installed the new Linksys. I followed the instructions on the setup CD, and configured the wireless options manually. I then updated the firmware to rev.1.00.4 (my router shipped with rev.1.00.1) and then rebooted the router - everything worked without issue.
The router is installed in my basement. I was receiving an excellent 54MB signal two floors up and through a couple walls. The signal remained strong throughout the house - no dead spots. The signal strength of the Linksys router is at least twice as strong as the MN-500.
I setup QOS for the Vonage/Linksys PAP2 device using the PAP2's MAC address. Not only does call quality remain constant while downloading, but the voice quality of the call itself has improved (verified by a few calls to family members who use a mix of corded and cordless landline phones).
All in all I'm very satisfied with the Linksys WRT54G v.5 router. If you're a Linux / 3rd party firmware aficionado, look for the version 4 device. For the regular guy who just wants a solid router with an awesome wireless range that will perform everyday computing tasks in a wireless VOIP environment, this router fits the bill perfectly (and then some).
Thanks for your time.
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Excrement Exemplar, January 9, 2006
By hardware nerd (Boston MA)
This is by far the worst example of "American" engineering I have ever seen. Where has all the quality gone? Does anyone believe in quality anymore? Why bother buying from USA based companies when they produce utter crud.
Specific complaints:
1. No switch; sparks fly out the backside of this piece of junk each time I plug the cord in. You'd think it was the 4th of July.
2. Have to reboot it twice per day.
3. It frequently looses all the configuration information, so you have to reenter all the settings.
I got so sick of this unit, I put my fist through it, then chucked it out the damn window. Anyone want some spare parts? Come dig it out of the snow!
Bob
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5 Stars only for Version 4.0, January 9, 2006
By -Tvetti (Somewhere in CT)
After reading all the bad reviews about Version 5.0, decided to not buy one and I started looking for version 4.0 in all the stores.
Thanks to Mr. Eric Yu, New haven for prompting the availability of Version 4.0 at Compusa. The review was dated Nov, so with little hope, went to Compusa, Orange, CT on Jan 7, and seached the entire store to find 3 pieces of Version 4.0 and grabbed one.
The setup was breezy and my LAN was up and running in about 10 mins.
Beware, Compusa also carries the doomed Version 5.0, So be careful to look for the S/N CDFA. There are still two more left. Also Compusa has put a little sticker on the Box with date 08/19/05 on the box with s/n CDFA.
CDFB (version 5.0) boxes have sticker wit dates from Nov 05. Stay away from this.
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AVOID!, January 9, 2006
By Vincent (Atlanta, GA USA)
Latest "V5" versions of this product are junk, avoid at all costs!
If you can still find v1-v4 versions of this product buy them. Or get the superior WRT54GL product instead, which also works very well.
Linksys had a terrific product with the WRT54G, running a stable Linux OS, and a rabid fan-base producing alternate versions of the firmware with custome features.
Then Linksys decides to flush all that so it can produce a piece of hardware that is slightly cheaper by cutting flash and RAM space in half. Not enough space for Linux, so they switch to another OS. This VxWorks OS so far has been very poor, lockups, intolerant of large file transfers, etc.
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Technical Support very disappointing, January 8, 2006
By LG (Asheville, NC)
Have tried Linksys chat help but the tech kept asking me "are you there?" after I described the problem, and then she ended the session without offering even a suggestion! So,I waited over two hours on hold for phone support, then described to the tech the the problem below. He put me on hold while he was going to look for answers, but after another half-hour didn't come back, then the phone was disconnected. I'll send the below description by email, too, but have little hope based on the experience with Linksys so far.
Have had a WRT54GS for over a year but it started dropping and restoring internet connections, so thought I'd update the firmware. Should have left it alone! It stalled and a flag came up "firmware failed" halfway through--probably because of it's dropping the connection during file upload. Tried to restart it, but now my PC won't even detect the router, despite trying to reinstall it with the CD and online NetSet assistant, plus turning it off and on and resetting it with absolutely no success.
From the trouble many others also have reported here had with Linksys routers, I'm now going to look for another brand instead.
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Does well in my house..., January 7, 2006
By D. King (Mass.)
I have had no problems with this router. They've made it a lot more newbie friendly with the one-touch connect, but to be honest, I never even used that feature, so I can't comment on it or its effectiveness. I just know that with my two computer home network, this router works without a hitch.
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Installation software crashed repeatedly, January 6, 2006
By Kristin Brown (Leesburg, VA United States)
I bought this in order to upgrade from an old 802.11b router to g technology, and I spent several hours trying to get it to work. The installation software CD crashed repeatedly. Thinking the CD was faulty, I went to the Linksys website, hoping to simply download the setup program, but it's not available. I then tried to set up the router through Linksys's browser interface, but as the only instructions available tell you to use the installation CD, I had little luck - I did manage to connect briefly, but the connection kept dropping, and with no idea of how to resolve THAT issue, I gave up.
I'm returning this, as I'm not willing to waste more time trying to contact tech support, particularly in light of the comments of other reviewers who have done so. Very disappointing.
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Latest version does not work well, January 5, 2006
By tony79 (Boston, MA)
I have owned 2 pervious versions of WRT54G's that worked well. At least until one of them died on me recently. I purchased another WRT54G to replace it, and got the new version 5. Without the firmware update, its an awful router. It's very slow in loading webpages. The firmware update provided by Linksys fixes most of the problems, but I still see problems loading certain webpages. And there is still a perceptible slow down in loading most pages.
The new version 5 uses half the memory and a cheaper chip. It's not worth your time waiting for better firmware. As others have mentioned, this version does not allow you to load custom third party firmware.
Save yourself the hassle and buy a different router.
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It's nice but..., January 5, 2006
By N. Colby (Green Lake, WI United States)
With third party firmware, it can do lots of stuff only a router that costs much more can do. However the hardware is cheap and will crap out on you fairly quickly. I can't recommend this product unless you can get them cheaply enough that throwing them away on a regular basis isn't an issue.
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This router version is FAULTY, January 5, 2006
By D. M. SCOMA (Utica, IL USA)
This is my first wireless router purchase and it is a piece of crap. The easy CD install didn't work. I spoke with 3 tech support people, spending almost 2 hours on phone plugging and unplugging the thing - and going over the same instructions from them to have the final supervisor apologize that v. 5 of this router has been known to have many problems and be faulty! My options were to return and buy v.4 instead or download some software from the internet that 'might help fix it'. I see recently I"m not the only one with such problems. So be very careful and DON"T purchase this version. I don't know what to try next, as I'm not a techie geek - Very unhappy!
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If 0 stars was an option, this would recieve it, January 4, 2006
By Scott Baret (Pittsburgh, PA USA)
I wasted about an hour of my life with this device. I opened the box and found no manual. Being a veteran technician this wasn't a concern. Or so I thought. It didn't configure automatically like it was supposed to, the internal software was a huge joke, and there was no mention of the Mac on this at all.
Linksys needs to go back to the products that gave them a good reputation and they need to revert quickly. This isn't even worth fifty cents.
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Simple and effective, great customer service, January 3, 2006
By Not my real name (San Francisco, CA)
Absolutely no problems with this router. I downloaded and updated the firmware, and followed the easy setup instructions. A call to customer support (got to a live person within a couple of minutes) helped me tweak a couple of the settings to streamline performance.
I have successfully used the additional Ethernet ports to add peripherals to my wireless networks.
Speed is not a problem.
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The new revision 5 is unstable, January 3, 2006
By Martin Lutken (Denmark)
The router needs reboot every day, which really sucks.
As far I can understand from postings on the net, it seems that Linksys around november 2005 (starting with rev. 5) changed the operating system in the router from Linux to WxWorks. This was problably so they could save HW as the ram has gone from 16MB to 8MB and the flash has gone from 4 MB to 2 MB.
The older revisions should be very solid, but I can only recommend AGAINST buying this new version ... If you want Linksys: get an older one if you can...
Also I seriously doubt that you can get the Linux based SW to run since RAM and flash is only half of the previuos versions.
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Mediocre at best., January 1, 2006
By ~BB (Colorado, USA)
With average to adequate broadcast signal, you really should look somewhere else for a better router... I suggest Netgear's Rangemax Router, very user friendly.
This router has average signal, and HORRIBLE user interface. I found the router web configuration a bit vague, and thus complicated, even for a PC geek. Nothing is clearly explained, and there is much room for improvement.
Unless you feel like figuring out what exactly you're trying to configure, get a Netgear or something else.
For example, you'll probably want to change the default router login username and password, so any joe schmo passing by can change your router settings, and you'll also want to setup a network password, so any joe schmo can't log on to your network and thus access the net or your PC... well, wouldn't it be nice to know which password you're trying to set???? Exactly. I had to call customer support to figure it out, because it isn't clear in the router page.
Overall.... Average signal, poor user interface.
D+
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With New Firmware This Router Works Great, December 29, 2005
By jeffrey r (USA)
Despite reading all of the negative reviews of the Linksys Router v.5, I went ahead and recently purchased this after I saw that Linksys issued new firmware in mid-December and read that this solved the problems people were experiencing with v.5.
This is my first experience with a Router, and everything from the installation of the Router, to upgrading the firmware, to setting up a wireless network in my home, went very smoothly and has been working great. I have everything secured with WPA, and I have been getting incredibly fast internet speed on my wireless laptop.
While I didn't use the Router with the old firmware to be able to compare to the new firmware, I can safely say that with the new firmware installed, this is a great Router, and a real bargain.
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