Cisco-Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router
by Linksys
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router
Customer Review: Top Notch
Summary: 5 Stars
This router has been pretty controversial in different reviews so I'll try and be as detailed as possible.
First I'll talk about my experience with Amazon. The shipping was on time, in fact a day or two early and with the free super save shipping it was a real steal. The router was packed in its original Linksys box and was padded with bubble wrap to make sure the package would arrive safe and undamaged.
The router looks very sleek and nice and since it doesn't have any ugly antennas.
Setup was pretty complicated at first since it was my first time setting up and dealing with a wireless router. I think what complicated it more was the setup CD that came with the router. When I went about setting up the wireless network manually it was much easier. I used the WEP encryption for the network because the WPA encryption caused my connection to drop out all the time. I figured that wireless encryption is pretty secure and with LELA (which comes on a separate CD in the package) I can tell if there are/were any unwanted people trying to get on the network. I had issues installing LELA so I ended up downloading it from the Linksys website (a link can be found in the forums) and it works just fine.
The router works well for very long periods of time, it doesn't overheat. I reset it only once ever since I got it and I've had it for a couple of months now. My laptop is a few years old so I'm using wireless-G. It streams very well on the 2.4 ghz band from my laptop to my PS3, so I can only imagine the speed if I was on the 5 ghz band and using wireless-N.
I tried using the UPnP server built in on the router so I could create a media server and stream from a hard disk plugged in to the USB port on the router to my PS3 directly and it worked well. Setting up the media storage on the router wasn't easy and can be annoying.
I've worked with a lot of LAN networks before so wireless was very new to me and I was able to set up my network with a password, set up file sharing and transfers between laptops in my home, stream movies and files to my PS3 and use internet.
The Linksys forums are very helpful, I hope this review was helpful too.
Customer Review: Let Me Add My Disappointment....
Summary: 2 Stars
to the list of those who feel let down by Linksys. Had a 2 year old Linksys N-band product and was looking for better range from this router for my wireless home network.
Do everyone a favor and drop Network Magic aka Ma-junk. Go back to producing the quality stuff you can. The Easy-Link Advisor software was simple and better than Network Ma-junk. If I want to control/manage my network I can do it thru the windows services that are already available. If you are trying to make it easy for the inexperienced user to manage their network, why did you put this junk on a high-end router that contains features they don't need AND THEN MAKE THE SAME INEXPERIENCED PERSON (probably fearful of what will happen if they do not) BUY IT IF THEY WANT TO KEEP IT? Very Disappointing.
1. Range is no better than the old router I owned....DIS-appointing
2. Network magic is a sham. Gotta buy it if you want it...and where was that disclosed in the product specs before I pulled the trigger on this one, huh?.
3, Network magic is slow. While it "refreshes" (every time it wants to) for 45 seconds to a minute you can't access your network services thru MyComputer.
4. Network Magic upgrade killed my machine. Msg from NM: "There is an upgrade available, do you want to automatically upgrade now?" Me: Sure, why not! ME: Whoa, my desktop keeps opening and shutting down, reopening and shutting down..... NM: New message, "Our upgrade installed 32-bit software, you are running a 64-bit OS, please contact the manufacturer for the correct software" And then there is no return email from Tech Support. How duhhhh is it that they would download 32-bit software to my 64-bit OS. If they aren't evaluating that for the download, how good can this soft-junk be?
I really like Linksys products mainly because their setup is easy for me to understand. However, unless you have some special need, this is WAY too much router for the average user (me included) and you don't need to spend this much $$. Get another N-band product from a reliable manufacturer at a cheaper price and you will be equally satisfied.
Customer Review: Don't buy the Linksys WRT610N router
Summary: 1 Stars
I can honestly say the box of the WRT610N router is utterly misleading. The claims that the router has 'robust range and speed' and provides 'more complete coverage throughout your home' are basically untrue in anything that looks like a real home. The Rangeplus antenna technology does not give you 'expanded wireless coverage' as promised. Basically, if you want to use this router to stream to any device in any room OTHER than the one the router is in - forget it.
I live in a small flat. I have my internet connection and media server in my office and I want to stream AV to my media PC attached to my TV ie the exact use the router is marketed for. As you can see, in the 5GHz band this is impossible (cannot receive). I am better off using my ancient WRT54G even for the 2.4GHz band.
Using the format: band (GHz)/ throughput (Mbps)/ signal (dpm) / noise (dpm)
Same room (4m - distance router to PC. No internal walls)
WRT610N Version 1
2.4 / 130 / -52 / -91
5.0 / 162-270 / -55 / -88
WRT54G Version 4
2.4 / 18-36 / -51 / -89
Next room (8m - distance router to PC. 1 internal wall)
WRT610N Version 1
2.4 / 78-104/ -64 / -91
5.0 / 13.5 (av) -54 (peak) / -77 / -98
WRT54G Version 4
2.4 / 24-48 / -65 / -89
Next room (12m - distance router to PC. 2 internal walls)
WRT610N Version 1
2.4 / 13 (aV) 19.4 (peak) / -83 / -91
5.0 / ZERO / NA / NA
WRT54G Version 4
2.4 / 11-36 (18av) / -78 / -89
I called Linksys support. It was very hard to get them to understand the problem. They tried lots of things which were not very successful. After reading how poor this router is (why I not find these reviews by users before I bought it I am not sure) I tried the moving and benchmarking exercise above. I called back Linksys. They are exchanging the router but I am extremely doubtful the next one will be any different.
In short. If you want to use a router in a different room room to the target device DO NOT BUY THIS ROUTER.
Customer Review: Works great--but upgrade the firmware
Summary: 5 Stars
I got the Linksys WRT610N a couple days ago as an upgrade to an old Linksys Wireless G router. The old router worked fine for years but I wanted something faster because I've started doing backups of large files over a small (two computer# wireless home network.
Setup was a total breeze--I just followed the directions on the included installation disk and there were no snags. Once I got it installed and enabled the secured wireless network, it seemed to work fine. I did notice, though, that it was connecting over wireless at about 65 mbps, which is a little slower than one would ideally hope for with Wireless N. However, it was still okay and was a major improvement over the approximately 20-30 mbps I got with the old Wireless G router.
I then downloaded the latest firmware version from Linksys' website and flashed the rom. Since the router worked fine out of the box, I decided to do this for no particular reason other than just ordinary prudence.
However, after the firmware upgrade, I now routinely get a speedy wireless connection of at least 200 mbps and, at times, have even gotten the 300 mbps theoretical max for wireless N. Rather impressive, I think. So my recommendation: this is a great router, but if you want to get the most out of it, it seems you need to upgrade to the latest firmware.
A couple of other thoughts. First, I live in a rather small apartment and the distance over which I'm using wireless is only about 50 feet--from my living room to the master bedroom. So I have no insight one way or the other as to how this router will work in bigger houses over longer distances.
Second, the WRT610N's configuration screen by default assumes that the 2.5 GHz band will be used for transmitting computer data and the 5 GH band #which is presumably spreedier and less traffic-clogged# will be used for video/media streaming. But don't let that throw you--you can use either band for whatever you want. In my case, I don't do any video/media streaming, so I set up the computer on the 5 GHz band and have never used the 2.5 GHz band for anything.
Customer Review: This router is fantastic..It's all about configuration
Summary: 5 Stars
I had to be strong and believe too much in Linksys to buy this router after all those bad reviews.
As a Linksys "forever user", I decided to take a chance: I could not understand why so different opinions for the same product and the most important: I could not accept the idea of buying a new router with those ugly antennas.
Why I bought this router? Simply because I needed Simultaneous Dual-N Band (2.4 and 5 gigahertz). If you don't need it now, think about the future and you also will need it.
If you want to know the pros of this product, simply read the Product Description from the manufacturer in this page: all that is true.
How to obtain the best results? You can be lucky and your router could be working great after opening your box. That was not my case: I have too many devices, all working in different bands + Wireless-N, G, and -B. I had to work really hard to find the best configuration. The most devices you have, the most work you probably will need.
This is my third week with this router. The 5 gigahertz band worked perfectly from the beginning. No change at all to the original configuration. All those connection drops I had at the beginning in the 2.4 gigahertz band, are not present anymore. If something changes, I will update this review.
P.S. I was obsessed with those reviews indicating the overheating of the unit. I don't know if was true or not, but I'm using my laptop cooler and the device is never hot. Conclusion: Many people here who complains about this product, in my opinion...that's because they never knew how to onfigure it to work.
Fourth week Update: I discovered the USB storage was not operative. I returned the router and received a new one. Now the USB storage works and is fantastic. Again, no connection drops at all. Tip: if you have multiple devices (mixed old and new devices) in your 2.4 gigahertz band, start trying with the WEP 64 security configuration as Linksys recommends.
Eighth week Update: No problems at all. Online gaming..fantastic.!!! Good decision. New Firmaware available..worked good.