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 $39.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router
Customer Review: Don't buy this router to run the standard Linksys software, buy it to run DD-WRT
Summary: 5 Stars
Suppose you are like me. You have two DSL lines, you have a far corner of the house that does not get good coverage.
You want to automatically detect when one or the other line fails and fall over to the working line, and when the lines are both working, you want to balance your load between them.
Get a couple of these routers and install the DD-WRT software. This is not for the uninitiated - but the DD-WRT wiki provides excellent install instructions.
Use the install instructions for your exact model of router - they vary.
Now, I was able to configure the router I have to have not one but two WAN ports, and to automatically do the routing based on things like source IP address, and which box on my lan, and a couple other things.
I found instructions for how to balance two DSL lines on one regular Linux box - and they worked just fine on the router - all I had to do was to create a startup script that balanced things out. Simple, no?
And I had poor coverage at the back of my house - so I installed another router back there, defined a WDS connection between them, the routers maintain a WDS connection, and automatically ping each other and reestablish the WDS connection if it goes down - and this means that any device in the house can simply attach to the best signal and the routers handle bridging automatically.
Like magic, almost. As compared to the ZyXel router I had, this box/software combo just plain works. End of story. The ZyXel AP I used for a couple of weeks had me convinced that I had a laptop with failing wi-fi. Once I de-installed that and put in the Linksys with the DD-WRT software, everything just worked, end of story. And my failing laptop never failed again.
The DD-WRT loadout is as reliable as the Linksys loadout. Plus, you have full Linux networking including the IP command, so you can do advanced load balancing. You can log in with any ssh client to get a command line - so that you can do pings from the command line by interface. I retasked one of the bridged lines as a second WAN interface - and it just worked.
And if you want to set up a commercial access point, there are instructions for how to do that - as well as the ability to set up multiple isolated access points so that you can have one insecure one for customers and a secure one for your business.
The five star rating for this router is based on the DD-WRT software load. The lower individual ratings are based on the Linksys software.
If you are not experienced in network use, this sort of thing may not be for you unless you have a friend who can help.
If you are experienced in network use, then, well, this sort of thing may be just what you want. I know it was exactly what I wanted.
Customer Review: Cisco Linksys WRT54GL Linux Based Router Review
Summary: 5 Stars
The Linksys (now a subsidiary of Cicso Systems) WRT54GL is a re-issue of the original WRT54G wireless router introduced about six years ago. The first few versions of this router shipped wiht a linux based operating system. Newer versions of this router have less memory and a proprietary OS called VX Works.
Over the years many third party firmware versions have been released such as OpenWRT/Xwrt, an open source package, dd-WRT and Tomato witch are commercial products. Developers and end users have had great success in adding expanded features and functionality such as IP tables firewalls and WDS integration with these firmwares. A WRT54GL with a good third party firmware can function on par with far more sophisticated and expensive hardware. With OpenWRT one can even configure access to Linux repositories and perform updates and modular package downloads and installations from the routers Internet connection.
As an example flashing OpenWRT can be accomplished using the firmware upgrade feature of the factory OS via a network connection. It is necessary to obtain a correct firmware version based upon the hardware revision. Currently there are two revs of the WRT54GL and several revs of the WRT54G/GS. The later revs of the G/GS are upgradeable but the process is more involved and again the hardware revisions vary from rev to rev. For OpenWrt a basic knowledge of Linux is required and Linksys does not support third party firmware.
The WRT54GL is a great router for Linux enthusiasts developers, and end users. I have had several WRTs of various revs and they are all great routers. I won't use any other product for my small scale networking projects. The WRT54G series includes a 10/100 switch with auto sensing ports and a diversity antenna system in a conveniently stackable case. Out of the box, the OEM Firmware includes an SPI firewall, DMZ, UPNP, acess restrictions, QOS, and advanced routing. It is very easy to configure with the included "Easy Link Advisor" software. I recently acquired a WRT54GL to tinker with and with a modest command of Linux was able to flash the correct and stable firwmare version and get the router up and running with Xwrt Kamikaze 7.09 The Router has been running with 100% uptime with QOS cascaded toLinksys-Cisco WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router (Compatible with Linux) my WRT54GS.
I highly recommend the Cisco/Lynksis WRT54GL as a great solution for home and small office WIFI and networking with an extremely versatile upgrade path at a modest price.
Customer Review: WRT54GL = INCONSISTENT SIGNAL STRENGTH !!!
Summary: 1 Stars
Ordered the Linksys WRT54GL wireless router from Amazon on 5-27-08 based on the positive reviews. But if you look critically at the reviews, the majority of them sing the praises of "easy to connect". Few reviews discuss reliability of Internet connection.
My laptop computer received constantly varying signal strength ranging from poor to excellent. The laptop was about 40 feet away from the router. Sometimes the signal was SO WEAK the laptop would not connect to the Internet even with the laptop next to the router.
I began Live Chat sessions with Linksys tech support in early June. They recommended changing the channel setting from the default of 6 to a new setting of 11. At this setting, it was impossible to connect to the wireless laptop. Several other sessions with the Live Chat guys involved many more changes, but the router signal was still inconsistent. The laptop computer could only connect to the Internet intermittently during the day.
Comcast Cable checked out my Internet link and verified it was OK. HP tech support verified my laptop was fine. They said the problem was the router.
I called Linksys Cust Serv to discuss returning the router. They took some information and transferred my call to the Tech Support Return Guy A.K.A. The Negotiator. This guy was a "piece of work". He said that because the router worked some of the time, it was not defective. He said there are many things in our atmosphere that interfere with wireless router signals and my problem had to be interference. He said that when a signal goes thru a wall or down a hallway, or around a corner, it is weakened. Also a phone or microwave can cause interference.
I told this guy I didn't want to hear his philosophical ramblings, I wanted to know what I was supposed to do to make the router work. He said I should take my laptop throughout my house and watch how the signal degraded. I should relocate the router to a more favorable location. Linksys would consider my router as defective if I ran experiments to prove the router did not work using a different laptop computer. His recommendation was that I get a friend with a laptop to run experiments in my house, generate data on variation in signal strengths, and prove the router did not work using two different computers. If I did that, Linksys would consider taking my one-month old router back!!! Isn't that very generous of Linksys!!!!!
DON'T DEAL WITH LINKSYS, THEY'RE UNBELIEVABLE!!!
I logged onto Amazon.com, filled out the info, and immediately got approval for a return and refund. THANK GOD FOR AMAZON !!!!!
Customer Review: Works great, good customer support, but a frustrating intallation experience
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this a month ago to replace a NetGear router I had been using in my 1-bedroom 3rd floor apartment. The NetGear router didn't have any problems, but it was my friend's router, so I needed to get a new one. Another friend suggested this one, saying it's the most reliable router in the market, so I took his word for it, and bought it.
His only watchout to me was that I needed to follow instructions exactly, or I would get into trouble and would need to pretty much repeat the installation process all over again. I took his advice, but I got stuck nevertheless - I went by the instructions, and got to the point where the installation CD was in my CD drive, and the set up software was at a screen where it asked for the following items of information - DNS suffix, IPv6 address, IPv4 address, Subnet mask, and Gateway.
Now folks with some internet and networking knowledge would breeze by this, but I, inspite of being an Electrical Engineer, am not at my best when it comes to this stuff. I know that you can get some of this information by hitting Control+R, and then typing 'cmd' and then Enter, and then ipconfig and Enter on the resulting command window. That will print this information, but some of the fields will be blank.
Now what makes it even more confusing is this particular screen on the installation software says something like 'Don't change the fields if you're not sure'. But it won't allow you to go to the next screen without filling values in all these fields! Fill in junk values and your setup won't work!
At this point, I called up my Internet Service Provider - Comcast, to get the required information. Comcast customer service told me that I needed to call the manufacturer of the router, since the router was connected to my modem, and my computer was now communicating with the router.
Thus, I called up Linksys customer support. Customer support was a young man based in India, who was patient and courteous with my issues, and knowledgable as well. However, he did away with my installation CD completely. In other words, he got the router configured for me without touching the installation CD.
So finally, after all this maneuvering, I was ready. Everything worked, and has worked perfectly since then. I am able to get quality signals in every nook and corner of my apartment.
In the last month, I haven't had a single time that my internet connection has failed.
To summarize, my set up experience was frustrating, but having moved past that my wife and I are happy with this product.
Customer Review: really, just plug it in and go enjoy your day
Summary: 5 Stars
Perfect for the Network challenged. Even though I'm a fairly savvy computer person, network stuff is needlessly complicated and confusing to me. I tempted fate adding this unit to an existing linksys wired router that came with my Vonage phone system. My main computer is a Mac, so the install disc (pc only) was not a handy option. So google time. Apparently both routers share the same IP address and GASP!!- according to the dire warnings, if I tried to use both devices with the same IP, all kinds of horrible things would happen just short of melting the polar ice caps. So I judiciously followed all the expert tutorials to change IP and other things, and successfully rendered the unit completely unable to get back on the internet, and totally screwed it up.
Since it was working just fine before I "fixed" it with this net wisdom, I hit the reset button on the back, rebooted the modem, plugged the unit in and all was fine again. The only thing I did agree on was to enable security on the unit.
So here's my "expert advice"- Just plug it in and be happy, it's actually pretty foolproof. To use two routers, (at least linksys brand) plug your wireless unit into a free port on the wired unit. The unit has great range, even from a basement.
However, unless you don't mind letting others poach/snoop your wireless, - you really should password protect your wireless network. Plug any computer's (Mac/Linux ok!!) ethernet cable into the router you want to change. Open your web browser, Type the web address of http 192.168.1.1 you'll be brought to a scary login page, leave the user-name blank, enter passcode "admin". Then go to basic set up: wireless, then security, enable WAP- then create your passcode of choice. You might also want to rename your network, because if you are in a dense neighborhood, you'll likely see lots of other router networks called "linksys"... I loved calling my network "Al Gore's House"...
I'll update if otherwise, but after a week no bad things have happened other than enjoying an easy wifi experience. Besides the Vonage and Mac, I have a WinXP Pc, ROKU player, an old laptop with linux, Iphone...all of them wireless- plus the wife's mac which is connected to the vonage router via a powerline system. All of them connect, stay connected, and work just fine- even at the same time, knock on wood. No issues, although it's suddenly been awfully cold weather here recently....hmmmmm