| Linksys Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router WRT54GC |
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Model: WRT54GC
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 186
Operating system: Microsoft Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
All-in-one Internet-sharing Router, 4-port Switch, and Wireless-G (802.11g) Access Point
Shares a single Internet connection and other resources with Ethernet wired and Wireless-G and B devices
Compact form factor fits in anywhere
High security: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA2 Personal), wireless MAC address filtering, powerful SPI firewall
Compatible with Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, or XP |
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| Description: |
| The WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router puts you onboard for the newest wireless networking standard. Wireless-G is 54Mbps wireless networking that's almost five times as fast as the widely deployed Wireless-B (802.11b) products found in homes & businesses. They can interoperate with existing 802.11b equipment, making them more flexible thanother networks. The built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 connects 4 PCs directly and lets you daisy-chain out to more hubs and switches for as big a network as you need. To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G Broadband Router can encode all wireless transmissions using 128-bit WEP encryption. The powerful Stateful Packet Inspection firewall will defend against most Internet attacks. |
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| User Reviews (186 total): |
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review, October 12, 2005
By user (Cleveland, OH USA)
plug the wall cable to your modem, the modem to your linksys unit, your linksys unit to your cpu and it works. i like it.
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Small package, great unit, October 11, 2005
By user (Holyoke, MA United States)
Ideal for the home. Only a little bigger than a pack of cards. Easy setup with the included cd. I would suggest the external antenna if you need the coverage area.
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Good Price to Performance Ratio, October 9, 2005
By user
This unit is very compact and quite useful. A good deal overall. Two caveats:
1. Even with a booster antenna the range is somewhat limited, so the wireless radio signal is not all that strong.
2. The subnet mask settings are limited to a predefined drop-down set, so you can't specify custom subnets. This shortcoming can be a problem if you're trying to bridge two networks say 192.168.0.x and 192.168.1.x. Nevertheless, it supports WPA encryption and has the very user-friendly and robust Linksys html interface. For less than $50, a value.
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Better than others, but still a 1.0 product, October 7, 2005
By user
This is my 4th wireless router, and I continue to be amazed that these products are not tested by the manufacturers. The connections appear to be OK after 1 day. I am VERY, VERY familiar with computers and networking so configuration is not an issue for me although these devices are very primitive. The main beef with this is that this is a 1.0 product (1st firmware release came with it). The 2nd firmware revision did not fix the problem with the static DHCP that I was having. Don't you think they would test this stuff first? If your needs are primitive and you don't know what you're doing, you may be tricked into think this sleek device is OK.
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Lack of Range, October 7, 2005
By user
This is a great router if you do not need wireless range. I picked up 3 of these and bought cheap $10 antennas to make the wireless work good. The Linksys brand optional antennas cost almost as much as the routers. Unless you are in the same room do not plan on having the wireless work consistantly with just the internal antenna.
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.....but I give the setup 3 stars, October 4, 2005
By user (Del Rio, TX USA)
Laptop I set up with router : IBM Thinkpad T42
It was a challenge to get the darn thing up and running with the setup wizard CD. It ended up taking me to an advanced settings menu and when I entered the info it still could not establish connection. I ended up calling linksys tech support (which by the way is in India); they were professional and knew exactly how to tackle the issue. They had me go to [...]. (I really recommend going through this link if you get thrown into the advanced settings menu using the CD.) There I clicked on NetSet and it automatically checked the router and helped me establish internet connection. In my case, it stated that I needed to have my wi-fi antenna on and voila...internet connection was made on my laptop. I was then able to work wirelessly.
One suggestion though...if you go through the NetSet process, do not add in a passphrase until you fully understand how to configure the wi-fi settings on your laptop. If not, you may not be able to access the network because of the encryption.
Once I got the router up and running, I couldn't be any happier. It doesn't take up space and it looks wonderful.
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Setup was a challenge, October 2, 2005
By user (Los Gatos, CA)
I could not setup the router using the cd that was provided. I called Linksys and got an immediate response. I was able to download their setup program, "Net Set", which set up the router and formated all the wireless cards. Too bad that wasn't provided in the cd. The router works great over the entire large house.
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Works great on a Mac, October 2, 2005
By user (Knoxville, TN)
I had no experience with wireless networking or connecting to broadband (DSL) but I had no problems with this unit. After realizing that I couldn't use Safari 1.3.1 to configure the router, I quickly gained access using Firefox. I did get some coaching from the help desk at my ISP.
It works great and is really compact.
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Awful Product, September 30, 2005
By user
It worked fine for a couple of days, then the dhcp stopped working for wired components, after that the wireless went out, one day later the thing wouldnt turn on and went totally crazy, blinking lights and then powers down. I hate having to go through a painful RMA process, maybe bad luck but I read about several people having the same problem but as well as some people with success.
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Connection Stinks, September 29, 2005
By user (Dunwoody, Georgia United States)
First of all, let me say I'm not a "techie". I bought a new notebook computer because I needed the flexibility to use it around the house, so I wanted to utilize the wireless capability my new computer had.
I received my new router and set it up according to the directions. It wasn't working, so I contacted their customer service department. After different 3 calls, I finally got my router to work.
When I would use my computer, the connection was always very weak. You are supposed to be able to use it up to like 150 feet- I couldn't get mine to work correctly across my 13x16 living room. After dealing with this for about a month, I decided to return my router.
My experience was obviously negative. Perhaps yours will be better, but my overall recommendation is to not purchase this model. Linksys has a regular Wireless-G router, and that may be better.
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Wonderful device with easy installation, September 27, 2005
By user
I upgraded from a wireless 8011.b to this router. Installation was a breeze, I was up in 5 minutes. I have previously owned Linksys wired 4-port routers, so I trust the brand.
I have noticed the signal strength is considerable lower than my older 8011.b router. I have the laptop and the router located in the same location and rarely get over 66% strength. I get occasion page drops that require a refresh. No big deal.
Otherwise, I am completely satisfied with this small footprint. I love the linux interface that separates wired from wireless security. Nice touch.
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Wireless Router, September 27, 2005
By user (columbia,sc)
This wireless router does not have adequate range to use from a downstairs pc to an upstairs laptop. The directions provided did not give hookup directions when using DSL from Bell South.
Compact Wireless-G ModelWRT54GC
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Linksys Wireless Router WRT54GC really rocks, September 25, 2005
By user (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
I can say I'm really satisfied with WRT54GC router. I've been using the router at home for 3 weeks now, and it works better than I could expect. The signal strenght is very strong, and I can use my notebook all over my home, using only the internal antena.
When I got the router it seemed to be so small that looks more like a toy than a real wireless equipment, but when I turned it on, it really surprised me. The initial setup is fast and easy, and after a few minutes you are ready to go.
It is so compact that you can carry it anywhere.
I really recommend the Linksys wireless router WRT54GC.
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Nice compact size router...but, September 24, 2005
By user
i like it, it's a very small foot-print, space saving compact wireless router...but, the range is kind of limit. so i end up purchased the optional antenna...BAM! what a difference! now i can surf on the net in every corner of my house!
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worst router i've owned, September 24, 2005
By user
yeah, it looks nice, but in my experience... it doesn't work the way it looks.
after 1 week, the router stopped working. i had to reset it over, and 2 weeks later... it stopped working completely. i've tried resetting, but that doesn't really work. also a few of the settings aren't very convienent.
overall, it's a pretty nice looking but bad functioning router.
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Very Difficult to configure, September 23, 2005
By user (NORFOLK,VA USA)
The installation cd does not do the install. You have to manually configure the settings and it took me over 5 hrs speaking to 5 different linksys representatives to get this thing working. Do you really want to go through this hassle of configuring when other products are available?
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works well, lower power usage, September 10, 2005
By user (United States)
The Linksys WRT54GC works. I'm using it both as a 4-port switch and wireless link. It is replacing an older linksys router + switch that together used 12 watts of power. I measured the WRT54GC to take only 1.5 watts from the AC line. Most people don't care about power, but this is on 24/7 and the little bits add up.
UPDATE Jan. 2007: both laptops I use it with sometimes have trouble connecting on powerup. Power-cycling the WRT54GC fixes this. Linksys claims there are no reported problems of this type, but I suspect it is the router's fault.
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Nice router, terrible wireless transfer rates, September 9, 2005
By user (Wausau, WI)
I picked this router up to replace my old Linksys 802.11b setup. The WRT54GC promised to be faster, and had quite a bit more flexibility when setting up wireless and firewall security.
Well, the flexibility is there. It's a nice setup, with plenty of configuration options. And as a wired router, speed is excellent.
But the wireless transfer rates are abysmal. My file transfer rates are less than a third that of my old 802.11b hardware. That obviously means there's a problem somewhere. I doublechecked every setting, upgraded the firmware to the newest version, and even checked my pcs to make sure the problem wasn't with them. And yes, the pcs are using 802.11g cards. I checked everything possible. I'm an IT person by trade, so I've got a fair idea of what I'm doing. None of it helped.
Range also seems considerably less than that of my old 802.11b hardware. However, given the transfer rates (bad whether close or far from the router), it may just be a related issue to the speed problem.
I can only conclude that I got a defective or damaged device. Which is a shame, because aside from the wireless transfer speeds, it's an extremely compact, powerful little router.
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very difficult to configure properly, September 7, 2005
By user (USA)
I had to send this product back because even after spending six hours with tech support, the router still did not work properly.
The router comes with an CD "wizard" that's supposed to configure the router for you automatically. Unfortunately, the wizard could not detect my internet connection--even though the connection worked just perfectly when I plugged my DSL modem directly into my computer.
There's also a downloadable program at Linksys's website that's supposed to auto-configure your modem. That program is not compatible with this product.
Also, I had to set the router's IP address to 192.168.2.1 instead of the standard 192.168.1.1 because of the model of DSL modem I have. That's not particularly difficult, but there's no way to know that you need to do it other than trial-and-error with tech support.
I did finally manage to get an internet connection--a blazingly fast one, too. However, some websites simply refused to load, even though they worked fine when I tried plugging the modem directly into the computer.
Also, one of the programs I use requires that you manually open some ports on your computer. This was impossible for me to do--even though I followed all of tech support's directions to the letter, it still didn't work.
In the end, it just wasn't worth the hassle. There are plenty of other products available.
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No point buying this router for its wireless capability, September 2, 2005
By user
Its a great router and it looks nice, but that's about where it ends for me. I liked the small footprint this router made and I thought it was time to upgrade from my siemens 802.11b router.
Big mistake. The range of this router is so poor that you will need to buy an antenna to even make it to the other other side of a 2 bedroom apartment. Why this didn't come with an antenna to begin with is beyond me.
Stick with a router that comes with 2 antennas. This one was a waste of money.
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