Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys WRT54GX Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I live in a two story house, with plenty of walls in between. This unit replaced 3 11a Access Points. I can now get 108mbps anywhere in my house with almost 100% signal strenght (my laptop is using the WPC54GX card).

The web interface is very straightforward and looks professional. I would buy it again.

This is my first Amazon.com review, so please bear with me. I bought the Linksys WRT54GX router along with the companion SRX wireless PC card because: 1) I wanted to replace an 802.11b wireless network in my 2-story home for better coverage (I was having to use a Linksys wireless access point in repeater mode to get "complete coverage" with the old setup); and 2) I wanted a faster wireless network.

I quickly became frustrated with the new Linksys SRX wireless setup, primarily because my laptop (a 2004 HP model) wouldn't always detect the wireless card after powering up from sleep mode, and often there would be dropouts in my wireless internet connection, even when my laptop remained stationary. In addition, even though the wireless icon in the task bar would constantly indicate a connection speed of 108.0 Mbps, it was obvious that my new wireless internet connection was often far slower than my old 11.0 Mbps wireless connection! This problem was especially obvious with websites rich in photo-quality graphic images, like ESPN.com.

So, I contacted Linksys tech support and, with the help of a friendly tech support agent, reprogrammed several parameters on the router. The problem improved, but only temporarily. Frustrated, I returned both the wireless router and the PC card and immediately ordered the Belkin Pre-N router and PC card (based on Cnet reviews, which rated the Belkin system higher anyway).

Both the Belkin wireless router and PC card installed quite easily with the accompanying installation CD's and my system has been up and running without a hitch--so far. One other thing I have liked about the Belkin system is that (using the included Belkin Wireless Client) it displays realtime send and receive speeds of the wireless card, which are often slower than the 108.0 Mbps the wireless icon in the taskbar is constantly pegged at; but at least I know the "true" speed of my wireless network at any given point in time (the measured speeds that are displayed are constantly changing and fluctuate mainly according to distance from the router).

Needless to say, I have been impressed with my early experience with this Belkin system and won't hesitate to highly recommend it to others considering a future home wireless network upgrade. Oh, and did I mention that the Belkin system was cheaper than Linksys'?!!

This unit comes with zero documentation, as otherwise noted, and one is forced to use their set-up disk. I followed the instructions and when it came time to save the set-up, the software announced that it could not detect the router (which was by instruction hardwired to the computer). There was then no way to exit the set-up software and a complete reboot of the computer was required.

I called tech support (in Argentina) and was cheerly told that the set-up software often did not work and was then taken through manual set-up at which point the router worked.

However, it failed to allow IPSEC pass-through (with IPSEC pass- through enabled - a default setting) rendering VPN access to my office impossible. (Using a Cisco/Checkpoint client).

I brought the unit into the office this morning and one of our engineers spent two and a half hours on the phone with their tech support, rising three levels, only to get their confirmation of his analysis that IPSEC pass-through only occurs wired, but alas not wireless.

They claimed that he was the very first (!) to bring this issue to their attention and they would work on correcting it and to expect a call back on Tuesday.

I bought this unit to replace the WRT54G with high-gain antennas to improve reach within our house. I had searched the Internet for verification that this pre-n MIMO unit would extend reach for even non-pre-n nodes and frankly found little beyond Linksys's own muted claims. Also I had heard it rumored that mixed b/g environments were problematic with this router.

But the fact is, it does improve even 802.11b reach. Not dramatically, but my wife suddenly had reception for her X31 w/b in her home office and my daughter with a Mac iBook w/b had reception in her bedroom for the first time - both locations significantly screened by the old lath construction in our house - and my X40 w/g and G5 w/g and another daughter's iBook w/b closer by all had similar reception. My initial sense is that the improvement is greater w/b than g.

So assuming Linksys can provide updated firmware I'm keeping it and would judge myself very satisfied with its performance. But it is a constant source of surprise that market leaders like Linksys (i.e. Cisco) can bring products to market that are so poorly tested. The time I and my engineer have wasted so far on this has already far exceeded the value of the product.

I purchased the WRT54G router first - Although it worked fine, the range was poor. I couldn't bring my laptop downstairs (router is located upstairs)... the WRT54GX w/SRX fixed all of that. I can roam around my house & I experience very little signal drop off.

I am totally computer illterate, and had a little trouble getting my laptop to wirelessly connect to the 54G and the 800 customer support # was totally useless (I could barely understand the rep)... In any event, I was able (after about 15 minutes) to work it out myself and get my laptop to work wirelessly.

On the other hand, when I returned the 54G for the 54GX it hooked up in literally less than 5 minutes. My PC and laptop work excellent and the speed is incredible. When I tell you I am a dummy, I'm a dummy and this thing was simple to get going.

Don't waste your time w/ the 54G, just go for the 54GX w/ SRX it's worth the extra money!

This unit was purchased to replace a Netgear WGR614 "g" router. My family's computer, using a Netgear 2.0 adapter, could not keep a connection at all (distance: 30 feet horizontal / one floor, maybe 6 feet vertical - through wood and carpet and sheetrock).

Installation of the Linksys SRX Router was difficult. Documentation does not exist. The CD's Installation Wizard asked for a Host and Domain name for my Internet connection, though it noted that I did not necessarily need one. I left them blank because I didn't have any idea what they were. When I reached the final page of the Wizard, it told me it could not connect to the Internet and could not finalize. I suspected the problem was the leaving off of the Host and Domain name. On a hunch, I reconnected my Netgear router, got what information I could from the Internet (nothing), and tried again. Still nothing from the SRX.

I then called Earthlink (my ISP) and they were extremely helpful in getting me reconnected. (I had to reset everything.)

Now the SRX seems to be blasting mostly just fine. The speed rates seem to have increased in increments of 12 Mbps (from the Netgear), and the connection monitor in my family's Windows XP Taskbar no longer goes to red and stays there.

However, there have still been instances when my wife is on the Internet and she has been booted off. I can't imagine it is this SRX, but I don't know what else it would be.

I will likely return this, and try the Linksys WRT54GS (w/Speedbooster), along with Linksys's repeater antenna. Together, they are less money than this SRX. (Though all the negative reviews of the Linksys repeater give me gigantic pause.)

My frustration level with the Wireless Network game has reached a peak. With all the time and money I've spent on this stuff, I could have wired my house with RJ-45 three times.

Can't someone make something that works the way they say it will?

I have a WRT54G router which was working great from my basement to my second story office until I moved my office to a different room in the house where my connection dropped from 54mbps to 5 - 0mbps.

I purchased the WRT54GX and immediately got 54mbps again. After plugging in the cables the network was working immediately without me having to read any manuals. It would have been nice to have a quick start poster so I didn't have to get the user guide form the CD for the router password but otherwise this was an excellent experience. Only other downer was the price is still a bit high.

I have been using this router for since 10/05 and it has worked perfect. You do need to know that the first thing that you should do is throw the cd in the trash it is so simple to set up without the cd why bother. You also need to know what type of connection you need to set it to and that the ip address of the router is 192.168.1.1 you leave the username blank and default password is admin. If you use dsl then you would set it to pppoe put in you user name and password and save changes you are done getting ready to connect to the internet. I know for a fact it works with sbc yahoo dsl (if you have one of the newer Speedstream 5100b or 4100 modems they have to be set to bridge mode.) like this. Setting up the wireless is just as easy you don't have to do anything to get the wireless to work. However it is highly recommended to go to the wireless tab and then wireless security and set at least a wep security code. You can generate the code from a passphrase which is nice and it keeps your neighbors from using your internet connection for free. It does cause some hassles with setting up a computer wirelessly because you have to type in a long code when prompted for it but you only have to do it once. Also I would recommend changing the router password on the administration tab. The main problems that someone might run into is that their network card in their computer is messed up be it that the network card is configured with a static ip address, the tcp/ip stack is corrupted, a bad cable or loose cable, or maybe the drivers are not installed for the network card. Whatever the reason as long as there are no problems with the network card in your computer you will not have problems setting up this router. Oh yeah you cannot set up the router wirelessly the router needs to be connected direct to your computer. Now before someone calls me a liar for that, you can set it up wirelessly if you know what you are doing but if you use the cd that I told you to throw in the trash you had better have the router connected direct to the computer.

We got the Linksys SRX router because we couldn't get a WiFi signal through the thick plaster walls of our 1890-vintage brick townhouse. The Linksys delived significantly better range than our old "G" router, even to a laptop with a normal G WiFi card. When we bit the bullet (and the checkbook) and got a new SRX card for the laptop, the performance jumped again, and we're getting excellent range and a very stable signal. Setup is a bit easier than older Linksys WiFi routers. Be sure to enable the security features, even though they're a bit of a pain. You have to enter the security code into the computer(s) that are linked via WiFi, something that Linksys' website doesn't explain with sufficient clarity & detail. (And Linksys tech support by phone, while available and free, is provided from offshore and is very weak.) The router is expensive, but if you need to get more range or penetrate solid old walls and floors, it does make a difference.

I purchased this to replace a Linksys WRT54G. Most of the same features are there, and I would estimate the performance and reliability of my wireless connections has increased by a factor of ~150% in my small house. A couple of annoying anomalies (which only a techie like me would notice anyway) are:
1) No WINS server may be specified as an option to the built-in DHCP server scope.
2) Instead of passing the DNS servers which the router acquires from the ISP on to DHCP clients, the router passes its own IP address. It seems to work, though, because I can get out just fine. Must be doing DNS forwarding.
3) From my inside network, I can no longer access any port-forwarded host using the DDNS name and port number. It works OK from outside, as before.
For most people looking for a first or basic router, I would recommend the WRT54G (not GX) which goes for about 1/3 the price, and $10-$15 extra usually gets you the "Speed Booster" model which I haven't tried.
Go to http://www.linksysinfo.org for lots more reviews and technical discussions about many Linksys products.

This is a great wireless router. It was very easy to set up -- just plug it in, plug in the modem, and it automatically recognizes the IP address. (It may take a few tries, and you may have to unplug both the cable modem and the router once or twice, but it eventually connects to the internet on its own.) The great thing is that it really does what it says it does: the wireless signal reaches very far -- we now get an excellent signal in our gazebo, which is in our back yard, several hundred feet away from the router. One thing you need to know about this device: it uses Mimo technology (not sure what that is, but it's the latest), which isn't compatible with the Linksys Range Extender that we had been using. But it turned out we didn't need the Range Extender after all, since the router does the job by itself. We now get an excellent signal everywhere on our property, both upstairs and downstairs. Highly recommended.