Tom's Hardware > All Reviews > Special > Miscellaneous > Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router reviewed

Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router reviewed

07:00 - Monday 6 June 2005 by THG Reporting Team

1. Introduction
2. Basic Features
3. Setting Up
4. Firewall Features
5. VPN

6. Routing Performance
7. Wireless Features
8. Wireless Performance
9. Scenario 2 - 11b associated, but idle
10. Scenario 3 - 11b associated and simultaneously active
11. Wrap Up

Linksys Instant Wireless-G Broadband Router

Linksys Instant Wireless-G Broadband Router
Summary	Broadcom based 802.11g Router
Update	2/1/2004 Wireless bridging support for WAP54G added in Version 2.02.2 firmware.
Pros	• No WEP enabled performance degradation • Removable antennas • Inbound and Outbound traffic logging
Cons	• Mixed mode operation kills draft-11g client throughput

Linksys' WRT54G Wireless-G Broadband Router seems to be more popular than its WAP54G Access Point sibling, or maybe it's just the marketing push that Linksys is putting behind it. At any rate I received it a few weeks ago and used it extensively for the draft-11g performance testing that I did for the 802.11g NeedToKnow, and figured it was time to give it a review of its own.

Although both it and the previously reviewed WAP54G run on essentially the same Broadcom platform, the WRT54G came with newer firmware that yielded significant performance differences.