Cisco-Linksys WRT600N Linksys Ultra RangePlus Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link
by Linksys
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List Price: Our Price: $109.99 You Save: $90.00 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys WRT600N Linksys Ultra RangePlus Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link
Customer Review: amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
the best router on the market....top of the line....very fast... works great with vista/xp computers.Customer Review: Works for me
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not technical, but I followed the directions and got it set up in a relatively short time.Customer Review: Excellent router
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent router and the software is great. It is a bit pricy but worth it.Customer Review: Linksys great connection
Summary: 5 Stars
Linksys WRT600N worth the money. Very strong range. Would recommend for any business.Customer Review: Almost Perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had several wireless routers over the years, both Netgear and Linksys.
I developed problems with my internet connection. All PCs in my house would sometimes get a very slow connection. The problem had to be the modem or the router. I had my eye on the new "pre-N" routers for quite a while, and decided this was as good an excuse as any to buy a new router. (It turns out the problem was with my Modem, but that's another story.) I especially liked the WRT600N because it is the first unit to offer two independent radios -- one for 2.4 GHz and another one for 5 GHz.
The first thing I did was plug in the router and try configuring it with the Easy-Start CD. Not surprisingly, this did not work. The Easy-Start CD is a good idea, but if anything goes wrong, it gives very little indication of where things went wrong and what the problem might be.
I called Linksys tech support, and had a remarkably good experience. The technician spoke excellent English and was very knowledgeable. He didn't even try to play with the Easy-Start program, but immediately jumped into manual configuration. It didn't take long to find that I picked up a bad Ethernet cable. After that, configuration went quickly. To his credit, the technician recommended I configure WPA security. I didn't do it because I am in a semi-rural area. The technician told me that the SSID for the 5GHz and 2.4 GHz radios had to be the same. I later found out this is not true. It makes a difference because it's much easier to tell which frequency your PC is using if the SSIDs are different.
About a month later, I decided to use the USB disk drive option. I had a 200GB USB disk which I use for backup. I map it through file explorer and copy the files I want to back up. I wanted to be able to do this with any of the three laptop PCs in the house. I was able to connect the disk drive without any technical support. The trick is to work backwards through the configuration. Go to Storage / Administration FIRST. Configure the users. Then configure the groups. Then you can go to Storage / Disk and create your share folder. Then you will be able to map the share folder in Windows file explorer.
EDIT for USB disk drive: After many months, I gave up on the USB disk drive. It would work for several weeks, then stop working. The best solution I could find is to turn off the router, unplug the disk drive USB cable, turn the router back on, then plug in the disk drive. It's easy enough, but it got to be a pain. I ended up mounting the USB disk to the bottom of my desk, so I can plug it directly into my laptop.
A couple of days after configuring the disk, I lost the disk connection and could not map my share folder. This time I used "chat" Tech Support. Again, the technician was knowledgeable. She successfully got my share folder mapped. She also suggested I use a different SSID for the two radios, which makes controlling the frequency the PC uses to connect to the router much easier.
The disk connection is still far from perfect. The problem seems to be with Windows. If I suspend my computer, then turn it back on; Windows tries to connect to the disk drive before the wireless network is up. It declares the drive not available. After that, things are ugly. I finally resolved the problem by *not* clicking "re-connect at log on". When I want to back up some files, I connect the drive, back up, and disconnect. It's hardly an ideal solution, but it works very reliably.
Like many Linksys products, the WRT600N runs a little warm. But I keep it out in the open. Heat has not been a problem.
I use the 2.4 GHz radio and a "G" connection with an older Dell and an older Sony laptop, both running Windows XP, SP2. I also have a 2.4 GHz Linksys G Wireless Print Server. I use the 5 GHz radio with an "N" connection with Dell XPS M1330; which dual-boots to Vista and XP. After several months of use, the router works very well with all.
My caveats:
* Both Linksys technicians recommended I configure the radio band to "Wide" instead of "Auto". I set the 5 GHz radio to "Wide" and the 2.4 GHz radio to "Auto" I haven't had any problems. Even when I connect my new Dell to 2.4 GHz using an "N" connection, everything seems to play together nicely. But given the Linksys advice, your mileage may vary.
* The USB disk drive share folder works well. Groups, users, and passwords all work fine. But Windows has difficulty managing drives that automatically connect over a wireless connection.
* I do not use Media Server, FTP server, QoS, or encryption. I can't say how well any of these features work.
* Linksys should offer better instructions on how to manually configure their routers, perhaps on their web site.