| Linksys WRT600N Linksys Ultra RangePlus Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link |
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Model: WRT600N
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 88
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n (draft), IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Internet-sharing Router and 4-port Gigabit Switch, with a built-in, dual-band, speed and range enhanced Wireless Access Point
Two simultaneous, separate, radio bands double your available bandwidth
MIMO technology uses multiple radios per band to create robust signals for maximum range and speed, with reduced dead spots
Connect a hard drive or flash-based USB storage device to allow access to your music, video, or data files from within your network, or through the Internet
Advanced wireless security and SPI firewall for protection from Internet attacks |
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| Description: |
| The Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router is really four devices in one. There's the dual-band Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect to the network without wires. There's also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100/1000 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together at up to gigabit speeds. The Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. There is also a Storage Link that lets you easily add gigabytes of storage space onto your network using readily available USB 2.0 hard drives or plug in a USB flash disk for a convenient way to access your portable data files. The built-in Media Server streams music, video, and photos from the attached storage device to any UPnP compatible media adapter. The Access Point built into the Router uses a dual-band version of the very latest wireless networking technology, Wireless-N (draft 802.11n). By overlaying the signals of multiple radios for each band, Wireless-N's Multiple In, Multiple Out (MIMO) technology multiplies the effective data rate. Unlike ordinary wireless networking technologies that are confused by signal reflections, MIMO actually uses these reflections to increase its range and reduce Dead Spots in the wireless coverage area. To help protect your data and privacy, the Router can encode all wireless transmissions with industrial-strength 256-bit encryption. Security features - WEP - WPA - WPA2 Security key bits - Up to 256-bit encryption System Requirements - Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox 1.0, CD-ROM drive, Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000, XP and Vista, and Network Adapter Dimensions - 7.48 x 5.71 x 7.01 (190x145x178mm) Weight - 1.51 pounds (683 grams) |
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| User Reviews (88 total): |
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works great and looks great, August 17, 2008
By user (Fillmore, CA)
I could not wait to install the Linksys WRT600n. Fortunately, I have a friend in my company IT department who helped me install this unit and my home network. This made things very easy. Once the unit was installed I noticed immediately that internet speeds increased tremedously, not only over my wifi network but on the hard wired network as well. I was using an older g wifi router from D-Link. The dual band work as described and the network security was very easy to set up. My laptop and other wifi applications noticed the network quickly and was very easy to setup.
The only draw back was that the software that came with the Linksys kept telling me that it did not recognize the unit and asked that it be turned on. The thing is that it was turned on and working. Other than that I am enjoying gaming online, and have found that I can be a good distance from the unit and still am receiving signal. I would highly recommend.
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Nice spec. Lousy implementation., August 10, 2008
By user
I just can't recommend this router to anyone at the moment, esp. with some fundamental problems below:
1. DHCP - If you have a dedicated DHCP server somewhere on the network, then forget about this router. The darn thing would still assign IPs even if you disable the DHCP function. It'd also send DHCPNACK with DHCP diabled.
2. DHCP again - If you assign a DHCP range and assign them as static entries. It'd still assign those IPs to other machines.
3. DDNS - Obviously the router doesn't keep track of the WAN IP changes and if you save the configuration a few times, it'd try to update the IP on the dynamic DNS server multiple times, causing the custom domain to be banned.
4. Tech support - Not exactly the router's problem but if you have a support person who'd recommend connecting a cable modem to the LAN port to get around the DHCP problem, you're just not going to trust their tech support anymore.
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A great router now that it's (kind of) affordable, August 9, 2008
By user (layton, ut USA)
I have been using this router for about a week. Setup was easy enough, even though I skipped the CD and just dove into the settings manually. The manual gives enough of a description of the settings to make your way around. One thing to note when changing router settings. Save your settings on each tab before you go to the next one. Otherwise, you lose your work. You can't just change all the settings and do one save action.
I teamed this router with the linksys WUSB600N USB adapter using only the N band. Speed has been very good with throughput on my DSL connection benchmarking the same whether wireless or wired. Setup of the USB adapter was very easy too.
The only hick-up I've had was I recently upgraded my DSL speed. That scrambled the router's eggs. I suddenly lost any ability to connect to the net via the router (wirelessly or wired) even though all the settings were correct. Resetting the router and re-changing all the settings again fixed the problem.
The button on the top of the router is still useless until Linksys enables it via a firmware update. It's supposed to make connecting a wireless adapter to the router a one button affair.
Overall, I've been pleased and these two devices were easy to set up and work well together.
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Easy setup - Very dissapointing Wireless performance, August 4, 2008
By user (Mercer island, WA USA)
I purchased this unit because I gave my daughter the D-link DIR 655 unit I had (which worked extremely well). Since I needed a new unit I decided to give the WRT600N a try. Everything started very well. The installation was easy and intuitive. Networking is set and you're up and running in a few minutes, or so you thought...
My wife's PC is connected to the router via the 1GB Ethernet and naturally this connection is very fast. I have a ReadyNAS network storage device that is also connected to the router via a 1GB Ethernet connection. This is our central storage where we keep our files (movies, music, documents, e-mail, etc.). This connection is also very fast. Working on my wife's PC is fast and easy (I have a 7Mb ADSL internet connection from Qwest).
The wireless network is another story altogether. My wireless network has many devices connected to it - PS3, Squeezebox, my PC, my laptop and my wife's laptop. I set it up with WAP2 security. There are no walls to speak of between those devices as we have a large open space between our leaving room and office. My PC is 10 feet away from the router, the PS3 and Sqeezebox are 20f away... As it turns out, the WRT600N router is horrible at supporting streaming media over it's wireless network, period. The performance is choppy, inconsistent and gets worse as time goes by, so much so, that I have to reboot the router periodically. It is worse then the original linksys router I had before I switched to D-link. It is really bad. Absolutely no comparison with the DIR 655. So guess what I am doing? My experiment is over and I am getting another D-link DIR 655 device. The DIR 655 performs significantly better (as rated by all professional reviews I read on the net) and does not have any of the side-effects I described above.
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good while it lasted, August 2, 2008
By user
Worked fine for a week, was unstable for another week, and then failed completely.
I set it up while wired and had no problems either wired or wireless until the second week.
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Difficult to set up and inconsistent with other routers made by Linksys, August 1, 2008
By user (New York, New York)
First thing I have to say is that the network storage feature does not work at all. The first time you set it up it works and after that it's anybody's guess. I just forgot it is there and use it as I would any other wireless router.
I have experience as a network administrator and had a hard time making it work the way I wanted to, and that is with the understanding of what every little switch featured on this thing does. I cannot imagine someone less knowledgeable dealing with these inconsistencies!
The Setup wizard works well only when you follow every step literally. Even after using the setup wizard you should power cycle your modem/DSL and router to be able to see the internet.
You will definitely need dual band wireless n adapters to get the best and speediest connection. Some of the default settings won't let you get the best connection if you have Linksys adapters, for example the "frame burst" setting on each band.
Once everything is working right it is a great router and a very safe one, albeit some disconnects that happen once in a while, which apparently happen in all wireless connections. Linksys should not be faulted for that.
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wrt600n features, July 31, 2008
By user (NY)
Router works great for inhome access, better than previous A/B/G for range and speed. However the access restrictions features are buggy.. Tech support was helpful by admitted that there is no solution to my problem , which when any access restrictions are set, all VPN network access is also blocked ( this is home access to corporate networks). I'm still waiting for their websire or firmware update for a correction , last update was March 2008... If all features worked as advertised this would be great ...
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Horrible purchase, July 30, 2008
By user (Copenhagen, Denmark)
I bought this as a replacement for the trusty old WRT64G router, but have been immensely disappointed by it.
The web interface looks like it did 5 years ago - dated, clunky and no ajax. Whenever you save anything you need to wait 15-60 seconds. Context help is a joke and the setup assistant is best avoided.
Latest firmware is from february and yet there are still numerous obvious bugs. DHCP reservations don't work - client computers aren't assigned the updated addresses. UPnP support seems scetchy (at least the PS3 doesn't detect it). Some settings seem only to take effect if you cut the power and reboot the router.
From what I hear, the new WRN610N is much the same just in a neater looking box.
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Best of both worlds, July 26, 2008
By user (Orlando, FL)
This router allow me to run the wireless N and the older G protocols at the same time. The setup was pretty easy, although the setup CD did not run properly. One call to the Linksys help line got things working quickly. Now I can use the faster, more secure N system with my new laptop but still allow my older equipment to connect with the older protocol. No problems with any of the equipment, easy setup. Good value.
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Garbage Time. Go for 610n or D-Link If you need it, July 25, 2008
By user (NY)
I've gone through two of them. The first one had the dreaded "setup timeout" problem which numerous other people have reported on the Linksys forums where neither IE or FF will allow you to login and go through the setup without significant timeouts. Next one I had wouldn't connect via the wireless, even with an hour and change worth of time with Linksys. They finally offered to ship me one directly from their warehouse. Told them forget it. This has now been replaced with the 610N model (after just a few months) which has more RAM. If you're worried about the lack of antennas on the 610N don't be - you weren't getting much from the NONREPLACEABLE antennas on the 600N. What junk and "style over substance" that Linksys is going with now. I even looked at D-Link but their dual N gigabit router is going for a lot more money for now, if you can find it. But it DOES have 3 replaceable antennas. If you need/want dual radios, the 610N is the cheapest route to go at present. But don't buy this dud. It's got a limited lifespan for support too.
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Need tech support to make it work properly, July 24, 2008
By user
It is a great router, but initially is hard to get it set up. Need tech support, and it takes a while to get through. Once you get the help you need, it works smoothly. The range for the wireless portion does not reach the performance they talk about.
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Great Replacement, July 22, 2008
By user (Texarkana, TX)
I was looking for a replacement router that would not limit my speed to the slowest machine. This was it. I have it configure so the slower machines are on the 2.5 Ghz band and my faster machines are on the 5 Ghz band at the same time. It did take an hour to set up. I would recommend this router to anyone with multiple demands.
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Overall a Good Router, July 15, 2008
By user (Macon, GA)
Overall I have to say that this router, being the first wireless router I've bought, does exceptionally well. While the price is a bit much as of this writing, you get what you pay for, in this case a wireless router that lets 802.11g cards enjoy the most they can while the 802.11n cards can perform to their uttermost potential. Using the setup from the Linksys CD made setting up the router painless and a breeze, but at the end of the setup, it told me that it had not recognized or found any internet connection. This was quickly resolved when I went to Linksys' support site, which gave clear and concise instructions as to what to do to resolve the issue, so if you do come up to problems using this router, don't hesitate to go to Linksys's website first to see if the problem to your issue is there (it was for me). After this issue was resolved, I was able to set up the network further through a web browser. Granted, the standard user may not know what all to configure here, but I am sure that a Google search or a look at Linksys's website would give them clear directions as to what to do. I am overall satisfied with the product and completely recommend it to those who have some computers with 802.11n cards and some with 802.11g cards. I look forward to buy another Linksys wireless router in the near future.
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Great Wireless Connectivty, Limited Storage Link Capability, July 14, 2008
By user (Beach City, Tx United States)
I've had this router for several days, and generally am pleased with the wireless connectivity, using Wireless-N to my laptop (HP Pavilion with built-in Wireless-N card) Speeds have varied from 108 Mbps to 270 Mbps, sitting about 30 feet away from the router in another room. However, I am VERY disappointed in the Storage Link implementation, thinking that this would provide a Network Attached Storage solution without having to buy one of the expensive NAS boxes. If you are thinking like me about NAS, this is NOT the solution!!! Most of the reviews on this site don't go into much detail on the Storage Link feature, so I just bought this thing figuring I could make it work the way I wanted. Big mistake! Here are the details:
1. Router firmware version 1.0.36 Build 4 (one release up from what is currently on Linksys' web site.
2. Connected Western Digital My Book 750GB USB 2.0 external drive, first formatted via computer to NTFS, and then plugged in to the router's USB port.
3. Got everything set up properly including shared folders on external drive, user access, permissions, etc, and mapped network drives on laptop (Vista Home Premium) and desktop (XP Home) computers, so far so good.
4. Attempted (twice) a drive image backup of laptop using StorageCraft ShadowProtect Desktop 3.2 (latest release). Backup completed (44GB), and I could see the file on the external network drive, but file was corrupt and failed verification.
5. After much research, decided to re-format the external network drive using the router's formatting capability. Discovered that router will only format using FAT32, but proceeded anyhow, and again successfully set up shared folders, user access, permissions, etc.
6. Since FAT32 will not address files larger than 4 GB, decided to abandon a drive image backup, so tried a files-and-folders backup from the laptop using Genie Backup Manager Home 8.0. This was successful as long as I didn't try to back up so many files and folders that the resulting file was larger than 4GB.
7. Also copied individual files and folders over to external drive with no problem, but had to exclude a video file that was slightly larger than 4 GB.
8. Re-formatted the external network drive to NTFS again using the computer, and tried another files-and-folders backup from the laptop using Genie, this time purposely selecting enough files to push the backup file size over 4 GB. This should have worked since the drive was formatted to NTFS, but the backup failed twice.
Conclusion: Storage Link implementation only allows basic capability to move files and folders less than 4 GB in size due to it's FAT32 format limitation, and is totally unsuitable for using automated backup software to backup large numbers of files or do drive imaging to the network drive. So if all you want to do is move files manually to the network drive, and don't have any huge files larger than 4 GB, and don't care about automated backups, then Storage Link seems to work OK. However, IMHO, this is WAY too limiting, and does not even come close to a NAS solution. I'm returning my router today, because it is hard to tell when a firmware upgrade might be released that would remove these serious limitations. There are cheaper Wireless-N routers out there without this Storage Link (non)capability.
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Excellent Speed/Options, could use better set up and NAS, July 10, 2008
By user (MD USA)
I purchased the WRT600N based on a review in a popular PC magazine comparison. I have been using the router for about a month now and use the wired connections (PC and Roku M1001 digital audio receiver), wireless connections (laptop), and USB port (hard drive attached).
Pros: Excellent Speed (wired and wireless), ability to attach a USB drive, quick set up for basic functions
Cons: Quirky set up for WPA2 security and USB drive
Out of the box it was easy to set up the router for a wired and wireless network (WPA security) using the included software. I was replacing a Netgear wired router and the software helped me through that with no problem. The software also walks you through connecting wirelessly to the network through an executable file you download from the Linksys site (very helpful if you are not familiar with networks). The software included shows a status of your network, internet connection and other PCs, laptops, devices attached to the network.
However, to take full advantage of the router requires a more advanced understanding of networks and hence the reason for dropping the rating from 5 to 4 stars. Using the included Linksys software you cannot enable WPA2 security on the wireless network. Also, while you might think of the attached USB drive as a "device" the Linksys software does not recognize it as a device on the network like one might expect.
However, not to fail, by using the router's web interface it is not difficult to enable WPA2 security, see that the USB drive is connected, disable broadcast of your address, and enable only certain MAC/IP addresses to connect to the router thus increasing the wireless security to about as high a level as you can. The web interface is a little quirky in its usability though.
The only real issue I had with the router is connecting the USB drive. I had to use web chat to contact Linksys support twice. The first time I tried to connect the USB drive I could not see it on the network. Turns out the light on the router identifying a USB drive is connected was not lit. Unfortunately support had me reset the router but it didn't fix the problem. I found on the Internet that by attaching the USB drive and turning it on before powering up the router will take care of the issue and after doing that the USB light on the router was lit. Back to the PC and I still could not see the USB drive using the Linksys software so back to the support web chat. The person walked me to the web interface which showed that the USB drive was recognized by the router. Not sure why the included software would not show it but oh well, it is working.
Overall, I am very pleased with the purchase and would recommend this router to others. My experience level is advanced with respect to PCs and intermediate with respect to networks.
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Excellent Hardware Addition, July 7, 2008
By user
The Good: The combination of 4 wired port with the wireless capability was a major selling point. It filled the need in my office very well. Having the dual band wireless capability is a very nice feature. Now my old and my new equipment can all network together and backup to, or store common files on a new high-speed network drive. The gigbit backup speed is much improved over the older USB external drives.
The Network Wizard software is very helpful not only in setting up this router, but also with setting up or monitoring other computers, printers,etc on the network.
The suprisingly not so good: The patch cable provided was Cat 5e but was not certified for gigabit transmissions. I could only get that desired speed by replacing the included cable. Seems kind of foolish to get a gigabit router & have its speed limited by the patch cable!
One confusing (to me) issue is that the 10/100 transmission speed is indicated by green lights and the gigabit transmission speed is indicated by yellow/orange light -- that yellow/orange color on most other network equipment signals a problem. I had to switch several cables trying to solve the "problem" before I finally read that part of the manual.
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The good, The bad & The ugly, July 7, 2008
By user
I've been using this router for a good 3 months now. I am an IT professional, operating a large home network with lots of devices. Bought this router in the hopes of a more reliable router and network. It's Broadcom-based with 300Mhz CPU (fast for a router) and 32MB of memory (plenty for a router).
THE GOOD: excellent and reliable router with lots of memory and features - just make sure you upgrade the firmware. It has TWO radios, one 2.4Ghz, one 5Ghz, each configurable separately to do whatever you want. Very fast CPU allows for fast enough routing to send FAXES through my VoIP line! Lots of memory - you can use it for things like VPN, BitTorrent and VoIP, including all at the same time! Third-party firmware also available (DD-WRT) and working quite well, maybe even better than Linksys' own (no Wide-Channel support on 5Ghz band with DD-WRT).
THE BAD: Until recently this router had a very buggy firmware, which made this it next to useless. Make sure you update to the latest firmware - go to the US Linksys website regardless of where you are located and get it (only the US one has the latest firmware for some reason!?!?). The new firmware (build from March 2008) fixes most of these problems. The G-connectivity is shaky: I am still very unhappy with it. Connection becomes unreliable on my laptop (Apple PowerBook G4 12") when I move more than 4-5 meters away from the router. That's "unrerliable" for my use, most people might find it acceptable. Interestingly, other computers do not seem to suffer from this too much. The problem does not seem to improve by changing firmwares, it appears to be a hardware compatibility issue with certain older adapters. I ended up using my OLD router as a G-access point to solve the problem. The StorageLink is useless for my purposes - too slow, you can't beat a computer acting as a file server. You would think the USB port would also accept a printer, but sorry - no print server included. No support for IPv6 - none whatsoever. I find this surprising for a high-end router.
THE UGLY: Linksys' technical support is still being their useless selves. You can just pretend they don't exist. If you have a problem, search forums on the matter. DD-WRT's forum is very very valuable in this area.
CONCLUSION: What do you want from this router? A reliable router? Yes, you get that. Feature-rich? Yes, that too. I am sending FAXES through my VoIP line, very impressive! So far I haven't seen it crash on me, it does what it was meant to, as long as you upgrade to the very latest firmware - do it immediately! Very disappointing G connectivity from my computer to my router. StorageLink is useless, even if 300Mhz were enough for that, would you want to divert valuable resources from routing? I didn't think so.
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Great once you get it to work., July 6, 2008
By user (Lowell, MA USA)
This device comes with a disk that is supposed to help you go through the setup. It refused to believe that the router was properly connected. I did get a very nice person at Linksys that got me through the basic set up. From there it all worked very well.
The speed of the N band is incredible. I have a laptop setup for N in the 5 gig band. I've run some of the standard bandwidth tests (CNet most of the time). The laptop tests at about 90% of the speed the desktop gets. Sometimes better than 95%. They are on different floors.
I was able to get the USB port to work, I've seen clearer instructions but I muddled through.
I would have given it 5 stars if the supplied program had worked.
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G Band Killer!, July 1, 2008
By user (La Habra, CA United States)
I've been using Linksys (Now Cisco) products since the begining. My older G band was well beyound its life cycle. This router ROCKS, I get 6.0 MPS speed on my N band capable laptop, and am sustaining more connections. Haven't seen the range increase promissed, but it is more than adequate for my 1/3rd acre yard. I have recommended this router to my friends and co-workers
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Linksys Wrt600N is working Windows XP Pro, June 29, 2008
By user (Brattleboro, Vermont, USA)
Product came fast. Thank you!!! It did have a problem with connecting to internet during CD installation. But i remember having similar problem with others. I simply continued and then exited program. I shut everything down and repluged it all in. Worked fine. Should be easier way to help customers to just ignore a connection failure and finish installing the router.
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