Cisco-Linksys WRT54GX4 Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX400

by Cisco

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.7 x 3.5 inches ; 3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000C77XSS
• Item model number: WRT54GX4
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (143 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description The next generation of wireless technology has arrived, with the Linksys WRT54GX4 Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX400 leading the way. Although it's technically considered a router, the Linksys WRT54GX4 is much more than that. Based on "multiple in, multiple out," or MIMO, technology that effectively doubles the data rate, this is actually three high-performance devices in one. First, there's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect to the network, as the name suggests, without wires.

Ports and reset button on one side ... View larger.

... and network activity LEDs on the other. View larger.

The router can also be mounted to the wall. View larger.

Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router is like three devices in one. View larger.

Then there's the built-in four-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired Ethernet devices together. Finally, there's the actual router that ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. With the Linksys WRT54GX4, the days of stacking boxes connected by a confusion of tangled wires are thankfully over.

SRX: The Future of Wireless Networks Is Here
The Linksys WRT54GX4, like all of Linksys's SRX400 products, is based on MIMO technology, a key component in the upcoming Wireless-N standard (802.11n). By overlaying the signals of two Wireless-G compatible radios, MIMO has the capacity to double data transfer rates. In fact, the maximum wireless data transfer rates of the SRX400 actually exceed the capabilities of the traditional wired Ethernet 10/100 data ports that are in place on most computer networks. It's that fast. And by using the network's signal reflections that usually hinder performance in typical wireless products to increase range and reduce "dead spots" in the wireless network, SRX400 effectively increases the coverage area of the network by up to three times that of Wireless-G. In short, not only do you significantly increase your data transfer speed with Linksys WRT54GX4, but you can vastly increase the distance you can send our signal as well.

Of course, you don't want to transmit sensitive information without making certain the network is secure. To help protect data and privacy, the Linksys WRT54GX4 can encode all wireless transmissions with industrial-strength WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption. It can serve as a network DHCP server, supports VPN pass-through, and has a powerful SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) firewall to protect against intruders and most known Internet attacks. Enabling these security features on the router is easy with the Linksys Web browser-based configuration utility.

And when your computers are equipped with the Linksys WPC54GX4 Wireless-G PC Card, you will see unparalleled throughput, significantly reduced dead spots, and a dramatically increased wireless range compared to traditional Wireless-G networks.

Does this mean that you'll need to convert all of your wireless equipment to SRX400? Not by a long shot. While SRX400 works optimally with other SRX400-enabled devices, it works just fine with standard Wireless-G and -B equipment. In fact, the Linksys WRT54GX4 router has a "good neighbor" policy that ensures that it is always checking for other wireless devices in the area before gobbling up the radio band. While it can dynamically enable a double-speed mode for SRX400 devices, it's designed to seamlessly operate with other 802.11 certified wireless devices at their respective fastest available speeds. And best of all, it enhances the performance of non-SRX devices by allowing them to connect at further distances than standard Wireless-G routers do. But when both ends of the wireless link are SRX400, the router can increase the throughput even more by using twice as much radio band, yielding speeds up to 10 times as fast as standard Wireless-G.

The bottom line is that with the Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX400 at the center of your home or office network, you can share a high-speed Internet connection, files, printers, and multiplayer games at speeds faster than those of 10/100 wired networks, but without all the hassles of wires or inefficient wireless connectivity.

What's in the Box
Wireless-G broadband router, setup CD-ROM with Symantec Internet Security, user's guide on CD-ROM, power adapter, Ethernet network cable, and registration card.

Product Description

Linksys Wireless-G Notebook Adapter with SRX 400 Wireless-G for your notebook with SRX technology provides up to 10 times faster wireless network throughput, reduces dead spots, and increases wireless range by up to 3 times. Also fully compatible with all public and private Wireless-G and Wireless-B networks. The Wireless-G Notebook Adapter with SRX400 is the simple way to add or upgrade wireless connectivity in your notebook computer. Just slide it into your notebook's PC Card slot and enjoy high-speed wireless network access while retaining true mobility.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, Amazing Router!, January 26, 2006

By 

Ronald Epstein "Ronald Epstein" (NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys WRT54GX4 Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX400 (Personal Computers)

I have had Linksys routers for years and have absolutely no trouble with them. With my cable broadband access I was using the latest Wireless-G router (WRT54GS) with an added Linksys speedbooster and getting EXCELLENT coverage throughout my home. All was happy. All was well.

Then came Verizon Fios. No doubt, Verizon Fios broadband is far superior to cable. The problem? They gave me a D-Link 624 wireless router. The range on this puppy was pitiful compared to my previous Linksys setup. Had I known this beforehand, I wouldn't have given away my WRT54GS Linksys-G router and speedbooster to my brother. But I did -- and I was stuck with the lousy D-Link that provided poor coverage throughout my home.

I needed something powerful that would provide the same strength and coverage (or better) of the Linksys WRT54GS plus the added speedbooster.

I read all the reviews of the WRT54GX4 SRS400 router. The reviews were mostly mixed as to how well this router actually worked. The main concern was that this was new technology, possibly rushed to market, and that there would probably be kinks involved. There was another issue with an AMAZON.COM reviewer that said he could not set up his wireless print server with this modem. Having a Linksys wireless-G print server (WPS54GU2) myself, I was concerned.

I decided to gamble $119 and bought this router.

First surprise! Right out of the box I had it running in under 10 minutes. A supplied CD walks you through each step with diagrams of how to hook up the router, followed by a step-by-step configuring tool that enables you to enter all the necessary settings. Mind you, I'm a little above a novice in setting these routers up simply because I know the settings that are required. Novices may have a bit of a learning curve, but I can't see it being any more difficult than setting up any other similar sort of router.

In short, the supplied CD does a great job of guiding you through hookup and configuring your settings. In 10 minutes, my Internet connection was up and running.

Now here's the amazing part....

This router does EXACTLY what it claims to do. My wireless signal DOUBLED in strength. I have a large multi-level home. In the farthest reaches of my home, signal strength went from 2 bars (LOW) to 4 bars (VERY GOOD) - just 1 bar below EXCELLENT. I can even take my laptop out on the deck and receive signal.

Hooking up the wireless print server (WPS54GU2) was a bit of a hassle. It always is, as it is the worst configurable product Linksys has ever put out. I did call Customer Service and with the help of an Indian woman who's English was barely understandable, I was finally able to get the wireless print server working.

So, there should be absolutely no fear that the WRT54GX4 router is not compatable with a Linksys print server.

Make no mistake about it -- this router is very powerful. The signal strength doubled over a standard Wireless-G router.

Now I am going to tell you something very interesting....

My laptop has a built-in 802.11B card. I'm not even using 802.11G technology on my laptop nor the recommended WPC54GX4 notebook adapter with SRS technology built-in.

So, if I am getting such an incredible improvement in signal with an older "B" technology, you can imagine how much better your results will be with the new technology.

I am extremely happy with this router. Hopefully, you will be too!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not ready for release., January 31, 2006

By 

Clark Brown - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys WRT54GX4 Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX400 (Personal Computers)

Don't buy this product if you have any desire to control Internet access. The firmware on this device is buggy and is on par with a first beta software from a new company. If you live in the Eastern time zone, you'll get a GMT-4 instead of the correct GMT-5 time displayed. Don't check Automatically Adjust for Daylight Savings time. It won't automatically adjust, it simply adds an hour making Eastern Time GMT-3 when it really should still be GMT-5. This is important if you want to restrict Internet Access to certain times during the day. But then again, this is another bug in the firmware - you can't properly control access times. The Allow feature is totally inoperative. The only thing you can do is to deny access, but controlling access is not easily accomplished. The unit continually access the time server. This is fine since it keeps time up to date (well, it keeps the incorrect time up to date). Unfortunately, it tends to reset the time to 1200am and holds it for a good half second until it displays the correct time. This creates havoc if you have 1200am set anywhere as denial of internet access. Because it would continually deny access. Frequent disconnects of wireles devices also occur.

On the positive side, it does have greater range and a cool looking case with three nifty antennas. That's about it.

Linksys has outsourced tech support to India. This is fine and as a result the tech support replys are extremely fast. The downside is the tech support does not have any information on the product, nor do they have a unit to play with. They sinply know only what Linksys tells them and it seems that there is no real communication between developers and tech support.
Bottom line - don't buy it until Linksys fixes the firmware.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quadrupled my wireless speeds with standard G wireless cards, December 8, 2005

By 

Jase1125 (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cisco-Linksys WRT54GX4 Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX400 (Personal Computers)

This router is fantastic. I was using a DLink DI-624 which has always received great reviews for it's speed. When I changed out that router for this new Linksys WRT54GX4, my wireless throughput quadrupled! I can now stream MPG files recorded in High Definition wireless without studdering and lags. One feature that was on my Dlink that the linksys doesn't have is the ability to assign specific IP addresses based on the clients MAC address. With Linksys, if you want to make sure the client always gets the same address, you will have to configure the client for static IP. That is a bummer. Fantastic throughput speeds. No hype with this router.

My router came with Cat 5 ports and not the phone line port.

Edit: After about a month of solid use, my router will no longer allow stable wireless connections. Clients drop after about 10 minutes or so and then sometimes re-establish. What is weird is I always show Excellent signal strength on my clients. Linksys tech support is as helpful as asking a 5 month old baby for help. My dog offers more support than they do!