Customer Ratings & Reviews

Installation software would not install device. Wouldn't purchase

The setup is a breeze, and the speed is great. I found that living in a row-house development may cause the signals to drop many times a day. It works for us (15 devices) and has excellent download time. To solve dropped signals: (found on web) (1) Rename the SSID to separate the two bands: One network SSID for the 5GHz band, another for the 2.4GHz. (2) Turn off auto-channel for both networks: Set 5GHz to stay on channel 36. Set 2.4GHz to stay on channel 1. (3) The 5GHz is set to use 20/40 MHz width, while the 2.4GHz is set to use only 20MHz width, but I believe those were the defaults already in place. I can confirm that this solved the problem for me... so.. just do that and then you've got quite a bang for your buck!! Oh.. the parental controls aren't very good, and quite frankly don't make sense for time options.

Tried to load the disk on home PC and then through new laptop. Would not load properly.

I ended up returning this produce because it drop the wifi.

This router was bought to replace my aging Linksys router. I stuck with the Cisco brand because they own the Linksys product line and I have always been happy with the performance. This router is very easy to set up and has a guest network feature which is a really nice feature. Installation went very smoothly and I was up and running in a few minutes after connecting the router. Speed is great and performance is wonderful, no interference from the neighbor's networks. Highly recommended!

I bought this as a gift for someone else because I have one like it. I have used several difference routers and this is by far the best for range and constancy of signal.

Works fine for the most part, UNLESS... you have a lot of devices and need to use the Parental Controls feature. Unfortunately this routers has a flaw. Devices of the same manufacturer are often interpreted to be a duplicate and therefore given a default name of 'Network Device'. We have 2 Motorola phones, 4 Samsung Tablets, 2 Samsung TVs, and 2 Sony Blu Ray players to for example. All of these devices show up in the Parental Control list as 'Network Device'. There is no option to view the IP or MAC address of any given device. On the Cisco website this issue is addressed, but IMO its a worthless solution. Their one and only solution, 'apply the Parental Control to all items listed as Network Device. That way you can be sure you childs device is protected'. Really Cisco? I've always been pleased with their products, but I found this very disappointing. I'm now looking at the competition to see if they can do Parental Control better.

The router was very easy to set up and it works like a charm!

I bought this router to deal with some dead spots in my home from our other wireless router. Performance is so good, that I generally make sure I'm on this router, even when I'm in the room with the other one. It was easy to set up, and I've had not issues with it in the few months I've been using it.

In looking for a wireless router, I wanted something reliable and of course easy to setup. This not only met my needs, but exceeded them. Very easy to setup and if you are having difficulty, it explains how to troubleshoot the problem. My wireless works perfect on all areas of the house. I never lose a signal.

I've had a number of Wi-Fi routers, mostly Linksys, going back to the WRT54g(v2). Wanted to replace a pair of older Linksys WRT150n "n" routers that were aging (single-band, dual-stream MIMO, and 40 MHz channel binding). Bought one E2500 to try it, and then a second after it proved to be solid and stable with the most current firmware from Linksys. Nearly all of my portable devices with Wi-Fi in them can use the 5GHz band now making a simultaneous dual-band more desirable. These do the job just as well as the WRT150N they replaced, and with better throughput now by selectively using the 5GHz band for the bandwidth hungry devices. Setting up separate SSIDs on the two bands allows being selective about which band each client device uses, letting the bandwidth hungry ones use the 5GHz band. I like the "guest" network feature that can be turned on and off as house guests come and go, and that it is restricted to Internet access (out the WAN port) without any access to my personal network (wireless or through the LAN ports). I'm not doing real-time 1080 HD video streaming which would severely tax any 802.11n network (and probably not work all that well at times), but I am moving extremely large files around my network and my Internet access is about 30 MB/s. The Wi-Fi routers are no longer any limiting factor in file movement, or in throughput with the Internet. I did update them with the most current Linksys firmware, which is very stable and reliable. These are solid performers. My only wish is that the Ethernet ports on the back were Gigabit; not a big deal with the WAN (Internet) port as I only get about 20-30 MB/s max Internet, but would be nice for the LAN ports. They have very nicely replaced the WRT150n adding ability to use the 5GHz band for high throughput as continuing to use the 2.4 GHz band for it was becoming more problematic (see remarks below about 2.4 GHz band in general). There is a learning curve to using 5GHz. Compared to 2.4 GHz, it doesn't have the range through walls and floors. Don't expect it to go from the basement to a 2nd or 3rd floor, or from one end to the other of a large house. Putting the router on an elevated shelf about 18"-24" below the ceiling can help coverage on a single floor, reducing it to penetrating through walls, but not having to go through furniture and other furnishings. Don't expect as good vertical coverage between floors as horizontal; the antennas inside are designed to radiate more signal horizontally, not vertically (the physics of antenna design; you generally get one or the other, but not both). If you need to span floors more than providing horizontal coverage, try mounting it vertically (even though it doesn't have a bracket or holes to do so). In some U.S. regions using the upper channels is much better than using the lower ones (and I presume vice versa). The 5GHz band is shared with some other licensed services and the gov't. has required Wi-Fi boxes in that band to do some things such as DFS to keep from interfering with them. Experimenting with which 5GHz channel works best may help throughput. Been around RF devices . . . having designed, built, and used systems of them for decades . . . and the RF limitations of the 5 GHz band are not the hardware or firmware inside these routers, it's the basic physics of the extremely short 5GHz wavelength. A single Wi-Fi router generally does not do well for overall coverage in a large multi-story house in either band. Regarding the seeming 130 Mb/s max "n" link possible in the 2.4 GHz band . . . I've discovered this is not Cisco/Linksys' doing. Yes, if 40 MHz bandwidth is enabled, one should be able to get a 270-300 Mb/s link in the 2.4 GHz band (using "channel binding") if the client device also supports dual-stream and channel binding (and if both are also enabled). It's important to note that unlike the 5GHz "40 MHz" setting, the 2.4GHz setting only allows for a dual mode "20/40 MHz." Getting more than a 130 Mb/s link now is highly unlikely in any environment where other 2.4 GHz networks are operating within range. The "Wi-Fi Alliance" is responsible for this, not Cisco/Linksys. It's an industry organization that grants certification approval for 802.11 wireless network devices that they are IEEE 802.11 compliant and will work with other compliant devices properly, regardless of mfr. They control the use of their logo which is important to marketing an 802.11 device. This is different from FCC type certification (required by law) which concerns itself with the device conforming to FCC regulations. The basic issue is 802.11n 40 MHz channel binding was never envisioned for the 2.4 GHz band which is only 60 MHz wide in the U.S. An 802.11n device running 40 MHz bandwidth channel binding consumes 2/3 of the entire band, hammering on all its neighboring wireless networks. The level of interference is intolerable without some built-in mechanism to drop back to 20 MHz bandwidth in the 2.4 GHz band in the presence of other networks. In September 2009, the Wi-Fi Alliance required all mfrs to do this. Thus, if it's seemingly impossible to get more than a 130 Mb/s link on the 2.4 GHz band with newer wireless routers, it's not Cisco/Linksys doing, it's the entire industry and compliance with the Wi-Fi Alliance's requirements to get their certification and permission to use their logo. In the presence of any other 2.4 GHz networks (i.e. unless you quite literally live in the middle of nowhere), you're not going to get more than a 130 Mb/s link on the 2.4 GHz band. This is not imposed on the 5 GHz band. Regarding 2.4 GHz band interference from other devices . . . Be aware that a host of other wireless devices use the 2.4 GHz band and can, at times, cause severe interference with a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network making it nearly unusable. These include microwave ovens (especially as they age), cordless phones, wireless speaker systems, and some Bluetooth devices. Anything wireless is a possible suspect, and it may not be yours, it could be a close neighbor's; apartment complexes are a real challenge. Had a set of wireless speakers that made my 2.4 GHz network nearly worthless. Took me about a week to figure out and confirm what was going on (about 6 days longer that it should have) but turning them on and off made the extreme problem appear and disappear. The speakers were promptly returned for a refund. I've been accustomed to doing custom, detailed manual Wi-Fi system setups for years. Was disappointed that the detailed wireless setup page was apparently missing from the router's internal configuration. Discovered using Google that it's still there, just hidden without any link to it on any internal menu. Because I still do manual configuration setups, the entire "Cisco Connect" feature and "Wi-Fi Protected Setup" (aka WPS) are not of any use to me. That said, I'm not surprised the consumer product side of the industry is trying very hard to make setting up a secure Wi-Fi system easier for the average consumer. Wi-Fi is not a simple technology. Cannot speak to the "Cisco Connect" personally but have seen mixed reviews from others about it. I'm not convinced that having remote access one's home Wi-Fi configuration from anywhere in the world via the Internet has very much value (this is different from wireless or LAN access at home). I could have manually configured this feature over the past 8 years in prior routers, but have never had any perceived need or desire to. Seems to me it's more marketing "gizmo" than useful feature for 99.999% of consumers. Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPS) and how it's been implemented in this router appears to be quite solid and fairly simple to use. That's a Good Thing to help the non-tech get a secure setup using WPA2 / AES running quickly.

Nice router. Very quick and easy setup with no manual configuration needed. Was on the Internet and all home devices connected in 5 minutes. Bought a Netgear N600 which quit working after 2 weeks. Returned Netgear N600 and bought the Linksys.

This machine is working very well (for two months) and it was easy to set up. Very good for an apartment and it's price is decent.

I bought this to replace an old linksys WRT54g. Setup was easy. Configuring the pass through worked great. Connection strength is great. 2 bars in the furthest room from the router and the signal extends well out onto the patio. I do like having the guest connection for when friends and family come over.

When I purchased this unit I took it home expecting to be up and running in no time. I'm pretty tech savvy and have setup much more complicated things than a wireless router before... Connected everything as instructed and when trying to get to the configuration screen it wasn't available. My comp didn't see the router... After calling support, we were able to get it configured properly after about 10 minutes or so of troubleshooting. I tried a bunch of things before calling so I eliminated a lot of the typical stuff they would have had to step a novice user through. But be forewarned if you're not tech-savvy...this might throw you for a loop. FWIW I'm on Comcast for a service provider. Since the initial ordeal with getting it setup, the unit has been reliable thus far and the signal seems pretty strong and speeds are as expected. So overall, a good purchase, but I wouldn't recommend this unit to a novice buyer. And for the record, a colleague at work purchased the same unit and had the same issue at this house - on Charter...

I was in a pinch after a storm took out my router. I picked up this in store. It was so easy to set up, I was back online in no time.

I have two of these routers. I have the higher model for my business, but this one for my home. It was VERY to set up and install. I have two HP Laptops that I bought from Best Buy which we use all the time. We have a very large home but have no problem with wireless anywhere in the house.

Overall this is a great router. It's fast, it lays flat to stay inconspicuous, and it's a cinch to set up. The only thing I don't like is that the range is shorter than I expected. It's just not as far-reaching as a Netgear I had previously. If range isn't an issue then definitely get this.

It looks like won't handle dual-band when you open the box, but it is a very decent router. If you don't need extra features like gigabit or USB connectivity this is a perfect router. Nice decent performance with in range obviously with a couple of walls or doors. Be careful when using in a two story house/apartment, like any other home router not modified signal decrease between floors. That's why I always buy two. NOT SAYING THAT NETGEAR IS BETTER, but at the time I'm writing this, for 20 dollars more you can get a little more performance if there is multiple devices at the same time. gigabit and USB (JIC). Love my WRT54GL, WRT54GSv7, WRG614, WNDR3700 v1, v3, E-4200. Different technologies, different usages. Please don't expect to attach an enterprise in a home router using DD-WRT.

My previous router wasn't constantly kicking me off the internet. I didn't know much about routers so I relied upon the store associate to guide me to the Linksys - 600. It's very small, was super easy to set up, and has given me the reliable service that I was wanting. Great product!