Others say...

"Recommend this product."
I had previously bought a Linksys router and swore never to buy one again because of poor perfomance and signal strength. I was recently shopping for a router when our Netgear quit after 1 year and saw some reviews on this Linksys and decided to give it a try. I must say that I have been very happy with it and the signal strength is very good (in the same house). I would recommend this product. Happy surfing...



"My recent experience trying TrendNet, Netgear, and Linksys Routers and why I chose the WRT54GL"
I have a very standard home network with two HP desktop PC's, one Sony laptop, and and a WM5 Pocket PC all hooked up to a DSL broadband connection via a Linksys Wireless-G router. However, I do insist on high wifi security so use at least WPA + TKIP encryption in combination with MAC address filtering. After three years of operation the router suddenly died so I decided (on price) to first give TrendNet a chance to replace it with the TEW-432BRP which I bought for $40.

I installed the TEW-432BRP router, updated to the latest TrendNet firmware, and had no problem connecting all of my wifi devices with WPA + TKIP encryption enabled. However, as soon as I switched on MAC address filtering in the router firmware all of a sudden I could no longer access MSN instant messaging or Hotmail on any PC on my network. Reading into the firmware history file I saw that TrendNet has had previous issues with connectivity to MSN which it believed it had fixed... well perhaps so for general router settings but apparantly not when also using MAC address filtering mode. In any case, for a router to block any web site in any mode of operaton was unacceptable so I packed up the router and brought it back for return to vendor.

I next bought the Netgear WPN824 router for $65, set it up, updated to the latest Netgear firmware, and connected my devices. The router connected with every wifi device successfully using WPA + TKIP encryption. But as soon as MAC address filtering was enabled only my WM5 Pocket PC could still connect... the router completely blocked the Sony laptop from re-connecting. This happened despite the fact that the router had automatically entered the correct MAC address for the Sony into its allowed devices database from when it was connected without filtering earlier. The Netgear MAC address filtering firmware obviously has a quirky problem with Sony laptops using the Intel a/b/g wifi adapters. Netgear Tech Support had no useful suggestions and recommended returning the router to vendor which I promptly did.

I finally bit the bullet and bought the Linksys WRT54GL for $75 because it got good reviews online and offered open platform support for third party firmware. No surprise, even with the default Linksys firmware it works as advertised with all my devices and using full WPA + TKIP encryption and MAC address filtering. There were no unexplainable wifi lockouts (as with Netgear) or MSN/Hotmail blocks (as with TendNet). Linksys had designed and tested MAC address filtering correctly.

Clearly TrendNet and Netgear need to spend more time building a robust MAC address filtering implementation and test product compatability more thoroughly in this mode if they want to compete with Linksys. I'll be sending this feedback to all three vendors and kudos to Linksys for getting it right straight out of the box. In networking compatability will always be the king.


"So Easy, Even for a Novice Like Myself"
Opened up the box, inserted the start up CD, followed the step by step instructions, and that was it! My new laptop was on the network within about 5-7 minutes, and there have been no problems at all. Very nice for a person with limited computer knowledge, such as myself.

"Doesn't recognize slingbox, pay for online support"
Wasted over 10 hours this weekend trying to get this replacement router to recongize my slingbox, which was recognized by my old Netgear, with identical cabling. I retested by replanting the old one, and it recognized and shook hands instantly.

the Linksys did recongize two computers and tivo box, but after many hours on phone with both Slingbox support(superb)and Linksys (disappointing), unable to get it to connect with the Slingbox. Returned the router to Amazon this morning.

Both my calls to Linksys support were frustrating. Difficult to understand the foreign accent with both experts and had to pay 10 dollars for them to assert remote control over my computer (sling box was free). Just [...], I thought, but upon further reflection frealized that this fee is about 20% of the cost of the router!

Feel the problem was in the firmware, but in trying to download new firmware from the website, encountered .bin files my computer could not open.

I'm not a techie, and this entire exercise seems far beyond the normal user.


"Great piece, a real pita to set up."
EVERYBODY on the IT staff at work recommended this piece with the older 'flashable' system. After playing on ebay, used up pieces were within ten bux of new ones, so Amazon. It's been several weeks since install, but it took me MANY hours of fussing to get this thing to connect to a small-brand (earthlink) dsl server. 4th query to a Lynksis tech who knew the secret and another setup finally made it hook. So much for plug and play. I'm willing to blame oddball provider protocols, but this was enormously time consuming and frustrating. I dread the day if I ever have to go through that again after a crash.