Linksys WRT54GC Wireless Router

I work from my home and have a good bit of work to do every evening. The drill was always the same; come home, go for my run, shower, eat, head into my office and be gone for a good hour or two. It drove my wife nuts and we never saw each other until around nine in the evening. I thought of numerous ways to rectify the situation and eventually decided that a router (After getting clearance from our home office.) was easier than moving my entire office and making a mess of the family room.

We headed to the closest store and were directed to the Linksys models. I wanted something that was small, easy to set up, and most importantly, reliable. I found it all with the WRT54GC.

PRICE:

The WRT54GC Wireless Router will run you around $40. I was expecting a good bit more in the way of cost and, obviously, was pleasantly surprised.

SIZE:

The router is 6.0 x 2.2 x 9.6 inches in size and weighs just over a pound. In other words, you can fit it on just about any size desk.

EASE OF SETUP:

I am not the best at following directions when it comes to setting things up, but this was easy. The manual walks you through it with text and with pictures that are easy to follow. There are a number of different cords to hook up and the number increases depending on your needs, but the connections are made with ease. You simply route the cords-in my case- back and forth from your desktop to your cable modem to the router and you are linked up. I spent about 20 minutes from opening the box to being completely hooked up and running.

ADAPTABILITY:

The router provides four ports that enable you to run four different machines or devices at the same time. The set up is basically the same as with the original. When you are set up, you can share printers/fax machines/files/etc. The router function is to tie everything together and make it work.

SPEED:

The speed that I get one floor above and 20 feet over from the router is every bit as good as what I get when connected directly to the cable modem. I can also do anything and everything that I would do if connected directly. I can also go on the deck and work outside if I choose.

DISTANCE:

I am not sure what the actual claim for distance from the base is, but it is more than anything I have encountered in our home. I have used my laptop two floors above the router and outside on the deck with great results. I am sure my neighbor across the street could connect to my network if I did not secure the connection. I also now have access to wireless access points in areas like the airport or Starbucks. The wireless card provides me with this capability. I have used it once and had pretty good success. It took a little while to get connected, but once I was connected everything ran quite well.

SECURITY:

The router provides WEP encoding as the standard security. It also provides a firewall and can serve as a DHCP. I have no idea what these letters represent, but I am sure they are fairly good security options. I will say that the firewall has blocked me a few times and the security features initially gave me trouble with regards to our company VPN. You do have VPN capabilities, but I needed to have the computer guys do something with our VPN security before the router would work.

RELIABILTY:

In a word: Wonderful! I have yet to have a single problem with the router working the way it should work. There have been three times where I have not had internet access, but all three times the cable provider was to blame. Gotta love Charter.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

The Linksys WRT54GC Wireless Router is a wonderful router. The price is right, the reliabilty is great, and the set up is quick and easy. It literally saved my sanity and marriage. I can now do all my busy work while sitting right beside my wife and watching TV with her. She no longer complains that we do not spend enough time together because I am always running downstairs to do work. I highly recommend this router to anyone looking to make their life a little more convenient.