| 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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Good router - be patient w/ setup, September 24, 2007
By user (Lincoln, NE)
This router works well and has a great range. The setup was frustrating, though. The setup software uses your browser to access the router address. It recognized the router and I had wireless access quickly. Getting the "software" to allow me to set up the wireless security was not quick, and it did not matter which browser I used. It would not display the drop-down choices for the security mode or encryption type, and would not allow me to enter the key. After several tries over several days, all of a sudden it showed the display correctly and allowed me to finish the setup. I have not had a problem with the setup since. NOTE: If you unplug the unit, you will have to go in and repeat the setup process.
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Excellent -- easy to setup, September 20, 2007
By user (Michigan)
I have no experience with networking or wireless and found it fairly easy to setup.
I didnt do the automatic setup wizard. It isnt too hard to do it manually and only took a few minutes. Its helpful to do a little reading on wireless security and then read the applicable chapter in the manual on the CD. After that it only takes a few minutes. I am getting good reception all through my house and am happy with this router.
There are no printed instructions in the box. Everything is on the CD that accompanies the router. At least a few pages of printed instructions would have been helpful. The instructions also push using the setup wizard very strongly.
I am happy with my purchase.
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Positively 3rd party firmware ready if that's what you're looking for..., September 20, 2007
By user (Mililani, HI USA)
As many others have described, this is one of the least expensive choices for a 3rd party firmware ready router. It works perfectly with DD-WRT which in my opinion, is the most feature-rich and stable firmware for people that just want to load it, easily configure it and then forget about it. If you're a tweaker, then OpenWrt might be your third party choice because there are endless lists of linux packages available to modify it. Not that you can't do the same thing to DD-WRT, it's just that the OpenWrt community may offer more information in the package addition and recompilation realm if that's your interest. In any case, this router has the 4mb of flash space that is a MUST if you want to load full versions of the many 3rd party firmwares instead of minimal build versions which often have more difficult flashing procedures. It's really great that Linksys finally offered a 54G series router again that has the flash space available for 3rd party firmwares compared to all the crippled G series versions that have been offered over the last couple of years. That's all, highly recommend this router for both geeks and regular home users, a great choice.
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I am happy with my purchase!, September 19, 2007
By user
Let me say first that I am not a computer savvy person, or even know much about networking, but since I recently got my laptop, I wanted to hook up to the internet without the hassle of disrupting the internet connection to my home pc. When I purchased this router I was worried that I would be unable to make any connections at all and it would be another waste of $$. Well, after busting the plastic cover all you get is the router, some registration card info, installation cd, power adapter and network cable. Setup was pretty easy just insert the cd and follow the instructions of plugging in cables, etc. After that, well, all I can say is that I am on my laptop without hooking up straight to the modem and cable to surf the internet.... it's good to be free. I am very happy with it... it is highly recommended from this satisfied customer.
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Great Router, September 19, 2007
By user (Albertson, NY USA)
This is by far the best router I have used. I have used Linksys (the one Vonage gives you) and a couple of D-Link routers. I have had the WRT5GL for about 6 months now. I have had to reboot this thing maybe once or twice in this time whereas I was rebooting the other routers 2-3 times a week...I would highly recommend this router...
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The best home router available, September 13, 2007
By user (Austin, TX USA)
I have had problems with routers in the past. I have been through just about every brand you can think of D-Link, Netgear, and even other Linksys routers and nothing seemed to be very reliable. This router is the one exception because it works great! I had no problems installing the DD-WRT firmware and everything worked flawlessly. There is no question in my mind that this is definetly the router you should be getting for your home network.
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Recommend this router, September 11, 2007
By user (Austin, Tx)
I bought this router to replace my failing netgear wireless router and to upgrade to wpa-psk encryption on my home network. I have extensive knowledge of computer networks and had read varying things about not using the installation CD to setup this router. I wasn't able to get the router to work with or without the CD! I called tech support shortly after I started the installation, I did not have too wait too long, and got a very pleasant English speaking woman in the Phillipines to help me set it up. I think we spent about 30-40 minutes total on the phone. She set me up with WEP, which I didn't want to do, and the wireless network was up and running. Within a day or so, I changed it to wpa-psk without any problems. This router works much better than my Netgear. My Netgear router would not print over a wireless connection; with this Linksys, I can now print over wireless connections!
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Works as designed, September 9, 2007
By user (Boston, MA)
It worked exactly as designed... I bought it for a feature that it did not include but that was apparently available w/ the aftermarket firmwares... that didn't pan out and I went back to the original Linksys firmware.
In the end it works as designed and is well priced.
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Love it, September 9, 2007
By user
Unlocking the power of the WRT54G is an absolute blast. Once you have your custom FOSS firmware on these babies you can make them do wonderful things!
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Linksys-Cisco WRTGL Router-The Best, September 6, 2007
By user (Cleveland,Ohio)
I researched this product on line. Found favorable reviews from all.
I am not a technical person. When the router came I called the help
number and I got an absolutely wonderful tech who talked me through the entire installation. Total time was 25 minutes from out of the box to done.
I highly recommend this product. No disconnects, range is great and I am one satisfied customer.
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Must upgrade to Tomato opensource Firmware., September 1, 2007
By user
The WRT54GL (as long as the firmware is upgraded with Tomato opensource Firmware) is the best home router I have used.
I have tried Dlink and NetGear. The worst one among them was Linksys WRT54GX2 - a piece of junk due to the bad firmware. After a lot of trial and error, I found out that the router firmware has many flaws, and does not work well with IPTelephony. I replaced it with WRT54GL (upgraded it with tomato firmware), and it solved all those problems - tomato firmware has more features, is faster, and is at the same time highly reliable.
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WRT54GL is just like WRT54G pre V5, August 31, 2007
By user
This router runs 3rd party firmware great just like the pre-version 5 WRT54G's. I have had no issues at all with this and I don't have to worry about issues with VxWorks.
This is worth having so you are not limited to just running the stock, Linksys, Firmware.
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Perfect, August 23, 2007
By user (Arcata, CA)
Solid, stable router - hasn't glitched once in the 5 weeks I've owned it so far. Put OpenWRT on it the moment I open the box - easy to install and configure.
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Easy set-up, August 22, 2007
By user
I'm what you might call "computer literate" but just barely. On the recommendation of a friend I got this to set up wireless on my laptop. My main purpose is to be able to stream Cubs games with MLB Audio and get the radio sound when the Cubs are on ESPN, because let's face it, Joe Morgan is terrible.
So back to this router, I had it set up in 8 minutes and was on my way with wireless, just like that. It's really really easy to set up and works great hidden behind my desk on the third floor when I'm on the first floor using my laptop. Highly recommended.
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Linksys WRT54GL Wireless Router, August 7, 2007
By user
This is a great wireless router. It has a long signal range, for example I can get signal outside of my house, at least 30 feet from the router, which is much better than the 2WireGateway wireless device AT&T pushes on you that might give signal in the next room.
The setup is a little difficult because the setup disk does not work in most cases. However, the Linksys webpage is very useful--easy to find information and provides explicit detailed instructions. Worst case is that you will have to call technical support, which unlike most is very good. The wait time is very short, the technical specialists are very courteous and very knowledgeable.
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Works great. Works with DD-WRT., August 5, 2007
By user (Minneapolis)
I'm not Mr. Linux. I loaded DD-WRT from windows. It works.
Bought it to prove that the connection problems I had were with COMCAST. My son, Mr. Engineer, suggested it.
Now I can log COMCAST's problems.
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Confusing setup, August 4, 2007
By user (Castro Valley, California USA)
As instructed, I popped the CD in and went through the setup. Chose DHCP since I have Comcast cablel modem. Then I'm prompted for a password and no instructions on what the initial password is. After some searching on the net I finally tried "admin." That finally got me through. Then step 8 (or 7, forgot which) got stuck before it apparently cannot connect to the internet (wtf?). Troubleshooting pages have nothing even close to this scenario. Then I unplugged the power to the modem and plugged it back in. No help. Last shot is to unplug the power to the router itself and then plugged it back in.
Strangely, that did the trick. Weirdest experience I've had to date. Since then the box has been working fine so far. Got into the web interface and configured the wireless settings and upgraded the firmware. Lesson for the day is that, when these gizmos act up, just turn them off and back on.
The runner-up would be when I bought my Motorola cable modem. I remember the solution to that spectacle was also a power cycle. These hardware guys need to document their stuff more honestly. Even if the suggested step is to "turn the thing off and wait xx seconds and then turn it back on."
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Good so far, August 3, 2007
By user
I have only had this about a week. So far everything has been smooth. Flashed it with dd-wrt v23sp2 so I can sue it as a VPN and have more options. It was easy to flash and has been great so far.
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Linksys WRT54GL Router ROCKS! Avoid installation CD, July 29, 2007
By user (MA USA)
This router puts out a VERY strong signal out of the box, has RP-TNC antenna connectors to change to higher gain antennas, and sets up easily WITHOUT the installation software CD. That installation software did NOT work for me, and broke existing network setups that I needed, and getting them working again was NOT easy. I bought this unit because it has two antennas for diversity, and the extra memory to support all versions of open source Linux software to enhance features; more on this, Google "wifi planet DDWRT" without quotes. I'm extremely happy with it.
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set-up was simple - works perfectly, July 28, 2007
By user (Colchester, VT)
Got this for a four person office, all machines running XP - I used the disk that came with it and followed the directions exactly and it worked perfectly right from the very start. Have had it operating a month now and am very satisfied with the range (even through multiple walls) and the stability - I don't believe it has lost connection once. Easy set-up, fast and reliable - what more could you ask? This is a good deal.
I do plan to use the open source DD-WRT software but have not gotten around to installing it yet.
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