Cisco WRT54G Review

WRT54G Wireless Router by cisco

The Good: Speeds approaching those of 802.11a at an 802.11b router price; easy setup.

The bad: Short operating range compared to that of 802.11b; mixing 802.11b and Wireless-G clients results in poor 802.11b performance; one-year warranty.

The bottom line: The low-cost Linksys WRT54G features fairly high throughput. But it has a relatively short operating range, and its poor performance with 802.11b devices makes claimed backward compatibility moot.

Setup screen makes configuration easy.

The WRT54G's only significant diversion from the usual setup procedure is the Wireless-G control. By default, the WRT54G is set to Mixed so that both Wireless-G and 802.11b clients can connect. However, given the slow throughput, we experienced when connecting to both types of clients simultaneously, you'd be better off setting the router to G-Only and forgetting about backward compatibility.

A helpful quick-start guide gets you rolling. Another nice touch is the complete Windows setup information found in the electronic manual, with separate instructions for Windows 98, Me, 2000, and XP. The manual also provides a brief, clear discussion of DHCP vs. fixed IP networks to help beginners make this crucial choice. And Linksys continues its practice of putting a short Ethernet cable in the box, so you can just plug in and configure away.

Nothing except a small 54G label on the outside of the WRT54G suggests its fancy new Wireless-G innards. Its run-of-the-mill, purple-and-gray Linksys box sports more than the average complement of indicator lights for links and activity, however. Like many wireless routers, the WRT54G is also a four-port wired router, with three indicator lights for each port and two lights covering all wireless connections. If you get into trouble during configuration, a Reset switch returns you to the factory default settings.