|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review: ( 395 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
273 of 282 found the following review helpful:
 ****HOW TO PROPERLY SETUP A WRT610N ROUTER**** VERSION 1.0 MODEL Feb 09, 2010
By Juan C. Cruz
Pros: Great speed. Wireless is only less than 5% slower than ethernet connection. USB link port is very solid.
Cons: Not designed for people who want plug & play devices with no knowledge of networking.
I will agree with a lot of people regarding people that stated that this router is no good. Those people do not know what they're doing.
I bought a REFURBISHED version 1... and it works perfect. After reading so many bad reviews, I had the feeling that all refurbished WRT610Ns were probably from people who didn't know how to get it to work properly.
****HOW TO PROPERLY SETUP A WRT610N ROUTER****
1) Download the latest firmware to your computer from Linksys' website. Do this even before you receive your WRT610N. Reading all the comments about the firmware, I didn't even bother trying the stock firmware.
2) Upon receiving the router, plug in the power cable and plug it into the AC outlet. No CAT5 cables yet.
Once it powers up, hold the reset button for a few seconds until the power light starts to blink. Release the reset button.
3) Once it powers up completely, plug your computer to the router with a CAT5 cable. Log into the router. Upload the new firmware.
4) After the upload is complete, unplug the power cable from the router, wait a few seconds, then plug it back it. This is to be assure the load was good.
5) Wireless configurations:
#1 Rule: Do not use auto on both G and N. Set 2.5Ghz band for B-G only and to a certain channel (6 or 11 works best). And set 5Ghz band for N only.
#2 Rule: Do not use the same encryption on both G and N. Set different encryption methods (example., WPA2 for N, WEP for G)
6) Disconnect the CAT5 cable, and try connecting to the N-wireless (do not connect to G. this is for testing purposes) Once your pc connects to the N network wirelessly, log into the router wirelessly.
7) 5Ghz in its nature is a sensitive frequency. The higher the frequency, the weaker the signal gets... but also gets faster. With that said, the 5Ghz N portion needs to be tweaked to what works best.
- On your computer, open up the Wireless Network Connection Status window. Leave this window open at all time so you can see the connection speed (If you have more than one pc with wireless N, do the same thing).
- Log into the router via wireless N. Go to Wireless Advanced section. Band: do not set AUTO on the band. Start off with 40Mhz. From there, pick the first channel (44 or something like that).
- Now check the speed(s) of the pc connection(s). Try out ever 40Mhz band until you find the best speed. If no band is solid, then result to 20Mhz. Once most solid and fastest speed is achieved, save the configs.
COMPLETE!
USB Link:
The USB link worked great. But there are some pointers. I tried two harddrives. 320GB 5400RPM SATA and 320GB 7200RPM SATA. Both were clones of each other; clean NTFS formatted with nothing but videos and music. I would recommend to edit SHARE and click on SHARE ENTIRE PARTITION. It seems much more fluid with that on. Ok, after I named my drive, shared the whole partition, and clicked on access rights, I mapped the drive to each computer to test the stability and speed. I did have a problem with my music folder that had 355 sub-folders (individual albums); it would randomly see all 355 folders. It would see 210, then 340, the 290, etc. It was a strange behavior. Since both harddrives were clones of each other, I formatted one harddrive using the Linksys Router function. It formatted the drive to NTFS FAT2. First time I've used FAT2. After I copied the contents back to the drive, I tested it again. It actually finds the files much faster than before. Don't know why. I haven't had a problem with missing folders either. Everything is found instantly. So I would highly recommend to format using the Linksys Router function. I did test out between 5400rpm and 7200rpm to see which would be better for a media storage. Attached to the linksys, neither one of them showed an real differences. I tried file transfer, playing lossless music, pictures, HD movies... all had the same performance. So I would recommend to just pick a 5400rpm since it runs on lower power consumption.
Stress Test:
I ran a very thorough performance test to see if this router could handle it.
Laptop #1 - wireless N 300Mbps connection
Laptop #2 - wireless N 280Mbps connection
Laptop #3 - wireless G 54Mbps
PS3 - wireless G 54Mbps
Wii - wireless G 54Mbps
NAS Harddrive on USB Link port
Laptop #1 to download multiple 3-5GB files from the internet.
Laptop #2 was streaming an HD movie 1080p from the NAS harddrive.
Laptop #3 was streaming lossless music from the NAS harddrive (54Mbps is too slow for HD movies)
PS3 was in an online game session (Marvel vs Capcom 2) as a spectator watching everyone play
Wii was set to stream a tv channel (Japanese Wii)
Laptop #1 was downloading at 35Mbps (which is about 2Mbps slower than when directly connected to the internet modem without Linksys). So that was still downloading at flying speeds even with all the traffic. Laptop #2 had no problem streaming an HD movie. There was some bit delay if I paused the movie or FF. But playing the movie, switching languages on the fly, etc... had no problems at all. It played smoothly. Laptop #3 was playing flac lossless audio files while browsing through the folders with no problems. PS3 never lost the connection to the online game. And the Wii never froze with the tv channel. I ran this test overnight with no problems at all.
Conclusion: This router works. It's very fast, stable, and had no problems. Just make sure you configure it properly. One piece of advise regarding wireless cards, stay away from the Intel N cards. They work poorly with the Linksys N routers. I tried three different Intel N cards and two Linksys N routers. I was never able to achieve a 300Mbps connection with any configuration.
I hope you will find this review helpful.
296 of 314 found the following review helpful:
 A Good Router - If You Need It Jul 14, 2008
By Travis McGough
"wtmcgough"
Updated:
As my title states it is a very good router, but only if you need it. The simultaneous feature only means that you can have items connected to the 2.4GHz band or the 5GHz band. However, please note that this does not mean that your laptop can connect to both at the same time. (I know some people who thought that it would.) That being said, what this feature is good for is if you are surfing the web on your laptop and are also streaming some high definition content to your television. That is when this router is beneficial, or if you are sharing the router with other people this can be a good feature allowing you to keep your own band without slowing down your bandwidth. But if you are like most people who will only be using the router to mainly surf the web on your laptop, then this router is not for you. It has too many features and is not worth the price.
The only complaints I have about the router are very minimal. Before I upgraded the firmware, anytime my laptop was connect to the 5GHz band it would lose the connection. The firmware update solved that problem. The other complaint involves the software that comes along with the router. While trying to install the software on my Vista desktop computer, it took over thirty minutes just to get it installed, and it still seemed a little "buggy." To me it was easier setting it up without the software, as I did on my Mac laptop. If you are skilled with Windows, you can also setup the router without the included software using the wizard found built into Vista and Win 7.
One downside to this router that I have noticed is that it does not have as good of a range as my other Netgear 2.4GHz wireless-N router. My laptop does not pull as strong of a signal from it even being just a few feet away, as it does on my other. My distance is also shortened quite considerably. However, my primary uses are using it within adjacent rooms, so that it not as big of a concern. It just does not get the same range outdoors as my other.
So if you are an advanced computer user who has a fully networked home then this is the router for you, or if you are somewhere with a lot of other signals causing interference such as a dorm, office, or apartment then this router can be good as you have the option to swap over to the 5GHz band without having to reset the router. *The 5GHz band has less interference so you get a cleaner signal but it cannot travel as far.
But, all-in-all, if your needs are simpler, then don't waste the extra money for features you don't need.
After a year of using the product:
Well I have had the product for close to a year now, and it works like a charm. I use it in my college dorm and find it to be perfect as I can use the 5GHz band and not have a lot of interference to my signal. The 5GHz band also seems to stream data slightly faster, which is beneficial when watching YouTube videos or an Amazon video-on-demand movie. Again, if you need the product - buy it - else look for something more reasonably priced. I might suggest the Netgear WNR834B. That is the router I have at home and it works wonderfully - also has a really nice range, even outdoors.
Also, when I last wrote this article I forgot to mention that one nice feature found on this router is the gigabit ethernet connections. This is wonderful for when transferring content from a desktop computer to a laptop or for a home media server. It has a much higher transfer rate than routers using the megabit connections. Please note that last time I had updated this article, I had said that the speed was not close to a "1 gigabyte per second" transfer rate. However, that was incorrect. The router has gigaBIT connections not gigaBYTE ones, which is a huge difference. My thanks go to the reviewer who pointed that out for me in the reply section.
117 of 123 found the following review helpful:
Easy to set up, make sure to upgrade firmware Jul 14, 2008
By Simcha
I replaced an existing wired router/wireless access point combination with the WRT610N. The replacement was painless, taking about a half hour, including retyping all of my DHCP reservation and port forwarding information.
The only glitch was that running the Linksys EasyLink Advisor (a tool that among other things, shows you everything connected to your router) reset the router. This is fixed in the latest firmware (level 17, my router shipped with 16).
Speeds have been good. I only have one machine that is connected with Draft-N, and it has been able to connect about 4-5 times faster than my Wireless-G connections on the 5Mhz band. My Wireless-G connections have had consistently better quality than through my old WEP54G Access Point.
44 of 48 found the following review helpful:
 Nice Router - Installed smoothly Jul 15, 2008
By J. Fearnside
I bought this router to replace my old linksys and I have been pretty pleased with it so far. Somewhat foolishly I started installing this whilst I was in a hurry but all was well as it simply plugged in as a replacement and the software installed without issue. The LELA (or whatever its called) software updated the firmware to the latest version automatically and the software worked without fault. The router initially failed to connect to the internet but this was my ISP locking the connection to the mac address of my previous router. This was easily solved by using the MAC spoofing feature of the WRT610N - the router connected first time after that.
I liked the fact that it persuaded you to change the default passwords (there are so many people that don't change them on there routers). This thing seemed fairly security conscious.
The media connection feature allowed me to plug in a 750 WD USB external HDD (which it didn't see at first - this required a reboot) and I can configure it to share either the whole drive or certain folders - this worked perfectly in both XP and vista - I haven't tried this extensively so I don't know how it works long term. There is also a UPnP server and an FTP server built in (require the USB drive connected). These were really easy to set up.
Overall I have been pretty impressed by this product - setup was so easy that not only did I get it set up in a rush but I also had time to play with a few of the more advanced features.
This thing is not for the casual user - you need to know what you are buying and that you are going to use its features - if you are not there are other routers that will do a great job - this one happened to tick all the right boxes for me and I have not been disappointed so far - I was going to buy the WRT600N a few weeks ago but I am glad that fate stepped in and delayed me placing the order as the 610N is so much better looking than the 600N which is v. boxy and covered in antennas.
Overall a nice product so far and initial impression have been favorable. Only time will tell how good this holds up to some heavier testing. HD TV streaming here I come! :-)
32 of 34 found the following review helpful:
better than all the critical reviews would have you believe Mar 03, 2009
By rogue
I bought this router primarily because it was the most expensive, lol. I didn't really think it through at first. My main reason for getting it was that I had a Netgear wireless G USB adapter which I hated because of the poor software. I decided if I was going to buy a new adapter I would get an N adapter. So, I went an bought this router before I ever got the N adapter so that when I got the new adapter I'd be N ready.(I know, I did it backwards considering I had no problems with the old router, only the adapter). My previous router was an old Belkin G router. I had also used a Belkin N router for a short period of time (temporary housing while on an assignment for work). I eventually ended up with the Linksys WET610 dual band N bridge for my network adapter, after I bought this router. It's a good combination.
My observations on the WRT610N router;
1) Setup - Setup was extremely easy. One thing I should mention though is that I never even opened the disk that came with the router. I used the manual configuration through the web browser. The interface is pretty good, and I like the help feature that opens a new window and explains each of the settings on the page. I think the Belkin web interface is better, but this one is certainly functional and not difficult to use. Many people report problems with the setup, and all of them are using the setup wizard on the disk. My advice is either have someone who knows what they are doing set it up for you, or if you have the knowledge or think you can figure it out, then use the manual configuration. I should also confess I upgraded the firmware before even trying to use the router, so some of the problems others have experienced were probably fixed with the firmware upgrade.
2) build quality - plastic fantastic, just like all the rest out there but at least it looks cool. It gets super hot on the bottom, but that hasn't caused any problems SO far. LEDs look nice and give you enough information without having a silly screen.
3) features - I didn't realize it when I bought it, but the best reason to get it is the dual bands. I've got it configured now so that my desktop is on the 5Ghz N band and the laptop (which doesn't support N) is on the 2.4ghz band which is set to "mixed" to allow both G and N connections. Something many people don't realize is that your connection is only as fast as the slowest device connected to it. So, with the two seperate bands, I can set the 5ghz to N only and always get N speeds. The 2.4ghz band gives me 5 bars signal on my laptop in any room in the house which is much better than either the belkin G or N routers I tried. The 5ghz band doesn't give all that strong of a signal, but you have to realize that 5ghz is a shorter range technology which is why 802.11B and 802.11G were 2.4ghz in the first place. I don't suspect that this router is any weaker that any other 5ghz router, and in fact based on the signal strength im getting from the 2.4ghz I suspect it's probably stronger. However I don't have any other 5ghz routers to test it against. The nice thing is that I can have my dual band N adapter fall back to the 2.4ghz if I move it out of range of the 5ghz N only band. In any case, if you are going to be hooking up any G devices, such as a game console, media extender, or older laptop or adapter, then you will definately be able to benefit from limiting one of your frequency bands to N only.
This router also has alot of different firewall features, like letting you lock out connections by time (so the kids would not be able to use the internet when they are supposed to be in bed, etc.) or monitoring connections, or locking out connections by MAC address. You can also easily block or open specific ports. It also has a feature which lets you give priority to specific applications. I have it setup to give high priority to skype or MSN, so no matter what my webcam calls will be high quality. This is nice for the media streamer, the chatter, or the gamer as these can all benefit from priority in the router.
You can also attach a USB device and make it a Network Attached Storage drive. I have to admit I have not tried this feature although many complain it has a clunky interface. The only words of wisdom I can offer here are "BACKUP your drive, stupid" especially if it has anything on it because I've seen more than one report of some bonehead accidentally formatting the drive while trying to connect it.
Finally, it has a four port gigabit switch built in, which is nice for those who are going to be connecting multiple computers through wired ethernet. most of the other N routers are going to be 10/100.
4) value - at $199 most places this is definately one of the most expensive routers out there. It's almost a full $150 dollars more than the belkin 2.4ghz N band router and it's generally about $100 dollars more than most other N routers. However, the dual bands, the gigabit switch, the firewall and QOS (quality of service) features, and the network storage attachment all add value to this router. My advice is if you need any of those things, you won't go wrong with this router. If you don't then buy something cheaper, like a single band N router, and don't bitch about this one because of the price.
Conclusion;
There is certainly more to this router than most of the critical reviews on Amazon.com might lead you to believe. Certainly I think the vast majority of those that ranked it low either used the setup wizard, had a mac and tried to use the setup wizard, didn't know what the heck they were doing, or had the older firmware and didn't upgrade it. Probably also some sour grapes about the price I would guess. I like this router and I gave it four stars, primarily because it gets so darn hot, and also because other routers I've used have had a better web interface. It definitely deserves kudos for it's performance and it's features. I'm definitely not a brand loyalist, I've used AT&T, Trendnet, DLink, Netgear, Belkin, and Linksys products. They all had some things I liked and some I didn't. As for this router I do recommend it!
See all 395 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
| | |
|
|
