Customer Reviews

Refurb Wireless Dual N Router WRT610N-RM

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Pros: Great speed. Wireless is only less than 5% slower than ethernet connection. USB link port is very solid.

Cons: Not designed for people who want plug & play devices with no knowledge of networking.

I will agree with a lot of people regarding people that stated that this router is no good. Those people do not know what they're doing.
I bought a REFURBISHED version 1... and it works perfect. After reading so many bad reviews, I had the feeling that all refurbished WRT610Ns were probably from people who didn't know how to get it to work properly.


****HOW TO PROPERLY SETUP A WRT610N ROUTER****

1) Download the latest firmware to your computer from Linksys' website. Do this even before you receive your WRT610N. Reading all the comments about the firmware, I didn't even bother trying the stock firmware.

2) Upon receiving the router, plug in the power cable and plug it into the AC outlet. No CAT5 cables yet.

Once it powers up, hold the reset button for a few seconds until the power light starts to blink. Release the reset button.

3) Once it powers up completely, plug your computer to the router with a CAT5 cable. Log into the router. Upload the new firmware.

4) After the upload is complete, unplug the power cable from the router, wait a few seconds, then plug it back it. This is to be assure the load was good.

5) Wireless configurations:
#1 Rule: Do not use auto on both G and N. Set 2.5Ghz band for B-G only and to a certain channel (6 or 11 works best). And set 5Ghz band for N only.
#2 Rule: Do not use the same encryption on both G and N. Set different encryption methods (example., WPA2 for G, WEP for N)

6) Disconnect the CAT5 cable, and try connecting to the N-wireless (do not connect to G. this is for testing purposes) Once your pc connects to the N network wirelessly, log into the router wirelessly.

7) 5Ghz in its nature is a sensitive frequency. The higher the frequency, the weaker the signal gets... but also gets faster. With that said, the 5Ghz N portion needs to be tweaked to what works best.
- On your computer, open up the Wireless Network Connection Status window. Leave this window open at all time so you can see the connection speed (If you have more than one pc with wireless N, do the same thing).
- Log into the router via wireless N. Go to Wireless Advanced section. Band: do not set AUTO on the band. Start off with 40Mhz. From there, pick the first channel (44 or something like that).
- Now check the speed(s) of the pc connection(s). Try out ever 40Mhz band until you find the best speed. If no band is solid, then result to 20Mhz. Once most solid and fastest speed is achieved, save the configs.

COMPLETE!

USB Link:
The USB link worked great. But there are some pointers. I tried two harddrives. 320GB 5400RPM SATA and 320GB 7200RPM SATA. Both were clones of each other; clean NTFS formatted with nothing but videos and music. I would recommend to edit SHARE and click on SHARE ENTIRE PARTITION. It seems much more fluid with that on. Ok, after I named my drive, shared the whole partition, and clicked on access rights, I mapped the drive to each computer to test the stability and speed. I did have a problem with my music folder that had 355 sub-folders (individual albums); it would randomly see all 355 folders. It would see 210, then 340, the 290, etc. It was a strange behavior. Since both harddrives were clones of each other, I formatted one harddrive using the Linksys Router function. It formatted the drive to NTFS FAT2. First time I've used FAT2. After I copied the contents back to the drive, I tested it again. It actually finds the files much faster than before. Don't know why. I haven't had a problem with missing folders either. Everything is found instantly. So I would highly recommend to format using the Linksys Router function. I did test out between 5400rpm and 7200rpm to see which would be better for a media storage. Attached to the linksys, neither one of them showed an real differences. I tried file transfer, playing lossless music, pictures, HD movies... all had the same performance. So I would recommend to just pick a 5400rpm since it runs on lower power consumption.

Stress Test:
I ran a very thorough performance test to see if this router could handle it.
Laptop #1 - wireless N 300Mbps connection
Laptop #2 - wireless N 280Mbps connection
Laptop #3 - wireless G 54Mbps
PS3 - wireless G 54Mbps
Wii - wireless G 54Mbps
NAS Harddrive on USB Link port

Laptop #1 to download multiple 3-5GB files from the internet.
Laptop #2 was streaming an HD movie 1080p from the NAS harddrive.
Laptop #3 was streaming lossless music from the NAS harddrive (54Mbps is too slow for HD movies)
PS3 was in an online game session (Marvel vs Capcom 2) as a spectator watching everyone play
Wii was set to stream a tv channel (Japanese Wii)

Laptop #1 was downloading at 35Mbps (which is about 2Mbps slower than when directly connected to the internet modem without Linksys). So that was still downloading at flying speeds even with all the traffic. Laptop #2 had no problem streaming an HD movie. There was some bit delay if I paused the movie or FF. But playing the movie, switching languages on the fly, etc... had no problems at all. It played smoothly. Laptop #3 was playing flac lossless audio files while browsing through the folders with no problems. PS3 never lost the connection to the online game. And the Wii never froze with the tv channel. I ran this test overnight with no problems at all.

Conclusion: This router works. It's very fast, stable, and had no problems. Just make sure you configure it properly. One piece of advise regarding wireless cards, stay away from the Intel N cards. They work poorly with the Linksys N routers. I tried three different Intel N cards and two Linksys N routers. I was never able to achieve a 300Mbps connection with any configuration.

I hope you will find this review helpful.

I ordered this refurb WRT610N and received a v.2 (better hardware & power switch). This is one of the most feature packed routers, with simultaneous dual-band performance (2.4GHz and 5GHz), a/b/g/n, USB port (data storage only without custom firmware), and amazing coverage.

I installed DD-WRT which enables the USB port to be used as a print server. It doesn't overheat, but just in case I plan on installing two small heatsinks on the RAM chip and the N-controller (both are known to get hot). Also, you can get a 7dBi antenna mod kit on eBay which I should have installed soon.

Overall, I'm VERY happy with this router considering the price. The refurb looks just like brand new (it probably is) - both inside and out.

I couldn't get the router working, so I was ready to do a return. Called up Cisco/Linksys and they tell me the Serial Number I gave them is not eligible for the 90 day warranty?? It is not in their database of refurbished routers... great.

Eventually I got it working after the 30-30-30 hard reset rule [from about.com]:
1. when the unit is powered on, hold down its reset button for 30 seconds
2. while still holding down the reset button, unplug the router from power and hold for an additional 30 seconds
3. still holding down the reset button, turn on power to the router again and hold for 30 more seconds

The WRT610N is an excellent router and was a recent upgrade for our old "overworked" router. I liked the styling and design of these units and find it mounts easily to the wall although no mounting hardware is provided in the refurbished package I received. Specification wise, this router is exactly the same as the higher priced Cisco E3000 router; which I also bought and compared side-by-side to the WRT610N. The main difference between the two is the Web UI, however, I replaced the firmware on both routers with DD-WRT to fit my specific needs. Apart from that they are identical CPU and memory configurations and perform equally in side-by-side tests. The WRT610N was, however, a little less expensive compared to the E3000 so if you're comparing the two - save around 20% and go with the WRT610N.

From a feature perspective, I was primarily looking for the following in a replacement router:

1.) Gigabit Ethernet LAN Ports
2.) Dual wireless radios
3.) Support for A/B/G/N wireless
4.) USB port(s) for external media
5.) More RAM and faster CPU than my old router
6.) Support for DD-WRT firmware

The WRT610N meets all of the above requirements nicely and the price for the refurbished unit was a no-brainer. The unit was nicely packaged and included a first-time setup CD allowing non-technical users to easily setup a secure home network in minimal time. There was also a CAT5e network cable and power supply included in the package. The power cable is nice in that it is side mount so it doesn't occupy multiple power outlets on standard power strips.

As for performance, the unit has been flawless under our normally heavy network load which includes multiple users streaming movies, music, online gaming and downloading large files. Our network connection is around 24Mbps and speed tests validate we're reaching full potential. The biggest problem we had with our previous router is it lacked the CPU and memory to handle the intense environment whereas the WRT610N averages less than 25% memory used and less than 10% average load on the CPU. This translates to faster web browsing and a frustration free online experience.

Bottom line: I'd highly recommend this router at this price point. I had purchased a new $100+ router that would intermittently freeze 1-2 times a day despite having the same great performance. I've owned many Linksys and Cisco products over the years and have always had good experiences with them. I was hesitant to buy this product initially because of the price but was happy to find the refurbished version at a price point that made sense to do the upgrade.

Pro: This router works great has great 2.4Ghz connection speed was able to get 300MB. The best connection speed I could get on 5Mhz was 54MB. Has consistanly run since I set it up with not lockup or rebooting needed, works will with my Linksys WRT300N v1 that has DD-WRT firmware and is setup as repeater/bridge. Installed 1GB NIC in Home Server to take advantage of faster speed for Backups and data transfer between wireless devices and server and noticeable performance inprovements. Much faster speedtest.net results

Con: Does not support IPv6 unless you install DD-WRT firmware on the router. Once my ISP starts supporting IPv6 I will install the DD-WRT firmware.

The router was fairly easy to setup. It's your typical router web based interface. Performance in terms of wireless and wired speed are very good. I upgraded to this N router from a Netgear G class router. The thing that sold me was the USB support for HDD. Once I got it setup and configured, which took a while but that's only because I was using it with a HDD that was about to die (I wasn't aware at the time). Once I got a good HDD in place setup went alot quicker. Transferring files over to the drive to populate it though was pretty painful. Either direction it moves at a whopping 2 Mbps. Needless to say i transferred everything via pc to usb first then reconnected the drive. Streaming from the drive is fairly good. I had no problems searching from my HTPC and playing movies and music. I wouldn't necessarily use it for backup purposes though. You're backups may take all night depending on your configs.

End the end, it's a great router. Good features that could be better but it's done just about everything i've asked it to; but just a bit slower than i'd like.

I received a v1 of this router (although I hoped for v2 seeing from another comment). I got the router installed last night and this review is mostly based on the install experience and roughly half day of usage. I found the hardware to be pretty solid and comparable to other linksys products. Storage link feature is a nice to have as my other NAS is getting pretty old now.

I tried the windows software it came with and it seemed reasonable and it claimed the install as a success after successfully connecting to the router via wifi. It did not have any option for storage setup though. The web interface is pretty much the same as any other linksys router. The biggest trouble I had is with the storage setup. In fact, install went pretty smoothly until I wanted to setup my USB hard drive. The router recognized the FAT32 formatted WD external hard drive, but wasn't successful in accessing it from my Windows 7 client. The fun part came when I contacted Cisco for support. Apparently, Cisco does not even provide free chat support for this product any more. You can post your query in an online forum or pay for phone support.

Anyway, at that point I gave up on the stock firmware and ended up with the DD-WRT option. Even DD-WRT had issues with FAT32 format (it recognized it but ran into permission issues on Windows) so I ended up reformatting to ext3 and things went relatively smooth from there. So lesson learned (for future) is to just go with DD-WRT and not waste time with stock firmware!

Purchased the Linksys 610N dual band gigabit router after much research and reading the user reviews both positive and negative. Shipping was pretty quick and the router itself looks brand new. I took the precaution of getting the firmware upgrade in advance and had no problem flashing it and used the browser interface to set the unit up. If you have any prior experience with routers it is pretty straight forward. Albeit I have only been using it for about 1 hour so far I have not had any problems and for the price I can recommend it to anyone wanting a dual band unit with all the bells and whistles.

Purchased this router so I could control what computers can and can't access it, apply filters, etc. I was surprised when it turned out to be a version 2 product instead of a version one. Uploaded the Firmware update first thing. No issues at all with the product and no where in our home we can't get access. Very easy setup software walk through was included. Easy to log in to the product from a browser, and apply settings I wanted, (including for the Wii, Blu Ray, Printer, E-Reader, Android Phones and storage). I like how the product supports all the items that needed to have wi-fi connections. Easy to setup security passwords, router password, and so forth as well. You can contact Linksys for port forwarding directions for most game systems.

Easy to set up. I use it in series with a Valet Plus to extend WiFi range. Essentially plug and play.