Cisco-Linksys WRT160N Wireless-N Broadband Router
by Linksys
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Our Price: $129.00 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $14.95 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT160N Wireless-N Broadband Router
Customer Review: Great paperweight
Summary: 1 Stars
I ordered this router 2/2/09 and have spent about 10 hours nonconsecutively on the phone with either Linksys tech or customer support, and there the router sits working just as well unplugged as plugged in. The install disc wouldn't recognize my ethernet port though I was streaming audio at the time. Linksys wanted to charge me $10 to remotely access my computer to diagnose problems...also $10 to help set up the wireless card I bought from Linksys at the same time. The first month was mainly "please upgrade the firmware" and "let's change the frequency" and many other things which got the router working for between 0 and 45 minutes. Then it worked about 1 out of 15 attempts. So I returned it to Linksys not knowing I should have gotten a refund from Amazon instead and saved some time and energy. The replacement showed up looking used and did exactly the same thing as the original. This led me to believe it wasn't the router but something else. I spoke to Linksys about it, asking what they thought might be the problem instead of just upgrading the firmware for the 3rd time, but again they wanted $10 to check my computer remotely and for me to upgrade the firmware again. So after a month with the replacement working hard at saving 8 square inches of my desk from dust damage (and 5 more calls to tech support), I was told by customer service that they would pay the shipping to send me another replacement. I said I didn't pay $85 to spend my time on the phone with them, and upon asking for a refund was told only Amazon could do it. The window for refund with Amazon closed while the original router was going back to Linksys.
The wireless adapter and wired internet work great when the router works, but that's about 50% of the time right after a reset and about 1% of the time after that. It's been quite frustrating. A tech savvy friend is supposed to come check it out, but again, I didn't spend the money to waste my and other's time fooling with this thing. I would only buy this from a store where I could return it easily, not online. And there is no manual included in the packaging. Also, the LELA easylink whatever software is bugged out so don't even bother.
Customer Review: Beware of the V2 Model
Summary: 1 Stars
I have used Linksys WRT54GS for years (very stable). I wanted to upgrade to N in order to get faster speeds via wireless for my home business. Linksys has 3 models of the WRT160N (V1, V2, & V3). From all tech blogs and info-sites V1 seems to be stable & V3 is the new replacement for V2. V2 is the one that is horrible. I am here to validate that. My speed and range tests between my original G & the new N router showed that the older WRT54GS was much more stable than the WRT160N V2. Apparently Linksys used a different chipset with the V2 model than with the V1/V3 models. The firmware 2.02.2 for the V2 version of the WRT160N was created to fill a security hole but created much greater problems. There is no new firmware update on Linksys website to fix the fix. So if you get the V2 model of this router (like I did) you are stuck unless you return it. The issues that I experienced are the same as everyone else.
1. Drops Internet connection intermittently hardwired and wireless. Very annoying while surfing.
2. Setting it to N speed seems to not matter. The router seems to do whatever it wants with the speed. I think it is because it is disconnecting and reconnecting on its own sporadically.
3. RangePlus is a joke. The original G router had a much better range. There is no range and definitely no range plus with the V2 version.
I have returned this router & gone back to my original Linksys G router. If you have a small business, I would stay away from the V2 model of this router. (What am I saying?) I advise everyone to stay away from the V2 model of this router. Hopefully Linksys will have a firmware upgrade soon for the V2 model but after making them aware of the issue, I wouldn't hold my breath. I will see if I can find a V3 model. Unfortunately there is no way to tell unless you open the actual box to determine which version is actually in the box.
Update: The Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router is a much better alternative than this router. Be sure to read my review on the Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router to get the sloution to solving the heat issue of the router.
Customer Review: What a horrible experience!
Summary: 1 Stars
OMG What a terrible product from such a highly recommended company! Every salesperson, every knowledgeable friend said Linksys (Cisco) was the best. If that's the case, they really dropped the ball on this model (WRT160N V2).
It comes with a nice user-friendly set up CD, which I found out later was a waste of time because it didn't save my customizations; I still had to go into the massive configuration program to enter the same settings. LELA? EasyAdvisor?? Forget it; that program worked only when it felt like it. Half the time it didn't even start; when it did and I managed to make necessary changes (important ones still sent me into that massive config program), it would just hang while refreshing...but it was pretty to look at while I waited.
I managed to get internet connectivity running for only a short while. Then it became unreliable, then it went out altogether. So naturally everyone assumed it was one faulty product. I exchanged it, got an internet connectivity on the replacement but it failed not even five minutes into using it. There isn't enough space for me to list all the different things I did to troubleshoot or the settings I was told to try, and I don't even remember how many times I reset, rebooted and power cycled everything. I did get a stabler internet connection by using my own ideas on configuration settings but could never get file and printer sharing working on my own. To sum it up, after 5 chat sessions and 3 calls to tech support, I got "call Microsoft".
The tech support was absolutely terrible. One person didn't know basic networking concepts like file and printer sharing, another didn't understand hexadecimal digits, a couple of techs kept asking me the same questions over and over again, I had to ask a question repeatedly and never got an answer.... Oh yeah, the reason I had 3 calls to tech support instead of just 1 is because I was hung up on twice, and no one bothered trying to reconnect with me.
This has been such a terrible experience, I am returning this router and I'm not even going to replace it. I'm going back to sneaker net!
Customer Review: Functional and sleek
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't often give a product 5-stars, but the Linksys Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Router has exceeded my expectations.
First, it's very sleek in appearance, a nice reflective black surface and blue status LEDs match some of my other components and looks very elegant and modern. Did I mention there's no visible antenna? It's hidden in the unit. The LEDs are not distractingly bright, which is good since I watch movies on a TV about 2 feet from this puppy.
As far as functionality goes, this router seems to do everything I need. It could have worked out of the box, but I wanted WEP encryption just like my old wireless-G network had that I was replacing. The configuration menus can be a bit overwhelming to a novice (and I personally find that Linksys menus are a little more tedious to navigate than their competitors'), but all the functionality is there and once you know where it's at, changing a setting is a cinch.
I didn't install the included software and don't really find a need for it. Again, with a few glances in the book, hooking up the power cable and your modem and ethernet cables, this thing will be running straight out of the box.
The performance is fantastic! I was running a Netgear Wireless-G router previous to this, and I couldn't get a signal in my corner bedroom upstairs (the router is setup on the main floor by all my video game systems). With this puppy, I get a fantastic signal everywhere in my house. Unlike my routers of the past, I've -never- had to reboot this one.
Overall, the product meets and even exceeds my expectations. I'm sure there are other Wireless-N routers available that would do the same. However, what makes this product so much better is that the price is VERY inexpensive in comparison to other Wireless-N routers out there. For the casual users, gamers, and the families looking to setup a wireless network, this router is for you. If you're one of those technophiles that isn't satisfied unless you've got the greatest hardware in existence, you can probably find something better for two- to three-times the price.
Customer Review: Pay attention if you got WRT160NV2 or WRT160N!
Summary: 1 Stars
After reviewing several router options I have chosen the WRT160N as my new router, actually my main point was to use the DD-WRT firmware with it, partly following several reviews here below and from several forum.
Once I received this router I tried to work with the CD provided but it had a problem to run.
No problem, I had installed some routers in my life and this one didn't take more the 10min to install including wireless configurations.
immediately after installation I saw that I can't upgrade my firmware as this is WRT160Nv2 and it apparently uses "Ralink" CPU and not "BROADCOM" cpu - Ralink is not supported yet in open FW due to licensing :(
In addition, it appears that there is degrading in memory capacity in the versions of the routers that goes by WRT160N!
V1 - 32mb
V1.1 - 16mb
V2 - 8mb
Even more annoying, Linksys do not have a web page for any version other than for v1!
Although I didn't get the actual product I thought I am buying, I started using the wireless with my laptop while my desktop was connected to one of the LAN ports, the results:
1) P2P software causes network disconnects (probably due to the fact linksys reduced the memory to 8MB only), I had to minimize the software configuration in order to stop the disconnects.
2)Signal strength is ridiculous as it doesn't cover all my apartment which is not big. - Update: I got some configuration advise from Linksys support to improve the signle:
Change the Beacon Interval to 50
Change the Fragmentation Threshold to 2304.
Change the RTS Threshold to 2304
- It increased the signal strength... I do not like this solution, as my apartment is small the defaults should have sufficed.
I might return this product to Amazon and replace it with a different wireless router.
Based on all other reviews, I am pretty sure that WRT160N V1 is a solid router (Good hardware & FW can be replaced) - if you order this one, make sure you don't get version 2 (at least until Linksys will have a webpage for it with new FW)