Cisco-Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router
by Linksys
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT310N Wireless-N Gigabit Router
Customer Review: Not any better than Wireless G with SRX; awful setup software
Summary: 1 Stars
I don't think I've given this a low a rating to any other product. The 310N is supposed to have nifty, painless setup software and it should have increased range compared to G routers. It has neither. The setup software on the CD that Linksys provides in the package looks great when it starts, but after the setup routine:
(1) it told me it couldn't find a connection, even though it found the connection at the start of the setup routine. The connection was there -- I could get on the Internet.
(2) The setup CD's software gives you a chance to change the SSID and set security options including the WEP key. I did that, but none of that info was retained after setup! I had to go back into the setup routine that's in the firmware via http://192.168.1.1 just like in the bad old days before "easy" setup software was developed.
But wait... there's more!
In the router's internal setup routine, there's no indication as to how you change the SSID, even though the help screen tells you it's possible. And on the "Wireless security" tab there's a button to chose a manual or an automatic wi fi security option, but the help screen doesn't say a word about what that option does, or when to use it.
With all that, I did set it up properly with security enabled using they key of my choice and a unique SSID. This is about the 10th wireless router I've installed, so useless setup software doesn't stop me. But if you're not knowledgeable... good luck.
All that would be an annoyance enough if the range was better than a 802.11G router, as promised. But the range was inferior to the range of the WRT54GX router this one replaced. So... what's the point?
The 310N is a waste of money. Maybe when the final N protocol is out this thing will be better, but right now you can get better coverage for an 801.11G router that's half the price.
Customer Review: Cool looking and works great!
Summary: 5 Stars
Just got this router tonite. Now I've had a Linksys WRT 54G for many years and it has been a great router for me but recently it seems as if it has been acting peculiar so I, after I recently got a Macbook Pro, went out bought me an Airport Express on the recommendation of someone but found it utterly frustrating to set up!! To make a long story short I ended up returning it and decided to just stay with my trusty old Linksys as it seemed to be working fine.
But earlier today it really started acting weird and I couldn't seem to get my MBP to pick up a signal and after fiddling around with it for a while I decided the hell with it I'm going to go check out what's new in the stores..
Well I saw this WRT310N and it looked cool and slick but did it work well? And was it going to be easy to set up? The answer to both questions is yes and kind of. Setting it up was not as easy as they would want you to believe but I do have to say Linksys support was top notch. After getting a Rahul on the phone he patiently walked me through some troubleshooting issues that got me up and running fairly quickly and with 1 desktop and 3 laptops in my network I was one happy camper!
Now having the wireless N with my MBP I could notice a significant increase in speed, Now I don't know all the technobabble behind it all but all I know is I was up & running and surfing pretty fast!
I like the look of the router and it was much easier to set up than my experience with the Airport Express.
I think the thing that impressed me the most about my experience with the setup was Linksys support! Rahul was great and even amusing as he dealt with me..a frustrated customer..he knew just how to allay my anxiety about it all and get me up and running! Kudos to Linksys for their customer service!
Customer Review: Good wireless but weak on 10/100 wired networks
Summary: 3 Stars
The wireless network works great.
But my wired computers with 10/100 megabit network cards were suffereing intermittent problems with data loss. Tracert and ping confirmed the problems.
Linksys tech support advised me to try using "10 half mode" on my network adapters on the wired computers. This solved the data loss problems.
This is unhappy situation because I used to have 100 megabit wired network. The net result is that adding the Linksys WRT310N to my network has slowed down my wired network.
This is not very good upgrade for my network.
The tech support person at Linksys confirmed that the WRT310N DOES NOT HAVE SPEED AUTOSENSING on its gigabit wired ports. It also does not have a management interface to configure the ports to run at 100 megabit, which would have been the best way. My wired computers would have continued to run at their normal 100 megabit speed if WRT310N had better wired features.
But like I said, 10 megabit speed is the best my wired network can do with the WRT310N unfortunately.
My advice to shoppers is, don't buy this router if you already have a 100 megabit network, because it will become only a 10 megabit network. But if you have a gigabit network already meaning the switches and cabling are gigabit already, then you will probably get excellent performance unlike me, in which case I say it's a good purchase.
This is a speed downgrade and I am unhappy about it. I dont think I will be able to use wired devices like a Slingbox for television-over-ethernet with such a slow speed as 10 megabit. I have to buy a different router I guess. The packaging on the box should have been more clear about what would happen on a 100 megabit network, then i would have bought a different router.
Customer Review: V2 hardware died after one week of use.
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased this to replace the same model with the Version 1 hardware that had worked flawlessly for the last 7 months and only had to be replaced to my own error in "upgrading" the firmware and made the mistake of not double-checking the hardware revision before the flashing with what I soon realized was the firmware for the V2 hardware.
After how well the original had worked, I decided to replace it with the same model, but upon receiving it, discovered that it was the newer V2 hardware revision.
After resetting my Westell/Verizon DSL modem/router to bridged mode, I proceeded to start the new router installation, which took much, much longer than the same model it had replaced. After being up all night trying to get everything configured and setup, everything was finally up and running as it should have been.
Wireless connection was good, the gigabit speed between my comp and my PS3 for media streaming was performing as expected.
Fast forward one week and I get a text at work from my fiance informing me that there was a problem with our internet connection. She spent close to an hour on the phone with Verizon tech support who informed her that the modem was obviously bad and had to be replaced. Upon arriving home and doing some investigating, the modem was fine, and it was the modem connection port on the Linksys that had died.
I could connect to the router via the html interface when connected directly to my computer, but the router would not communicate with the modem at all. I'm not sure if it's the same overheating problems that seem to plague this hardware revision that killed the uplink port, or it just had a faulty port, but either way, it's going back for a refund.
Customer Review: So so product from Linksys
Summary: 1 Stars
Got the router last week, easily set it up with either cable and DSL modem (I have both services). Wired connection worked right away. My gigabit NAS is getting write speed >100Mbps.
The problem is setting up the wireless connection. Initially tried both WEP and WPA2 encryption (my old setting). All four computers had trouble connecting: either no connection or showing connected but ping request did not work. I had to called CS numerous times. In one case a lady charged me $9.99 to work remotely and somehow get it going which later only lasted for a night and then everything went crazy like before again. In another call, a guy changed nearly all parameters in Advance Wirelss Settings from default to some strange numbers and got it going again. This time it was stable for awhile. The problem is unstable connection: my laptop (with Intel Wireless-n card) was 3ft away but connected at 5.5Mbps. Asked CS if they could diagnosis whether the product is defective. Nobody could do it. Now I have returned the item.
Other observation:
1) Heat does not seem to be big problem
2) Do not try to upgrade the firmware from factory 1.0.04 to 1.0.06 (Linksys website). Otherwise the encryption choice box between TKIP and AES for WPA personal and WPA enterprise will be goine. Then you are stuck with default TKIP mode which limits wireless speed to <56Mbps.
3) No true connected device table but only DHCP client table. So if you rstatic IP devices are configured on device side, you will not see it anywhere in WRT310 software interface. I ended up changing all my devices (2 NAS and 1 print server) to be DHCP on device side then reserve IPs on WRT310N to make it work.