Cisco-Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router
by Linksys
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List Price: Our Price: $109.98 You Save: $90.01 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $49.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router
Customer Review: great compatibility and stability, reach could be better
Summary: 4 Stars
wow, the reviews on this wireless router are all over the place. so i thought i'd share my experiences.
i owned a wrt54gx4 and noticed that it had compatibility issues in a varied environment - the wireless clients include he usual assortment of PCs (which worked fine), an iPhne (which always had to try to connect a few times), a linksys skype phone, a Roku netflix player (worked fine), and a number of Logitech squeeze* music streamers. and the Logitech Duet was having massive issues.
i just unplugged my own router and set up the WRT610N *manually*, the is, using none of the easy setup tools provided with it. i assigned the 2.4ghz band to G and B devices, and the 5ghz band to N. both bands share the same security and passphrase.
the upshot: all previous compatibility issues are gone - the WRT610N is far more compatible with a wide range of devices than the WRT54GX4 was, that is certain. the devices have connected nice and smoothly.
the only reason i am not giving it 5 starts is because, compared to the WRT54GX4, the reach of the WRT610N could be a bit better. i guess there is a price to pay for the slick internal antennas, but i wish wireless router vendors would always give us a choice to attach our own external antennas to improve reach. signal levels have dropped 5-10% throughout the house. i shall play a bit with the placement of the router, but doubt huge dividends will result.
i just bought this router, so it came with the .18 firmware, which was allegedly made available in august, and i hope overcomes the issues some of the reviewers in here encountered. it works very well for me, even though for the price i would have expected similar coverage compared to the older GX4...
Customer Review: Linksys WRT610N (and WUSB600N) - a good choice
Summary: 5 Stars
I ordered the Linksys WRT610N wireless dual-band gigabit router as replacement for my aging Netgear, after it became increasingly slow and required far more frequent resets. Even though I selected free (5 to 8 business days) shipping, the device arrived only two days after I received the email notification it was on its way (kudos Amazon, you never stop surprising me!).
Installation was a breeze; simply follow the quick install guide, plug in cables when told to, and the network was back up and running in 10, 15 minutes. Granted, I had to "hard" reset the cable modem rather than simply powering off and on, but that is due to an internal battery which nowadays becomes the norm (the battery retains settings so it requires poking with a paper-clip).
Similarly I had to reboot the NAS; it too wouldn't see the router (or vice versa), but once the NAS came up, tada, they were on speaking terms.
The router is performing much, MUCH faster than the Netgear (which is not to say Netgear is bad, it was just old and outdated, after serving me well for several years).
As part of my order I also got the Linksys WUSB600N adapter. There too, installation was very easy and flawless when following the QIG. Throughout the house a wireless connection is established instantaneously.
Basic configuration is done as part of the setup; more specific and detailed configuring is fairly simple, though I haven't gotten the MAC address filtering set up completely. I'm confident though I'll get it right; it's just that the Linksys interface and menus are different from what I'm used to.
So far, I'm very pleased with the router (and adapter). For what my opinion is worth, I can heartily recommend it.
Customer Review: I wish I would have bought a different router
Summary: 2 Stars
I purchased this router as a replacement/upgrade to an Apple AirPort Extreme (54/g). I really wanted the simultaneous dual-n band feature. In addition, I planned on using the USB storage feature for backing up my laptop through TimeMachine. I am very disappointed in both the quality of the software as well as the reliability of the connection.
First, the auto install messed up my networking settings. I had to delete all of my network preferences and start over. If I had to do it over again, I would bypass their new "LELA" software (or whatever it's called) and just do a manual configuration, it will save you a lot of headaches.
Second, the administrator control software (the web client) is horrible. It doesn't look like they have upgraded it since the very first routers 10 years ago. Changing settings leads to errors and lost preferences. Very unimpressive.
Thirdly, my connection drops regularly on the 5ghz band. I have not spent a lot of time on the 2.4 ghz band yet, but if it is better, I will update this review. I found my Apple AirPort base station to be much more reliable.
Finally, the USB storage feature is a nightmare to set up and I still haven't been able to make it work properly yet. I believe the problem is that the Linksys software is outdated and this feature was just "hacked" as a quick marketing ad-on. I don't think it will ever be reliable or usable.
On a side note, the plastic case shows every smudge and finger print that has touched it. I am not inexperienced in wireless networking, and I have owned several Linksys routers in the past. I must say this router is a huge let down, and I would recommend looking for other products.
Customer Review: DO NOT BUY WITHOUT ATTACHING COOLING
Summary: 1 Stars
Router Overheats - Workaround Available
Pros:
Great Router - IF KEPT COOL.
Great features. Easy to setup. Great signal and performance throughout multi-story house for Media Center, NetFlix and XBOX Live using Wireless N 2.4 and 5 and Gigabit Wired.
Cons:
DESIGN FLAW - Linksys routers with this design overheat. In talking to local retailers a lot of Linksys routers are returned because they overheat and become flaky. Apparently Linksys has perpetuated this problem to the newer Valet models so changing the name didn't address the problem...
SYMPTOMS - Random network failures from during increased network traffic. Hot to touch. Linksys tech support sent me another when they couldn't figure out why my network kept dropping - same problem. THE ROUTER WILL FAIL UNTIL COOLED.
WORKAROUND - Keep the WRT610N cool by placing it on top of a PC Case fan or on top of a USB powered laptop cooler. Solution I use: My WRT610N is plugged into and resting on a Thermaltake Massive23 ST laptop cooler - the overheating problems vanished (this cooler available for around $30, others available on Amazon for less). This should work for other routers with a USB port for attached storage.
ANOTHER WORKAROUND: from the web - others have cracked the case to replace/add heat sinks internally to the router but this voids your warranty...
BOTTOM LINE: DO NOT BUY WITHOUT COOLING as the router will overheat and become unreliable.
Great Router if you use a cooler as described above. Retailers should bundle coolers with Linksys routers until Linksys fixes the design flaw.
Product Rating: 4-5 if cooled - otherwise a 0.
Customer Review: Best router I've ever owned
Summary: 5 Stars
"After several hours of tedious research, I finally decided to take the plunge and buy this router (although I bought it from another store, I frequently shop Amazon and am a Prime member, so I wanted to share my thoughts with the community). All the reviews I read ranged from horrible to fantastic, and the horrible reviews kept sticking in my mind. After getting this setup and working in my apartment, I can say I'm glad I bought and won't look back.
Currently I have two laptops, two desktop PCs, a wireless printer, a networked storage drive, a PS3 and an Xbox 360. With the exception of my Toshiba laptop, everything connected easily and flawlessly, even using the highest encryption. My Xbox 360 is using the Wireless-N adapter, and for the first time, I'm able to stream Netflix movies in HD with no hiccups, transitions back to SD, or 5 minute waits to just start the movie. Windows Media Center also flies as well.
On my Toshiba laptop, I had to remove all firewalls before the device would connect to the network, but once I did, it worked flawlessly (don't care about firewalls anyway and had been meaning to remove it once the free trial expired anyway).
The great thing about this device is the dual band radios. Right now my 360 is the only device using the higher end 5 Ghz band, and all my other devices can stay on the 2.4 Ghz band and not slow down my online gaming or media streaming.
If you're at all confident in setting up a wireless network and need the features that this device offers, I highly recommend it. It also has the gigabit ethernet ports, and I'm strongly considering upgrading my two desktop PCs to take advantage of this feature."