Cisco-Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router
by Linksys
|
List Price: Our Price: $38.99 You Save: $91.00 (70%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $20.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router
Customer Review: Compatibility Issues With Other Wireless Devices & Print Servers
Summary: 1 Stars
First off I want to complement Amazon for having the item in stock, great price and shipping it to me quickly. Amazon purchase experience was great. NOW - on to my warning folks that may be purchasing this unit to replace an older or existing wireless router. GOOD LUCK.
I think of myself as pretty well versed in computers and wireless devices. This will be the third Linksys device that I've purchased in less than 3 years. Also have set up a built-in wireless HP All-in-One Office jet Pro L7780 (which is great by the way - and so is their customer service). So we bought a new laptop at home and thought why not replace the older Linksys Wireless B router (BEFW1154) with the latest N router that was also backwards compatible with B & G. We had the HP Office jet working great and an older HP Laserjet 1200 hooked up to a Linksys Wireless-G Print Server (WPS54GU2). All was great with this home network and I've moved twice and was able to get everything up in running each time. Sorry to digress, but want to give as much info as possible.
Stage 1 - I should have known something was up when the set up CD would not complete load the program to start the set up. So after another try, I ended up calling the Linksys help-line and after spending close to 2 hours on the phone. Success we had both laptops running and communicating with the new WRT Server. Ended around 11 PM.
Stage 2 - Working from home, I send something to my HP Laserjet printer. SURPRISE - of course it would not print and why wasn't I thinking correctly to realize this. OR - why didn't the Linksys Customer Service person pick this up when I explained my set up and what was running through the server. Okay, it was late at night and my eyeballs were crossed. Tried sending to the HP Office jet. SURPRISE - won't print. Go back to stone age and hook up USB cable from my laptop to HP Office jet. SURPRISE - won't print. So now I'm all messed up. Work to reset the network wireless set up on the HP Officejet which is less than one year old.... it can't find the network or new Linksys. Call Linksys again. Short answer - since I can get on the internet they don't have any responsibility and since the print server is older than 1 year old, I have to pay $39.95 for technical assistance. I ask for a manager and explain the situation again - same answer.
Stage 3 - So started at 11 AM at home and went onto Linksys Support Website - HA!! found similar postings from another users who could not get other wireless devices to connect to the new WRT N Router. Went through each answer from Linksys - and you better be a complete expert to understand the shorthand in their replies because this is NOT for the faint of heart. Went through security settings, IP address, WEP vs WPA, encryption, re-setting of entire system... Finally I uninstalled everything because now I couldn't get even one laptop to connect to the internet. It was now past 4 PM and I'm mad at myself for trying to "push" into the new wireless N-world.
Stage 4 - So I call Linksys again and plead my case in total frustration. I get another Supervisor who see my Case Number and states they can't help since it's the printer server problem and not the wireless router. Then through some cryptic statements because she can't help me directly else the Technical Policy may hear her and realize that she's crossed a line - cause they want me to pay the $39.95 for Technical Assistance - which they state is also on their website which you can read how successful I was in Problem 3 - well she tells me to lower the security on the new WRT and reset the passkey to the old one, etc. She also states that this new router is so new that a lot of folk at Linksys can't support it or know how to deal with the compatibility issues to other equipment. I ask WHAT? So I try again on my own - SURPRISE - no luck. It's now 7 PM and I've completely lost it - no internet again and of course no printing. So uninstall and re-install and I at least can get on-line.
Stage 5 - THANK YOU HP - cause after their great help and remote access into my computer we get the HP Office jet to at least connect to the network and I can print. The HP Laserjet I still have not solved my issue. I guess I'll start looking for another firms wireless print server that may talk to the darn Linksys WRT310. I would just send the thing back to Amazon, but (1) I threw the box out the next morning into pieces - which broke my own rule of making sure things work for at least 30 days - but again it was late at night when I connected and see Stage 1 and Stage 2 - thinking all was great.
I'm typing all this because when I purchase a product, I also purchase a firm/company standing behind it. Especially when I continue to purchase from the same firm thinking all will work together and be helped if I can't figure it out on my own. So unless you work for Cisco or Linksys and can handle it - buy the unit. Else, good luck and best wishes.
Customer Review: Piece of crap
Summary: 1 Stars
Perhaps I just got a lemon, but I just spent 4 hours trying to get this thing working, with no success. I have set up several other Linksys wireless routers as well as a Dlink wireless router in the past, so it's not as if I don't know what I'm doing. But I just can't figure out what this thing's problem is.
For one thing, the setup disc that was included with the router only works a small percentage of the time. Most of the time, when I had my laptop plugged into the router via ethernet cable (as the setup program instructs you to do), when you get to step 4, which is "plug the router's power cable into the electrical outlet", the setup program will sit for five to ten minutes only to tell me that my ethernet cable is not properly connected. Uhh, what? I eventually found out that if I re-run the setup program and/or reboot my laptop several times, it will get past that problem, only to get to another problem:
I get to the point where the setup program asks me to input settings for SSID, router login/password, and security (I tried, WEP and WPA, as well as unsecured). I do all that, and from that point forward, nothing will connect to the router via wireless connection. I tried my laptop, my ipod touch, and my blackberry, none of them were ever able to connect. Ethernet connection works, but no wireless. I also noticed that the wireless indicator light on the router will mysteriously stop illuminating until I power cycle the router. Perhaps this is part of the problem. Windows suggests it's a weak wireless signal, but I'm never more than ten feet away from the router.
But wait, there's more. Once I get the network set up via the setup disc, I can no longer access the router config page (192.168.1.1) from my browser. I can access it before I run the setup, but not after. It prompts me for my name and password, I enter them and hit enter, and it simply brings up the login window again, as if I typo'd. I tried the default login here, but that didn't work either. So again I have to reset the router with the reset button on the back.
After 4 hours wasted on trying to get this piece of crap working, I gave up. There is no way in hell I should be running into this many problems. Like I said, I have setup several wireless networks in the past, most of them Linksys, and one Dlink. They were all very painless, none of them took me anymore than 1/2 hour to set up a secured network from scratch. So this piece of crap is getting exchanged for either a Linksys WRT54G or a DLink (can't recall the model number offhand), both are G routers that I recently setup for relatives, and I was able to get my laptop, ipod touch and blackberry connected to them without a single issue.
UPDATE: I was able to get the router working for about half an hour, by simply moving it to where it was approximately five feet away from my laptop rather than ten feet. Only thing I can figure is something where I had originally placed it was interfering with the signal. However, after half an hour, I suddenly lost net connection, and the router disappeared from the list of wireless devices, so I was unable to reconnect to it. All the lights were illuminated on the router, yet it just disappeared to where neither my laptop, ipod touch, or my friend's iphone could no longer see it. That's the final straw. This piece of junk is getting returned. Horrible, horrible product.
Customer Review: Nice Router.. But still at 2.4ghz frequency...
Summary: 4 Stars
I had the Linksys G version and decided to upgrade to this one (specially because of the Gigabyte port) as my PC is directly connected to it, and to anything in order to take out the lag when it comes to high resource usage of the internet is worth a try.
The Router is as easy as it says (as almost all are nowadays..) in order to configure.. If you stick to the CD and follow the instructions, things will definatelly go smoth...
I must say that the design of this Router is one of the best you will see around, specially for the price tag, as you do have the Belkin which has a LCD screen to show some "cool" instructions, but it lacks the performance that this one has and it costs almost 3 times more..
The software update of the router is also something to mention, with each new version getting more and more control (if you want) of your Wifi connection. Great job !
Why not give a 5 start to this one, then ?
Because, the new set of routers coming to life nowadays have the ability to propagate the WiFi Signal at 2.4ghz (which since WiFi A, all routers use it) and also at 5Ghz, and here is the catch !
The difference is enourmous whent it comes to performance between 2.4ghz and 5ghz..
Don't get me wrong, this router still will do what it intends to, speed up the transfer of your network, speed up the internet connection and file transfers (Internet Connection Speed depending, of course) and above all, to spread the range it will reach your wireless devices.. (wat much better then the previos N Draft Version still available with 3 antennas.
It does it all and that is the reason I bought this one.
I have a Linksys CIT 400 (Skype Phone), Sony Vaio Notebook, 2 PC's, Wifi Printer are all connected to it.
BUT, Linksys could have added the 5ghz option, which would make this router a Killer !
Specially at today's date where the frequency of 2.4ghz is getting crowded fast.
This is one of the best out there today, but if you still want's to get a better performance and will have a lot of wifi signal's around you, getting one that have the 5ghz band option will also be a good choice. It costs a bit more.
You will be very pleased with this one, for sure !
Small Update: SOME users are having a heat issue with this router... I might say that mine get's quite hot as well, compared to my previous one, which did not have this problem..
Not that causes any problem.. Mine is still working fine..
But I believe that it shall shorten the lifespan of the product or might cause a malfunction in a near future ...
As I said.. MIGHT.. I am only letting everyone aware of an issue that is quite mentioned at the Internet Forums !
Customer Review: Please, don't waste your money!
Summary: 1 Stars
I've been an avid supporter of Linksys in terms of routers. I used to have a WRT54G that worked excellent but we decided to get a new router and upgraded to a WRT100. While the WRT100 worked well, it began to have some issues in regards to losing signal to those devices that were plugged into the device via an Ethernet Cord. Due to this, I decided to look into a new router and chose the WRT310N. Sadly, this was the worst mistake I've ever made in purchasing a router.
First, a router is supposed to be a reliable form of communication from the ISP source to each of the connected devices. I would have no issues with wired devices initially, but the wireless was a disaster. In terms of speed, my 30 MBPS connection was running at 5 MBPS when using Wi-Fi. While this may not seem like a problem since distance is always the key, keep in mind that I was in the same room as my router with nothing blocking the signal. The router recognized 30 MBPS when I had done tests with a wired device though.
Secondly, my laptop, cell phone (Droid 2), etc. would frequently lose signal to the router. Again, close to it but the router would just drop. The only way to retrieve the signal was a hard reset. I installed the firmware update from 2.0.0 to 2.1.1 and the problem persisted. After a week of dealing with these issues, I unplugged it and put my old router back in. After 24 hours, 20 bandwidth tests later, multiple different servers, my old router is coming up with 30 MBPS. Also, I'd like to note that the WRT310 router would take 15 minutes at times to recognize that the modem is sending data to it after a reset. This happened with a wired and wireless connection. As mentioned before, no such issues with the old router.
The router has been returned to Best Buy and I ordered a different router from Amazon. I'm still a fan of Linksys, but this product failed everything a router is supposed to do. Constant resets and disconnections are not a part of a quality router. Linksys should be ashamed of themselves for allowing such a low quality product.
Edit: The router I ordered was the Cisco Linksys e3000 series router. It retails for $180 but I purchased it from Amazon for about $146. It runs without a problem, setup was easy, fast, and is the best router Linksys offers. It's only been one day with the router but I'll be sure to update this if anything goes wrong. If you're willing to spend extra money on a quality product, go for it. As I mentioned above, the router listed that I returned was running at 5 MBPS or so with Wi-Fi. I'm now hitting 25-30 MBPS. Huge difference!
Customer Review: Buyer beware!!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
This is the most horrible piece of computer hardware that I have ever purchased but what is worst was Linksys's attempt at technical support. The hardwired side of the router was okay; the wireless side sucks raw eggs. If I attempted to connect outside of the 12x12 room where the router was located, the connection went from excellent to very good. When I went 30 ft away the connection went from very good to none. Meanwhile I was picking up four my neighobors' networks from the same location.
I spent one weekend with Linksys tech support via online chat; two different techs. Problem was not resolved. I ran out of time so one week end later, I called into Linksys tech support on the phone. The first tech told me that the problem was me going into a different room... the house walls caused the problem... what's wrong with this picture. I asked to speak to another tech and while waiting got disconnected.
I called in again; got a tech and she started to walk me through reconfiguring the router. She seemed to know what she was doing but when we got to the reconnect to the wireless network stage, when I tried to reconnect to the router, which was connected to my Cablevision modem, the phone disconnected and I lost the tech. She never called me back.
I called in again, got another tech; had to go through the whole story all over again; went through the whole reconfiguration process again; got as far as reconnecting to wireless network... lost the phone connection to the tech again. By the way... still no wireless connectivity.
I called in again, got another tech (sounded like the first one that told me the wall were the problem); asked to speak to a supervisor. Supervisor told me that the techs didn't call back because they were too busy. I suggested that if other people were having the same problem that I was, that I could understand why there was a huge back up in the que.
He connected me to a level 2 tech and he promised that if we got disconnected, that this tech would definitely call me back. The super-tech had me reconfigure almost every screen in the linksys router setup, and, guess what, when it came to reconnecting to the wireless network, I got disconnected from the phone again. After waiting for over two hours for a call back, which never came, I reconnected my old, old D-Link non-wireless router so that I could access the internet ... the "hard way"?
Since I'm over the number of days on the Amazon return policy; I'm stuck and definitely not a happy camper.