Disappointed with newer Linksys devices (WRT54GS)
As I'm someone who likes playing with security concepts, see previous posts on home wireless security, I thought I'd dabble with WPA2 (802.11i). I've had my Netgear 802.11G (WGR614 version 4) for a few years now. I had problems with Linksys hardware "locking up" or whatever before the switch to Netgear. I thought I'd give Linksys another shot as their products boasted WPA2 capability. I was very disappointed.
The Linksys WRT54GS (Version 5, the only thing I could find at retail) did offer the WPA2 capability as promised, however its behavior was erratic and not as stable as my Netgear device. I plugged in the device on a Saturday, and operation seemed acceptable for a few days. I was a little tweaked that I couldn't correlate DHCP IP addresses based on MAC addresses, but I could work around that. I noticed certain connections and certain servers on my home network apparently crashing out, as though they had lost a connection - but I didn't piece it all together until a few days later.
I still use an old AOL account I have every now and then. On Saturday and Sunday, I had no problems. On Monday however, everytime I attempted to sign on to this account - I noticed the Wireless Router's LEDs indicating a power cycle - a soft reset. I thought perhaps I had some stray settings, so I tried various things. I tried reinstalling the firmware (the device came with the only version available at Linksys's website). I tried hard resets, restoring factory settings, bare bones configurations, everything. The problem continued. I could browse the web in general, but I observed certain kinds of network traffic would cause the router to reboot. This is very similar to the early generations of Linksys hardware I had problems with. This is unacceptable.
I contacted Linksys's outsourced "Live Chat" technical support, who tried to first refer me to general Cable Modem setup. After I explained that obviously this is not the problem, as I am currently using the connection to chat with her - she referred me to Internet Explorer's settings. Seeing this was going nowhere, I returned the Linksys device for a refund and reinstalled my Netgear device. Later I browsed Google and observed many other comments that this problem (general lockups, freezes, reboots with Linksys hardware) is common.
Apparently, Version 4 of the WRT54 series of devices is a little more stable, and you can install the "Hacked" Linux firmware onto the device. The problem is, in most retail outlets, you can't determine which version or revision is inside the box. You may be able to get around this problem at some online outlets.
Wireless Networking is now a fully mature technology. It's just a shame that vendors would rather emphasize tricks on speed rather than quality, features, and stability. Netgear is only now putting the WPA capability in some of their new high end pre-N devices. Linksys has been doing it a while, but as I described - their hardware is crap. I've heard some good things about D-Link's devices having WPA2 capability; though they don't seem to have the shelf space Linksys has somehow pulled off with companies like Best Buy or Circuit City.
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