Cisco-Linksys WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router
by Linksys
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List Price: Our Price: $34.99 You Save: $116.59 (77%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router
Customer Review: Solved all our WLAN and LAN problems FANTASTIC Router!!
Summary: 5 Stars
We are heavy wireless network/internet cable modem users in our household, first used a Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router, then upgraded to a Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Router with SpeedBooster (which was an improvement) supporting all Wireless-G enabled devices: 2 wired and 4 wireless PCs, a wireless Windows Media Center Extender, a wireless X-Box 360 and wireless Nintendo Wii game console. While the WRT54GS router worked well for the PCs, we had to add a Linksys WRE54G Wireless Network Range Expander to send adequate signal to our wireless basement PC, eventually also upgraded the router antennas with the Linksys HGA7T 7dBi High Gain Antenna Kit which made a marginal improvement in signal strength, and ran a cable to my son's XBox 360 as he constantly complained of LAG while gaming. With this configuration, we still had bandwidth congestion on the wireless Media Center Extender, Good signal strength on the wireless basement PC, continued LAG on the wired X-Box 360, and inadequate signal/communication to the Nintendo Wii. I tried opening ports to improve the XBox 360 gaming problems and various other router configurations to no avail.
After listening to my son complain for the 100th time about his XBox 360 gaming problems and his new wireless Wii unable to download from the internet, we decided to give the new Linksys WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router a try. I installed the new "N" router in about 15 minutes, just followed the directions, and it worked like a charm right out of the box! With the new "N" router, we no longer need the Range Expander, signal strength on the basement PC is now usually Excellent, all the XBox 360 LAG/gaming problems vanished, and the Nintendo Wii is merrily downloading and communicating with the internet. I had disconnected the Media Center Extender as constant Network Congestion error messages were too annoying with the "G" router, so now I'll be reconnecting it and am confident the congestion problems with that device will be solved as well!
Customer Review: Outstanding WITH the adapter
Summary: 5 Stars
Just a word of warning for those considering buying this (or any other 802.11N router)--if you want the speed and range it's designed for, get the adapters. I checked how it works with the original wireless card in my laptop (Dell E1505), and it *sucks* with the -N router. If you aren't willing to shell out the money for the adapters, don't bother, because you will barely be able to hold a connection at all no matter where you are located in relation to the router.
That said, WITH the adapter, this rocks. I've been hating my pathetic broadband service for years until I finally got this and got the speed I'm paying for. My daughter's PC used to lose the wireless signal all the time, but now it works as good as a wired connection. I highly recommend this, with the caveat about the adapter.
Also, before you get the notebook adapter, make SURE it will fit in your notebook's slot! I ended up exchanging the notebook adapter immediately for the USB one, because these cards don't go with the Dell (maybe with new ones--I don't know, but I doubt it).
My only complaint is with Linksys wireless routers in general (I've bricked two WRT54GS routers and got this one yesterday as a replacement): the software is crap. I guess it's okay for first-timers, but after installing it for my first Linksys router, I ended up uninstalling it and using the Windows wireless configuration tool, which is much better and, I would think, much less confusing in the long run for newbies.
One more thing: the antenna in the middle is easy to break off! My router fell off the shelf when I was untangling cords during setup and it snapped off. No big deal, though--just so ya know. :)
Customer Review: More distance??......aahhhmm
Summary: 4 Stars
I have a Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router and i tried it at a friend's house which is much bigger than mine. It did not cover the entire house so we decided to get this the Linksys WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router for her with the hope it would do a better job, afterall it is advertised as giving X3 the range as the wireless-G. Did it work? Not as i thought it would. Before purchasing we tried to get product information on the range of these items and that was so difficult. Afer endless searching we managed to find something (sorry can't remember), but they clearly stated it was a controlled environment with no obstruction..fair enough.
In Jamaica the houses are mostly of concrete blocks and steel. This product had a serious problem penetrating these walls. It gave me approximately 30m range (straight line) penetrating about 3 or 4 walls. The strange thing is, this is not X3 what i got from Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router nor X2, because i got intermittent service from the wireless G at the same distance. My guess is that in exchange for the longer range they sacrificed the ability to penetrate walls. Right now, her neighbours are getting a better signal than she does at the farthest rooms.
If you have less walls and less dense walls i am sure you would get better range than i did. If you are trying to reach an upstairs room this might prove to be necessary as well.
Customer Review: Can you hear me now?
Summary: 5 Stars
No need for anecdotal impressions of speed, simply google 'speakeasy speedtest' and two minutes later you have your UL and DL speeds. Right from that front page, no sign in necessary, just click your nearest server and watch the dial pointer spin.
For my WRT300N the dial instantly pegged to the max and stayed there (DL), final score was 10769 kpbs, 10 megs plus ain't too shabby!
Uploading was 01759 kpbs, less than five times slower than DLing... Hmmm...
This confirms my real world everyday observations, it downloads files at rates Mr.and Mrs. Slowsky faint over, but isn't so slick on uploading.
Walking around with my laptop shows increasing and decreasing speeds, much like with a cell phone, experiment where to place the thing. The 3 separate antennas swivel around independently and it does make a difference.
Setup was a snap, its step by step DVD installation was a hand holding treat. It tells you steps like now plug the blue wire into the laptop's LAN socket, etc. And it won't let you move past the password key page until you save the settings to a .txt file, or print the page, so you cannot lose them.
After several months use there were no hassles, and always blazing DL speeds (my laptop usually is operated from upstairs, the cable socket, modem, and router on the main floor).
No matter what you now have, take a couple minutes and take the speakeasy's test and please post results on Amazon's review pages!
Edit: I just ran the test a second time using NorCal server (the previous was from Los Angeles) and got 14578/01754 DL/UL...
Customer Review: Smooth Install but the signal strength is inconstistent
Summary: 5 Stars
Update 6-17-06: After having good results initially, I have been discouraged by the signal strength being inconstistent and bouncing around a lot. I would now rate this router two stars. Hopefully, future firmware updates will work out the kinks....
Hi, I bought this router on Amazon the first day that it was available. I was surprised and disappointed when I came back to write my review and other customers have been having problems. I am writing this review based on my own experience - which was nothing but good. I replaced my old router (which was a Linksys MIMO SRX) and I was up and running wired and wirelessly in about 2 minutes. I bought this router in hopes that it would improve my performance on my Media Center Extenders (MCX). The Linksys WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router (12X speed) made a noticeable improvement over my MIMO (which is 8X speed of normal wireless-G). My MCXs run smoother than ever and I do not any longer have the stutter or delay in videos when I fast-forward. I did not see any noticeable improvement over the 8X MIMO when it came to my laptop or on my wired workstation while running the interenet. That is probably because I was already getting all of the bandwith I needed with the 8X. If you have a standard G router, then this will dramatically improve your performance. But if you already have a MIMO router, then the Linksys WRT300N Wireless-N may not show noticeable improvement unless you are already having network congestion problems. I hope that Linksys can work out any bugs in the connection that some are experiencing because this is their best wireless router to-date.