Cisco-Linksys Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router WRT54GC

Excellent router both functionally and aesthetically While it's really nothing more than an ordinary 11g (54Mbps) router with 4-port 100Mbps switch, its lack of any whiz-bang features doesn't detract from its sexiness. It doesn't claim to be a "travel" router although at less than four inches square ...

Publisher : Linksys
Company : Cisco
List Price: ~~$59.99~~
Our Price: $299.99
Used Price : $36.50

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

Product Description

Compact all-in-one Internet-sharing Router, 4-port Switch, and 54Mbps Wireless-G Access Point. Almost 5 times faster than 802.11b, but can also interoperate with any 802.11b device (at 11Mbps).The Linksys Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router is really three devices in one small box. There's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect both screaming fast Wireless-G (802.11g at 54Mbps) and Wireless-B (802.11b at 11Mbps) devices to the network. There's also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together. Connect four PCs directly, or attach more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. Finally, the Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection.Once your computers are connected to the Router and the Internet, they can communicate with each other too, sharing a printer, digital music, picture and document files, and multi-player or on-line games.To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G Broadband Router can encode all wireless transmissions with WEP or industrial-strength WPA Personal encryption. The Router can serve as a DHCP Server, has a powerful SPI firewall to protect your PCs against intruders and most known Internet attacks, and supports VPN pass-through. Configuration is a snap with the web browser-based configuration utility. And the tiny form factor fits any home or desktop.With the Linksys Compact 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 the flexibility, speed, and security you need!

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Customer reviews

Excellent router both functionally and aesthetically by .. The Grumpy Hacker (Milwaukee - Top 5000 Reviewer!)
While it's really nothing more than an ordinary 11g (54Mbps) router with 4-port 100Mbps switch, its lack of any whiz-bang features doesn't detract from its sexiness. It doesn't claim to be a "travel" router although at less than four inches square and less than an inch thick it certainly could be used as such--even its power adapter is fairly small and light. With all the features of a typical home network router you can conveniently unplug it when you leave home and essentially never have to switch access points, plus you can network with non-wireless PCs which travel routers typically don't accommodate.

Linksys has set the bar high on industrial design with this unit, in my opinion, having included a few nice touches. First is the little swinging door over the reset button that acts as a foot for standing the router on its side--which actually gives me better signal coverage in my two-story home (I've found the internal antenna to be entirely adequate but I'm happy about the external antenna accommodation, should I want to buy one separately). Second is the inclusion of four little pads on the bottom to keep from marring delicate surfaces like finished wood and also to keep heat from transferring (although I've had it running 24x7 for a couple weeks now and if not for the LEDs you wouldn't know it was plugged in). Third is the inclusion of eyelets for the unit to be hung on screws in a wall.

I found the user interface for setup and configuration to be clean and easy to navigate, but being used to Netgear and Belkin it did take a minute to get used to. I used the included CD for the initial configuration with my cable modem, which went very smoothly, but was not necessary to use. All the typical options are there like WEP, WPA, DHCP, MAC filtering, firewall, etc.; as well as some more advanced wireless and networking settings if you want them. The only thing I wasn't really happy with was how MAC filtering is done: using a list of MACs without any other identifier to remember which is which, plus you have to manually copy and paste MACs from the wireless client list to the filter list instead of simply checking a box or button to add it. There's also no way to log out of the management interface.

All in all this product is very attractive--perhaps the most attractive piece of home networking gear I've ever seen--and very compact, significantly smaller than Netgear's current b/g routers' form factor of about 5x7. The web interface is also very polished. If you don't care what your router looks like or how big it is, there's probably no reason for you to buy this one. As for me, it suits my purposes functionally and aesthetically it has no equal. I love it.

Early Review of WRT54GC - Nothing Notable to Say by .. Robert Salita (CHI PAR PHX SYD PDX CLD NKC)
I simply can't think of anything notable to say. The WRT54GC looks and works as advertised. I had no problem installing. There is nothing noteworthy about its performance. Haven't found any bugs. Internal antenna seems to have same wireless range as my full-size SMC Barricade router which has an external antenna. Power adapter is external, smallish and does 110-240v.

I recommend it for road warriors who need a wireless router with a builtin 4 port hub. Linksys will soon release a travel router with an internal power adapter and 1 LAN port. Apple has the similar Apple Express router which has a builtin USB print server port but zero LAN ports. It's great for wireless only purposes. I have the Apple, I can highly recommend it too.

I hope Linksys releases source code as they have done with the rest of their WRT54 product line. That way the geniuses can hack more features into it. (...)
Update: 22 August 2005 - There are no hacker projects that enhance this unit. Source code has never been released. I continue to be satisfied with this unit but would prefer an open source router. Be sure to check out the Linksys WTR54GS which is a wireless router with one ethernet port and no wall wart. Perfect for travelers with VoIP boxes.

Absolutely flawless . . . by .. Paul Witman ()
Setup was remarkably simple. Some other wireless routers get far too tightly integrated with your DSL or cable modem, resulting in overly complicated setup. This, however, was a simple 12 step process that walked you through each step along the way.

The only criticism I'd offer is that there's nothing on paper about the setup (except "insert the CD and click setup"). As such, when you have a question about something in the setup, it's not immediately obvious how to figure out where to find the answer.

The manual, of course, is on the CD, but it shows up in small font stuck between Norton Internet Security and Exit, so it doesn't leap out at you. And, of course, you've already disconnected from the Internet by the time you start the process, so hitting Linksys' site to find the manual is no good.

But those are small criticisms - overall, the experience was extremely painless. I had my wireless and wired networks on the air, with improved security (I used WPA, but not MAC filtering), and successfully running to a VPN at my employer within 20 minutes.

Excelent Product, Best Around, compatible with WRE54G by .. Mr Salas (PR, USA)
Ok, simple and to the point.

1. The size of this thing is incredible. Freed up almoust an entire shelf from my room (vs the old blue routers)
2. I had the WRT54G V2 with the high gain antenas, and the RANGE is practically identical if not a little better.
3. My house is big and has big old concrete walls, so signal has always been a problem. This baby takes good care of it and since it is compatible with the WRE54G (Range Extender) Its doing a great job for me.

Bottom line, Its a well priced router, if you have other wireless G linksys router the only improvements are the looks and size. I upgraded because im those kind of gadget geeks, but im very happy. Sold my old router for 40 bucks in ebay, so only paid 30 for this one.

If you want something 1/5 the size of the older ones, buy it. Just dont expect miracles. It does the same only in a diferent wrapping.

Easy to use for small homes by .. Brian Pedersen (Naestved, Denmark)
Bought the router because of the price. After buying I read some reviews that some users had difficulties configuring and that the range is bad.

Here is what I did:

Plugged my cable modem to the router's blue (wan) port.
Plugged my stationary PC to the routers yellow port via cable.
Entered the router's ip address: http://192.168.1.1 in my Internet Explorer.
Entered the default password (no username, password: admin) !remember to change it!
Typed my host name and domain name (not sure the mean a thing, but I did it anyway)
Pressed save.
Went to the wireless section and entered a Wireless Network Name (SSID)
Pressed save.
Choose the "Wireless security" tab and selected the "WPA Personal" security mode. This mode requires the wireless PC to use a password. I entered a password.
Pressed save.

Then I entered http://www.amazon.com in my browser and voila! It worked.
I started up my laptop with my wireless connection. Found my wireless network, entered the password and voila! It worked.

Range is fine. Laptop stationed 8 meters away in a different room. 100% connection speed.

No cons so far. I'd rate it a definite buy.