Linksys Keeps Doing a Great Job

This review concerns the Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router (WRT54G). I wrote a review a few years ago on the Linksys Wireless-B Broadband Router (BEFW11S4), which you can read here.

All comments in this old review apply to the WRT54G when applicable. Below I’ve added my additional comments.

Update
Since I purchased the original router, it was destroyed by lightning, and we had to replace it. Fortunately, the new 802.11g standard (“G standard”), which is backward compatible with the 802.11b standard (“B standard”), was coming into being, so we picked up the Wireless-G Broadband Router.

Get G, not B.
The only salient difference for the user (that I am aware of) between the Linksys Wireless-B Router and the Linksys Wireless-G Router is that the transfer speeds max out at 11MBps and 54MBps, respectively, making the G standard faster. Because the Wireless-G Router support all B standard hardware, one should always buy G standard hardware.

Only as good as the weakest link
To take advantage of the improvements found in G, both the router and the computer connecting to the router will have to use hardware that conforms to the 802.11g standard. Connecting to a G standard router with a B standard wireless card will lead to B standard results (see My Benchmark below).

My Benchmark
To see if the G standard was in fact better than B, I did a test. I transferred the same file through windows network, first using my old B standard card, and then swapping in my G standard card. I observed a repeatable 3x improvement in transfer speed. This first hand experience convinced me that the G-standard is indeed superior, and is just more proof why one should get a G standard router.

Get the Router, not the Access Point
This certainly applies to the Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router, and may well apply to other models from other manufacturers. During the course of dealing with technical support at Linksys, I learned that my wireless router, the WRT54G, can be configured to act exactly like Linksys’s wireless access point, the WAP54G. Since both items go for almost exactly the same price (…last time I checked…), there is NO REASON to buy an access point. Get the Router instead – it’s more flexible and functional.

Ace tech support for more involved projects
For a while we had our new Wireless-G Router connected, and it worked beautifully. Some time later, we bought a second and daisy chained them together to provide better coverage. We had some configuration trouble at first, but technical support was FANTASTIC, and solved my problems in five minutes flat. This is truly unprecedented for tech support, at least in my experience, and if you are going to set you Wireless-G Router up in anything more complicated than a simple network setup, Linksys’s good tech support will be very valuable.

Bottom Line
Linksys makes fantastic Router, as well as Wireless Network Cards. I use Linksys for all of my wireless networking hardware, solely because of my experiences using their products (I don’t know anyone who works for them, own stock in them, etc.). They have performed beautifully. The only downside is that they aren’t lightning proof. ;)