Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys WRT600N Linksys Ultra RangePlus Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

I am finally getting around to posting this review. I see that more recent users have been having good experiences with this product so I am considering giving it another try.

This review was originally drafted in Feb 2008 as I was preparing to return my second WRT600N with no intentions of getting a third.

Recommendation: after attempting to get two WRT600N's to work, I have come to a personal conclusion that the product is not mature and needs much more work. I applaud and am envious of others who have been able to make it work.

Review Synopsis: my first WRT600N failed to establish a connection with multiple laptops and an Xbox 360. After two hours with Linksys technical support, they recommended I return the router for replacement. Second router connected routinely, but every 10 - 20 minutes would drop the wireless connection on the 2.4 GHz signal. Returning it as well.

Full Review: I had been using a WRT54G v3 successfully for about three years now. Why replace it you ask? A few reasons:
1. I connect my Xbox 360 to a computer in my office via Media Extender. Because it is wireless from the router to the Xbox (linear distance is about 10 feet but through two glass windows), navigation of Windows Media Center on the Xbox has quite a bit of lag.
2. I live in a high rise condo... as you can imagine, the 2.4 GHz spectrum is crowded contributing to reason number 1, above.
3. I have many wireless devices connecting to my router at any one time: Xbox, Tivo HD, and up to three laptops.
4. Lately, the router will all of a sudden lose connection to the internet. This happens about once every three to four months. No amount of power cycling or refreshing of IP addresses on the Administration tab will re-establish the connection. The only solution I have found is to reset the router to factory defaults and then re-enter my settings. I have confirmed that I have the latest firmware.

After reading some favorable reviews of the WRT600N on CNET, Laptop Magazine, and other publications (I know... I know), the router seemed a solution that would fit my environment. Also, it offers the built-in USB port to which one could attach an external USB HDD for a nifty Network Attached Storage (NAS) solution.

First WRT600N: got the first one. Opened it up and boy it sure looked purdy. Followed the setup instructions to a "T" using the EasyLink Advisor software that came on an installation CD. Since I was transitioning from a Linksys product, the EasyLink software detected my existing router and led me through the steps of replacing my WRT54G with the WRT600N. There were clear pictures and the software even transferred the settings from my WRT54G to the WRT600N. The only thing it did not transfer were the MAC addresses of all the computers I had on my network.

When it came time to test the internet connection, the router could not get an IP address from the modem. The EasyLink software kept putting me in an endless loop where it checked for the internet connection, could not find one and the only assistance it gave was to go back one step (Back button was the only step available) to test it again. No hints on how to resolve the issue.

However, after a few power cycles, the router finally got an IP address and I was connected to the internet via a wired connection. I got my Gigabit Ethernet signal indication on my computer. This is where the success of the first router came to an end.

I wanted the following configuration on my router; the 5 GHz radio for the Xbox and maybe my one laptop. All other devices on the 2.4 GHz radio. I was able to connect my Xbox to the 5 GHz broadcast at first, but the signal was extremely weak ; one red bar. By comparison, the WRT54G maintains between 3 and 4 bars (out of four). The laptops connected to the 2.4 GHz signal a little easier and with better signal strength as compared to the Xbox, but showed dramatically fluctuating signal strength (50% - 85%) as soon as I took the laptops more than 15 feet away from the router. I live in a 2BR condo, total sq ft around 1100, so distance from the router should not be a factor.

I tried all combinations of settings before calling tech support. 5 GHz on mixed, then A only. 2.4 GHz on mixed, but 20 MHz bandwidth instead of 40. Mixed on all. Specified channels instead of Auto. Advanced tweaks discovered via some user forums. Nada worked. Called Linksys tech on the 24 x 7 line. No support was available until the next morning at 8 am. So much for 24 x 7. Next morning, after 2.5 hrs on the phone with Linksys tech support and failed firmware upgrade attempts, they recommended I return the router.

Second WRT600N: setup was a little more difficult with this one as the EasyLink software froze. Had to end it, reboot and restart. Same issue with not being able to get an initial internet connection as the first router. Several power cycles, resetting of the router etc. until I finally got an IP address from Cox Cable.

Now, on this second unit the wireless connections went easily and flawlessly. Connected the Xbox 360 on mixed mode on 5 G Hz with Auto setting for bandwidth. Smoother response and much less lag using Windows Media Center connected via Media Extender to my computer. Signal strength somewhere between 60 - 80%. All other wireless devices connected via "g" on the 2.4 GHz frequency. I was happy... until.

15 minutes into this, all 2.4 GHz devices dropped their signal at the same time for about 15 seconds, then came back on. Hmm. The Xbox stayed connected on 5 GHz. Again, 10 - 15 minutes later, another dropped wireless connection; this time all devices lose signal for about 10 seconds.

More tweaks,another call to tech support.

NOW, HERE IS THE CLINCHER that is making me return the second router and not giving a third attempt at this. When I talked to the tech support line, their first recommendation was to disable the 5 GHz radio! What?! Why? Yes, I know what they were trying to assess... are the radios interfering? Ok, so let's say they do... what's the point in having a dual radio router??? I told them that disabling was not a solution for a router marketed as having two radios intended for simultaneous operations. I asked if it was their intention that I operate the router only on the 2.4 GHz radio. They said, well, if that fixes your signal dropping problem, then yes. That's when I told them I might as well return the product. They tried to dissuade me from doing so and insisted that I turn off the 5 GHz radio, "just to see... ". Ok. Done. They told me to leave it that way for a few hours and call them back if it dropped. I asked, "What if it does not drop? Is it Linksys' recommendation that I operate only one radio?" The support person backed away from that and she did not want to give a definitive response. After pressing, I finally got her to reveal that there are issues with the dual radios and that the standard recommendation is to disable one of them.

Now I know that I could attempt to flash the WRT600N with third party firmware from [...] which some reviewers have done successfully and have said it fixes their issues, but I am of the belief that the manufacturer should make products that work. I am afraid to brick the product by doing something I am not experienced at so...

Time for a refund and kiss the WRT600N goodbye. I'm looking forward to the D-Link DIR-855.

Some equipment notes:

- Xbox 360 using Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter that supports 802.11abg
- Thinkpad T42 with Thinkpad 11 a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Adapter (Atheros OEM), Vista 32-bit
- Thinkpad T61p with Thinkpad 11 a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter (Atheros OEM), Vista 32-bit
- Dell Latitude D620 with Dell Wireless 1490 Dual Band WLAN Mini-Card, XP 32-bit

First router: S/N MNR008107370, manufactured 1/2008
Second router: S/N MNR008107361, manufactured 1/2008

Both routers came with firmware version 1.01.35 Build 5. The latest version on the Linksys support site was Build 3. I told the first tech support person who wanted me to install the Build 3 firmware of this inconsistency, but she said it does not matter... try anyway. The firmware upgrade failed on the first router. I don't know if it made a difference.

About me: though not a networking specialist or technician, I consider myself a relatively competent and experienced user of technology, installing and setting up my own equipment (which basically means I read instructions and figure things out with a bit of internet research when I run into problems).

We want a router that covers the whole house, that is fast, and secure since my wife and I both access business information from home. I used to use 2 802.11b AP but still not satisfied and added power-line Ethernet

for the 6 computers we have. Selected WRT600N based on the reviews for range and 5.8GHz 802.11n.

I am very happy with the router that offers long range, good bandwidth and security. It is easy to set up after the initial confusion. Tech Support was helpful but could be better.

The 5.8GHz 802.11a radio is fast and cover the whole house (good size) with at least 2 bars. The 2.4GHz 802.11b/g radio covers the whole house with 5 bars. Both delivers good bandwidth to all 3 floors. On-line gaming is good :-)

My router came configured so EasyLink Advisor could not find it. I consider this a bug. Tech Support told me to connect the router to PC via wire and go to 192.168.1.1 with a browser, login (user name and password are on page 5 of the user guide) then it is easy from there. Here is a quick guide for wireless.

Tech Support wanted me to use WEP for security, I had to tell him I want WPA2 twice since WEP is unacceptable. He did warm me about bandwidth drop, but I only have a 3Mbps fiber connection at home so it is not a concern.

I could not get Tech Support to give me the user manual, it is available here http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_CASupport_C2&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1175237935014&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=3501429063B390&displaypage=nodata#versiondetail

The box came with EasyLink Advisor version 1.0. I was concerned with all the not-so-positive reviews about version 1.0 with WRT3xx. Downloaded version 1.6 but I did not need it.

Linksys might consider using screen shots with higher resolution for the user guide.

Your Tags: wireless router

I have had several wireless routers over the years, both Netgear and Linksys.

I developed problems with my internet connection. All PCs in my house would sometimes get a very slow connection. The problem had to be the modem or the router. I had my eye on the new "pre-N" routers for quite a while, and decided this was as good an excuse as any to buy a new router. (It turns out the problem was with my Modem, but that's another story.) I especially liked the WRT600N because it is the first unit to offer two independent radios -- one for 2.4 GHz and another one for 5 GHz.

The first thing I did was plug in the router and try configuring it with the Easy-Start CD. Not surprisingly, this did not work. The Easy-Start CD is a good idea, but if anything goes wrong, it gives very little indication of where things went wrong and what the problem might be.

I called Linksys tech support, and had a remarkably good experience. The technician spoke excellent English and was very knowledgeable. He didn't even try to play with the Easy-Start program, but immediately jumped into manual configuration. It didn't take long to find that I picked up a bad Ethernet cable. After that, configuration went quickly. To his credit, the technician recommended I configure WPA security. I didn't do it because I am in a semi-rural area. The technician told me that the SSID for the 5GHz and 2.4 GHz radios had to be the same. I later found out this is not true. It makes a difference because it's much easier to tell which frequency your PC is using if the SSIDs are different.

About a month later, I decided to use the USB disk drive option. I had a 200GB USB disk which I use for backup. I map it through file explorer and copy the files I want to back up. I wanted to be able to do this with any of the three laptop PCs in the house. I was able to connect the disk drive without any technical support. The trick is to work backwards through the configuration. Go to Storage / Administration FIRST. Configure the users. Then configure the groups. Then you can go to Storage / Disk and create your share folder. Then you will be able to map the share folder in Windows file explorer.

EDIT for USB disk drive: After many months, I gave up on the USB disk drive. It would work for several weeks, then stop working. The best solution I could find is to turn off the router, unplug the disk drive USB cable, turn the router back on, then plug in the disk drive. It's easy enough, but it got to be a pain. I ended up mounting the USB disk to the bottom of my desk, so I can plug it directly into my laptop.

A couple of days after configuring the disk, I lost the disk connection and could not map my share folder. This time I used "chat" Tech Support. Again, the technician was knowledgeable. She successfully got my share folder mapped. She also suggested I use a different SSID for the two radios, which makes controlling the frequency the PC uses to connect to the router much easier.

The disk connection is still far from perfect. The problem seems to be with Windows. If I suspend my computer, then turn it back on; Windows tries to connect to the disk drive before the wireless network is up. It declares the drive not available. After that, things are ugly. I finally resolved the problem by *not* clicking "re-connect at log on". When I want to back up some files, I connect the drive, back up, and disconnect. It's hardly an ideal solution, but it works very reliably.

Like many Linksys products, the WRT600N runs a little warm. But I keep it out in the open. Heat has not been a problem.

I use the 2.4 GHz radio and a "G" connection with an older Dell and an older Sony laptop, both running Windows XP, SP2. I also have a 2.4 GHz Linksys G Wireless Print Server. I use the 5 GHz radio with an "N" connection with Dell XPS M1330; which dual-boots to Vista and XP. After several months of use, the router works very well with all.

My caveats:

* Both Linksys technicians recommended I configure the radio band to "Wide" instead of "Auto". I set the 5 GHz radio to "Wide" and the 2.4 GHz radio to "Auto" I haven't had any problems. Even when I connect my new Dell to 2.4 GHz using an "N" connection, everything seems to play together nicely. But given the Linksys advice, your mileage may vary.

* The USB disk drive share folder works well. Groups, users, and passwords all work fine. But Windows has difficulty managing drives that automatically connect over a wireless connection.

* I do not use Media Server, FTP server, QoS, or encryption. I can't say how well any of these features work.

* Linksys should offer better instructions on how to manually configure their routers, perhaps on their web site.

This router is great assuming you configure it right and use it with the right equipment. I configured the router so that my good laptop is on the 5ghz network (using the Linksys WPC600N wireless adapter) and all other wireless equipment using b,g or 2.4ghz-N connect to the 2.4ghz wireless network. Yes, your wireless computers will be connecting to two different wireless networks but as long as they're in the same workgroup they can still see each other. Its true, out of the box the 5ghz network is much weaker than the 2.4, but (after reading the manual) I changed the radio band from Auto to the Wide-40mhz channel (for the 5ghz network only, leaving the 2.4ghz wireless setting to auto) I'm now getting a link speed of 135-182mps! That's what this router is designed for; use one wireless band for high speed N-only and the other band for all of your mixed devices. Again, I'm using this with the wireless adapter that its designed to work with, its definitely worth the money to get the wpc600n for at least one of your laptops that way you can connect to the 5ghz N-band, otherwise your probably better off with the wrt350n.

The WRT600N has quality control problems. The first two that I had lost connectivity with the modem at random times. The third router worked perfectly right out of the box. You have to demand a replacement after you go through tech support's routines and it still does not work. Be advised that replacement routers are not new. Both of the ones I received were reconditioned. They had scratches and one was even sent with the wrong power cord. If you look at the reviews you see people that love the router and people that have had a bunch of problems. That tells me that quality control is the issue.

Purchased because needed extended range to reach a computer in my basement (3 floors down from my router) and I wanted to get a gigabit router. I also liked the storage link function. Overall, the router performs great. I don't get the blazing speeds in the basement, but I do get connection where my old G router did not quite make it there. I also believe that moving my router may also increase performance. Setup was very easy moving from one linksys router to another, however I would say that the wizard doesn't do everything it should...

I also like the interface (with the exception of storage link noted below) and it is VERY easy to set up. I use a VoIP phone and it was simple to set up the phone for QoS and that has worked flawlessly. (Another big reason for purchasing the phone.) You can set QoS by MAC address, IP address, ports, etc. Very few people use this function and you definitely should.

I'm disappointed with the storage link. I'm familiar with technology and disk management and I have yet to figure out the Storage Link interface. There is NO documentation with the unit, and very little on this feature online. I know that if I spend some time with it, I will be able to find instructions, but a SimpleShare device I purchased a few years ago didn't require reading manuals (yuck!).

I am also disappointed that, at the time of purchase, only notebook cards were supported with the dual radios. I don't know if this would have increased my range (don't think so) so for now, I think I would purchase the less expensive non UltraRange version of this with only the one radio.

I've been using this router for a good 3 months now. I am an IT professional, operating a large home network with lots of devices. Bought this router in the hopes of a more reliable router and network. It's Broadcom-based with 300Mhz CPU (fast for a router) and 32MB of memory (plenty for a router).

THE GOOD: excellent and reliable router with lots of memory and features - just make sure you upgrade the firmware. It has TWO radios, one 2.4Ghz, one 5Ghz, each configurable separately to do whatever you want. Very fast CPU allows for fast enough routing to send FAXES through my VoIP line! Lots of memory - you can use it for things like VPN, BitTorrent and VoIP, including all at the same time! Third-party firmware also available (DD-WRT) and working quite well, maybe even better than Linksys' own (no Wide-Channel support on 5Ghz band with DD-WRT).

THE BAD: Until recently this router had a very buggy firmware, which made this it next to useless. Make sure you update to the latest firmware - go to the US Linksys website regardless of where you are located and get it (only the US one has the latest firmware for some reason!?!?). The new firmware (build from March 2008) fixes most of these problems. The G-connectivity is shaky: I am still very unhappy with it. Connection becomes unreliable on my laptop (Apple PowerBook G4 12") when I move more than 4-5 meters away from the router. That's "unrerliable" for my use, most people might find it acceptable. Interestingly, other computers do not seem to suffer from this too much. The problem does not seem to improve by changing firmwares, it appears to be a hardware compatibility issue with certain older adapters. I ended up using my OLD router as a G-access point to solve the problem. The StorageLink is useless for my purposes - too slow, you can't beat a computer acting as a file server. You would think the USB port would also accept a printer, but sorry - no print server included. No support for IPv6 - none whatsoever. I find this surprising for a high-end router.

THE UGLY: Linksys' technical support is still being their useless selves. You can just pretend they don't exist. If you have a problem, search forums on the matter. DD-WRT's forum is very very valuable in this area.

CONCLUSION: What do you want from this router? A reliable router? Yes, you get that. Feature-rich? Yes, that too. I am sending FAXES through my VoIP line, very impressive! So far I haven't seen it crash on me, it does what it was meant to, as long as you upgrade to the very latest firmware - do it immediately! Very disappointing G connectivity from my computer to my router. StorageLink is useless, even if 300Mhz were enough for that, would you want to divert valuable resources from routing? I didn't think so.

Like some of the other reviewers, I did have substantial performance problems with this unit - dropouts, extreme slow wireless speed, etc. After a lot of testing, it became clear that the 2.4ghz radio was faulty and causing most of the problems, including making the 5ghz dropouts. I returned the unit to Amazon, got a new one overnight, and the new unit has worked absolutely flawlessly both with -g and -n and both on 5 and 2.4 ghz. I suspect that they have some manufacturing quality problems with their 2.4 radio (I suspect a loose or heat sensitive connection because the fault unit got very, very hot) - so if you have trouble, swap the unit and it'll probably do you wonders.

I have both Linkys WRT300N Linksys WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband Router and this WRT600N. Unlike 300N, this is a dual-band wireless router. Apparently, 5GHz does help in term of speed. 600N is about 50% faster than 300N, in 5GHz. The problem is, it crashes too often.

Every time, when I transfer a 700MB file, it crashes the router (about 500MB copied). I have to reconnect. WRT300N works much more reliable, although a bit slower.

The router works flawlessly after a very challenging set up adventure. The initial set up attempt was unsuccessful. I use the Vista Home Premium operating system. After 2 days of trying to configure the wireless set up using the Linksys provided configuration tool, I gave up. Wired set up was not a problem. After configuring the router for wireless operation with my laptop, the router recognized every wireless appliance on the network except for the laptop that I used to configure the router. I gave up after 2 days of unsuccessful attempts. Then I switched to the Windows Vista wireless configuration tool, and I was up and running in less than 5 minutes.