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Electronics : Linksys-Cisco WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router (Compatible with Linux) |
- Great RouterBefore using this router I was using Belkin 54 G wireless router which was real pain. The connection used to drop quite often and the router had to be reset at least twice a week.
On the other hand Linksys WRT54GL proved to a solid and reliable router.Installation was really easy. It's been close to six months since using this router and not even once it had to be reset. The browsing and download speeds are excellent. The router supports third party firmware such as Tomato or DD-WRT. These firmwares give you a host of options such as increasing the signal strength. Finding the channels on which other wireless networks in your range are operating and host of other functions.
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- Breaks Every 2 MonthsI had a LINKSYS Model: WRT54G V4, which I finally gave up on. Every 2 months or so, like clockwork, for the past year, the router has just stopped working. Then I go thru the whole route of calling Cox, then having them tell me to call Linksys... I had to pay a couple of times to a Linksys rep to fix it. The router worked ok the first couple years, but the last time I just had the Cox rep leave the Netgear WGR614 G router, it was $45. I thought I would have to buy new adapters, but the others work ok with it. It seems a little slower, like when I open email, but hey, if it WORKS that's the main thing. It's been only a week with the Netgear router, but so far so good.
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- Cisco Linksys WRT54GL Linux Based Router ReviewThe Linksys (now a subsidiary of Cicso Systems) WRT54GL is a re-issue of the original WRT54G wireless router introduced about six years ago. The first few versions of this router shipped wiht a linux based operating system. Newer versions of this router have less memory and a proprietary OS called VX Works.
Over the years many third party firmware versions have been released such as OpenWRT/Xwrt, an open source package, dd-WRT and Tomato witch are commercial products. Developers and end users have had great success in adding expanded features and functionality such as IP tables firewalls and WDS integration with these firmwares. A WRT54GL with a good third party firmware can function on par with far more sophisticated and expensive hardware. With OpenWRT one can even configure access to Linux repositories and perform updates and modular package downloads and installations from the routers Internet connection.
As an example flashing OpenWRT can be accomplished using the firmware upgrade feature of the factory OS via a network connection. It is necessary to obtain a correct firmware version based upon the hardware revision. Currently there are two revs of the WRT54GL and several revs of the WRT54G/GS. The later revs of the G/GS are upgradeable but the process is more involved and again the hardware revisions vary from rev to rev. For OpenWrt a basic knowledge of Linux is required and Linksys does not support third party firmware.
The WRT54GL is a great router for Linux enthusiasts developers, and end users. I have had several WRTs of various revs and they are all great routers. I won't use any other product for my small scale networking projects. The WRT54G series includes a 10/100 switch with auto sensing ports and a diversity antenna system in a conveniently stackable case. Out of the box, the OEM Firmware includes an SPI firewall, DMZ, UPNP, acess restrictions, QOS, and advanced routing. It is very easy to configure with the included "Easy Link Advisor" software. I recently acquired a WRT54GL to tinker with and with a modest command of Linux was able to flash the correct and stable firwmare version and get the router up and running with Xwrt Kamikaze 7.09 The Router has been running with 100% uptime with QOS cascaded toLinksys-Cisco WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router (Compatible with Linux) my WRT54GS.
I highly recommend the Cisco/Lynksis WRT54GL as a great solution for home and small office WIFI and networking with an extremely versatile upgrade path at a modest price.
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- AwesomePurely awesome, hands down. Great signal, never breaks up, the default firmware is great the way it is, no need to use the third party firmware, but may in the future.
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- DisappointingBought this router based on all the rave reviews and Linksys reputation, to replace an old NetGear WGR614. What a mistake! The router has to be reset annoyingly often to fix wireless connections. I do not have any devices that could create interference, i.e. cordless phones etc, so that can be safely ruled out, especially since the laptop is showing signal strength as excellent at all times. When WLAN does work, it steps down connection speed from the full 802.11g 54 Mbps at first, all the way to 5.5 and sometimes even to 1 Mbps. What gives? The NetGear router has exactly the same problem, but at least connections are reliable in that the box doesn't need to be bounced every couple of hours.
Now it's not like the router doesn't work at all, because my desktop is plugged in to it and I have no connection problems (this is how I know it's not my ISP when I lose wireless connectivity). I really don't care if the router firmware is hackable, if it runs Linux or Windows 95 inside - as long as it can keep a rock solid wireless connection it does not even matter to me if it is 11 Mbps or 54. It is really embarassing that in this day and age Cisco is unable to ensure essential functionality in such a simple device.
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