Product Description

Wireless-G is the 54Mbps wireless networking standard that's almost five times faster than the widely deployed Wireless-B (802.11b) products found in homes, businesses, and public wireless hotspots around the country - but since they share the same 2.4GHz radio band, Wireless-G devices can also interoperate with existing 11Mbps Wireless-B equipment.Since both standards are built in, you can protect your investment in existing 802.11b infrastructure, and migrate to the screaming fast Wireless-G standard as your needs grow.The Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router is really three devices in one box. First, there's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect Wireless-G or Wireless-B devices to the network. There's also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices. Connect four PCs directly, or daisy-chain out to more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. Finally, the Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection.To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G Broadband Router can encrypt all wireless transmissions. The Router can serve as a DHCP Server, has NAT technology to protect against Internet intruders, supports VPN pass-through, and can be configured to filter internal users' access to the Internet. Configuration is a snap with the web browser-based configuration utility.With the Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router at the center of your home or office network, you can share a high-speed Internet connection, files, printers, and multi-player games with the flexibility, speed, and security you need!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Linksys
• Model: WRT54G
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4, Windows NT 5, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows
• Dimensions: 1.89" h x 7.32" w x 7.87" l, 2.35 pounds
• CPU: PowerPC G4 2.10 GHz
• Memory: 2000MB SDRAM
• Hard Disk: 1GB
• Processors: 1

Features

• All-in-one Internet-sharing router, 4-port switch, and Wireless-G (802.11g) access point
• Wireless data rates up to 54 Mbps--5 times faster than 802.11b
• Shares a single Internet connection and other resources with Ethernet wired and Wireless-G clients
• Interoperates with 802.11b clients at 11 Mbps
• Advanced wireless security with 128-bit WEP encryption, MAC, or IP address filtering

Amazon.com Product Description
The Linksys Wireless-G broadband router is really three devices in one box. First, it's a wireless access point, which lets you connect Wireless-G or Wireless-B devices to the network. There's also a built-in four-port full-duplex 10/100 switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices. Connect four PCs directly, or daisy-chain out to more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. Finally, the router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection.

To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G broadband router can encrypt all wireless transmissions, and it supports the industrial-strength wireless security of 802.1x authentication and authorization. The router can serve as a DHCP server, has NAT technology to protect against Internet intruders, supports VPN pass-through, and can be configured to filter internal users' access to the Internet. Configuration is a snap with the Web browser-based configuration utility.

With the Linksys Wireless-G broadband router at the center of your home or office network, you can share a high-speed Internet connection, files, printers, and multiplayer games with the flexibility, speed, and security you need!

Wireless-G is the 54 Mbps wireless networking standard that's more than four times faster than the widely deployed Wireless-B (802.11b) products found in homes, businesses, and public wireless hotspots around the country. But since they share the same 2.4 GHz radio band, Wireless-G devices can also interoperate with existing 11 Mbps Wireless-B equipment.

Because both standards are built-in, you can protect your investment in existing 802.11b infrastructure, and migrate to the new screaming-fast Wireless-G standard as your needs grow.

For more information on the differences between an access point and a router with access point, see the following table:

See a comparison diagram of the different wireless technologies.

Wireless networks are rapidly becoming more popular and coming down in price. Since they don't require cables, you can use the devices anywhere in an office or home, even out on the patio. There's no need to roll out an Ethernet network cable to each room of a house; you can network anywhere--without wires. Outside the home, wireless networking is available in hotspots at coffee shops, businesses, and airports--great when you're on the road and need to get some work done. For convenience, wireless networking is the answer. Which Wireless Standard Is Right for Me? Now that you've decided to create a wireless network, the next step is to figure out which wireless standard to use. Basically, a standard is a set of specifications for a device. All devices that follow a specific standard share operating characteristics, such as the radio frequency used and maximum data transfer speed. For wireless networking, there are three standards to choose from at this time: 802.11b 802.11a 802.11g To learn about the differences between the standards and select the right one for your network, click here for an easy-to-understand chart.

Customer Reviews

Easy to Use & Setup
I had tried to setup a home wireless network with appropriate security a couple years ago and had all sorts of problems. I finally decided to "bite the bullet" and try again. The Linksys installation software is a breeze to use. It walked me through each step, and was set up within 30 minutes. It also has easy to follow instructions for connecting wireless devices (and limiting access to only those allowed devices). Worked like a charm, no problems, great experience!

Worst router ever.
I bought this router in addition to a Linksys wireless laptop range extender PCI Card and a wireless PCI adapter for my desktop.
I received this router in new condition, opened it up and was able to plug and play into my PC laptop for the most part. The only immediate problem I encountered was getting wireless settings set up for my Mac on wireless, but that wasn't too much of a problem.
Shortly after however, while using my Mac I started in with a regular routine of getting ready to play some online games and watch videos on YouTube... I was stumped to find that my connection had stopped, I tried manually reconnecting via software and no dice. So I went up checked the hard connection to the PC and still nothing, so I power cycled the router and was up and running again.
This was the first sign of bad news because I've had problems with broadband providers and their supplied routers doing a similar thing, which is why I opted to buy one on my own. So my connection came back to both computers, fine, went back and loaded the Mac up again only to take a break shortly after which left my Mac to go into sleep mode. When I came back, sure enough the connection was dead again, so I went through the same steps and eventually got it to come back up.
At this point I went on to check firmware which was a minor update behind, so I set that up and updated the router. That didn't change anything at all. So I called customer service who was initially helpful in the sense of calling me back on my cell phone since my "land line" is through Vonage and I can't very well talk on it while resetting routers. So the CS Rep talked me through all the work I had just done to update firmware and change the router settings, which is fine. Then he wanted me to go to my Mac and try doing things from there, I went downstairs and lost my cell reception and he didn't call back.
I was pretty sure at this point that he wasn't going to provide anything that I couldn't do myself so, whatever.

I tried to use the DD-WRT firmware update, but something went wrong along the flashing of the router after uploading the firmware file and I ended up with a blue-black brick sitting on my desk. I'm in the process of sending it back to Amazon for a refund, since it was clearly defective and did not meet my quality standards for a product. Hopefully I'll find a comparable product, I'm considering still the WRT54GL or perhaps another brand altogether.
Before this incident I was a Linksys fan, having never encountered problems with them or their hardware before. Now however I think I may change my mind especially after the lengthy review on here by the man who detailed his attempts to go through the hierarchy of Linksys CS, who offered him routers while routinely dismissing the problem inherent in the product, only to be lied to and hung up on...

Wish I had read it first...

links router
the router works great after installed,but we had trouble getting it to connect to the internet. we had to call tech support to help resolve this problem. after being on hold for about 20 minutes, the problem still took us another 20 minutes or so,to resolve it. after all of that was resolved we really love being able to use more than one computer at the same time.