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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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router
Customer Review: The Little Box That Can
Summary: 5 Stars
This is my second WRT54GL and it was an easy buy after my positive experiences with the first one. The original was flashed with DD-WRT v23 and it has been up and running without fail for over a year and a half (just upgraded it to v24 with no problems). Even if you're not into changing the firmware don't bother with the included software as it's garbage. Instead, hook your computer up with the included lan cable, type 192.168.1.1 and configure the router appropriately.
As other reviewers have stated DD-WRT and other third party firmware add greater functionality to the router and are highly recommended. Do a google search "for how to flash the wrtgl with dd-wrt firmware" and you'll find a great visual guide for flashing the router at M&L Adventures. IMPORTANT - make sure you use the micro or mini version of DD-WRT the first time you flash it as the latest linksys firmware does not allow flashes over 3MB. Once you've flashed the router with the mini DD-WRT then you can apply the regular flash DD-WRT v24(5/24/08) std. If you apply the standard without first applying the micro/mini you'll brick the router (I did it twice before figuring out the sequence). You can recover the router but it's a pain. Download latest linksys firmware and get tftp2.exe (google it) to load original firmware back onto router.
I am using my second router as a repeater bridge (DD-WRT functionality) to extend the range of my wireless network. Can't stand having a PS3 with limited connectivity. I am now able to effectively stream Netflix and Hulu to my PS3 using Playon server software. Yeah.
Overall, this is a rugged dependable router that is inexpensive and supported by free third party firmware that further enhances its capabilities.
Customer Review: Easy to set up without using the CD
Summary: 4 Stars
I performed the following steps to get this router working in a couple of minutes, with no setup CD. These steps will work for any type of computer:
1. Connect your Internet modem to the router's Internet plug.
2. Use the included blue cable to connect your computer's network plug to one of the numbered plugs on the router.
3. Connect the modem to power (or turn it off, then on again), then connect the router to power, then wait a minute for things to start up.
You can stop here if you don't care about wireless security (you now have an unsecured Wi-Fi network called 'linksys'). But if you do want security on your Wi-Fi network (you should!), keep going...
4. Start the web browser on your computer and go to the address 192.168.1.1
5. Enter 'admin' for both the user name and the password.
6. You'll now be at the router's setup web pages. Click 'Wireless' (to the right of 'Setup').
7. Change the wireless network name to anything you want (something unique and recognizable is best).
8. Click Save Settings. Once they're saved, click on Wireless security.
9. Set security mode to WPA2 Personal, set WPA algorithm to TKIP+AES, and enter anything you want for WPA shared key (this is the wireless network password; for maximum security use a meaningless jumble of letters and numbers, but whatever you pick, remember it!)
10. Click Save Settings.
11. If you only need wireless, you can now unplug the cable between the computer and the router.
Now you should have a Wi-Fi network with the name you gave it in step 7, and the password is what you entered in step 9. Have fun!
Customer Review: Never wait until the last minute or you'll be stuck with a router-shaped door stop.
Summary: 1 Stars
Following the BLUF recommendation (Manager-[...]) let me just say that if you wait until the 30-or-so day return window is expired, you'll never get satisfaction.
After weeks of puttering around with this router, unsuccessfully trying to create an error-free connection, I finally called and got into the nightmare that is Linksys tech support, and finally got them to agree that I had a piece of junk. But all they could do was send another one. No refunds. Amazon's refund window expired the day before. Oh well, guess slow learners pay more.
Anyway, the issue is that I dial use a Citrix remote-connection to the office, and any interruption kicks me off, and forces me to restart the login/authentification process. For regular Web surfing and e-mail, intermittent interruptions are pretty much invisable. But every time I tried to remote-in to the office, I'd get kicked off several times an hour. Tech support ran tests, and had me install new firmware. Still nada. So went through RMA process (not to painful) and got another one (not new, but rebuilt). It was worse than the other.
I called tech support, and they wanted to have me jump through all the same hoops again. I declined to waste more time.
What a PITA. Next time, I'll test the heck out of it the day the box arrives and ship it right back if it even smells funny.
:-)
Oh, should mention that I also got Time Warner (Road Runner) to come out about three times to test the internet to the house and the cable modem in the house. They made a convincing case that their feed was error-free, and when I took the router out of the loop, I could verify the same thing: no dropped connections.
Customer Review: Does Linksys hate Apple users? Nice router; dismal instructions.
Summary: 3 Stars
September 19, 2006
I bought this router because it was the only one that had consistently high user ratings. It seems to be a good router, worthy of five stars. The instructions, however, deserve no stars. I am an Apple user and from reading the other reviews I was expecting to have to manually configure this router. Linksys must hate Apple users. Nowhere in the PDF instruction manual, nor in any of the papers packed with this device, is there a note that says: "For Macintosh setup instructions see page..." It is as if Apple computers do not exist. (The only reference to Apple computers is in the FAQs: "Will the Router function in a Macintosh environment? Yes.") For three hours, over and over I struggled through the cryptic instructions which were filled with acronyms and technical jargon I didn't understand. It could be that I am a dim-witted moron (many would confirm that admission) but there is a school of thought that says a well designed product needs no instruction manual (see The Psychology of Everyday Things by Donald A. Norman). It could be inferred that the larger the instruction manual, the worse the design. This router was obviously not desgined with Apple users in mind. Perhaps it was not ecconomically feasible for Linksys to create an OS X Setup Wizard. But surely they could have put some pages in the PDF instruction manual with screen captures and captions that state: "If you are an OS X user do this..." Or perhaps they just hate Apple users.
The bottom line: the hardware is acceptable and will perform as advertised. The instructions leave much to be desired.
November 1, 2006 - This router has performed flawlessly - five stars for the hardware.
Customer Review: Good so far
Summary: 4 Stars
Replaced the old router with this one last night, and I couldn't be more pleased. Signal strength problems now gone; great reception throughout the house. Web page loading speed is now greatly improved. The Airport Extreme card seems to "get along" much better with this wireless G router.
Have not yet experimented with the mixed environment that will result when the PC (with the old 802.11b adapter) is running at the same time as the 802.11g Airport Express.
Two minor quibbles: something about the native Link sys web interface is not Apple/Safari-friendly. Many menu items in drop-down lists had code snippets present as part of their text when viewed from Safari. The router was configurable with some work to ignore the code and find the actual text of the settings. Replacement of the Link sys firmware with the current dd-wrt third-party firmware resolved that problem, and also resulted in a HUGE speed improvement in the web management interface. (Note: The signal strength improvements happened without needing to manually reset the antenna broadcast power in the dd-wrt firmware!)
Secondly, the "Run this CD first" installation walk through seems to be Windows-only. One would think that a device which is specifically marketed to be "Linux friendly" would come with setup and support tools for a variety of operating systems, no? As a former network admin I had no problem with the manual config, but iMac would have a rough time figuring things out.
Taking everything into consideration, a wonderful product that has already exceeded my expectations after only two hours of use - but may be difficult for unsophisticated non-Windows users to configure without help.