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Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router

Manufacturer: Linksys

Platforms: Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows, Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP, Windows Me


List Price:	$99.99
Price:	Too Low To Display
You Save:	$99.99
Availability:	Usually ships in 24 hours

New & Used from $50.00

Media:	Electronics
Features:	All-in-one Internet-sharing router, 4-port switch, and Wireless-G (802.11g) access point Wireless data rates up to 54 Mbps--5 times faster than 802.11b Shares a single Internet connection and other resources with Ethernet wired and Wireless-G clients Interoperates with 802.11b clients at 11 Mbps Advanced wireless security with 128-bit WEP encryption, MAC, or IP address filtering

Accessories for Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router

CATEGORY	DESCRIPTION	Our Price	You Save
Electronics	D-Link DFE-530TX+ Fast Ethernet PCI Network Adapter	$15.99	$4.00 (20.01%)
Software	Microsoft Windows XP Professional Upgrade	$179.99	$19.01 (9.55%)
Electronics	7ft Gray Cat5e UTP Patch Cableno Boots	$6.99
Electronics	14ft Gray Cat5e UTP Patch Cable No Boots	$7.99
Electronics	D-Link AirPlus DWL-650+ Wireless 22 Mbps PC Card

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Product Description

Early Adopters Pick: January 2003. The first high-speed wireless networking router to use the 802.11g standard, which is four times faster than the current standard (802.11b) and backwards compatible.

The Linksys Wireless-G broadband router is really three devices in one box. First, it's a wireless access point, which lets you connect Wireless-G or Wireless-B devices to the network. There's also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices. Connect four PCs directly, or daisy chain out to more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. Finally, the router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection.

To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G broadband router can encrypt all wireless transmissions, and it supports the industrial-strength wireless security of 802.1x authentication and authorization. The router can serve as a DHCP server, has NAT technology to protect against Internet intruders, supports VPN pass-through, and can be configured to filter internal users' access to the Internet. Configuration is a snap with the Web browser-based configuration utility.

With the Linksys Wireless-G broadband router at the center of your home or office network, you can share a high-speed Internet connection, files, printers, and multiplayer games with the flexibility, speed, and security you need!

Wireless-G is the 54 Mbps wireless networking standard that's almost five times faster than the widely deployed Wireless-B (802.11b) products found in homes, businesses, and public wireless hotspots around the country. But since they share the same 2.4 GHz radio band, Wireless-G devices can also interoperate with existing 11 Mbps Wireless-B equipment.

Because both standards are built-in, you can protect your investment in existing 802.11b infrastructure, and migrate to the new screaming-fast Wireless-G standard as your needs grow.

For more information on the differences between an Access Point and a Router with Access Point, see the following table:

access point vs. router

Spotlight Reviews

WRT54G v1.1 is much better then v1.0!
First thing I did was updating the firmware. It has very good router features as well as wireless security features. Setting up the newest WPA is easy. Go to the cnet.com to read about the wireless security issue you will know that WEP is not secure and WPA is so much better and will become the new standard. I was very pleased that the newest version of the firmware includes WPA.
The phone support is 24/7 and you will get a real tech support person online which is very rare these days. And believe me you could use a lot of them if you are new to wireless or like to try out different settings (like me). Also their WebChat works pretty responsive as well.

My Panasonic 2.4GHz cordless phone kills the connection every time. Changing the channels on the WRT54G and the clients won't help because the phone changes its channel automatically. I had a hell of time to get the wireless to work when I was talking to Linksys tech rep using my 2.4GHz phone. I was so discouraged I was ready to return the whole thing until I talked to another tech rep and he asked me right away if I was using a 2.4GHz phone. Once I switched to a 900MHz phone we were fine. I guess if my nerghbors start to use 2.4GHz cordless phone I will be in trouble.

Now the only but nevertheless not so small problem is the short range. I read the reviews here and on cnet.com about its short range. I was hoping the newest firmware would fix the problem but it didn't. There is an interesting thing though: When I was registering the WRT54G online with Linksys, it asked me to choose if mine was WRT54G v1.0 or WRT54G v1.1 which indicates there are two versions of the box. When I chatted with the Linksys support, he claimed there were only firmware differences. If anyone knows there is an actual newer hardware version of it, please let me know, I can still exchange it.

Note: On 9/16/2003, Linksys' web site has changed WRT54G's product description (you have to go the product tab->wireless router to see the new WRT54G) which added WPA feature. ...which shows different pictures of v1.0 and v1.1. Base on that picture one can easily conclude that there are hardware changes, at least the front panel LEDs are all different, besides added Cisco logo. Well, I have to hope the new hardwere solves the range problem. If that's the case, I will change my rating to 5 stars!

10/4/03: I got the newer v1.1 which has the Cisco logo and different LEDs. It not just has longer range, it also stays connected much better even with my 2.4Ghz cordless phone on. With the older verion, the Linksys WPC54G worked OK but I was having frequent connection dropped problem with my Gigafast WF721-AEX 802.11b card. Once I switched to v1.1, the Gigafast stays up like a rock. I am changing my rating from 3 stars to 5 stars.

Note: The UPC codes of the both versions are the same.

WPA security support. Great range.
I am using this AP/router with the Linksys WPC54G PC card on a Sony Vaio laptop running Windows XP. I did not use the set-up CD-ROM but used the web based application to configure it. Since my ISP uses PPoE I had to fill in my user name(with domain name) and password. Also my ISP gave me DNS numbers to fill in under the DHCP settings even though I have my TCP/IP settings for the connection set to "Obtain automatically". Basically that's all there is to configuring the router-ISP connection. The order that the modem, router and computers are turned on is VERY important. If you can't connect after configuration go through the power-on cycle again in that order. Configuring the security, however, is another matter.

Linksys supports the newer more secure WPA security protocol. There is new firmware for the router and a new driver for the card from the Linksys site. Both installed easily. Nowhere in the instructions or on their web site will you find how to configure WPA, though they have supported it since May. Since WEP 128 is almost useless for protecting against specific attacks to your network I strongly recommend using WPA. On the router and the card you will need to use "WPA-PSK" (Pre-Shared Key) not just the "WPA" option which is also available. For encryption use TKIP. The key can be anything from 8-63 characters in length. A Group Renewal key can be set for 0-99,999 seconds. I set it to 0. WPA-PSK uses part of the IEEE 802.1x authentication and so this authentication will be enabled and greyed out by default. Under the IEEE 802.1x authentication use PEAP for the EAP type unless you have a smart card for authentication. Also uncheck both boxes for "authenticate as computer when ...." and "authenticate as guest when ....." As is often stated, change the SSID and don't broadcast it and use MAC filtering for added security.

For the price (including the Linksys rebate) this router with all it's features (though hidden) is hard to beat.

Problems
I bought this router a few months ago and have had a host of problems with it. First, it frequently drops the radio connection. This is apparently a common problem - I've seen quite a few people discussing it on various message boards. Second, the VPN pass-through just stopped working. The customer support people were not particularly helpful (I agree with an earlier post that the people at the call center in India are very difficult to understand), but they did arrange to have a new unit sent out to me. Overall, I wonder if a different brand would have been a better bet for me.

Listmania!

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