Linksys WRT160N Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Broadband Router
The Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Broadband Router is really three devices in one package. There's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect to the network without wires. There's also a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together. The Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share a high-speed cable or DSL Internet connection. The Access Point built into the Router uses the very latest wireless networking technology. By overlaying the signals of multiple radios, Wireless-N's Multiple In, Multiple Out (MIMO) technology multiplies the effective data rate. The robust signal travels farther, maintaining wireless connections much farther than standard Wireless-G. Wireless-N can dynamically enable double-speed mode for Wireless-N devices, while still connecting to other wireless devices at their respective fastest speeds. In congested areas, the Good Neighbor mode ensures that the Router checks for other wireless devices in the area before gobbling up the radio band. To help protect your data and privacy, the Router can encode all wireless transmissions with industrial-strength 256-bit encryption. It can serve as your network's DHCP Server, has a powerful SPI firewall to protect your PCs against intruders and most known Internet attacks, and supports VPN pass-through. Configuration is a snap with the web browser-based configuration utility. The incredible speed of Wireless-N makes it ideal for media-centric applications like streaming video, gaming, and Voice over IP telephony, and gives you plenty of headroom to run multiple media-intense data streams through the network at the same time, with no degradation in performance. With the Linksys Wireless-N Broadband Router at the center of your home or office network, you can share a high-speed Internet connection, files, printers, and multi-player games, and run media-intensive applications at incredi
Linksys WRT160N Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Broadband Router Accessories
 Linksys Dual-Band Wireless-N USB Network Adapter, WUSB600N
Linksys WUSB300N Wireless-N USB Network Adapter
Linksys Wireless-N PCI Adapter WMP300N
Motorola Surfboard SB5101 Cable Modem
Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive WDME3200TN (Midnight Black)
Linksys WRT54G2 Wireless-G Broadband Router
Belkin 10FT CAT5E Patch Cable ( A3L791B10 )
Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 - Slate
Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks
PlayStation 3 Dualshock 3 Wireless Controller
Linksys WRT160N Ultra RangePlus Wireless-N Broadband Router Reviews
The setup was a breeze, connection times are quick and I have not yet had a dropped connection or needed to reboot. This has been a very good router so far (5 weeks). (I.e. if you have a larger home, you may want to consider a different router). The downside is that the range is less than stellar. I have a relatively small home, and the signal strength drops off fairly quickly as you move away from the router.
It was very easy to switch out routers. so far so good. Pretty much unplug the Wireless G I had ,plug in the new one and it configured itself with a few tweeks. A+++
I was concerned about the reports of heat generation in a few reader's reviews. We dropped a connection only once or twice over a period of several days. I have disconnected my ethernet and use the wireless link from my new laptop. My friend suggested that I set it up for the 26 digit security code, and that was seamless. At one point during the election, we had up to (8) laptops running off of it (I have a cable modem ahead of the router). So, when I got it I built an inverted u-shaped platform, about 6" hi and 8" wide, and I put a large hole in the centerto increase the air flow. I bought this somewhat cautiously, but someone had recommended it and the price was right.
I do use two of the ethernet connections for the desktops I have. As of this writing, it's been installed for a month, and I am quite satisfied. It now appears that it wasn't necessary, as the unit was only very slightly warm to the touch and never grew hot. The setup was very easy: I replaced a Linksys BEFSX41 ethernet router with this, but I had to power down the modem and re-power it up to finish the install.
Other than that it works great, I have great signal everywhere in my house, an even in my neighbor's house :p. Configuration is pretty easy too. This is a great router, i think the rest of the reviews cover pretty much everything there is to say about it, the only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because in my case the remote reboot option is very important, an Linksys does not include this option in the firmware.
DO NOT pop in their CD. I bought this as a replacement for my very old, but still working D-Link a router, hoping for better range and throughput on my DSL line. When I realized what I had done it was too late.
I've configure some before and it's really no big deal going through the tabs the router puts up on it's internal mini-config site. By mistake I clicked on a link on the included CD that installs this "LELA" configuration utility. Then the horror story happened.
I suppose the Linksys N router does what it is supposed to be, and the firmware settings site is fine. My machine got is such a bad state that I also lost wired LAN access. The install kept crashing on my Win XP laptop, eventually half-way installed drivers and managers for my wireless network that overrode the perfectly working Windows drivers I had so I lost connection to all wireless networks.
Trying to uninstall their software only made things worse to the point that I've had to reinstall XP and am still doing that. Do the configuration yourself by connecting to the router through an ethernet cable and save yourself the trouble.
|
