Cisco-Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router
by Linksys
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List Price: Our Price: $54.95 You Save: $25.04 (31%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $40.00 (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 WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router
Customer Review: Solid router
Summary: 5 Stars
I owned a WRT54G router for a few years. It started acting flaky. I was going to buy a N router but they are still expensive and reviews aren't that positive. I did some research on linksys routers based on the WRT54G platform and found that there are several generations (versions) of this router and many are quite different. See Wikipedia. The "L" router was back to the original specs - basically a reissue of the old WRT54G version 2 router that I already had. But, it was supported. Linksys offered to fix up my out-of-support WRT54G router for about $35. But the techs had heavy Indian accents, weren't very articulate. I doubted that I'd be able to describe my problem to them. They kept repeating themselves. A dead giveaway of someone who can't come up with any other descriptive or instructive phraseology or alternatives. For $35, I'd be most of the way there to a new router with full support - as useless at that is. The other thing about the "L" router is that it is not one of the dumbed down 'other versions'. It can be hacked and used as a linux machine whereas the other versions are too emasculated for that. So, worst case, I can use my old and/or new ones for linux if I get ambitious.
In summary; just as good as the WRG54G; Cheap; The newer "N" technology not that reliable yet.
Customer Review: Most stable router out there
Summary: 5 Stars
By far the most frustrating experience about buying networking equipment is lack of stability. Often, routers hang, don't work well with other equipment, are not stable with hundred of connections (bitTorrent), etc.
Well have no fear, because this Linksys router has got to be the most stable router I have ever owned. I've had this one for about one year, and just bought my second. You definitely want to get this more expensive "Linux" version, so you can download custom firwmare into it. I highly recommend tomato firmware ([...]). Stable, simple, no frills. It supports DDNS, QoS, WDS, etc. Basically, it makes getting use of complex features easy. For example, you can set it up such that your VOIP (internet phone) traffic takes priority over your other downloads. This feature is called Quality of Service (QoS). So if you're busy downloading a huge torrent, your VOIP call will not suffer. If you're downloading torrents without QoS, VOIP calls can drop out or sound garbled.
This router is much better than my Apple Time Machine 802.11n wireless router, which does NOT support QoS. The Linksys is more stable, has more features, better wireless performance, etc. In my eyes, this is the only wireless router to buy until tomato supports a cheap 802.11n router.
Customer Review: Good product when it works
Summary: 2 Stars
I HAVE HAD RANDOM LOCKUPS OF THE ROUTER EVER SINCE I BOUGHT IT (4-5 YEARS AGO). SINCE IT WAS NOT THAT OFTEN IT DID NOT BOTHER ME A LOT TO RESET IT. RECENTLY I NOTICED A NEGATIVE TREND OF MORE FREQUENT LOCKUPS WITH SOME COMPUTERS ON THE WIRELESS NETWORK WORKING AND SOME NOT (CANNOT GET THE IP ADDRESS). AND EVERY TIME THE ROUTER POWER IS RESET IT STARTS WORKING AGAIN. MY PREVIOUS "B" ROUTER WAS SMC AWBR7400 (STILL HAVE IT) AND IT WORKED WITHOUT ANY LOCKUPS FOR MANY YEARS.
WITH CISCO BEING A LEADER IN NETWORKING GEAR IT IS A SHAME THE PRODUCT DEFECT RATE IS SO HIGH. JUST LOOK AT THIS QUITE REPRESENTATIVE AMAZON'S STATISTICS: FROM OVER 800 REVIEWS OVER 10% ARE NEGATIVE (MOSTLY DEFECTS). 10% DEFECT RATE IS VERY HIGH FOR A PRODUCT LIKE THIS. MY PERSONAL TAKE ON THIS THAT COMPANIES LIKE CISCO ARE GOOD IN COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS WHERE PROFIT MARGINS ARE HIGH AND THE CONSUMER MARKET BUSINESS IS SECONDARY TO THEM. THEREFORE WE SEE DEGRADING QUALITY OF THEIR CONSUMER PRODUCTS. IF CISCO LOSES ALL LINKSYS CUSTOMERS (LIKE YOU AND ME) AT AN INSTANT THEY WOULD NOT CARE LESS AS THEY WOULD STILL BE PROSPEROUS IN COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL MARKETS. WELL, MY NEXT PERSONAL ROUTER WILL NOT BE FROM CISCO. AND,YES, I AM JUST A CONSUMER NOT AFFILIATED WITH SMC OR ANY OTHER COMPANY IN CISCO'S MARKET SPACE.
Customer Review: Not a long-term solution
Summary: 1 Stars
I was having some problems with a previous router, saw this deal and figured I would try a new one. Went with this model and the transaction was smooth and delivery was on time. The price seemed right and I had success with this brand previously. What did I have to lose? As it turns out, $60 plus shipping just 5 months later.
In the end of this router's life (a short-lived 5 month life, I might add) it would not allow any devices to connect. I found myself power-cycling the modem and router every time I wanted on. There were some serious lag and connectivity issues when it did let me on and one day the router decided to drop it's security settings for no reason. The previous router I had of the same family didn't have to be touched but maybe every 3 months. Even that seems like a stretch because I really don't remember having any problems with it.
I went and spent some extra cash ($160) and got a dual band, NAS enabled router WITH wireless network print capability. So far, so good. All of my devices can share files on the external hard drive, print at a single location, there is no lag during PS3 play and I haven't power-cycled the new router once. My devices are happily connected and I don't know that I will need to spend more money for a long while.
Customer Review: Don't Buy This Router if you have AT&T
Summary: 1 Stars
It is very disappointing to know that Linksys will not support configuring their product after the warranty date expires. They will be happy to do it for $30, but they certainly won't tell you the three steps necessary to do it for less than that. If you've had DSL or any other internet service for that matter, you know that modems from time to time fail. When they do, you have to reconfigure your router to work with the new modem, and after the warranty expires, Linksys won't help you for free. Again, this is not troubleshooting, this is a standard procedure required for modems used by AT&T (perhaps other internet services use more compatible modems). Sadly, they have an automated system that walks you through it, but you can't access it for very long if the call queue is short! It will kick you out to a live person, who then proceeds to tell you that they will charge a fee to give you the instructions. Your other option is to go to their website, which means you have to unplug from your router, connect directly through your modem, print the instructions, then reconnect through your router and follow the printed instructions. This is a ridiculous effort to have to make for what is literally a 3-minute task if talking to someone who knows what they are doing.