| Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster |
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Model: WRT54GS
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 556
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Warranty - 3 years
Standards - IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11b
Ports - One 10/100 RJ-45 Port, Four 10/100 RJ-45 Switched Ports
Button - Power Port, Reset Button
Cabling Type - UTP CAT 5 |
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| Description: |
| LINKSYS WRT54GS -- The Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster is really three devices in one box. First, there's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect Wireless-G, Wireless-B, and other performance-enhanced SpeedBooster devices to the network. There's also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together. Finally, the Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. Easy configuration with web browser based configuration utility Linksys Parental Control Service (free trial included) keeps your family safe on the Internet, setting profiles for time-of-day and day-of-week access restrictions, and controlling which of 16 content categories each family member is allowed to see Also includes email & instant messaging filters |
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| User Reviews (556 total): |
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Horrible customer service! Beware, not compatible w/ Macs!!!, January 3, 2005
By Shirey Family (United States)
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.
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Easy Internet, January 1, 2005
By Graham (USA)
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.
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I'm composing this review from bed..., December 27, 2004
By C. Noble (Snohomish, WA)
...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.
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Excellent Product!, December 26, 2004
By N. Fisher (Dominican Republic)
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.
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Poor Customer Service, Great aftermarket products, December 22, 2004
By tech & wine guy
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
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so-so performance, December 15, 2004
By chosen 1 (CA USA)
i get disconnected at least 3 or 4 times a day using these linksys wireless routers. Do your research and buy something like netgear or dlink.
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!
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Great !!!, December 13, 2004
By Arturo Camacho (Caracas, Venezuela)
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.
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Technology is good but support and administration are awful., December 12, 2004
By -C (Nutley, NJ USA)
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
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MAC filtering doesn't work, December 8, 2004
By kenyee (Boston, MA United States)
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.
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I like this trouble-free router., December 5, 2004
By Rockie Bear (Gaithersburg, MD)
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.
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lan party, December 3, 2004
By Anthony Aviles (Kearny, nj)
i love it it works great had a lan party everyone had a wireless card and it instant acess great gameing speeds yay weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
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Easy setup, Fast, Flawless, November 23, 2004
By David Cardy (Lansdale, PA United States)
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.
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i only have to say, November 23, 2004
By alexgaldamez (Miami, Florida USA)
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!
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Extremely easy to setup, November 17, 2004
By forester (Iowa City, IA)
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.
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Working Great!, November 15, 2004
By sturgissteele (Sturgis, MI United States)
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.
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Chose it over Netgear and D-Link, November 5, 2004
By J. Kaumeyer (Mountain View, CA)
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.
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Disappointing experience, November 3, 2004
By Computer Geek (Northern Virginia, USA)
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.
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Effortless setup, October 26, 2004
By Eric N Tampa (Florida)
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.
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Excellent and Easy to Install, October 21, 2004
By Tirian (West Hills, CA)
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.
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Equipment works well - so do Parental Controls, October 20, 2004
By Mike (Redwood City, CA United States)
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.
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