Cisco-Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G
by Linksys
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander WRE54G
Customer Review: Really, really tough to configure but eventually works.
Summary: 3 Stars
I finally got this thing working but it consumed days of my time.
I have a Linksys WRT54G router. The Range Expander is supposed to work out of the box with that router, but this was not the case, even with the latest WRT54G firmware (3.01.3).
Here's what I had to do:
My WRT54G router was originally set to use WPA security. The WRE54G Range Expander does not currently support WPA (allegedly there is a firmware update to fix this but good luck finding it).
I first disabled WPA on my router left my network open. The next thing I did, though optional, was to write down the MAC addresses of all my clients (including the Range Expander - you should see it on the back) and enable MAC filtering in the WRT54G router admin tool to only allow devices with approved MACs on the network. I also assigned my clients a static IP and narrowed the range of DHCP addresses assigned by the router. This isn't required for compatibility with the Range Expander, but is good practice.
I tried using the Auto Config feature of the Range Expander at this point but that didn't work. I next tried to follow the WRE54G setup tutorial at Tom's Networking. Unfortunately that didn't work either.
What I ended up doing was installing alternative open source firmware on my WRT54G router (this is legal because the Linksys firmware is GPL'd). Right now I am using Satori-4.0 v2.0.7 by Sveasoft. Do a search for "satori firmware" and you should be able to find it. [Note: by doing this you will probably not get much support from a Linksys tech hotline - however, you can always do a hard reset on the router to restore the factory settings.]
Next, update the firmware with Satori using the web administration tool on the router and then use the web admin tool to reset the router to factory settings (make a note of your MAC filters, SSID and any other information as it will be lost when you do the factory reset and you will need to re-enter it).
Once the router comes back up find the connection (it will be called "linksys" by default again), and open the admin site (192.168.1.1, password is "admin"). Re-enter any information from your previous setup, but don't enable security yet.
Go to Wireless > WDS. Select "LAN" in the first pulldown, then enter the MAC address of the WRE54G. Then go to Administration > Management and disable Loopback and 802.1x.
Once this is set up, I'd recommend going back to the WRE54G setup guide at Tom's Networking and following the instructions there. In a nutshell, you reset the WRE54G (using a paperclip or something), locate the WRE54G with your wireless configuration utility (Wireless Zero on XP, or Airport on OSX), fire up the WRE54G admin page (192.168.1.240, password "admin" by default), and set Access Point MAC address to be the correct MAC address of your router (you can find it in Status > Wireless in the WRT54G admin site). Then just make sure the channel on the WRE54G is the same as your router and it should work.
Good luck. Now that it's working, it seems to be doing what it's advertised to do.
I'm still in the process of working on securing the whole thing now. Hopefully Linksys will release that firmware upgrade with WPA support, but I may have to settle for WPE for now.
Customer Review: Not ready for prime time -- but works if you try hard enough
Summary: 2 Stars
I bought the linksys range exapnder after experiencing utter failure with the similar DLink item. Clearly both of these items were rushed to market before they were ready.
I'm an engineer and I'd like to think if myself as pretty knowledgeable able network issues, but it took me four hours of trial and error to find the formula that would make this work.
The setup wizard on the included CD doesn't work at all. You need to power cycle the range extender to make almost any configuration change effective. It's very fussy.
Here's what I did to get it working with WEP:
1. Make sure you have a compatible router or access point with up-to-date firmware. My recent linksys wireless-g was ready out-of-the-box for this.
2. Disable WEP on your router, and make sure that it's broadcasting its SSID. Test that it's up and running by going to its admin page from a wireless PC.
3. Power up the range extender, close to the router, so it finds your own wireless network when it self-configures. Press and hold the autoconfiguration button until the lights start flashing blue and red, then release. The link light should go blue. Go to the range extender's admin page (192.168.1.240) from your wireless PC and see that it's working. It would also be a good idea to try to hit the admin page from a PC on your wired network, to check the link that way.
OK, you're successfully configured in insecure mode. If you're happy with that, you can stop here and treat your neighbors to free internet, and unfettered access to your personal data. On second thought, let's try to get WEP working on this thing. This is the hard part.
4. Unplug the power from your router/AP. Link light on the range extender should go red. Hit the range extender's admin page on the wireless network to make sure that you're actually talking to it. Configure its WEP settings, and click the "save" link. You'll lose your wireless network connection as soon as these are effective. To make these settings stick, you will probably have to power cycle the range extender! Then try to connect to it wirelessly again, and verify the WEP settings. You may have to go through a couple of iterations here to make this stick.
5. Once you're satisfied that the range extender is configured, unplug it from power. Now go to the router/AP admin page, and configure its WEP settings identically. Verify connectivity, etc, to the router.
6. Now plug the range extender back into power. Stand on one foot and sing "I know this product stinks but I really hate pulling ethernet cable" in the style of a Gregorian chant, until the link light turns blue. Verify connectivity by going to both admin web pages, from both your wired and wireless networks.
7. If you got this far, you're golden. You can now place the range extender at the edge of your old network's range, and enjoy better network coverage. If that didn't work, I don't know what will.
I have to say that I'm extremely disappointed with Linksys on this product. Their routers are excellent, working right out of the box, so I expected more from them.
Customer Review: It Works. Here's how I did it:
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this range expander because my Linksys wireless router's signal wasn't reaching my laptop reliably. I was dismayed to find so many people commenting here that they experienced problems trying to set up the range expander. I was hopelessly confused trying to sort out whose directions to follow. I perused the comments on the Linksys community forum in hope of a clear answer, but the situation was the same there.
Then a helpful contributor on that forum "talked" me through the steps to set up the expander and wonder of wonders, it worked! I'm now enjoying a MUCH stronger signal to my remote computer.
For the record, I have Version 1 of the WRE54G, even though I purchased it in 2007. My Linksys router is a WRT54G, Version 6.
I'd like to share the steps I went through in the hope that others will be helped. Generally, you can't configure this device if you have security enabled on your router. The following directions tell you the steps to follow to turn off security, configure the expander, and then turn security back on. Please make sure you follow the steps in the correct order.
Follow these steps:
1. Go to your router setup page by entering this address in the
browser of the PC that is connected DIRECTLY to the router:
http://192.168.1.1/
2. Click on the Wireless menu item. Then Click on the Wireless
Security subtab.
3. Make a note of the passphrase and the contents of the Key 1 field.
4. Select "Disabled" in the Security Mode field
5. Click on the Save Settings button.
Now that your WEP has been disabled on the router, place the WRE54G right beside your wireless router and hold down the AUTOCONFIG button on the side for a full 25 seconds (of course with the power on) then release the button. You should see both the lights turn blue and one should maybe blink, indicating activity.
Go back to the computer connected directly to your router and access the WRE's setup page at http://192.168.1.240
Set up WEP security there first. Save the settings. You should then lose the connection on the WRE and the top red light should turn red.
Go back to your router setup page and re enable WEP there. Make sure you selected the identical WEP protection for both devices.
Save your settings and unplug the WRE from power
Place the WRE in a location in between your router and the remote computer
Turn it on. You should see the lights turn blue again. This will indicate that your range extender is working.
Now go to the remote PC that is connected wirelessly. If you're using the Linksys software to manage that connection, open the application from the icon in your system tray. Look at the connections tab. You should see two devices now with identical settings. Log on to the one with the stronger signal. This should be your WRE.
Customer Review: Filled with bugs and glitches
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this Expander to increase the range of my Linksys WAP54G Access Point, which has worked flawlessly for me! So why not buy from the same manufacturer!? Here's why......
Since I was running a secured wifi network with the WAP54G Access Point, I tried to use the Extender's CD to configure the Extender. The CD software was NEVER able to find the Extender. All I ever got was a message that said "site survey failed. please try again." So, I decided to use the web-based configuration software. Again, the Extender couldn't be found. (Meanwhile the software for the WAP54G Access Point could find the Access Point.) Even after shutting down the security on the Access Point, I got the same results.
Next I tried the Extender's auto configuration button. That didn't work. After spending most of the day working through many technical scenarios (most found here) I finally decided to reset my trusty WAP54G Access Point to factory specs (pressing the reset button for 5 seconds and unplugging it for 30). After that I tried the Extender's auto config button. SUCCESS!!! Or at least thats what I thought.
The Extender DOES NOT boost the wifi signal, just "repeats" an already weak signal into a far corner of my house. After I repositioned the Extender several times I finally did get a decent signal.
Now that everything was working, it was time to crank up the security on the wifi network again to keep all you nasty hackers and snoopers off my system. Supposedly the Extender can only handle WEP not WAP security. So now it was time to kick up WEP on the Extender. But alas, I didn't have a way to configure the Expander's security settings and it wouldn't auto config the security settings from my WAP54G Access Point. If I changed the security settings on my WAP54G Access Point, the Expander dropped off the network. I won't run a wifi network without security.
The last straw was calling Linksys customer service to figure out the "security" issue. If you can understand English with a heavy Indian accent, you are one step ahead of me. I gave up on the first customer service person. Mostly because I was too frustrated to be reasonable with the thick accented customer service person. So, I called back the next day and customer service person #2 had less of an accent but left me on hold for over 20 minutes. I finally had enough. I hung up and packed up the Extender and sent it back.
I spent two days trying to get that thing to work. I'd bash Linksys, but I that wouldn't be fair. They make some great products, but this isn't one of them.
Conclusion -- if you live out in the quiet country side somewhere, with no one else around, this might be the "unsecured wifi" product for you. (don't forget you need to have a Linksys Access Point and reset everything to factory specs before trying to auto config). If you live anywhere else, I'd say pass on this hopelessly flawed product.
Customer Review: Good experience using Linksys router with WRE54G
Summary: 5 Stars
With help from tips here, I was able to get up and running in less than 1/2 hour. What I have found missing from many reviews is the router (and version number if Linksys) that they are using as well as the firmware version. This may explain setup nightmares that many have had.
This set of instructions (found below) was used to get my setup running in 1/2 hour. I have a Linksys WRT54GS 801.b/g router with Speedbooster version 1.1 (found on the bottom of the router). This is basically the same as the WRT54G router. I am using Firmware v4.70.6, May. 26, 2005 (found in the Status area of the setup page URL 192.168.1.1 using password, "admin" to access).
This is exactly what I did to get up and running with the WRE54G ver 2 range expander:
1. Download the latest Linksys firmware for your router and WRE54G (for later use). You will need to know the version number of your router and WRE54G (found on bottom of both devices). You can get the updates at www.Linksys.com/downloads. Once you download the router file, you need to go to the online Router Settings page to select the file and update the router. The default URL is http://192.168.1.1/ with "admin" as the password. Go to the ADMINISTRATION tab at the top and then FIRMWARE UPGRADE. Then browse to find the file you just downloaded and hit UPGRADE.
2. While you are still in the settings, disable the wireless security that you (should have) had on your network router. This is TEMPORARY.
3. Open box and plug range extender into an AC outlet near/next to your existing router (not at the edge of your wireless network).
4. Hit the autoconfig button. I did NOT have to hold the button in for 30 seconds as others did. I just hit it once for about 1-2 seconds. I also did not unplug the WRE54G from the A/C wall outlet. Wait for both lights to turn blue.
5. Using the wired computer with the router, connect to the range extender settings page at http://192.168.1.240 using "admin" as password. You can change the password and save it. Your SSID on the expander should be the same as your router network.
6. Update the firmware of the WRE54G by going to the Help TAB at the top of the settings screen. Not the HELP link on the left of the page. This takes a long time. Be patient.
7. Turn on WEP on the range extender and save the WEP key somewhere because you need to use the same one on the router.
8. Turn on WEP on the existing router using the aforementioned URL and unplug your WRE54G from the A/C outlet and go put at the edge of your network. Both lights should turn blue when you plug it in. Everthing worked fine for me but I did have trouble accessing the settings page from the wired computer once I moved the WRE54G. However, both lights are blue and I now have an extended network for wireless use upstairs.