Customer Reviews

Buffalo WHR-G54S Wireless Broadband Route

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This will be a short and sweet review. Hubby and I were looking to add a wireless access to our home to hook a PC across the house without having to fish cables around. We knew very little about wireless capabilities and what equipment we would need. We didn't want to sink a lot of money on it either. After a bit of research online, we decided to buy this one. It offered AOSS for online game play for our Nintendo DS Lite, it was capable of using all of existing wired LAN connections (3 PCs and 1 VOIP line) and it offered a wireless access point for the extra PC we wanted to connect across our home.

Being the wireless newbies we were we made our set up harder than it should have been. In hindsight, I laugh at the dumb mistakes we made. But, once we got our new Buffalo router up and running correctly, it ran smooth as silk and it was powerful.

A couple of months later, we had problems with power fluctuations due to storms for several days. Despite having the router on a surge protector, the frequency of the fluctuations over a period of several days eventually caused our router to seize and become completely unresponsive. I contacted Buffalo via email to troubleshoot, but to no avail. They promptly sent me an RMA number to return the router for replacement. I mailed the router to them mid November and got a new one back just prior to Christmas. (About a months turnaround) Not bad for doing this in the midst of holidays.

The new router is working flawlessly. It is connecting 3 PCs and 1 VOIP line via wired connections. Our Tivo Series 2, NDS Lite, 1 PC, a laptop, and a PDA all use the wi-fi connection and we're looking to add one more PC to the wi-fi lineup.

As for range, when on full power we were surprised on how far the access can reach. My husband drove down the road quite a bit and was still able to access our router via his PDA. We've cut the power to 50% and still have no problems with the kitchen PC accessing the Internet.

Overall, hubby and I are both extremely pleased with our Buffalo router and gladly recommend it! The product works great and their customer service came through without a problem.

Router is great. Setup is simple. You only need to follow simple directions to get yourself up and running. Shouldn't take you longer than 5 minutes..

Search the net for the DD_WRT firmware. Read the instructions and flash your new router. The thing that was absolutely phenomenal about this router and firmware together was that I could push my wireless transmit rates WAY UP. My wife's computer is only about 20 feet away but the signal is much inhibited by having to pass thru two walls and go around a corner, thus the connection is slow, and sometimes drops. The DD-WRT firmware allows the user to BOOST the wireless signal, as if we had went out and purchased a $500 router. I was thrilled and my wife has been very happy with the results of this purchase.

Absolutely rock solid performance from this router.

Months after the original review, I add this: The performance is astoundingly good.. I haven't rebooted this router in 59 days.. And for those of you who are parents, the DD-WRT firmware mentioned above has some great access restrictions that you can place on the other computers on your network. You can formulate 10 entries for the various computers, blocking certain websites so they are not seen or abused, blocking websites based on keywords, limiting "up-time" of any of the computers on your network, or prescribing the exact time that each computer can join the network.. Absolutely fantastic.. My daughter still can't figure out where her YouTube went...

Great,great router for under $50. Buy it.

This year was tough for the firewall/routers on the home network. In ten months I exchanged a Linksys BEFSX41 (bricked during a firmware upgrade) for a Linksys RT41-BU. The Linksys RT41-BU was replaced with a Netgear FVS114. The Netgear FVS114 seemed better than some but not as good as others, so I decided to get another firewall/router. I am glad I selected the mighty Buffalo WHR-G54S. I have to say that I am impressed with the Buffalo WHR-G54S. Out of the box, the user interface is simple and the system does what it says (i.e. switch, router, firewall, an access point). If a person replaces the stock firmware with DD-WRT, the unit suddenly becomes the best value for your money. All I wanted was a simple firewall/router combo with an access point. I now have that in a machine that does not mind telling me what it is doing and why.

Got this as a replacement for my old Linksys BEFW11S4. It was 802.11b. The technosnobs are always yapping about B being a dinosaur technology, but the fact is, it allows faster transfer speed than any broadband internet connection, so unless you are moving tons of files around your home network, 802.11g (and now n) is sort of a sledgehammer of a solution when a flyswatter will do.

So why did I get a new router? Two reasons: the Linksys's DHCP server would never hand out IP addresses consistently. I set each device accessing the LAN with static IP's. A hassle, but you only do it once. However, when people come over to visit, it was always an extra bit of hassle to get them online. Two, it began needing a reset more than once daily. This was particularly prevalent when it would choke on music streaming to my Apple Airport Express.

The Buffalo has been great, correcting the issues I had with the Linksys. The security is also better, as is the user interface. Lastly, it accepts the open source firmware that I may try screwing around with at some point. The only con I have is the range. It isn't as good as my Linksys was. I'm fairly confident that this is due to the 802.11g protocol. Another potential con, is its greater sensitivity to the use of the microwave oven, as opposed to the Linksys.

All in all, I'm thrilled with the WHR-G45S. Given the variability in the ratings of Netgear, D-link and Linksys, I think this is the best consumer level solution.

My D-Link D-624 tended to drop connection from time to time, it came back right away, but I work from home using a VPN to connect to my office, and when this fails for a short moment, at least on my laptop Outlook likes to crash and the terminal sessions are closing down as well. So I bought the Buffalo based on the good reviews here and I am not disappointed at all. The router is easy to set up and very reliable, the range is very good. I also like the little details, e.g. the basic setup information (as the initial IP-address or user-id/password) is printed ON the router, which makes it easy to configure without searching in a manual, or the A/C adapter is separate and NOT built in the plug (as in linksys), so it is not bulky and covering several outlets when only one is needed. Have a look at Buffalo products, when you're looking for a router.

UPDATE: I don't know why I never came back and corrected this review. This router is garbage. It had to be reset every other day almost. I ended up with a LINKSYS that has worked flawlessly for years.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
I initially bought a DLink because it was cheap. It worked and was easy to setup, but then it kept losing connection and reseting all its settings. So I exchanged it for this slightly more expensive Buffalo router. This Buffalo router seems to work faster, and it definitely works better. It was just as easy to setup (read at least the main parts of the product manual at Buffalo's website). I do want to stress DO NOT upgrade your firmware unless the router isn't working for you (this goes for ANY router). ALSO, whenever you upgrade firmware or change any settings, make sure you are NOT connected wirelessly. And for anyone who cares, I am using a G5 iMac and I needed a router so my PS2 and eventual xbox 360 can be all hooked up together. This router is a great buy so far. It has all the encryption options you'll need for security. Has not lost connection even once, and as I said previously- it seems to be very fast at close ranges (10-15 feet). Lastly, make sure you secure your wireless network. There are 4 basic steps to this and it only takes 5 minutes. It is amazing how many unprotected wireless networks are around. There are 2 right now that I can access without any password or anything, AND they broadcast their names so everyone with a computer can just piggyback on their bandwidth. Search google for "securing wireless router"

I've had a lot of experience with wireless and wired routers over the past five years - I've owned Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, and Belkin routers and am the local "go to guy" whenever people have computer or network problems. When I decided to get this router to replace my AWFUL D-Link WBR-2310, I thought I would be taking a risk since I'd never heard much about Buffalo.

I was pleasantly surprised with this router, right from the moment I opened the box. The unit is sleek-looking, well-built, and has a well-engineered antenna... not one of the flimsy cheap 3 inch tall antennas most routers ship with... this one is about 8 inches tall and made of a solid material. The router has all of its basic setup information printed on a label on the bottom of the unit - the default IP address, MAC address, user name, default password, etc. Most other companies just include the router MAC address and nothing else. The attention to detail with things like the antenna type and the setup label demonstrate, in my opinion, that Buffalo is committed to making products that last and have the features people really want. Heck - because of that label, I didn't even have to use the manual to hook the unit up and get it working. Everything needed for setup is right there on the unit so you don't have to deal with finding the manual in a year or two if you need to clear the router's settings and set it up again from the default "factory-programmed" state.

Setup was a snap and took me about five minutes. I also set the router up to use the new WPA-PSK encryption technology for wireless security - WPA-PSK is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more secure than even 128-bit WEP encryption, so this is a wonderful feature for such an inexpensive router. Two other routers that I've owned have claimed that they supported WPA-PSK, but neither worked properly with it - the wireless would drop frequently with them, etc. This Buffalo router doesn't have any problems doing WPA-PSK and maintaining a stable wireless signal.

Setting up port-forwarding so that I can host multiplayer games online (Warcraft 3 in particular) and so I could connect to my home computers while I'm at work was also simple.

My suggestion - don't take a gamble buying another router. I've been burnt too many times when I've speculated that the "grass was greener" on the Netgear, D-Link, or Linksys side... This router is a known quantity. It works well and I HIGHLY recommend it for people of all experience levels with wireless networking technology.

I've owned two other routers, a D-link which worked fine but not enough coverage and a Netgear which had good coverage but a bug that hung when I would use Safari on the satellite computers. The Buffalo meets all needs and is stable as a rock. Easy setup and no problems, great area coverage. Their cards don't work well, however.

THis is the second Buffalo wireless router I have purchased. One for home and now one for my business. Very easy to set up and small enough to be out of sight.

This is the best router I've used hands down.

I started with a Linksys router from Sam's and it REALLY STUNK -- didn't work at all. Then I got a D-Link DI624. It worked ok, except that it would not communicate with my Pocket PC in WPA mode. Next, I tried a Belkin router F5D7230-4, which was better than the others. It could communicate with my Pocket PC in WPA mode, but it kept dropping the signal.

Finally I tried this Buffalo router. It works fine in WPA mode with my Pocket PC. It has never once dropped a connection. And it wasn't any more expensive than the others.

Same price, but it actually works. This is the one you want.