Cisco-Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster
by Linksys
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List Price: Our Price: $12.50 You Save: $87.49 (87%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days 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 WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster
Customer Review: Great !!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not a Wi-Fi expert, nor a frequent reviewer, but after installing this product I am forced to let people know I am extremely pleased with it.
Plug and Play. Yeap, that easy. I have an old IBM netvista running Windows XP with only 128Mb with a DSL modem and a printer. On the other hand I have a very fast T30 IBM laptop with WiFi which I prefer to use. Now, I'm writing this review in the kitchen of my house without any cables, I also hook this laptop to my Hi Fi equipment in the living room and stream my entire iTunes 7 Gb music library located on the "main" Netvista. I also print out documents from my laptop into the main computer printer and can even use it's scanner and CDROM !!
I know it's a silly review, but I'm just excited for the good performance of this product and it's very easy installation. I even was scared with my cordless 2.4 GHz phone but so far it hasn't given me any trouble.
In terms of range of operation: I live in a concrete/bricks house, the main computer with the router is located in the top floor. All rooms in the top floor have excellent signal (the furthest one located at 30 ft), in the bottom floor, those rooms located "underneath" the router have also excellent signal, but the signal starts to decay at those rooms located 50 ft (straight line) from the router at the bottom floor, but there is still a good signal. I'm able to use it at the garden, the garage (inside the car), the external patio and even the basement (two floors underneath the router) although with poor signal.
Buy this product without fear. It's simply great.
Customer Review: Works Fine but setup is not easy
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this item today. I have 2 laptops(Windows XP,Vista ). First connected the router followed the instructions by the CD and switched on the router the software was not deducting the router and said error 322 router not found.
Tried several times, same result in both the laptops with different operating systems.Reset the modem, router still same issues. The software still could not go beyond detecting the router. Finally gave up and called the customer service. Like a reviewer earlier said it was frustrating, I had to drop off the call and try myself. Unsuccessful I called again and this time a lady walked me through the set up. They basically make you ping your local host via the IE and setup the rest of the installation for you. Overall it took me 2.5 hours to set up the router. The performance of the router is very good. That's why 4 stars.
But I am not sure why the software would not deduct the router in first place. When router is deducted, setup is a breeze in 5 mts. The firmware says v7.2.
Update: 11/02/2008. The wireless is dying 3 - 4 times everyday. The ethernet is connected to my work VPN so cannot reboot when I am working just because wireless is not working. At best this product is only an ethernet adaptor. I wish i revert my 4 stars to 1 star. Bought a new NETGEAR RangeMAX wireless N router. This is way better than the linksys. Setup was so easy just quietly followed the instructions and I am seeing a speed of 117mbps in wireless. At best the Linksys shows 54mbps briefly before going down to annoying 5 mbps just 30 feet away.
Customer Review: The router works fine, but the support is AWFUL
Summary: 3 Stars
Now that I finally have this router installed, it works great. But getting there was quite a battle.
The big problem came when I put in the install disk. It tried to load the Symantec security tools. But when doing so it created such a conflict with my already installed McAfee software that my computer barely worked at all for anything.
I called the Linksys customer support number. The good news is that they answered quickly. The bad news is that they provided poor support. The first person who answered recommended something that didn't work at all. The second person patiently walked me through a process that caused my computer to repeatedly freeze up. On the third call, I was "escalated" to another person who ended up telling me they couldn't help and that I'd have to call Microsoft. I told him that answer wasn't acceptable. He put me on hold for over 30 mins then hung up.
The key turned out to be going through a rigorous process to remove all the Symantec software which required frequent reboots.
6+ hours later I'm happy with the product, but what a process!
This all could have been avoided if the install wizard checked for the existence of, or provided adequate warnings regarding conflicts with McAfee or other security products, and given the buyer an easy workaround. It also would have been better if the people on the support line knew what they were doing.
Since installing, I've had no prolems with the router; and, I hope it keeps working because I dread having to call the support line again.
Customer Review: Good product, dumb software, better off configuring it yourself
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this router to replace an old Netgear MR814v2 which wasn't giving me enough wireless speed (all of the devices in the household are going wireless). I was apprehensive because I've always bought Netgear, but I had heard good things about the Linksys routers from a friend who does firmware/BIOS engineering (and network administration as a side job).
One thing to note is that this router is fast - really fast. I noticed good improvements in speed over the old Netgear router. Also the signal strength and range has improved a great deal - another plus.
The downside is the software. Linksys made a huge deal about using the included CD to setup the router (sticker on the router, huge stickers on the inside box, etc.), that I tried the CD method (big mistake). I spent a good 10 minutes trying to figure out why it couldn't find my router or setup the connection to my ADSL modem. In the end, I had to re-hookup my old Netgear router and visit Linksys' Knowledge Base (KB) and read their quick guide to setting up the router for ADSL. Turns out I should have trusted my first instinct and reviewed the Linksys KB first. It took less than 5 minutes and gave me more control over the router.
The included software is the reason this router has 4 stars instead of 5.
As for compatibility, I'm running all of the printers via a Netgear WGPS606 Wireless Print Server which is connected to the Linksys WRT54GS via wifi, and the speed is excellent. I have not had any problems with this configuration and I am real happy with how things turned out.
Customer Review: disconnect problems and terrible tech support
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this router in September, and it worked beautifully for about five months. Then, for no apparent reason, I started having issues with dropped connections. I initiated connect via email with Linksys tech support, and I was very disappointed in the quality of their support. After a month of getting instructions that didn't solve my problem, I was extremely irritated with their inability to resolve the problem, and they finally gave up and told me to ship it back to them for a replacement. By this time, the router was working only when connected via an ethernet cable.
Well, the replacement arrived, and I tried to set it up, only to find that it couldn't connect to the Internet at all. After a full hour on the phone with tech support, the technician told me that she'd exhausted all of their troubleshooting steps and that I should return it to the store where I bought it. I tried to explain to her that I bought it in September and couldn't return it, but she refused to understand what I was saying and told me to contact Customer Support for any further assistance.
So I contacted Customer Support asking for a full refund, and they informed me that because Linksys isn't in the business of selling their products, they can't give me a refund. But I can contact one of their SENIOR technicians to resolve my problem. (Apparently, they've been relegating me to their JUNIOR technicians for the past month and a half.)
All I want at this point is to get my money back so that I can buy a working product from any company BUT Linksys.