Cisco-Linksys WRT160N Wireless-N Broadband Router
by Linksys
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Our Price: $119.96 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $15.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT160N Wireless-N Broadband Router
Customer Review: Macs Welcome!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this router to replace a very old one that still worked, but lacked certain configuration capabilities. I recently purchased a Slingbox to watch TV over the network and the internet and needed port-mapping capabilities to allow me to use it remotely. I also have an Airport Express that works very well, but I like to take it with me when I travel and don't want to leave my husband netless when I go. I decided to try this Linksys router, and I went for the "N" version so I could enjoy speedy wireless. I started installation manually, without the supplied disk. I figured it was Windows I only. But when I mounted it, lo and behold, there was a MACINTOSH APPLICATION on it! The setup application worked great, generated a secure network key for me and got everything configured quickly and easily. Then I check my speeds. My ethernet-connected computer logged 2.7 mbps. My laptop logged 2.7 mbps when connecting via the Airport Express. Sadly, the Linksys wireless was only giving me 1 mbps or less. After checking all of the documentation and visiting the web site (which is frankly quite weak), I called for tech support. The tech I spoke to initially said the device was working properly. When I said I thought I should return the unit, he recommended trying a firmware upgrade. I did it, rebooted, and the speed I wanted was then available. The Slingbox works beautifully now too. So it took a little work, but in the end, the device is doing what I bought it to do.Customer Review: Lots of setup options
Summary: 5 Stars
I have this router installed in our basement office. I have set up a lot of equipment and normally bypass the installation disks that come with routers, but this disk was dead easy to use and had my network up and running quickly. Just make sure to shut down any firewall you may have running until you have finished the install disk. Speed and coverage are great, and I am able to watch Netflix streaming movies and our slingbox with no lag up in our bedroom on the second floor. As far as complaints with laptops dropping the connection, I went into the options on the router and gave my laptop a permanent ip address. Simply type the router's ip address into your browser's address bar. This will bring up a much more thorough interface to configure the router. The help manual on the included setup disk can give step by step instructions on how to do this for those that are not sure. Once at the web based router setup, on the first page that comes up, simply click DHCP reservation in the center of the page. You will see devices that are currently connected to your router. Simply check the box next to your laptop and choose add client. Now you have given your laptop a permanent reserved ip address. This stopped my laptop from dropping its connection. We are running an xbox 360, two laptops, two hard wired computers, one gaming adaptor, a Wii, one slingbox, and a old wireless b palm pilot with no connection drops or lag time. Highly recommend this router.Customer Review: why I love my linksys router (and hate my previous purchase)
Summary: 5 Stars
Our previous router died last week, and, rather than live tied to the corner where the signal comes in, I raced out to a major retailer and stopped, awed, by the billion billion choices presented as replacement routers. The broken router was a Linksys, but I had no recollection why, and said giant behemoth of a retailer pays conversely tiny wages, though they provide them with extremely unattractive blue uniforms, so no sales person was available to discuss the relative merits of the different brands. I decided that I would give up monogamy, and went with a net-gear WNP2000, a relatively high end product. I spent the next week trying to install the p.o.s.. More than 5 hours on the phone with their technical support staff in the Philippines, who managed to be both condescending and stupid, with accents that required constant repetition of each instruction. By the beginning of this week, after hours of solo effort, I had three guys from our internet provider's service, here trying to make it work too. It was a dastardly paperweight, or hockey puck, but definitely no router. Yesterday evening I purchased a Linksys router model WRT160N, from a charming young lady who seemed very well trained, wearing her own clothes, in a different store. She began by asking what kind of system it would be plugged into. I sat down maybe 15 minutes ago, popped in the c.d., and I am now on the Amazon site writing this review. Now that's my idea of a router.Customer Review: Works great but DO NOT install the LELA software
Summary: 5 Stars
This router is slick looking, provides great coverage and acts like it's supposed to so long as you don't install the LELA software. I had my personal laptop and my work laptop. I installed LELA on my personal laptop and connectivity kept cutting in and out. It was extremely frustrating. Most of the discussions about the router recommended uninstalling it and it absolutely worked. My first clue was when my work laptop connected to it just fine. To be clear, this is not the internal administration software for the router - which has a web interface - I'm referring to the software you're supposed to install on your machine that is supposed to allow your PC to connect to the internet. When you open the box you'll see "Install Software First!" - ignore it, seriously. I had a Wireless-G router that seemed to always drop the connection after a few days, requiring me to unplug it and plug it back in. Never had such an issue with this one.
My new personal laptop has a wireless card that supports N (and of course A, B and G) and Windows will register 84.0 Mbps at times (though it fluctuates). I have a PS3 connected to it as well - never has any issues with a dropped connection.
While there are dual antenna models that are more expensive, for my 1bd apt this is more than adequate.
Great router, bad software. Just use the windows networking to connect and you'll be fine.
Customer Review: So Far So Good in G-Only mode
Summary: 5 Stars
I am currently using this router only in Wireless-G mode, and so far it has been solid - easy setup through the WUI, no wireless drops, and at least as good, if not better range than my previous routers. I received the V3 version.
Why use a Wireless-N router only in G mode?
(1) Because all of my current peripherals are G only.
(2) I wanted something that could be used with newer generation N peripherals in the future.
(3) It cost little more than a G-only device.
(4) The WRT54G2 that I purchased to replace my WRT54G was unreliable and constantly dropped the wireless connection. I needed a replacement while the G2 was being RMAd, and I didn't want a lifetime supply of G-only routers.
The one caveat with the WRT160N is that the setup CD didn't work for me. It seems to expect that your computer is connected directly to your modem, which of course was not the case for me since I was swapping an existing router. I'm not going to re-provision my PC and modem just so the installation CD will know where to start, so I junked the CD, reset the router, and provisioned it through the web interface with no problems. The last bit was easy for me since I've used other Linksys routers, but a CD install error is likely to send a beginner into the weeds given the lack of documentation included with the router.