POLL: Linksys WAG54G vs Netgear DG834G vs Belkin F5D7630 vs U.S. Robotics USR9106

All of these are 802.11g wireless broadband routers with built in ADSL
modems... irrelevant of cost which one would you have and why?

Would you always try and buy the PCMCIA card of the same brand as the
router?

Thanks,

TopDog

"TopDog" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
> All of these are 802.11g wireless broadband routers with built in ADSL
> modems... irrelevant of cost which one would you have and why?
>
> Would you always try and buy the PCMCIA card of the same brand as the
> router?
>
> Thanks,
>
> TopDog

I got myself the LinkSys WAG54G - fairly easy to setup and use - once
setup, it just connects.

However my one major problem with it is that the feature advertised as
"Internet Access Time Limits" does not work - because the WAG54G
appears to be unable to determine the current time - there is no where
to set it up. It simply says Current Time "Not Available"...

Having got children, with "always on" internet access, I wanted to
have a means of controlling when my children accessed the internet.
Except it does not work!!

I have emailed LinkSys, but am still awaiting their response. However
previously when I emailed them for more detaile specs on the WAG54G
(before I purchased it), they appeared to be very helpful.

If you need the "Internet Access Time Limits" feature, I suggest you
wait before purchasing the LinkSys WAG54G. If you don't care about
that feature, it works fine.

Firewall appears to work (www.grc.com ShieldsUp gives it the thumbs
up)
Wireless has a good range (WIFI can only be on the inside LAN), 64 and
128 bit WEP - MAC address access control, etc
ADSL - achieved 59.3kbps download of OpenOffice with Freedom 2 Surf
(UK)

Adrian

Adrian Oliver wrote:

> "TopDog" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
>
>>All of these are 802.11g wireless broadband routers with built in ADSL
>>modems... irrelevant of cost which one would you have and why?
>>
>>Would you always try and buy the PCMCIA card of the same brand as the
>>router?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>TopDog
>
>
> I got myself the LinkSys WAG54G - fairly easy to setup and use - once
> setup, it just connects.
>
> However my one major problem with it is that the feature advertised as
> "Internet Access Time Limits" does not work - because the WAG54G
> appears to be unable to determine the current time - there is no where
> to set it up. It simply says Current Time "Not Available"...
>
> Having got children, with "always on" internet access, I wanted to
> have a means of controlling when my children accessed the internet.
> Except it does not work!!
>
> I have emailed LinkSys, but am still awaiting their response. However
> previously when I emailed them for more detaile specs on the WAG54G
> (before I purchased it), they appeared to be very helpful.
>
> If you need the "Internet Access Time Limits" feature, I suggest you
> wait before purchasing the LinkSys WAG54G. If you don't care about
> that feature, it works fine.
>
> Firewall appears to work (www.grc.com ShieldsUp gives it the thumbs
> up)
> Wireless has a good range (WIFI can only be on the inside LAN), 64 and
> 128 bit WEP - MAC address access control, etc
> ADSL - achieved 59.3kbps download of OpenOffice with Freedom 2 Surf
> (UK)
>
> Adrian

Just a guess -- my cable provider broadcasts the time over the cable;
perhaps yours does not, and perhaps the router expects time to be shipped
over the cable and through the cable modem to the router.
--
Cheers, Bob

Is there not a configuration setting for taking care of time? In other
words, can you point your router at an NTP server? There are many NTP
servers out there on the internet.

Jeff

"Adrian Oliver" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> "TopDog" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
> > All of these are 802.11g wireless broadband routers with built in ADSL
> > modems... irrelevant of cost which one would you have and why?
> >
> > Would you always try and buy the PCMCIA card of the same brand as the
> > router?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > TopDog
>
> I got myself the LinkSys WAG54G - fairly easy to setup and use - once
> setup, it just connects.
>
> However my one major problem with it is that the feature advertised as
> "Internet Access Time Limits" does not work - because the WAG54G
> appears to be unable to determine the current time - there is no where
> to set it up. It simply says Current Time "Not Available"...
>
> Having got children, with "always on" internet access, I wanted to
> have a means of controlling when my children accessed the internet.
> Except it does not work!!
>
> I have emailed LinkSys, but am still awaiting their response. However
> previously when I emailed them for more detaile specs on the WAG54G
> (before I purchased it), they appeared to be very helpful.
>
> If you need the "Internet Access Time Limits" feature, I suggest you
> wait before purchasing the LinkSys WAG54G. If you don't care about
> that feature, it works fine.
>
> Firewall appears to work (www.grc.com ShieldsUp gives it the thumbs
> up)
> Wireless has a good range (WIFI can only be on the inside LAN), 64 and
> 128 bit WEP - MAC address access control, etc
> ADSL - achieved 59.3kbps download of OpenOffice with Freedom 2 Surf
> (UK)
>
> Adrian

"Jeff Durham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
> Is there not a configuration setting for taking care of time? In other
> words, can you point your router at an NTP server? There are many NTP
> servers out there on the internet.
>
> Jeff
>

I looked everywhere in the configuration and in the documentation -
only the time zone can be configured.

Since then I have received a firmware update (v1.01.5) which now
appears to fix the problem - it somehow gets the time from somewhere -
still no means to manually configuring it - just has the correct
time...

So it now appears to work as expected.

Adrian

Adrian, can you tell me from where you got the newer firmware?
I've got the 1.00.7 etc which was in the router and is dated 24/10/03.
For me the router seems to do it's job, but I'm disappointed with the
interface being a bit basic, and yeah the time setting isn't available.
It really isn't like me to go out and buy the cheapest, and it is clear you
only get what you pay for.
That Cisco logo on the front doesn't quite live up to it's reputation.
Or do you think I'm being a bit harsh, not giving it a chance as I've only
had the router for a week.

Mike


"Adrian Oliver" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> "Jeff Durham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
> > Is there not a configuration setting for taking care of time? In other
> > words, can you point your router at an NTP server? There are many NTP
> > servers out there on the internet.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
>
> I looked everywhere in the configuration and in the documentation -
> only the time zone can be configured.
>
> Since then I have received a firmware update (v1.01.5) which now
> appears to fix the problem - it somehow gets the time from somewhere -
> still no means to manually configuring it - just has the correct
> time...
>
> So it now appears to work as expected.
>
> Adrian

I think I have narrowed it down to either the Linksys WAG54G or Netgear
DG834G.

Netgear has been around longer and probably more tried and tested although I
have read about a number of people having many different issues with the
Netgear.

Linksys is still quite new and apart from the time glitch which has now been
fixed with the new firmware I havn't heard many other problems. The other
thing is that the Netgear is about £25 more expensive which would go a long
way to buying a wireless PCMCIA card.

TD

I have several Netgear products and I'm generally happy with them. If
you do have a problem though there is NO support. By phone you'll spend
ages on hold to talk to somebody you can't understand. By email, in the
unlikely event you get any response at all it will probably be useless.

TopDog wrote:

> All of these are 802.11g wireless broadband routers with built in ADSL
> modems... irrelevant of cost which one would you have and why?
>
> Would you always try and buy the PCMCIA card of the same brand as the
> router?
>
> Thanks,
>
> TopDog
>
>

They have put it up on their website - see

http://www.linksys.com/international...oid=6&ipid=371
and
http://www.linksys.com/international...fwid=26&coid=6

The UI is still clunky. The access restriction setup is a bit
confusing - I believe it starts at the top of the list and works it
way down until it hits a rule that applies to the request.

Adrian

"MikeB" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:<4019a1e3$0$61065$(E-Mail Removed) t>...
> Adrian, can you tell me from where you got the newer firmware?
> I've got the 1.00.7 etc which was in the router and is dated 24/10/03.
> For me the router seems to do it's job, but I'm disappointed with the
> interface being a bit basic, and yeah the time setting isn't available.
> It really isn't like me to go out and buy the cheapest, and it is clear you
> only get what you pay for.
> That Cisco logo on the front doesn't quite live up to it's reputation.
> Or do you think I'm being a bit harsh, not giving it a chance as I've only
> had the router for a week.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "Adrian Oliver" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> > "Jeff Durham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
> > > Is there not a configuration setting for taking care of time? In other
> > > words, can you point your router at an NTP server? There are many NTP
> > > servers out there on the internet.
> > >
> > > Jeff
> > >
> >
> > I looked everywhere in the configuration and in the documentation -
> > only the time zone can be configured.
> >
> > Since then I have received a firmware update (v1.01.5) which now
> > appears to fix the problem - it somehow gets the time from somewhere -
> > still no means to manually configuring it - just has the correct
> > time...
> >
> > So it now appears to work as expected.
> >
> > Adrian

Hi Adrian, and cheers. Firmware upgrade OK.
Thought that my query was a good reason to try tech support out, and for the
benefit of those considering the linksys, the tech support guy answered
after a couple of mins and was very helpful (albeit for a simple request) in
pointing me where to click to get the firmware.

RE: the interface, Yeah some other routers have a few useful line
diagnostics displays, although they may not mean much to some. (I'm forever
posting replies to people asking "is it best to have a higher or lower noise
margin figure" etc etc. But overall, I still say the linksys is cracking
VFM.

MikeB

"Adrian Oliver" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> They have put it up on their website - see
>
> http://www.linksys.com/international...oid=6&ipid=371
> and
> http://www.linksys.com/international...fwid=26&coid=6
>
> The UI is still clunky. The access restriction setup is a bit
> confusing - I believe it starts at the top of the list and works it
> way down until it hits a rule that applies to the request.
>
> Adrian
>
> "MikeB" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:<4019a1e3$0$61065$(E-Mail Removed) t>...
> > Adrian, can you tell me from where you got the newer firmware?
> > I've got the 1.00.7 etc which was in the router and is dated 24/10/03.
> > For me the router seems to do it's job, but I'm disappointed with the
> > interface being a bit basic, and yeah the time setting isn't available.
> > It really isn't like me to go out and buy the cheapest, and it is clear
you
> > only get what you pay for.
> > That Cisco logo on the front doesn't quite live up to it's reputation.
> > Or do you think I'm being a bit harsh, not giving it a chance as I've
only
> > had the router for a week.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> > "Adrian Oliver" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed) om...
> > > "Jeff Durham" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...
> > > > Is there not a configuration setting for taking care of time? In
other
> > > > words, can you point your router at an NTP server? There are many
NTP
> > > > servers out there on the internet.
> > > >
> > > > Jeff
> > > >
> > >
> > > I looked everywhere in the configuration and in the documentation -
> > > only the time zone can be configured.
> > >
> > > Since then I have received a firmware update (v1.01.5) which now
> > > appears to fix the problem - it somehow gets the time from somewhere -
> > > still no means to manually configuring it - just has the correct
> > > time...
> > >
> > > So it now appears to work as expected.
> > >
> > > Adrian