 - Internet-sharing Router and 4-port Gigabit Switch, with a built-in, dual-band, speed and range enhanced Wireless Access Point
- Two simultaneous, separate, radio bands double your available bandwidth
- MIMO technology uses multiple radios per band to create robust signals for maximum range and speed, with reduced dead spots
- Connect a hard drive or flash-based USB storage device to allow access to your music, video, or data files from within your network, or through the Internet
- Advanced wireless security and SPI firewall for protection from Internet attacks
List Price: $199.99
Lowest Price: Too low to display 
Product Description: The Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router is really four devices in one. There's the dual-band Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect to the network without wires. There's also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100/1000 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together at up to gigabit speeds. The Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. There is also a Storage Link that lets you easily add gigabytes of storage space onto your network using readily available USB 2.0 hard drives or plug in a USB flash disk for a convenient way to access your portable data files. The built-in Media Server streams music, video, and photos from the attached storage device to any UPnP compatible media adapter. The Access Point built into the Router uses a dual-band version of the very latest wireless networking technology, Wireless-N (draft 802.11n). By overlaying the signals of multiple radios for each band, Wireless-N's Multiple In, Multiple Out (MIMO) technology multiplies the effective data rate. Unlike ordinary wireless networking technologies that are confused by signal reflections, MIMO actually uses these reflections to increase its range and reduce Dead Spots in the wireless coverage area. To help protect your data and privacy, the Router can encode all wireless transmissions with industrial-strength 256-bit encryption. Security features - WEP - WPA - WPA2 Security key bits - Up to 256-bit encryption System Requirements - Internet Explorer 6.0 or Firefox 1.0, CD-ROM drive, Windows 98 SE, ME, 2000, XP and Vista, and Network Adapter Dimensions - 7.48 x 5.71 x 7.01 (190x145x178mm) Weight - 1.51 pounds (683 grams) Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-07
The good, The bad & The ugly
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. Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-07
Excellent Hardware Addition
The Good: The combination of 4 wired port with the wireless capability was a major selling point. It filled the need in my office very well. Having the dual band wireless capability is a very nice feature. Now my old and my new equipment can all network together and backup to, or store common files on a new high-speed network drive. The gigbit backup speed is much improved over the older USB external drives.
The Network Wizard software is very helpful not only in setting up this router, but also with setting up or monitoring other computers, printers,etc on the network.
The suprisingly not so good: The patch cable provided was Cat 5e but was not certified for gigabit transmissions. I could only get that desired speed by replacing the included cable. Seems kind of foolish to get a gigabit router & have its speed limited by the patch cable!
One confusing (to me) issue is that the 10/100 transmission speed is indicated by green lights and the gigabit transmission speed is indicated by yellow/orange light -- that yellow/orange color on most other network equipment signals a problem. I had to switch several cables trying to solve the "problem" before I finally read that part of the manual. Rating:
Date: 2008-07-06
Excellent Router
I have had this router for about a month now and it is honestly one of the best routers I have ever owned. My previous router was a WRVS4400N. While I loved this router the WRT600N has exceed it in performance in almost every way and beats the WRVS4400N in almost every way except two, and those are minor.
Setup: Having set up routers before in the past and for a living, I wanted to try something new. I had a family member who could barely turn on the computer to open the box and set up the router by just following the directions before I got home. Sure enough, they were up and online in about 15 minutes. When I came home, I tore down the system and reset it back to factory settings. I then set it up myself and had it completely configured the way I wanted it and all of the mac addressing in about 30 minutes without a single hitch. In a month's time I have not had a single issue or have had to reset.
Connectivity: 0 issues. Everything from game systems to specialized devices can see and connect. I also have managed to keep a constant broadcast strength even at the furthest parts of my house. The dual band allows for multiple setups so older devices actually have an easier time than newer devices in terms of wireless security. Before I use to have to do a WPA/TKIP setup now I can run WPA2 and a WPA/TKIP. Also the Dual Band allows for a great fail over due to interference. I use to have issues with using my laptop in the kitchen if I was cooking food in the microwave. I no longer have that issue.
Security: This laptop does do it all (WPA/WPA2/etc.) However I do have one gripe. The VPN is possible with this laptop, but not as easy to set up compared to the WRVS4400N. The only other gripe that I have, but this only a personal gripe is that the log on account can not be renamed, Only the password. Rating:
Date: 2008-07-06
Great once you get it to work.
This device comes with a disk that is supposed to help you go through the setup. It refused to believe that the router was properly connected. I did get a very nice person at Linksys that got me through the basic set up. From there it all worked very well.
The speed of the N band is incredible. I have a laptop setup for N in the 5 gig band. I've run some of the standard bandwidth tests (CNet most of the time). The laptop tests at about 90% of the speed the desktop gets. Sometimes better than 95%. They are on different floors.
I was able to get the USB port to work, I've seen clearer instructions but I muddled through.
I would have given it 5 stars if the supplied program had worked. Rating:
Date: 2008-07-01
G Band Killer!
I've been using Linksys (Now Cisco) products since the begining. My older G band was well beyound its life cycle. This router ROCKS, I get 6.0 MPS speed on my N band capable laptop, and am sustaining more connections. Haven't seen the range increase promissed, but it is more than adequate for my 1/3rd acre yard. I have recommended this router to my friends and co-workers |
