Linksys WRT600N Wireless-N Router - buy.com Deak of the Day

[Basilisk]

WRT600N: A Broadcom-based dual-band Wi-Fi Certified 802.11n Draft 2.0 router

$165 shipped Deal of the Day @ buy.com.

$250 @ NewEgg -- but note the problems some users experienced

Pros:

• Two radios for simultaneous dual-band operation

• Four-level priority-based QoS and WMM support

• NAS supported with external USB drive

• 10/100/1000 WAN and LAN

Cons

• No WPS

• Many users find it difficult to set up optimally

• Has some crashing [mainly under heavy NAS use?]

Has everything but a print-server, for my uses.

The NewEgg [link above] and Amazon customer reviews show a discouraging number of dissatisfied owners. From reading the satisfied reviewers and some non-owner reviews, I'm concluding this may need a firmware update to stabilize NAS, and Wireless-N remains a work-in-progress -- a less-perfected technology than their advertising blurbs would suggest.


Still, this is by far the best price around -- even better if you can use the recent $20 off $80 for GCO [search in this AT forum] -- if this box is what you're ready for.

 

[robsdeals]

Looks like a nice deal, but I don't like that crashing comment..

 

[imported_Husky55]

Thanks OP, for posting very informative and accurate info for this WRT600N. I have been following this product for a very long time and this was the router I would have bought if they did not have all the negative feedback.

The direct competitor is the DLINK DIR-855. That router also has a lot of negative comments.

I have had several Pre and Draft N routers and they have performed well, still Draft N is a work in process.

 

[Slick5150]

Its amazing how badly they have screwed up Wireless N from the getgo.

 

[cmv]

Good post -- I'll wait .

 

[amheck]

when the heck is N suppose to be finalized? Would really like to update my stuff, but I'm waiting for the final version.

 

[Kwint Sommer]

Nice price but crashing is a deal breaker for me. Thanks for posting the research OP.

 

[scootermaster]

Dumb question here, but this seems like a direct competitor to the Airport Extreme. And since that doesn't crash and works flawlessly, why wouldn't someone just get that, for $175?

 

[Muadib]

I've had this router for about a month now, and I've not had one crash yet. I've been running it 24/7 too, because I share internet access with my neighbor, and he gets home late.

My only complaint is that the logs are pretty useless.

 

[Basilisk]

Originally posted by: scootermaster
Dumb question here, but this seems like a direct competitor to the Airport Extreme. And since that doesn't crash and works flawlessly, why wouldn't someone just get that, for $175?

One review -- I can't remember which -- indicated the AE and this LinkSys were similar in features and limitations; I rashly assumed the owner-problems were similar, too. Your point is well taken, however. I've now read the Egg & Amazon reviews on the AE, and here's my take on the comparison:

Positives:

• Most AE owner's are more enthusiastic about the AE's installation process, and particularly about the ease of installing/using it with Apple products.

• There's a lower level of usage dis-satisfaction with the AE.

• The AE works as a multiple-printer-server for USB printers!

Negatives:

• 'Felt like I heard most of the same problems [disconnects, slow this-or-that] for the AE -- 'tho' I didn't see any references to the "hanging" I'd heard for the LinkSys

Judging from these owner-reviews, I might favor the AE over the LinkSys, BUT I wouldn't do so with great confidence I was getting a better product.

• I was inclined to conclude that most of each product's purchasers -- both the ecstatic and the ranting ones -- weren't really masters of the product: there were too many folks having opposing experiences. Was the enthusiasm or damnation an accurate representation of the product? Clearly the Apple installation process, and to a lesser extent the usage experience, left folks more satisfied. But... are Apple products bought by less demanding users, or users with less problematic environments? It's certainly possible that the Apple product is bought by folks whose equipment is mostly Apple, and therefore has a fewer inter-product compatibility issues than PC owners face.

Bottom line: wireless-N continues to provide more excitement than I'd wish; all the problems I saw sounded amenable to firmware fixes -- perhaps all already are; and blah, blah, blah....

 

[imported_Husky55]

Originally posted by: Basilisk

Originally posted by: scootermaster
Dumb question here, but this seems like a direct competitor to the Airport Extreme. And since that doesn't crash and works flawlessly, why wouldn't someone just get that, for $175?

One review -- I can't remember which -- indicated the AE and this LinkSys were similar in features and limitations; I rashly assumed the owner-problems were similar, too. Your point is well taken, however. I've now read the Egg & Amazon reviews on the AE, and here's my take on the comparison:

Positives:

• Most AE owner's are more enthusiastic about the AE's installation process, and particularly about the ease of installing/using it with Apple products.

• There's a lower level of usage dis-satisfaction with the AE.

• The AE works as a multiple-printer-server for USB printers!

Negatives:

• 'Felt like I heard most of the same problems [disconnects, slow this-or-that] for the AE -- 'tho' I didn't see any references to the "hanging" I'd heard for the LinkSys

Judging from these owner-reviews, I might favor the AE over the LinkSys, BUT I wouldn't do so with great confidence I was getting a better product.

• I was inclined to conclude that most of each product's purchasers -- both the ecstatic and the ranting ones -- weren't really masters of the product: there were too many folks having opposing experiences. Was the enthusiasm or damnation an accurate representation of the product? Clearly the Apple installation process, and to a lesser extent the usage experience, left folks more satisfied. But... are Apple products bought by less demanding users, or users with less problematic environments? It's certainly possible that the Apple product is bought by folks whose equipment is mostly Apple, and therefore has a fewer inter-product compatibility issues than PC owners face.

Bottom line: wireless-N continues to provide more excitement than I'd wish; all the problems I saw sounded amenable to firmware fixes -- perhaps all already are; and blah, blah, blah....

The WRT600N and the D-Link DIR-855 are the ONLY routers at this time to claim CONCURRENT operation of the A and G bands at the DRAFT N spec. The AE is also a dual radio, A and G but it only operates at G OR A band at the same time.

The AE like most of Apple products are user firendly but the Linksys and D-Link are more advanced routers.

It is rumored, the WRT600N can be updated to the N spec when it is ratified at the end of this year of early next year.

The main problem is most of the router manufacturers changed their hardware versions and keep the same model number so endusers end up with different chipsets and various bios and incompatible routers. I have about 10 routers draft N and PRE N laying around because I am a sucker for technology.

After being burned so many times with promises of upgrades to the N specs and have the wrong chipsets, I am reluctant to buy another paperweight.



The price was reduced from $279 or 250 just last week.

 

[CocoGdog]

My issue with Linksys is that the more expensive the router is, the harder it is to configure and flash. The cheaper ones, like the D-Link, have simpler installation and configuration issues. Netgear's setup has also been a bug a times. I don't know about Belkin. Hope these companies make it simpler.

All that you really have to do is to assign an SSID and enable WPA2, what's so complicated beyond that?

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: CocoGdog
My issue with Linksys is that the more expensive the router is, the harder it is to configure and flash. The cheaper ones, like the D-Link, have simpler installation and configuration issues. Netgear's setup has also been a bug a times. I don't know about Belkin. Hope these companies make it simpler.

All that you really have to do is to assign an SSID and enable WPA2, what's so complicated beyond that?

It was no harder to upgrade the firmware to this router, than it was to upgrade the D-link it replaced. Yeah, it's harder to configure, but that's because it's basically 2 routers in one. Linksys hasn't had a firmware update to it in months though, and that bothers me.

 

[robsdeals]

Now only $155