Cisco-Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster
by Linksys
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster
Customer Review: Tips for first timers with SBC Yahoo DSL and Windows XP!!
Summary: 4 Stars
FINALLY got the wireless network going but not without help from many of the reviews listed, a long call to Linksys tech support and then stumbling on the Windows XP Network Setup Wizard. This wizard was able to resolve the last of my issues!
Being BRAND new to networking and especially wireless networking here is what I have learned in the past 24hrs that helped get my router/wireless network up and running, but note my experience listed below was to get my desktop which was plugged into Port 1 on the router to access the internet via SBC Yahoo DSL. Once this was FINALLY sorted my wireless laptop was easily connected as soon as I entered the security settings mentioned below into the wireless card software AND THE SIGNAL/SPEED IS EXCELLENT!!
The hard part was connecting the wired desktop below:
-On your desktop that you wish to be wired to the router, first close/disable your virus/firewall software and/or Windows XP firewall
-Do NOT use the CD that comes with the WRT54G. Instead while your computer is still traditionally plugged into your DSL got to www.linksys.com/easy and download NetSet software to your desktop (so you can find it easily). While on this page also download NetUpdate to your desktop also - this program will check if you need a firmware upgrade (ie router software upgrade) - but you have to have your router connected before running this program. So once you have downloaded these 2 programs run the NetSet program and it will guide you through plugging in the router.
-Once the router is plugged in, run the NetUpdate program to check if you need a firmware upgrade (note: my version 5 router did not need an update according to this program)
-If during this entire time the little box saying "Dialling SBC Yahoo DSL" continuously keeps popping up followed by "Error 678 - Remote computer did not respond", and opening Internet Explorer does not result in your home page coming up - well this is what I spent an hour on the phone with tech support about!! They eventually fixed it, but the next morning the same problem still occurred!! This was FINALLY solved by going to My Computer/My Network Places (under Other Places on left side)/Set up a home or small office network and then the Network Setup Wizard pops up. Follow the wizard (there is a requirement saying Connect to Internet - continue on even if the error 678 boxes keep popping up as in my case I WAS connected to the internet through the router despite the error boxes!!) Select the option about sharing the connection through a gateway and once the wizard is done, power down DSL modem and router, then turn on DSL modem first, then router, then restart your computer (as prompted) Once restarted, try to open Internet Explorer....hopefully your home page comes up and the "Dialling SBC Yahoo DSL" followed by "Error 678" is gone....
-If not, right click on the Internet Explorer icon and select Properties/Connections and check "Never dial a connection", then click on LAN settings and make sure all boxes are unchecked, then click OK to exit and try opening Internet Explorer again...
-If still no home page, then close Internet Explorer and double click to open My Computer then go to View/Toolbars and check Address bar and you should see and address bar (may have to drag things around on the tool bar to see it fully). Type the router's default IP address (without www) into this bar - it is listed on FAQ's slip in the router box and looks like ###.###.#.# and hit enter. A box should pop up - leave username blank and type default password listed on FAQ slip in router package and hit OK. Now a new page should come up, click on Setup/Basic Setup and for SBC Yahoo DSL select PPPoE from the drop down menu (different selection req for cable modem). Enter SBC Yahoo DSL username and password and click Save Settings then Continue.
-While you are here, you'll want to change the security settings, so click Wireless/Basic Wireless Settings and make up a new SSID network name that you can remember that contains numbers/capitals. All computers connecting to this wireless network will need to know this SSID, so write it down as well as the wireless channel selected (I was told to select Channel 11 by tech support). Then check Disable SSID broadcast so that your SSID network will appear without a name on a wireless computer's scan. Knowing what channel your network is broadcast on will help you find your network later from your wireless computer. Click Save Settings then Continue. Then click Wireless/Wireless Security and then select either the super secure WPA2-Personal with AES algorithm or the still secure WPA-Personal with TKIP algorithm. Both are acceptable and way more secure than nearly useless WEP. You will need to type a >8 character "password" or WPA Shared Key into the box - again all computers connecting to your network will need to know this so write it down, it should contain capitals and numbers and all computers connecting to your wireless network will need to be compatible with either WPA or WPA2 security and have your network SSID and WPA Shared Key (password) entered into their wireless connection software.
-For extra security, you can ensure that only listed computers can connect to your network. To do so, write down the MAC (basically ID#) printed onto the wireless card of any computer you want to connect. Then on the router set up screen mentioned above, click Wireless/Wireless MAC filter and check enable. Check "Permit only listed PC's having access" and then click "Edit MAC filter list". Enter MAC (ie ID#) from the wireless card of any computer you wish to access your network, then click Save Settings then Continue. Before exiting, click Save Settings then Continue and then close program.
-Now try to open Internet Explorer - if it doesn't work, you will have to call tech support....
-To configure wireless laptops, open the software on the laptop for the wireless card, scan and select your network - it will have a blank area under SSID anme and should be on the channel you wrote down above. Select it and then enter in the SSID network name you created and select either WPA or WPA2 security and enter WPA Shared Key (password) to EXACTLY match whatever you selected on the router configuration page. Hopefully you should be now be able to connect!
-The last problem I had was with Outlook email, as when click Send/Receive it also tried to dial! Click Tools/Email accounts/View /Change existing accounts/Change/More Settings/Connection/Connect using my local area network(LAN)/OK. Then click Test account settings - should work fine. NOW click NEXT to save settings, then Finish and hopefully all "Dialling" error boxes should be gone!
-Once configured and connected you should be able to turn your virus/firewall software back on - GOOD LUCK!!
Customer Review: Completely Disappointed
Summary: 2 Stars
Review of the LinkSys WET54G bridge point, and WRT54GS router
Completely Disappointed
("two Stars", both for the support, and none for the products)
These LinkSys wireless device both failed utterly. The WET54G was replaced, and the replacement failed identically.
Who will repay me for my lost time, and productivity? Noone.
I have used LinkSys wired devices for years, and have found them reliable. This is why I purchased the LinkSys WRT54GS wireless router and WET54G bridge point despite their higher price, and negative reviews.
I must start by saying that LinkSys gets full points for the fine women and men in India whom they employ as their technical support staff. While I have mixed feelings for the socioeconomic ramifications of the North American jobs being outsourced to India, I must say that the general level of courtesy and expertise was higher than I have ever experienced before. Kudos to India for training such superior technicians who can work so much more cheaply than North Americans. In all, I spoke with eight LinkSys support technicians, and seven of these were from India. The Senior Support technician I spoke to in the end was in California, and he was also most excellent in his demeanor and knowledge.
That said, the devices don't work.
At first, I thought the router (WRT54GS) was working, and that I was experiencing signal drop out on the Bridge point side (WET54G). There was some initial contact, but it faded quickly to nothing. I suspected that the doors between the two points were affecting the radio signal, or that the local airport was interfering. Bringing both devices into the same room didn't help, though, and the airport shuts down at night - removing that as a source of interference. The senior support person I spoke to suggested that my wireless phones (also operating in the 2.4 GHz frequency range) could be interfering with the LinkSys products, but it made no difference when I disconnected them.
The Bridge point (WET54G) repeatedly power cycled itself - establishing a link for a few seconds, up to a few minutes, and then mysteriously shutting itself off, and losing the link. This happened every few minutes forever, and eventually it failed to find the wireless connection at all. It just sat there turning itself on again, and off again. After speaking to several technicians in India, I was advised to have the Bridge point replaced. The replacement failed identically.
No amount of tweaking, configuring, upgrading, or resetting makes it work for more than a few minutes. The failure is unrelated to distance between the nodes, time of day, version of the firmware, temperature of the product, OS of the host machine, or any other feature I may discern. It simply does not work. In fact, the two of them failed identically.
I had thought that at least the router (WRT54GS) was working, but I was wrong.
The router functions (or it's supposed to) as a 4-port wired router with a wireless connection. I was attributing the failure of the wireless connection to the Bridge point (WET54G). It took me a while to suspect that the wired connections to the router were perhaps failing sometimes as well. When I did notice that the configuration web page on the router was sometimes inaccessible through the wired ethernet port, I upgraded the firmware (on the advice of the local senior technician). This didn't seem to help, and in fact I then found that there was a complete failure of the wired machines to ping the router.
Unfortunately, when I re-reinstalled the firmware (guessing that the first reinstall had perhaps failed partially), the wired connection to the host failed in mid-upgrade, leaving the firmware corrupted, and unfixable. (There was no firmware to tell the machine how to upgrade the firmware - a sad state.)
The unit started lame, and died completely. Dead, dead, dead.
LinkSys has offered to replace the units, and to replace the bridge with the more recent version (WET54GV2), but I have declined the offer. At best, the units were sometimes working - transmitting with a 50% packet failure rate, which is unusable for me (and most people, I suspect). I now realize that I will fare much better with a trench, and a buried cable to my garage. Ironically, I had initially opted for the wireless equipment on the notion that it would be quicker and easier than digging a thirty foot trench. That was three painful weeks ago. I am now looking gleefully at the trench as the cheaper, quicker, easier, and more reliable option.
After having been a happy and loyal LinkSys customer for years, I am sad to say that I am utterly disappointed with my most recent experiences.
What a major drag. I am very frustrated. If you need speed, and reliability in your network solution, I strongly advise you to seek another solution than LinkSys Wireless devices
Customer Review: Parental Control sevice is awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
First off, spend the extra few dollars to get the WRT54GS compared to just the "G". Another reviewer said that all you get is extra memory. What he doesn't say is that the extra memory allows you to use the Linksys Parental Control software-- the "G" unit cannot support the parental features.
I can go on an on about how good a wireless router this box is, but I want to focus on the overlooked, and incredibly powerful, Linksys Parental Control (LPC) system. The first thing you should know is that the Linksys Parental Control system is an optional for-pay service. You get to try it out for 30-days for free to see if it meets your needs. After which, I think it costs something like $30 a year. Let me tell you it is worth every penny if you have young kids or worse--a teenage boy in your house.
What separates this system from others I've used is that LPC is completely ROUTER based. You don't have to install any crapware on your individual PCs. This is really the way Parental Control software should be implemented. I had a horrible experience with one PC-based parental control vendor. To make a long story short, the software during one of it's online updates completely, and I do mean completely messed up the PC in my son's room. It was no longer able to access the Internet. After weeks of daily tech support with the vendor I had to format the hard drive to remove the crapware. So, take this lesson to heart--the only surefire way to stop a teenager from accessing the Internet in an unrestricted fashion is to secure the Internet via Parental Controls thru the router (Linksys).
You really have a tremendous amount of control over what you permit your children to access. There is an online database that is updated daily with content updates. So you don't have to configure your own "black lists" and "white lists" although the software allows you to override the defaults with your own permit and deny lists. Each member of the family can have their own profile. Another feature I like is that I can also administer the system from a remote location. I log onto the LPC website and I can view reports of past and current activity and I can change settings on the fly. So if your son calls you at work and says he needs to reach Acme.com for example, you can "white list" that site from work and it immediately downloads the update to my Linksys router at home.
The reporting function is very strong. For one of my sons I want to see every site he goes to or attempts to go to. The reports allow you to do this which is very important with teenagers. Anyway, I think you get the idea. This is the absolute best method for implementing Parental Controls at home. With this router-based system it doesn't matter if someone sneaks a laptop into your house-- there is no way they can talk through your router without first signing into the LPC system.
A few negatives to keep in mind. First, everyone in the family has to "log in" to access the Internet. (But this is configurable to some extent.) Also, if the Linksys PC website goes down you are not permitted to access the Internet. You can over-ride this by disabling the LPC on the router temporarily, but it can be an issue. I've been using this for about 3-4 months now and only once was the LPC website down so it's not like it happens frequently.
Bottom line: if safe web surfing and Internet use (email, chat) are important to your family, you really should buy this router and pay for the optional Parental Control service. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Customer Review: To speed or not to speed...
Summary: 4 Stars
I think probably the most important thing you need to understand about wireless router/access points is that they split a signal and work very much like hubs rather than switches, meaning that the signal is sent and received at every receiving point available. That is why wireless is less secure than guided media.
Also, when you're thinking about getting an 802.11g router/AP, you should consider the capabilities of your existing hardware. Is it an 802.11b? If it's a b device, you will not see the coveted 54Gb ever on any machine sharing the frequency because they router automatically selects the lowest speed available. The same thing can be said about the speed booster features.
I'm not sure if the speed boost option is a proprietary technology or not. If it is, all the computers sharing your network will need to have a compatible wireless card -- ie, the WPC54GS -- in order to use the speed boost. If all wireless routers/APs share the same technology, meaning it is standard for all products, then it wouldn't be a problem.
Most likely, it's a proprietary technology. So upgrading to speed boost would mean a complete upgrade to your entire network and everyone you share it with. Good for Linksys, maybe not so good for you and your pocketbook, or your friends' pocketbooks, if you're sharing with everyone else in the apartment or building or however you're doing it.
My recommendation, since Linksys makes such wonderful products, is to simple save yourself the extra doe, and settle for the WRT54G, then everyone can share the network and it won't slow anyone down, as long as they have an 802.11g card in their laptop or desktop or whatever. Especially since most laptops today come with their own built-in cards that come with their own settings and such. It is very unlikely that they will be compatible with a speed boost configured router or access point.
It will also depend on whether you're using a cable internet connection instead of DSL. Cable is a shared network which will allow the same near-advertised speed depending on total metropolitan network demand for all the computers on the network regardless of how they are connected. DSL is a dedicated connection, meaning that there is one speed going through the router (probably 1.5Mbps) and all the computers using the network will have to split the speed between eachother.
One of my favorite features in the WRT54G is the "g-only" setting. This means that only those using an 802.11g card can access your network. Pretty snazzy and makes sure that you never get slowed down by those with outdated b-cards.
Lastly, WEP is very easy to break. There was a demonstration done by the FBI, can't remember where, but they demonstrated that the 64-bit WEP only took a few minutes to break using what was then the current code breaking software that is available for download on the internet. 128-bit took only 3 minutes for their demonstration and that was with dummy signals that were given off to try and confuse the software they used. I would suggest you use WPA for your network since, while it isn't fool-proof, it is much more complicated to break. The only drawback is that it requires other cards to be compatible with the WPA standard, which is fairly new. WPA2 is even newer and would require the same compatabilities.
Customer Review: Tech Support stinks, good product, flakey Parental Controls
Summary: 4 Stars
I had trouble installing one of the PC cards. Tech Support must be in India and there was a serious language barrier going on when I called. (At least three times I said "I'm sorry sir, I can't understand what you are saying!!!). After I described the problem several times (setup wouldn't run to install the card), he still was having me troubleshoot the router. I got frustrated and hung up. Long story short, removing and reseating the card fixed the problem.
The router was fairly easy to set up and the only major problem I had was getting decent signal strength to a PC that was fairly far away. The PC housing is actually in the way of the signal, since the antenna is somewhat "hidden" behind the PC, so I kind of expected it. Might need an antenna extension to increase the signal strength a little more, but repositioning the router and antennas seemed to help a little. Our laptop works all over the house and my PC (same room as the router) is fine too. No problems with the laptop card.
WARNING: The default router settings leave you pretty open to hackers, so change your SSID to something less obvious than "default", turn off SSID broadcasting and use MAC address filtering as soon as you can change those settings! Write down your MAC addresses before you install the cards; it will save you some time trying to get them using Windows.
I don't have any data to support this, but the reliability seems to be better after I installed SP2 for XP. I can't remember the last time I had a problem connecting and it happened many times before I did the upgrade. I either couldn't connect when I booted, or it would just drop during the middle of something. I think I remember hearing that SP2 had better wireless support.
The parental controls feature works great when it's actually working (and it's nicely priced), but it was flakey during my free trial, so I didn't sign up. When Parental Controls are turned on, it appears that all Internet traffic gets redirected through their Parental Controls server. Guess what happens when that server goes down? You either have (1) no access or (2) unlimited access. When I emailed Tech Support, they said they had never heard of that problem (yeah right, even a popular Internet reviewer mentioned it in their review). One more thing, you either have Parental Controls for everyone on the router or no one. So, Mom and Dad have to log in on their PC's if you want your kids to surf safely. A smarter move might have been to use a MAC filter to only have Parental Controls on certain PC's.
The reporting options outside of Parental Controls are next to nil. You get a weak outgoing log that only lists IP addresses. It doesn't even appear to be accurate, from what I can see (entries missing?). Tech Support said they don't have a utility to pull better logs yet (They do have one for earlier Linksys routers).
I have never installed a wireless network before, so I can't give you any comparisons to other manufacturers. However, setup and speed are very good to excellent. Tech support stinks. Parental Controls will be very good if they get their servers to be more reliable.
***Update 9/8/2006: After about two years of usuage, I think I have figured out that my cordless phone (also 2.4 GHz) is interfering with my wireless connection!!!