Cisco-Linksys WRT54G2 Wireless-G Broadband Router
by Linksys
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List Price: Our Price: $55.85 You Save: $11.14 (17%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $15.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT54G2 Wireless-G Broadband Router
Customer Review: Worked Flawless for 18 Months
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been buying Linksys routers since before Cisco bought them and this is my 4th one. Usually, they last about 3-4 years before issues start to show up. I have had 3 wireless units and one non-wireless that was replaced by a wireless unit. This one has lasted less then 2 years. The problem is that is stops broadcasting a signal intermittently. All of our laptops have become suddenly disconnected while the wired units stay connected to the Internet. If it wasn't for the units having issues with reliability, I would give it 5 stars for ease of use and how well it works. Also, once you set one up, its easy to get in and configure the software, it hasn't changed much since the first one I owned in the late 90s. Sigh, now I have to figure out which router to get. The last one I had was a Belkin, but it started having reliability issues at 3-4 years, I initially replaced that with a D-Link router which I could not get to work and finally settled on this model.
1/27/10 UPDATE: After searching Linksys user forums, I decided to update the firmware. My feelings on things like firmware is, if its not broke, don't fix it. Well, it was broke. Then, I got slow speed over the wireless connection issues, it dropped to about 1/3 over the wireless then the wired connection (2-3mps wireless vs 6mps wired). Although I did a reset and put the information back it, it still was only about 1/2 the wired speed. I started to think that some of these new wireless values added with the new firmware needed tweaking, so I started doing that with no increase in speed (and not really knowing what I was doing). Finally I did a power recycle and that brought it back up to speed on the wireless end and its been up without drops since the date of this review. I revised my review from a 3 to 4 star. Someone not technical would have probably just replaced it, another reason for 4 stars.
Customer Review: moderate performance
Summary: 2 Stars
I had been really impressed by the high ranking of this item on amazon as well as its affordable price. Then I bought it and expected its excellent performance. However, it really disappointed me. So I had to return it.
First, installation from CD was painful although it is recommended in the description of the product. It was very slow, and some error message came up in the last step. I tried twice and met the same situation. It looked that the installation was incomplete, but that was not the case. The internet connection was actually set up already. What's more, the linksys easylink advisor(LELA) was a nightmare to me. If you would like use it to configure your wireless network, you would just waste your time. I always failed to set up wireless network using LELA, and it would prevent other softwares (like windows wireless network connection and thinkpad access)from configuring your wireless network. Finally, I had to uninstall the LELA to set up the wireless connection. After that, I found the CD was almost useless because you can easily initialize the router by going to http://192.168.1.1 and specifying all parameters. There is a detailed instruction on the website of linksys.
Second, the wireless connection was unstable. It seems that you need to wait several minutes for the stabilizing. Although the signal is very strong, but the repeating connect-unconnect cycles were really unbearable. Furthermore, it would be interrupted suddenly and I had to reboot the router to let it work again. This is a deadly strike for playing online games.
Someone may say you can use third-party firmware or software to manage this linksys router. But that's not the excuse that the product could be unstable or hard to use.
Customer Review: Product started creating problem in 4/5 months and died after 10 months
Summary: 2 Stars
This router was great when I got it first time. Sleek in look,easy to use and no problem in access range.
But after 4-5 month of use it started showing low signals event when I am only 10 feet away from it. and sometime limited connectivity also.
May be that affected to my internet speed also. I always kept wondering whether it is my router or net which one is making my net slow.
After 10 month of use it stopped working at all. It is not taking ip from my internet connection when I check with the web interface though it was getting connected wirelessly to laptop.
I tried to reset it to factory settings which means re installation using CD. But guess what it was not detecting the ethernet connection and always saying that "Your Ethernet cable doesn't appear to connect properly" and I don't thinkg it going to work at all.
As per my guess all its physical port gone malfunctioned and that is the reason it is not taking ip of my internet connection.
[...].
Only one reason I can think for its failure that router use to be powered on most of the time so it might lead to early death of this product. Otherwise I guess people expect a longer life from wireless router.
[...] :)
Sep 16, 2009 9:51 AM PDT
Latest update on this problem. I downloaded a package "WRT54G2_USCAN.4.9.9020.0-ship-Stable,0.zip". Most probably it was from Linksys site itself and ran the setup again for the router. Surprisingly router started working as normal like this problem never happened.
Thanks got router got a new birth I guess :). Let see when it will create the same problem.
Customer Review: Not reliable compared to previous Linksys routers
Summary: 2 Stars
I don't often write reviews on Amazon, but I'm hoping this reaches someone before they buy this. For several years I have owned a Linksys WRT54G (v4), using the stock firmware. It was, and is, a great router. It's very reliable, and I have never had problems with it. I bought this router, the WRT54G2 because it was what was available in the store. This was an accessory gift for my in-laws, as I had just refurbished an old laptop for my mother-in-law, and I wanted her to be able to use it throughout the house.
Setting up the router was easy, as is usually the case for me with Linksys routers. One gotcha was that our cable provider required me to clone the MAC address of the desktop. Other than that the wireless was up relatively quickly and the desktop and laptop were working great.
The problems came shortly after I left, when the network went down and they lost internet on both desktop and laptop. A reset of the router fixed it. However, it was a fairly common problem. I went back over and tried different settings to fix it. As I did so, I noticed that the internet speed and quality was much much worse with the router than without (even with the wired connection). After much playing around, I swapped the router with my trusty WRT54G and, voila, everything worked fine and reliably. Taking the router back to my house and a different internet provider confirmed that the WRT54G2 is at fault.
All in all I was disappointed with this purchase, having been so pleased in the past with Linksys. The remedy, in the end, was to purchase a used WRT54G and load it with DD-WRT. The WRT54G2 is now gathering dust.
Customer Review: Very satisfied for home use, reasonalby for business
Summary: 4 Stars
I have purchased two of these, this one some time ago for use in my home. I used it with DSL without issue. I converted to cable and purchased the Linksys cable modem with wireless and had trouble. So I brought the one I used with DSL out, hooked it to the cable mode and have excellent service once again. Now the cable modem is just that and doesn't serve any wireless connections. This recent router was purchased for our church. I hooked it up in the office so I could have wireless connections in the sanctuary and various rooms. Here, the issue is strength of the signal. It was not strong enough to give me a good connection in the sanctuary. I choose to connect the Pastor and Receptionist office computers directly with cable since they were close enough to the router. Then I purchased the Linksys cable signal booster. After configuring it and placing near the sanctuary computer, my signal strength went to excellent (all the way up) and the internet works flawlessly. I got a refurbished signal booster for $35. For a business or church, this is a reasonable expense to get such good overage. Given my overall experience, I am very satisfied and do not hesitate to recommend these products. Though it may not be necessary, I try to keep all my equipment from the same manufacturer. I've been writing computer program for over 30-years and have been in the middle of the "It's their fault" wars when you have multiple manufacturers involved. Linksys equipment is reasonably priced, has worked well for me and I have been given good support when needed. So I'll keep using them for all my wireless compoents (cards, routers and boosters).