Linksys by Cisco means quality. Yeah, right!
I’ve always thought Linksys make good networking hardware. I still do, actually. Just bought a WRT54GL today. However, my recent experience with their ADSL gateways has significantly changed my opinion of them. It started with the WAG160N, whose DHCP server fails after a few hours in operation. Rebooting fixes the problem, but not for long.
Soon after setting up the WAG160N, one of the machine went into a repetitive reboot cycle. Surely, it can’t be because of a new wireless router. As it turns out, I was wrong. The D-Link DWL-510 doesn’t seem to agree with the wireless-N signal emitted by the WAG160N. After updating the wireless card to its latest driver, the situation is the same. Granted, this is a D-Link issue rather than a Linksys problem. However, seeing the DHCP functionality isn’t operating properly, I decided to exchange it. Thankfully, Dick Smith made the process rather pain free.
I was not going to try another WAG160N after all the online posts I’ve read. Things are failing all over the place. In a way, a broken DHCP server is considered not bad already. I decided to go with the WAG54G2 instead. The WAG54G2 turns out to be even worse. Settings won’t save properly at times, SSID gets mangled, DHCP requests get mangled, and the ADSL connection drops off every so often. I can’t even recall how many hours I’ve wasted trying to get the gateway to work as it should.
I’m quickly running out of ideas. I’ve just upgraded the firmware to the latest version, 1.00.16. It’s not without issues, but I can live with it. Hopefully, when I wake up later this morning, the nightmare will be over. Otherwise, it’s back to the D-Link DSL-G604T. It’s the lesser of two evils.
3 comments so far
It’s been four days since, and I’m happy to report that the updated firmware is working well. Having said that, I’ve made numerous changes to the settings as well. Basically, the less you expect from the gateway, the better it performs. Anything not essential has been disabled. Most default auto settings have been set manually.
If you’re looking for release notes or change logs, tough luck. One could only wonder why such basic information is not available. I would bite the bullet and upgrade if I were you.
June 17th, 2009 at 21:13
I may have spoken too soon. The wireless just crapped out last night. After cycling the power and rebooting the router, things seem to be working fine again.
To reboot the router, go to:
http://192.168.1.1/setup.cgi?todo=reboot
June 18th, 2009 at 13:19
The new firmware is much better than what it used to be. Still have some minor hiccups occasionally but am happy with it.
July 4th, 2009 at 17:28
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