Cisco-Linksys WRT160NL Wireless-N Broadband Router with Storage Link (Compatible with Linux)

10 Review to this product

• 

  Terri J. Rice
  May 21st, 2009 on 1:06 pm

  Rating

  We went through three other brands, each time returning them for an exchange of another in their cheaper price range; finally we tried this Linksys and ta da!! it worked fantastically.

  If you are like me and totally don’t know how to install things on your computer, never fear, it comes with a CD that walks you through the process. If you know what you’re doing you can skip the CD and browse the “Quick Installation Guide.”

  Yep, it costs more, but after returning three other cheaper ones, I am here to say this works great. We have not had a problem since.
• 

  groff5
  June 13th, 2009 on 6:07 am

  Rating

  I’ve had several routers over the years, and this one is the best so far. Range is great, speed is great, but best of all is the setup. Has a CD that makes it very easy, and when you are done it gives you a diagram of your entire network, including the names of each computer. I’ve set up several routers over the years, so I know what I’m doing, but who wants to spend time messing with it? I believe just about anyone could do this one. I’ve had it about a month, and I love it.

  Update: I found out that my download speed was cut by 85% to my HARDWIRED computer when the ethernet cable was routed through the router (which it has to be) and then to my desktop computer. I found this out accidentally when checking speeds, and then got on the Linksys website and ask for help. I got a response and they had me change some obscure (MTU) settings (which I still don’t understand), and it fixed the problem. My issue is, NOWHERE in the instructions does it even hint that you might need to do this.

  Otherwise, the router works fine. But if you get it, check the download/upload speeds before and after the installation.
• 

  Justin A. Elza
  August 2nd, 2009 on 6:31 pm

  Rating

  I’m sitting in my living room writing this review on my laptop. The wireless router I’m connected to (the one I’m reviewing now) is another room… in another building!

  My office, where I keep the router, is in a converted garage apartment behind our home, at least 200 feet away. Although my laptop’s wireless signal indicator says my signal is low, it still says the speed is 65 Mbps, which is the same I’d get with my old router if the signal was excellent.

  I’m very happy with the Linksys WRT160NL. I have not had to restart it yet, the speed and range are totally great (I can sit in bed and stream movies on my netbook while my wife works next to me on her laptop with no lag whatsoever), and install was quick and painless.
• 

  Nick Beharry
  September 20th, 2009 on 2:35 am

  Rating

  very cool. the usb drive is EASY to map as a network drive with a letter and it works fast enough. right now i’m backing up from the drive wirelessly to my computer and it is transferring data at a rate of 1GB in about 20 minutes. to some that will sound slow, but to me thats VERY fast. especially when you consider the price at which you’re getting this utility. you can turn a USB drive into a network drive. (mine is 250 GB external). i still have not read the instructions for the device yet. tomorrow i will look into customizing the security options.

  i am terribly excited about now having a network drive from which all 3 of my computers can access files. no more storing pictures or music or files on 1 of the 3, now everything is stored on the “network drive” and backed up to my main computer. my wife and i love it. just $85.

  also interesting is that the compression rate is currently about 20%, so i think that means by the time my current backup is complete, my 44GB network drive might be compressed to under 9GB. i’ll see, but it should give you some idea.

  as for the networking features, the signal is very strong and reaches in my basement, so my buddy down there is happy too.

  i find the description of the network controls you get to be really understated. you can block and allow websites and computers and you get a lot of other useful controls. its very user friendly and the only thing you’ll really need to refer to the manual for is to see how to access the usb drive from your computer – its EASY.

  the tricky thing is restricting admin access to just yourself – trying to figure that out. will do it tomorrow. i hope this review helps. i would recommend to anyone to get this router –

  i’m not a techie, so my expectations are “normal” and this has exceeded my expectations by far.

  its very similar to using the network drive at my job. the best part of it all to me is that i now have all my files stored in one place and finally made good use of my external usb hard drive, which will now always be connected. can’t beat that. good luck and vote me up if this review was helpful.
• 

  Sarah A. Bates
  October 17th, 2009 on 8:52 am

  Rating

  I read all the reviews of the product before purchasing it, and despite reading all the problems people had with it, I wanted to get it to upgrade to Wireless-N and get the Storage Link since I haven’t seen any other router offer it.

  This is an excellent router. It has plenty of options, excellent range, and just works very easily. I had it set up within a few minutes and probably could have set it up even faster if I had used some of the auto-setup options that are available. I am running Windows 7 and you can press the “sync” button on the router to create a secure connection with a computer. I am too picky though, and manually set all of my security options. So if you want a Wireless-N router, this is a good one.

  The Storage Link is another story, however. I won’t say it’s bad, because it does work. I have a 500GB external USB drive in NTFS format and I was able to create a shared folder called “public” on the drive and use it over the network. The problem comes in that I never asked for the new folder, or the name “public”. I was trying to share out the whole drive, as it had data on it already. The whole Storage Link section of the router menus just doesn’t work. No matter what I tried to do, it refused to do what I wanted it to. When I got the public folder shared, I left it alone as it was basically what I wanted (just a shared folder on the network) and it does the job. Unfortunately, I had to move all my other folders into it to access them. I have also been unable to create any additional security groups (for defining read or read/write permissions) or users (or change passwords on the default admin and guest users). The only options I have available is the admin account and guest, neither of which I could change the password from the default.

  All in all, if you want to save money and get network storage, this will do the job, but not give you very many options. If you really need security and options for setting up shares, then you will want to spend the money on a dedicated NAS device and plug it into a router with a wired connection.
• 

  Nilton Silva Branco
  November 5th, 2009 on 3:21 am

  Rating

  I have had some experience with previous wireless routers and this one is much better. The signal is excellent all
  
  over my place (250 square meters). It may be due to the new technology (N) but, in any case, it is good value for money.
• 

  Kushal Naik
  January 24th, 2010 on 3:26 pm

  Rating

  I’ve used Linksys products for the last decade and have been very satisfied. This router, BLEW ME AWAY. This router was an upgrade to a WRT54G series router that had Speed Booster (MIMO). This new router even in just G mode is much faster and the range is about 150% more than I got with my old one. It did very well in cold/snow/thundery weather as far as range and speed is concerned.
• 

  D. Koch
  February 1st, 2010 on 9:17 am

  Rating

  This was the easiest setup for a router I have done – five minutes about.
  
  Have not used some of the features like the storage link – printer setup was also quite easy – just had to remember to delete and reinstall as a new printer.
  
  Both our laptops have much greater range AND immediate linkup – the Belkin we had before did not play well with others, if at all.
  
  Good price.
  
• 

  D. Calder
  February 6th, 2010 on 6:14 pm

  Rating

  I liked the first so much I bought this one as a spare. Backup the first and restore to the second so “just in case” as I run servers, VPN, and such thru it. I have two outside panel antennas hooked to #1 with LMR600 coax up at 30′. Covers my property well. It’s about time they(Cisco)put an N router with external antennas. Bravo. No issues here.
  
  Dump the CD, connect to the IP address of it and configure it yourself. Save some hassle.
• 

  P. Johnson
  February 22nd, 2010 on 11:38 am

  Rating

  As a non-techie, I spent way more time researching wireless routers and reading reviews for this one than I did to actually set it up, and have since been very pleased.

  NEEDS: My needs initially were to increase my wireless coverage area (and connectivity speed if possible), and do so without interefering with my Sonos(c) wireless music system. After feeling like I was going to go numb reading all of the reviews (it seemed like every product has its full share of positive and negative reviews), I finally just figured I would order it and go from there.

  SETUP: After it came, my wife urged me to hire someone to help setup it up, but I wanted to give it a try myself 1st, before paying more for the installation than the router cost itself. I do not recall the exact setup time, but it was significantly faster than I thought. I will estimate it at 1-2 hours, but this is with me being very methodical, reading every single piece of information (probably twice) and just taking my time on a Sunday afternoon. Plus you have to take into account my need to do some special configuration for my wireless music system. If my kids were to some how break the current router and I had to buy/install it again, I would guess it would take me ~15 minutes this time (for those of you out there who already know what you are doing).

  PERFORMANCE: Since setting it up, my range has expanded dramatically, with full bars everywhere (front porch, farthest away room, etc. in a 2-story house with router in the basement), and the connectivity speed has also improved a decent amount. The only aspect of the router I cannot comment on is setting up the network hard drive. I plan to try it at some point, since we have a spare hard drive, but it is not a need right now.

  Hope this helps!