I got to know about this wireless WRT54G router from a friend, I saw him using at his home for months with out any hassle, so I bought one for me from my nearest computer shop. After that day I started using other Linksys products as well and found most of them very user friendly.
Linksys is a well known name in the market for making ADSL/broadband routers. They even make other products for VOIP like PAP2 etc and currently manufacturing most of the product from china.
Package and Out Look!
The box color is black and blue with router image in the middle of the box, the size of the box is small as 12 inches in width. When I open the box it has a black adopter just like laptop adapters, one CAT5 network cable, 2 tinny black wireless antennas and the router it self. The router is blue from the front with small lights for ports status and the back portion of the router is black. After connecting both the antennas to the router is was just looking like a small crab.
Purpose
The main Purpose of this device is to share single internet connection into multiple computers on local network and wireless network. You can you it as network gateway or 4 port network switch.
Hardware detail
Wireless technology helps you to connect your wireless laptops and computers on local network in just few clicks. It has four 100Mbps Ethernet ports for LAN and one 100Mbps Ethernet port for WAN. You can connect your local network computers on LAN ports to share any services like file sharing, network gaming (with out using WAN you can use this as 4 ports Network switch). You can share your single broad band connection to multiple users through your WAN port; by easily connecting your broadband RJ45 cable to the WAN port.
Software details
The first time I logged into my router i noticed that the default Firmware Version is v7.00.1 and the whole software is divided in 7 modules which are as following:
Setup In internet section you can setup your WAN connection type & WAN IP and in Network setup you can specify your own local network IP range and DHCP settings. The other options they have for advanced users are advanced routing, DDNS & MAC address clone. The users who are not much aware of the basic settings, they can have a look at http://register.wireless.utoronto.ca/?page=linksys
Wireless In Basic wireless section you can setup your wireless network Mode, Channel and SSID broadcast. For advance users the other options it has are Wireless Security, Wireless MAC Filter & Advanced Wireless Settings. User who wants to setup a basic wireless network on this router can follow the instructions at http://www.tekstenuitleg.net/en/articles/wireless_network_security_guide/4
Security You can block Anonymous Internet Requests, Filter Multicast, Filter Internet NAT Redirection and Filter IDENT (Port 113) form firewall section under the security tab. If you are using VPN then you have you enable all the 3 option given in VPN section under the security tab.
Access Restrictions In this Tab you can apply restrictions on computers using this router and can define up to 10 access policies. You can block any services, ports, websites, keywords and you can even restrict internet usage on computers on time conditions.
Applications & Gaming In this Tab you can set up port forwarding, Port Triggering, DMZ, QoS. I luv to give more details on these options but it will become a setup guide rather then a review.
Administration In this tab you can change your password, and modify the remote administration port and web access. This area basically helps you managing routers diagnostics, firmware, logs and management.
Status This tab only tells the current status of your router, wireless network and local network.
Price and where to buy?
You can buy it from any computer shop near by your house or use can get it from www.ebay.com . It will cost you around 50$ to 100$ depending on where you getting it from,
My experience:
I have used this router with 50 clients and it never gave me any problems except that I have to reboot it thrice a week or else the speed and performance goes done and some time stop working, so reboot is a must for this product. Some of the features never worked for me, like web filtering, blocking services and websites. I heard this thing can be fixed if we use other firmware available online for this product. The wireless work fine at home but always gave me issues at office like not getting proper signals on my laptops etc.
Advantages
Easy to install, small in size, user friendly, cheap in price and easily available everywhere.
Disadvantages
Especially all the products by link sys mostly need a reboot after few hours so its not good for network which needs to be switched on 24/7.. Filter option never work properly and doesn't work good with high network traffic. Be care full with your requirements when buying this product.
Recommendation
It is good for home users and SME (Small Medium Enterprise) business. People with huge network should make sure with their requirements
Hardware details
1 100Mbps Ethernet port for Wan 4 100Mbps Ethernet ports for Lan Built wireless
Manufacturer warranty Service & Support: 3 years warranty
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very helpful
very helpful
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