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Linksys WRT54GC Wireless Router
Price Range:
$120.00 to $299.96
The Linksys Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router is really three devices in one small box. First, there's the Wireless Access Point,...
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The Linksys Compact Wireless-G Broadband Router is really three devices in one small box. First, 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.
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17 Reviews from Shopping.com
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Feels a little flimsy, but does what it advertises
| Author's Rating: |
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Pros: Small, fast, easy to install
Cons: You'll need an antenna if you want to leave the room.
The Bottom Line:
I would recommend this router because it's small, easy to use, and not ugly.
This is a handy little router. I use it in my home office, and it's fast.
If you're a Mac user, like me, be advised that the security set-up is different from an Airport. With the Airport, you put in a password, and that's that. With this unit, you generate a WEP key from a passphrase that you provide. Be sure to do 128 bit WEP. Then when you try to use the wireless network, from the pop-up menu that says Wireless Security:, select WEP 40/128-bit hex (not ASCII)
Another thing to remember is that there are essentially two networks on this device, the wireless and the wired hub in the back. So there's a Setup tab in the main menu, and a Wireless Tab. Under the wireless tab is the Wireless Settings sub tab. It's kind of confusing at first, but you'll figure it out.
Be sure to change the password for the unit!
Also, I was somewhat disappointed by the reception. I set it up in my office, and got no reception in my bedroom. There are 2 doors between them, but the doors were both open. Seems like it should have worked.
Once I added an antenna (Linksys HGA7S), it worked much better. But it's still pretty dicey when I'm outside the house entirely. I would strongly recommend getting the antenna.
This isn't the place to get into the finer points of computer networking, but suffice to say that you can safely leave most of the defaults as they are. The only thing that you must change is the password. I would also recommend changing the wireless network name.
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