Cisco-Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router
by Linksys
|
List Price: Our Price: $54.95 You Save: $25.04 (31%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $30.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router
Customer Review: GL = Great Little router
Summary: 5 Stars
I love my Linksys-Cisco WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router (Compatible with Linux)router. I've had Netgear and DLink wireless routers, but neither really satisfied me or my needs, in terms of range, speed and general reliability. The Linksys WRT54GL is a consistent performer. The router arrived, I set it up according to the instructions, set the WPA/TKIP encryption (Avoid WEP encryption, it's weak and easily cracked) and haven't had to reset it or fiddle with it once, in almost a year now. [NOTE: I change my randomly-generated encryption key every 2-3 months, and you should too]
It puts out a good signal. Though the signal has to travel through multiple pipe-filled walls and a large refrigerator to get to the back of our house, the signal arrives there with 81% signal strength. Mind you, this is an unmodified 54GL router, I haven't re-flashed with with OpenWRT or any of the other linux-based firmwares to gain increased signal strength. Stock performance is good enough that I just don't need to do that, though I may do it anyway, just because I'm a geek.
Short version: It's Linksys, so it's reliable, dependable, and worth the money. I recommend it highly.
.Steven L. Hildebrand.
Customer Review: A Enterprse size Router at a home Router Price!
Summary: 5 Stars
With this little Router the only thing that can hinder you getting the absolute maximum potential is your knowledge of Networking and Linux scripting skills. Once you load a 3rd party firmware (I used DD-WRT V23 sp2) it totally unlocks the power horse within the router hardware. Even if you decide to stick to just using the stock firmware it is still better than the newer versions of the WRT54g and gs (It's worth the little extra money, especially if you are a novice to Wireless Networking).
No Real Cons, I just wish the 3rd party firmware came with a detailed manuel (Thats the price you pay for free firmware).
I originally got this for my sister-in-law back in September 06 for her wireless network (My main router is a WRT54GS ver 2.1, The last of the best of the orginal WRT54G Series!)after days of research on different sites, The overall conceus from the sites I looked at was this model. This is my 3rd one that I have purchased (All 3 from Amazon), One for my Next door nieghbors to use as a Client bridge, it is replacing the Linksys junk reapter that I was using. This current one I am using for a client bridge in my kids room,That is replacing the ethernet Linksys bridge (WET54GS5) that has some real major issues but is for whatever reason still working (But can not no longer be configured).
Customer Review: Linux router - running dd-wrt
Summary: 5 Stars
This router allows a user to easily install the latest firmware from dd-wrt. Running Linux may sound like a job for a highly skilled geek, but this is really easy. Once you have installed the firmware, you are able to easily setup some powerful standard features. With this router, you can setup VPN connections into your home network from anywhere.
The basic installation of the dd-wrt firmware is feature rich. Open Source is an amazing technological revolution. This surprisingly simple technology allows us to be more efficient. You will enjoy this product by using the dd-wrt firmware upgrade.
dd-wrt is easy to download by googling dd-wrt. Once you are at this site, there is a lot of information available. The dd-wrt software is written to run on many different devices, besides the linksys hardware.
1:) Click on downloads, you will see a list of versions. You will find the latest version, they are listed as "dd-wrt.v23 SP1".
2:) Find the newest version and click on the link.
3:) This will lead you to a page with a list of options regarding micro, mini, standard, etc... You will want the standard option.
4:) Within this download is the firmware upgrade, and instructions to upggrade your router.
Enjoy the freedom that Open Source provides.
Customer Review: Solid router
Summary: 5 Stars
I owned a WRT54G router for a few years. It started acting flaky. I was going to buy a N router but they are still expensive and reviews aren't that positive. I did some research on linksys routers based on the WRT54G platform and found that there are several generations (versions) of this router and many are quite different. See Wikipedia. The "L" router was back to the original specs - basically a reissue of the old WRT54G version 2 router that I already had. But, it was supported. Linksys offered to fix up my out-of-support WRT54G router for about $35. But the techs had heavy Indian accents, weren't very articulate. I doubted that I'd be able to describe my problem to them. They kept repeating themselves. A dead giveaway of someone who can't come up with any other descriptive or instructive phraseology or alternatives. For $35, I'd be most of the way there to a new router with full support - as useless at that is. The other thing about the "L" router is that it is not one of the dumbed down 'other versions'. It can be hacked and used as a linux machine whereas the other versions are too emasculated for that. So, worst case, I can use my old and/or new ones for linux if I get ambitious.
In summary; just as good as the WRG54G; Cheap; The newer "N" technology not that reliable yet.
Customer Review: Most stable router out there
Summary: 5 Stars
By far the most frustrating experience about buying networking equipment is lack of stability. Often, routers hang, don't work well with other equipment, are not stable with hundred of connections (bitTorrent), etc.
Well have no fear, because this Linksys router has got to be the most stable router I have ever owned. I've had this one for about one year, and just bought my second. You definitely want to get this more expensive "Linux" version, so you can download custom firwmare into it. I highly recommend tomato firmware ([...]). Stable, simple, no frills. It supports DDNS, QoS, WDS, etc. Basically, it makes getting use of complex features easy. For example, you can set it up such that your VOIP (internet phone) traffic takes priority over your other downloads. This feature is called Quality of Service (QoS). So if you're busy downloading a huge torrent, your VOIP call will not suffer. If you're downloading torrents without QoS, VOIP calls can drop out or sound garbled.
This router is much better than my Apple Time Machine 802.11n wireless router, which does NOT support QoS. The Linksys is more stable, has more features, better wireless performance, etc. In my eyes, this is the only wireless router to buy until tomato supports a cheap 802.11n router.