| Linksys-Cisco WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router (Compatible with Linux) |
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Model: WRT54GL
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 321
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Firewall - SPI
VPN Support - Yes
VPN Passthrough - Yes |
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| Description: |
| The Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router combines the functionalities of three devices into a single device, a wireless access point, a four-port full-duplex 10/100 Mbps switch and a router. The wireless access point lets you connect Wireless-G or Wireless-B devices to the network while the switch connects your wired-Ethernet devices together. The router function ties it all together by letting your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. The push button setup feature makes it easy to configure your wireless devices. The router serves as a DHCP server, includes an SPI firewall to protect against Internet intruders and also supports VPN pass-through. The WRT54GL even features TKIP and AES to protect your data and privacy with up to 128-bit encryption. 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 multi-player games with flexibility, speed, security and simplicity. Status Indicators - Port status, link activity Compliant Standards - FCC IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3U, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g Data Link Protocol - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g Interfaces - 1x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 ( WAN / DMZ ), 4 x network - Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45, 1 x network - Radio-Ethernet Dimensions - Height 4.8 cm x Depth 20 cm x Width 18.6 cm Weight - 0.5 kg |
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| User Reviews (321 total): |
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What version do you have?, January 5, 2007
By user (FL United States)
Well I thought I comented on this before but thought to share some important points especially for other users to keep in mind as far as any issues that may come up as I have had no problems what so ever, work strieght out the box.
First its not a short story but this is an excellent summary of the product line for consideration... [...]Next is wkipedia which will summarize the above, but if you do not have the finer detail knowledge of the above article, then this summary will be less value... [...]
The important point when thinking about buying this product which seems to be a coin toss as far as reliability is to consider the fact out of the box everyone has DIFFERENT hardware versions as well as software versions, the confusing nature is that these TWO different aspects are both referred to as FIRMWARE.
Quick note there are now 7 different "hardware" versions for the "G" model. "GL" version came out after G version 5 so as to continue Linux support, "GL" vesion has 2 version, "GL" has more memory. I have "G" version 6, and have no issues, I did not even bother preloading the software. I jave no idea what is on it, just do not like junking up the PC with needless stuff, as you have full access via web browser anyways, anyone that has tinkered with any router knows how to configure. I do admit there are ALOT of features with stock "software".
Anyways, I feel for those that have issues, I know of someone that also has quirks. But just FYI, compare apples to apples, version 6 works just fine for me, I have a wireless Powerbook G4, wired PC, wired Epson print server printer. No drop connections, and full broadband speed.
Lastly, again a quick summerization, for those wondering about the GL model, here is the deal, the WRT54G is the original model, it WAS originaly Linux base, but eventually Linksys stopped and changed that with version 5 to VxWorks (propritary). Linksys also at that time designated the GL model to continue with the Linux fans. The bottom line is both G and GL version can be flashed to any thrid party to become a super freak router. One difference between the two is that the GL version DOES have increased MEMORY.
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Excellent !, January 5, 2007
By user
nice product.. shipping was on time, and received it in perfect conditions.
I use it everyday, and I am very happy with it.
with this router you'll be capable of configuring it with almost any firmware availble, and so be able to use WDS, and a lot more functions
I use Thibor15c
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Excellent for DIY wireless router, January 5, 2007
By user
If you are a DIY techie (aka hacker) this router is your dream come true. With open source firmware widely available in the Internet, you can do pretty much anything you want to this router. I personally loaded the OpenWRT firmware and everything has been working like a charm for more than 2 months now. I just got a 2nd one so that I can be able to configure WDS (aka bridge) and wire my downstair devices (PC, Xbox, DLink DSM520).
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Very stable router, January 5, 2007
By user (NJ)
Replaced a BEFW11S4 v.4 which was so unstable it had to be power-cycled several times a day. Video streaming (I think) kept locking it up. The 54GL worked great straight out of the box. It does still hang on rare occasions (2-3 weeks uptime), but given my cable and electric companies this may not be the router's fault.
Bought this one because there were alternate firmware downloads to try in case it wasn't as stable as I hoped, but haven't had to mess with it. Setup via web interface was easy enough -- same as the old one, basically.
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Working great for me, easy setup & better range than what it replaced., January 4, 2007
By user (NJ)
It's rare when you find a sophisticated piece of equipment that just works. This one was easy to setup up (not through the wizard though, manual through browser was easier for me) & its working great. I've configed a few routers & wireless systems and setting up & using this one was a joy compared to the others.
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WRT54GL: what I think, January 4, 2007
By user
This is a very good router. Very reliable. If you want to beef it up with the latest firmware upgrade like Tibor etc.. this is the one you should get with 4MB of flash memory. The only downside is, sometimes you have to recycle power if you experience slowness in loading web pages. I guess the router gets saturated over long period of use and when it's powered on 24/7.
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Worth buying, January 4, 2007
By user (Jersey, NJ USA)
Its better than the previous Netgear Router. Signal is good and i use to connect the laptop from my bed room by placing the router in the hall in a big house, Its still works good.
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NOT ONE PROBLEM!, January 3, 2007
By user
THIS UNIT REPLACED ANOTHER BRAND. THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THIS ROUTER HAVE BEEN OUTSTANDING. THERE HAS NOT BEEN ONE PROBLEM. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND AND AM COMPLETELY SATISFIED!
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Good, January 3, 2007
By user (Athens, GA USA)
Has given fairly reliable service, with the only exception being a few drops every now and then. Overall, I've been pleased.
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Works great, January 3, 2007
By user
This product works really well. It needed to be able to send the wireless broadband through a cement wall - and that is just what it can do.
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dd-wrt, January 3, 2007
By user
Awesome router to install the dd-wrt firmware on. The dd-wrt firmware is a third party firmware for the router that lets you do every thing from have a vpn to using kaid for those with moded xboxs also it lets you up the broadcasting range on these routers. the default power output is 20 but you can put it up to 256 it might not be legal in your area to turn it up that high but i turned mine all the way up and i got a good signal 1/2 a mile away.
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Great value, January 2, 2007
By user (San Francisco, CA United States)
I'm not a fan of Linksys products. It would in fact be fair to say that I hate them a great deal. Nevertheless, dropping any one of the various free firmware replacements into one of these $50 wonders will make it do things a $600 SonicWALL cannot, and you'll get about the same build quality and level of technical support as you would have from SonicWALL to boot.
No, it's not the end-all be-all of routers, but it's at least as good as all of the overpriced SOHO garbage the big name manufacturers try to peddle to small businesses with marketing promises their outsourced engineers cannot keep, so why not save yourself a bundle of both money and hair by eliminating the buggy Bangalorean middlemen altogether?
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This is the one to get, December 31, 2006
By user (Hutchinson, Minnesota United States)
This is the Linksys router to get. It is only a few more dollars than the WRT54G or WRT54GS, but it is worth it! I have first hand experience with reliability problems with the cheaper WRT54G V6.
I bought this GL router and once I flashed to 3rd party firmware DD-WRT v23 SP2, the lockup problems went away. In fact I have set up DD-WRT to auto reboot at 3am every day. No more problems. Stable as a rock!
Plus buying this router will "future proof" your purchase for a while longer than stock routers that cannot be customized.
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WORKS GREAT!!!! Just add DD-WRT, December 31, 2006
By user (San Juan Bautista, CA)
I spent a week with a Netgear WGR614, but it would choose one connection per reboot cycle to intermittently drop. I then "upgraded" to a WRT54G v6. All connections worked very well, but I had to reboot the router 2-3 times a day -- and I don't use P2P, Bit Torrent, etc. Neither of these were acceptable situations, so I bought what I should have bought in the first place -- WRT54GL. (I guess I shouldn't have tried to save the $10-20.)
As soon as I got it, I upgraded the firmware to dd-wrt v23sp2. After the reboot, all has simply worked perfectly! It is up 24/7. Web pages load noticeably faster, great signal strength, IT ALL JUST WORKS!!!!
I am very happy -- and my wife has stopped complaining about the net not working :-)
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Rock stable and highly versatile, December 29, 2006
By user
I can't really comment on the factory firmware, as the first thing I did was to plop DD-WRT on the box. It has been working perfectly ever since, 24/7 without any reboots or hangs, even under very heavy network loads.
DD-WRT requires a little bit of care and expertise to install, but once you complete the installation and the setup you never have to bother with the router ever again.
Or, if you are into fiddling with computers, there are several different Linux distributions you can install, and dozens, if not hundreds of different add-on packages that let you customize this router to perform pretty much anything you would ever want from a micro-PC like this.
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QOS and Vonage, a great improvement!, December 29, 2006
By user (Minneapolis, MN)
Network traffic used to disrupt Vonage connections. This product, specifically the QOS feature, solved the problem. The Vonage box now sits on our internal network and I've given the device the highest traffic priority. All other devices are set low.
The tag "compatible with Linux" might be misleading. This device does not care what operating system runs on the client. Windows is required of if you need to use the installer software, but I had no trouble installing the router through the web management interface with my Macintosh.
This was an upgrade from a Linksys BEFSR41 broadband router.
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Excellent router, December 27, 2006
By user (knoxville, tn USA)
I just set up this router, hard wired to my desktop, to connect wireless to a new laptop. The installaton disk that came with the router did not work for me, so I called Linksys. They recommended that I download EasyLink Connect, which I did. That program is excellent. It walked me through the configuration with no problems. But note, that when you get to the end of the config process, you will need either another cable(in addition to the one that comes with the router) or one of those little flash units, like SanDisk. All the config data need to be copied onto that and then you recopy that data onto the laptop--and voila!
I am writing all this for the benefit of someone like myself, who knows less about networking than Barney Fife.
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Technically ignorant, and I love it, December 17, 2006
By user (LA, California)
Ok, I'm not totally ignorant when it comes to technology, but I couldn't tell you what half the stuff in these reviews means. But I can tell you that I bought this, followed the simple step-by-step instructions (about 7 steps) using their included software, and I was using it with my laptop for wireless internet in less than 10 minutes.
So, $50, idiot-proof set-up, and all that great tech-speak that all the smart people are saying here on this board- pretty much a slam dunk in my book.
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Good, no, Great, December 11, 2006
By user (USA)
This router is pretty good, it has excellent options and good output distance. It supports numorous types of encryptions, even some that enterprises would only use. I needed to go from the house to the shop (~100 feet). The signal does a good job going through two foundation walls and through the outdoors. It also reaches the upstairs rooms with the antenas it came with.
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Nice, Easy to Use, Powerful w/ DD-WRT installed, November 27, 2006
By user
Excellent Buy, especially with DD-WRT software installed.
Pros:
- Very easy to set up with Linksys software. DD-WRT is slightly more complicated, but you simply have to be a little bit more meticulous than push this button, follow these prompts.
- Has never crashed or spontaneously reset itself on me.
- Very plug and play. I take this with me when I travel and it is literally plug it in, feed it an internet cable and you're done.
- DD-WRT quadruples the features on this router, allowing you to boost signal strength, effortlessly set up advanced security and Mac filtering, and even some minor packet shaping.
- Price is pretty competitive, even without DD-WRT features.
Cons:
- Linksys doesn't support DD-WRT, which I believe voids the warranty (though well worth it as long as you are careful in initial setup).
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