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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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Linksys-WRT54GC Wireless Router
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Pros: Great package, small size, easy to install, good performance, low price, portable
Cons: Probably not as robust physically as some others and check the version number.
The Bottom Line:
Recommended if you want an inexpensive, compact and portable router from a reputable vendor.
My SMC Barricade Router finally gave up suddenly during the middle of the day. I was thrust into the decision-making shopping for a new router. Wow it is amazing how much has changed in 3 years!
There are a number of excellent choices available now. I had never been too happy with the SMC wireless range. With the prospect of taking VOIP service with me to Mexico each winter, I was interested in small size for any new router. The Linksys PAP2 adapter is very popular for Vonage service, so I stumbled upon this compact router.
It is the size of 2 cigarette packages. Nice design with visible indicator lights when standing upright. 4 wired connections and wireless. Installation was so simple. I powered off the cable modem, then powered up modem then router, and I was in business.
From my laptop, I accessed 192.168.1.1 and then did the settings. I have run speed tests and get the following:
Wired 700 mbp to 1100 mbp
Wireless 500 mbp to 800 mbs
So the wireless seems to be 30% slower than wired. Note that these speeds were in prime time so reflect the varying performance from my ISP. But I ran four cases each to get a representative sample. I have seen as high as 1500 mbs in wired performance during slack times.
The router was on sale at Future Shop for C$80 with a C$30 mail-in rebate. I was amazed at the low prices for such a flexible wireless-G router. It was even cheaper on-line (US$18 US$12S&H international), but I am in Canada needed to walk away with it. (Prices in C$1 = US$.9)
Wireless range seems to be better than the old SMC even though the SMC had 2 external antennas and this one has none. This is an advantage because when I take it to Mexico, I will probably attach an external high gain antenna and sell wireless access to other condo residents.
All in I would say this is a very good router for the price and packaging. The documentation is only PDF, but with the ease of getting it running, I had no issue with that. This is probably because it is my second router installation. It will mount horizontally or vertically and I prefer the vertical orientation. It takes up less space an gets the antenna further away from all the wires around the cable modem.
Linksys offers firmware updates on their web site and I have downloaded an update but so far have not bothered to install it. Just a caution: Linksys has 5 versions of the hardware for the device with this model number. So before buying one, make sure that you don't need some of the later features but get an early version by checking www.linksys.com. (Mine is a version 1.0) I discovered some of these being resold locally for this reason.
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