Cisco-Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster

10 Review to this product

• 

  Rizano
  December 29th, 2010 on 3:32 am

  Rating

  I finally decided to jump on the wireless band wagon because I wanted to have the ability to use my laptop anywhere on my property. The router was easy to setup right out of the box. It was also easy to enable WPA encryption. WEP is also supported by this unit but WEP is much less secure. Because the router has 4 ethernet ports, you can setup a wired and wireless network to work together. You can also just use this for wireless internet access if that’s all you need. Range is very good if you use this with it’s partner adapter WPC54GS which also has speedbooster. You can see how good the firewall is on this unit if you test it by going to http://www.grc.com and using the SheildsUp program.

  Whatever you do, make sure you enable some sort of encryption, either WEP or the stronger WPA. You will also need to make sure your other wireless equipment supports the type of encryption you decide to use.
• 

  Leigh F. Ishikawa
  December 30th, 2010 on 8:23 pm

  Rating

  I’ve owned several wireless routers. (SMC, Belking, Netgear, and Linksys to name a few). Hands down this is the WIFI router a techie should get. Now someone who don’t care about security and just wants to plug and get things done, I’ve found Netgear to be more frienlier but lacks features. So why ‘THIS’ WIFI router?

  1. Linksys has stable releases of firmware. Especially if you like to do things like port forwarding, and so forth you want good support.
  
  2. Linksys has provided the source code to the firmware. And there are several open source firmware codes for this thing. Some provide few additional configurations while others are compltely new firmware. It’s a geek’s dream come ture.
  
  3. If you use VOIP. (telephone service running on top of your internet), this router is one of the very few who provides QOS. QOS (Quality Of Service) can put higher priortiy by physicial port, or network port. I just plug my VOIP to the port and prioritize it. My calls are substantially more stable then before.
  
  4. Reputation (Solid hardware.) I bought Linksys’s first home router back in 1999. Linksys has always made reliable and good routers.
  
  5. So do you need the GS? Actually no, but they are pretty much identical hardware with GS having more memory. Besides the speedboost thing (which I never used), it doesn’t matter. Which ever is cheaper and more readily available, you should pick it up.

  I have to repeat that this is a great techie router. A beginner will be fine too, but I found ‘Wizard’ like menus of other WIFI router to be more ‘consumer’ friendly. But for someone who wants to configure the router to do a lot of things and require something that can take heavy abuse, this is THE router.
• 

  iNetMANN
  December 31st, 2010 on 2:37 am

  Rating

  This wireless router simply ROCKS!!! It smokes my old Linksys router by 20-30% depending on the mode you use. Works excellent in a mixed mode enviorment with different brand clients. Signal output is easily a 25% increase over my old Linksys wireless 802.11b router. Has all kinds of extras in the interface such as parental control and my favorite is the ability to have on and off times for different clients. Can’t wait to use this with a speedbooster enabled clientcard because even now with a Linksys PCI-802.11G (non-speedbooster) card I get 30+Mbps throughput. Remember when a box or standard says 54Mbs that is its bandwidth not its throughput. Throughput is usually 50% of bandwidth so this Linksys is the first wireless device I’ve ever seen excced the 50% rule! Linksys/Cisco you simply ROCK!!!

  iNetMANN and your not…
• 

  OverTheMoon
  December 31st, 2010 on 6:40 am

  Rating

  [Personally I paid a little extra to own the Linksys WRT54GS Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster model] I used to be hard-line only. I had a very nice Belkin 4-Port Cable/DSL Router that was cheap and fully universally compliant as a 10/100BT Ethernet Router (even supported Australian Bigpond settings in the internal software). It was the backbone of my home network. I also kept in the back of my mind that it was quite possible to add a wireless AP (access point) later if I wanted to go wireless. Sunny days are the reason why I just had to get outdoors with my laptop. When that wireless time came I decided to go with Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router. I was hoping to have 2 network routers, but the research showed that this was not recommended and to go Router + Switches + AP instead. The bottom line here is that although I planned on keeping the Belkin, making the Linksys a wireless AP, the Linksys ended up replacing the Belkin which is now sitting back inside its box again. Having an all-in-one wireless router/switch means everything in one box serving your broadband to any wired or wireless machine on your network. The Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router does not make your network limited to wireless-only devices because the router is built with Ethernet Out connections at the back. Now before you consider buying this router you need to make sure that you have an ADSL modem which absolutely must have an Ethernet connection (sign of a good brand) with USB optional, or without USB. What you do not want is USB-only. If you end up with a USB-only ADSL modem, throw it out, or return it. Just get rid of it. Your ADSL modem with Ethernet out is connected to the WAN Ethernet port of the router. The router then shares your internet Ethernet out to devices on the network and wireless out to devices on the network. If the router is using all of its four Ethernet ports and you need more, then you need to also buy a switch with this router. So again if you are serving to more than four machines via Ethernet then you need a switch. For 8 Ethernet out you can buy an Linksys EZXS88W EtherFast 10/100 8-Port Workgroup Switch or for more ports, such as 16, the Linksys EZXS16W EtherFast 10/100 16-Port Workgroup Switch. The switch is basically an Ethernet port splitter. It uses one Ethernet port of the router and gives you more. For big internet cafes you can keep adding switches so that the network connection looks something like adsl line->adsl modem->router->switch->switch->switch etc. The installation of the Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router was a piece of cake. Before you install it you should get your internet up and running first of all by going directly from the ADSL modem to your PC. Use the information the ISP gave you and try to create a working DHCP type connection. If your ISP can use DHCP then a lot of things become automatic and very easy to setup. You might need information on primary and secondary DNS settings if your ISP has them, ask for them and write them down. Once you have established an internet connections from your ADSL modem to your PC, then it is time to install the router, not before. Never install a router on a system that does not have the modem setup first. You are just begging for problems. If you cant get a working modem with internet connectivity then you are just going to exacerbate the issue by adding in a router. The Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router has a straightforward installation program. When you open the box the device has stickers on it and warnings about what you should read first. The installation process involved starting up the CD first, unplugging the Ethernet connection from the ADSL modem to the PC and putting it into the WAN port of the router, completing some tasks on the CD Software, assigning DHCP (makes it very easy), setting up security, writing down and printing out a wireless 128-bit encryption key, running Ethernet out from the router to the PC ( or more than one PC), turning wireless on, plugging in the Router, having Internet on all wired machines working, turn on notebook, detect wireless router, use encryption key, change Workgroup name on notebook, full Internet plus file sharing on network. Sometimes you need update the driver of Wireless NIC on your PC if you want to use WPA2 wireless security. Next up is the big test. Could I actually use my internet outdoors? I took my notebook outside and down the end of the garden approximately 35 feet (10 meters) to a 2 foot concrete house wall and window where there is a room 12 feet (4 meters) to a door, panel walls, and another 12 feet (4 meters) to the router. During the day, depending on weather conditions, my signal will read very strong to low, but never gone. It is my understanding however that this router can not penetrate all types of barriers like lead or metal walls. So unless you have this router inside a vault, you are going to be pretty much not just serving your internet all around your home, but to other homes also and probably places where you didn’t think you would be serving at all. This is where you need to think strongly about making sure you activate some form of encryption on setup (don’t skip it) and also change the name of your router and password. Make sure to keep the password or else you are locked out of your own router. The big bonus is that you can turn off wireless and still have a wired router with internet. The router has all the standard software functions that come with most routers. If anything new appears, the router has an easy firmware update function. Now if you really want to just add this router as an AP on your network, and not a router, just connect the LAN of the wireless router to the LAN of the hardwired router and do not use the WAN of the wireless router. Disable DHCP on the wireless router and make sure that you set up a non-conflicting IP address for the router. This should turn the wireless router into a wireless access point. There are software settings in the router to help prevent various malicious attacks. I have never had any spam ads or anything like that from this router. It does have two little shortcomings though. The power cord is about 3 feet (1 meter), a little short, so you might need to buy another power adaptor. It also has no off switch. I do not think this is for security reasons. You can unplug it at the rear just as easily. Apart from these two little problems this is a very cool piece of equipment. I would highly recommend it. Celebrate your new Wireless 54 Mbs!

  Some notes on security: Use WPA2 Encryption (either WPA2 personal or WPA2 enterprise). If you have trouble connecting to a WPA2 wireless network then you probably need to update your wireless network card drivers. For WPA ALGORITHMS use TKIP+AES. In setting use Wireless MAC filter – enable and permit only. Update MAC list for Wireless devices. For your wireless MAC address Windows users should open Command Prompt and type ipconfig -all and the MAC address is the physical address on the wireless network adaptor. After you do this make sure that Wireless SSID Broadcast is DISABLED.
• 

  Anonymous
  January 1st, 2011 on 1:22 am

  Rating

  I have nothing but good things to say about this item. I can’t believe that there is not one review on this item yet. After struggling with the D-Link DI-624 & all of its included problems for about 3 weeks I decided to return it. Those were the worst 3 weeks of my life. The router would reboot every few minutes, & would disconnect every time the phone rang. The very worst part of all was that the D-Link PC Card would freeze my notebook with no way to properly shutting down. I even tried the new Netgear card with the same results. At this point I had given up on wireless, & switched back to using cables. About a week ago, my girl showed up at my doorstep with an Amazon box. When I opened it & saw what was inside. I said to myself, oh boy here we go again, & to my surprise it was nothing like that. Everything went smooth as silk, from beginning to end. The best experience I have had in a long time. The router it self is very well built & sturdy, unlike the D-Link. I guess it’s true what people say, you get what you pay for. For anybody in the market for a wireless router, I would highly recommend you spending a few dollars more & getting a quality product from a well known company like Linksys / Cisco. The installation was a no-brainer, & the configuration process was just as easy. The configuration wizard walks you step by step & explains what each setting does. Till this day, I haven’t had any problems with reboots or disconnects when the phone rings. The best part is my Linksys PC Card doesn’t freeze my notebook, & does have slightly better range than the D-Link. Another thing I love about the router is that it has all the bells & whistles for those who like playing with the advance settings. The transfer speeds are slightly faster than the D-Link’s, but I really doubt they even come near of what they claim. All in all I’m very satisfied with this Linksys combo, & the 3 year warranty is a big plus.
• 

  P. Dino
  January 1st, 2011 on 6:12 am

  Rating

  Having read all the reviews for this product, including some not so favorable, I decided to upgrade my wired router to wireless.

  Setup couldn’t have been more straightforward. I didn’t use the setup CD, but followed the setup guide. Within ten minutes, I was connected. The router is connected to a custom built P4 and my laptop is a Sony Vaio. I used the Linksys WPC45GS to connect my laptop to the network, another easy and flawless install.

  After the initial install of the router, it is strongly suggested you do the following:

  - Change the SSID
  - Disable SSID broadcast
  - Change password for admin access
  - Enable MAC filtering
  - Change SSID often
  - Use highest encryption possible
  - Change encryption keys often

  For me, this router has been working flawlessly for the last week. Installation and configuration was simple. With my laptop, I can go anywhere in my 1800 sq ft. home and get a strong signal with no dropouts.

  Excellent product. Highly recommended.
• 

  Wolf
  January 1st, 2011 on 4:31 pm

  Rating

  I had an existing Router and Wireless access point from Linksys, the router started acting up so I decided to replace both of them with this wireless router.

  The key is to get an Internet connection from your DSL modem directly to your computer, once you can get online the rest is cake.

  I unplugged my main computer from the old router and plugged it directly into the Verizon DSL modem. Turned on my computer and was able to get online immediately. Once you can, insert the CD that comes with this router and follow the instructions. It checks for the Internet connection, and instructs you to then plug in the router. It took few seconds for it to recognize and configure the new router, it then installed some basic security setting for me.

  It automatically let my computers that are hardwired to the router access the Internet also. The wireless devices that I have had to be changed to the new security settings, unless you use your old security settings again.

  The thing that bugs me is that it doesn’t tell you how to log into your router from the web browser. I know from experience so I did it automatically. This is important because you should always change the default password, or anyone could log into your router and change it. Becuase the default is widely known. To change it, go to your web browser, type in 192.168.1.1 in the address field (without the http://), when a box pops up the log in is: admin and the password is admin. CHANGE THE PASSWORD. Even if you do not set up wireless security, you should, but if you don’t at the very least change the password and write it down so you don’t forget it.

  When you are logged in it is a good idea to set up the security settings for wirelss access. You can find some good intructions on the Linksys website. If you don’t do this anyone in your neighborhood may be able to log in and use your Internet connection. A friend of mine had this problem and someone had also changed the default password.
  
• 

  W. Mills
  January 1st, 2011 on 10:35 pm

  Rating

  I recently purchased the Linksys wrt54gs router upon the recommendation of our firm’s IT manager. We use this same router in our business office. I am using this one in a 3000 sq ft home and the router covers the entire house with an “excellent” to “very good” reception (54mps). It does take a little while to hook up. AND, this is important – it is much easier to hook up the router using a program download from the linksys.com web site. The program will walk you through the set up process and program the router for your system. I figure Linksys created the program to reduce all the time their technical people were spending with people like me. In fact their technical support recommended the program instead of the cd. So skip the cd that comes with the router and don’t mess with the “easy set up button”; just use the free download. Also, if you’re a novice like me you need to know that you program the router using your internet browser. The address is in the manual. Finally, be sure to set up the security features otherwise your wireless network will be open for anyone within range to connect.
• 

  citan-uzuki
  January 2nd, 2011 on 4:27 am

  Rating

  This router is basically the WRT54G, with the addition of Linksys’ Speedbooster technology. It can service all 802.11g, as well as the older 802.11b, based networks. Or it can serve a network consisting of a mixture of those two standards. In short, this is a very versatile router to have.

  The Speedbooster technology provides an additional increase in network speed over the typical 54mbs of the 802.11g standard. This is very useful if you like to transfer large files between your computers. The extra speed should help things move along just a little quicker. But keep in mind that this will probably not give you any additional increase over the internet. Probably because the wireless connection between the router and your computer is not the bottleneck. The Speedbooster capability can only be fully utilized if your operating system is either Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

  Setting up this router was easy. My PCI wireless desktop adapter is also made by linksys. The ethernet card on my older computer is a standard issue IBM.

  I highly recommend this wireless router to anyone who frequently transfers large files from one computer to another. I have had the router in operation for over a week, and so far, it has not dropped my internet connection.

  For your information, my current network consists of two desktop computers (Dell 8200 and an IBM 300PL). The Dell is connected wirelessly, using a Linksys wireless adapter with the Speedbooster capability. The IBM has the original IBM network card. Speedstream DSL modem. The Dell is running on Windows XP Pro and the IBM has Windows 2000 Server.
• 

  Cheuk Cheng
  January 3rd, 2011 on 10:53 am

  Rating

  I’ve been a Linksys user since my first 4-port DSL router. Unfortunately I made a bad decision when I upgraded to a 802.11g AP. I bought a Netgear 802.11g AP based on the recommendation from CNET. Then my nightmare began!! Whilst the wireless signal strength was quite decent, the connection was dodgy.

  After months of suffering it finally came to an end today… from the moment I setup the WRT54GS router. The web GUI is well organized and easy to follow. Connection speed as well as response time is far better than my old Netgear AP that has a very high latency in initiating connection. I used to have problems in maintaining my PPTP connection to my office. Now it’s stable as rock!! Overall this is a very well built product with solid support (in terms of firmware updates/bug fixes).