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Linksys WRT54GL: Best Router for Home Networks

Ranked #1,385 in Computers & Electronics, #26,966 overall

Creating a Home Network

 Whether you want to share your internet connection with someone, block or restrict p2p downloads, use wireless internet anywhere from your home, or filter unwanted content for several PCs, you will need a good router solution. I have been using WRT54GL from Linksys for a while, and I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a cheap and powerful router for their network. It's capable of doing all the things I mentioned and even more.

Top 5 Reasons WRT54GL is the Best Router

  • It has both Wireless Access Point (802.11g at 54Mbps and 802.11b at 11Mbps) and a 4 port Ethernet full-duplex 10/100 switch for your wired devices.
  • Since WRT54GL's firmware is open source (Linux based), there are a lot of third party firmware projects, which can turn your cheap home router into something as powerful as commercial devices.
  • Linksys WRT54GL is relatively cheap - you won't go broke trying to build your home network, and it packs a lot of features for that price.
  • It is very stable, and it's 200 MHz processor is powerful enough for most home networks - as many happy users can testify.
  • WRT54GL's neat design and low power consumption is a huge improvement over using a regular PC for routing.

Buy a WRT54GL from Amazon

Cisco-Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router

Cisco-Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router

Amazon Price: $40.00 (as of 01/27/2012)Buy Now

There are several reasons why this router is so well rated. It's stable and powerful, you can greatly enhance it using third party firmware, and it's pretty cheap as well. I know I said it's the best router for home networks, but don't just take my word for it - read some of the user reviews on Amazon, too.

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Custom firmware for WRT54GL

Default firmware that you get on your router works pretty well, but there's a problem with peer-to-peer programs because they use a lot of connections. The maximum connections number in default firmware is set pretty low and cannot be changed. Pretty much any third party firmware lets you change it. I highly recommend Tomato firmware - or, if you want something extremely simple, try Tarifa. If you need more information, see router firmware reviews.

1

Vote Up

Tomato

Highly recommended firmware which takes QoS configuration to the next level. When it comes to setting up traffic priorities, Tomato can do almost anything. Great and easy-to-use web interface. Includes a bandwidth monitor that generates pretty charts.1 point

2

Vote Up

Thibor's HyperWRT

Firmware which is based on the original one from Linksys. Adds many new features. Basically, an upgrade from the original one.1 point

3

Vote Up

DD-WRT

Popular firmware that is based on OpenWRT kernel rather than Linksys software. Has many features, especially useful for wireless users. From my experience, it's QoS doesn't work that well though.1 point

4

Vote Up

OpenWRT

A firmware meant for advanced users, which has a great QoS implementation. It used to have only a command shell, but now some people created X-WRT, a web interface project for OpenWRT.0 points

5

Vote Up

Tarifa

The world's largest development and download repository of Open Source code and applications0 points

Comments

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  • Reply
    yourstrategic Nov 30, 2011 @ 5:37 am | delete
    In simple words the routers are basically one kind of PC which have similar components like the Pc. Apart from motherboard, RAM and operating systems the only thing which differs router from pc is its controlling or routing traffic among computer networks. In other words we can describe routers functionalities are the smart network devices. You can use higher end Cisco router models to configure various ways on interface side. At various IT infrastructure services a Cisco router can use arrangements with transceivers and onboard interfaces.
  • Reply
    SaveMySystem Aug 9, 2010 @ 5:26 am | delete
    Linksys is best and biggest provider of Routers and network accessories. A router is a networking device whose software and hardware are customized to the tasks of routing and forwarding information
  • Reply
    Maureen Oct 16, 2009 @ 4:48 pm | delete
    All I want to do is set up a wired connection from my HP to my Dell laptop. Just one router? What type of security and what else do I need. I think I know from reading all of this but am pretty much a newbie at this and DO NOT want to spend a fortune and/or mess up. Thanks for any help.
  • Reply
    poddys Mar 19, 2008 @ 7:47 am | delete
    Chadrew, Yes it's possible to network multiple computers through the router, you just need to right click on the folders (My Documents?) that you want to share, activate the sharing opton and then you should see the other computer on your network.
    It's not quite that easy, you need to go into the network options and set up sharing first, but it's really very simple.
    There are plenty of places to find a lot of detailed info if you go into Google and search.
    Hope you get it set up ok.

    John, nice lens. This is a great router and available at a good price too.
  • Reply
    Chadrew Mar 9, 2008 @ 10:47 pm | delete
    Hello John,
    Yes, it's definitely possible (although I haven't tried it with a wireless connection personally) and no additional hardware is needed. Just make sure you enable File Sharing on both computers. If you run into any trouble, linksysinfo.org forums are quite helpful.
  • Reply
    John Mar 9, 2008 @ 10:26 pm | delete
    I've gotten a 'G' wireless router myself, with four ports for ethernet and a wifi. My desktop's ethernetted in one of the ports, and my laptop's using the WiFi, both no problem on the internet.

    Is it possible to network the desktop and laptop through this hardware to access each other, or is more equipment necessary?
Show All

What does the web say about WRT54GL

Wi-Fi routers: Oldies are goodies
Needless to say, when this news broke, I went logged in to my ancient Linksys WRT54GL router to disable WPS. But I couldn't find it. The only thing that seemed like configuration-for-dummies was something called SES. But all the news stories spoke of ...
IPv6 day, megint ... jo lenne ipv6 legalabb az intranetre
Egy TP-Link TL-WR841ND, ez hivatalosan nem kezeli az ipv6-ot, es egy Linksys WRT54GL, amin DDWRT-van (v24?) ez sem kezeli az IPv6-ot. Ez utobbibol valahogy mintha hianyozna az opcio a webes feluletrol, ahol ezt bekapcsolhatom, pedig nekem a full verzio ...
[Re:] Linksys Wi-Fi routerek a Ciscótól
Nálam ment 24/7-ben egy linksys wrt54gl is most meg a linkelt tplink megy. Azt kell mondjam, hogy a linksyst pl. többet kellett újraindítanom (bár az is csak kb. kéthavonta egyszer volt). Egyébiránt az is stabil volt csak már eljárt felette az id? ...
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Chadrew

I bought this router 4 years ago and currently use it to share my internet connection with a neighbor. It has been working flawlessly all this time!

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