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The WRT54GL: A 54Mbps Router From 2005 Still Makes Millions For Linksys
Jon Brodkin, reporting for Ars Technica:In a time when consumers routinely replace gadgets with new models after just two or three years, some products stand out for being built to last. Witness the Linksys WRT54GL, the famous wireless router that came out in 2005 and is still for sale. At first glance, there seems to be little reason to buy the WRT54GL in the year 2016. It uses the 802.11g Wi-Fi standard, which has been surpassed by 802.11n and 802.11ac. It delivers data over the crowded 2.4GHz frequency band and is limited to speeds of 54Mbps. You can buy a new router -- for less money -- and get the benefit of modern standards, expansion into the 5GHz band, and data rates more than 20 times higher. Despite all that, people still buy the WRT54GL in large enough numbers that Linksys continues to earn millions of dollars per year selling an 11-year-old product without ever changing its specs or design.
All the new routers are locked down for the most part.
I know many, who still are on Windows XP, claiming all upgrades are crap.
hilarious
Because people have these setup in commercial/industrial settings due the popularity of DD-WRT.
If you're looking to replace a failed one or extend your range, you buy the exact same model and drop the exact same config on it.
It's a damn shame other manufacturers don't follow this model.. In fact all makers of all items don't follow this model. It's an old one... If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
Because it's probably the only reason this router still exists :D
1. It just works.
2. It is easy to hack/ load alternative firmware.
3. Crowded or not, 2.4GHz travel farther and have more penetration power than 5GHz signals.
and it runs off of keorsene and molasses !
Not kidding here. It has been in operation since 2007, 24/7, in two different locations. I would buy one again in a heartbeat. One of the best gadgets I've bought ever.
Can't remember the specific problems I had with it, but yeah, I owned one. I'm surprised to see it lauded since they don't sell all that well on ebay; my recycling company has huge boxes of them but they move very slowly, and the only wholesale volume markets offer scrap value only. But I admit they do sell, one by one, individually, for about $9.99 plus shipping, which is ok for old, used, non-antique (vintage) electronics, but not scaleable and not in the same league with other tech of the same vintage. Now take a Wyse-55 dumb terminal monitor, on the other hand, that will fetch $100 easy. Wish I would have kept the 5,000 or so of those we scrapped 15 years ago... and the PS1 IBM "clicky" keyboards sell for hundreds of dollars. I guess I don't see how the Linksys WRT54GL merits this attention as compared to (chills!) Okidata Microline dot matrix printers. I'd trade all our Linksys WRT54GL for a solid Oki 520.
Gently reply
Norms don't know what 802.11 is or care about its variants. If it couldn't stream netflix or youtube they would take it back to best buy or walmart and they'd stop selling it. Until then...
It is not the same one from 2005. The new one is also hackable and open and can even do vlans
http://saveie6.com/
I've used this router at home for the past 10 or so years. Over that time I've tried a couple other routers, but they were intermittently reliable or failed outright, so always come back to this one. I use Tomato firmware & love it.
I also installed the router at my mother's house and it's rock solid there as well. I never get tech support calls--at least not for any router issues.
linksys1: Why do we sell so many of these?
linksys2: Maybe we could sell more if we lock it down hard like our other offerings?
linksys1: Wow... you know you're probably right. Lock it down! We'll make a fortune!!
(time passes)
linksys2: Product locked down.
linksys1: What are the new numbers like.
linksys2: They are down and going down rapidly. I think it's because people realized that the product design is old.
linksys1: You're probably right (sigh)... next time will lock it all down from the start.
I routinely pick them up at Goodwill for $4-5 apiece. Got one in my office right now as WiFi bridge to my phone.
I've owned a few and still have a couple, great little routers to get started on. Upgraded to R7000.
My current router can't use my iPhone's data plan and distribute it over the WiFi network.
...and the circa 22 mbit/s actual throughput you get from "54 mbps" 802.11g suffices very well for the majority.
Let's hear it for stability of one's working environment! Just this morning I explained to a software sales person that I do not use "software as a service" or any software that requires recurrent contact with a server for continued function. For instance, I quit updating my copy of MathCAD when the next version would have required recurrent server contact. I pay for maintenance when it is available, but I need to be able to open a 20-year-old file in its native application even when the vendor of that application has abandoned it. And yes, I have XP up in a virtual machine. As you might guess, there is some history behind that policy.
It's a damn shame other manufacturers don't follow this model.. In fact all makers of all items don't follow this model. It's an old one... If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
Why would a company continue to produce a product if there is no way to make any money doing so? The ONLY reason this router is still made is because people are willing to buy it at a price higher than it costs to make it. Has nothing to do with it being broken or not.
Don't confuse broken with obsolete. Sometimes people find economic utility in something that isn't state of the art. My company uses some presses that are older than I am and they will probably still be working after I'm dead. They aren't state of the art but they work fine for specific uses. But they also cannot be sold as new profitably because they lack features that customers want and new presses have and there is a large secondary market for them so used ones can be bought cheaply. It's not broken - it's obsolete. No company could make money making new ones.
People still buy the old WRT router because it still has some utility and because it can be made cheaply enough to still make a profit. Eventually that will go away but there is a modest market in the mean time. The tail might be long but it won't last forever.
Now that average consumers are buying wireless routers, we have meaningless speed fixation and corresponding price inflation. Take a look at some of the absolutely horrible advice offered on consumer-grade router reviews, by doing a google search for "wireless router ratings."
Exhibit 1: Forbes: Choosing the best wireless router
The page is one big chart showing theoretical speeds, and recommending getting 802.11ac. 802.11a is the 5Ghz standard that was discarded for dead since it doesn't penetrate through walls. Whoops! That's why for 10 years, hardly any router or NIC supported it. It's kinda useless in most homes. For a while, 5Ghz was billed as a way to do high-speed over short distances. Since people may have multiple network devices in one room or cubicle, you could put a 5Ghz router in each one. The range is so short they won't interfere with each other. But that was too expensive, and the moderate speed boost wasn't worth it.
But it's faster, so "oooooh shiny" now it is back!
Exhibit 2: Wireless routers at Newegg
An observant shopper soon learns that routers are speed rated: N150, N300, AC1750, AC1900, AC2600, AC5300, etc. By this system, a G54 router is ancient. They make it look like buying a 100Mhz CPU in 2.6Ghz era. But if you ask "Why would I need a 5300Mbps router when my internet is 50Mbps?" The only reason to buy a router with such a high rating is that you will probably get a fraction of that actual speed. But even that number doesn't correlate because the number in AC5300 refers to the "A" speed that most devices don't even support. So the number is doubly meaningless.
This stupid system is so prevalent that people sometimes think that AC1750 is the model number. They get confused and buy the wrong router, or can't figure out why there are 5 routers all called the BrandName AC1750.
Exhibit 3: PC magazine recommends the most expensive consumer routers ever
PC Magazine's recommended routers: $300, $250, $174, and $17. Wow, that's quite a price difference. Unless you have lots and lots of people using the wireless network, and some kind of crazy university-sized internet pipe, and devices that support the 5Ghz band, that $17 router will do just as well as the $300 router.
What these review sites need to do is actually measure wireless performance at various ranges and in different rooms. Unless they do that, the speed ratings are meaningless.
Immediately set them to classic mode. I just need them to boot, have drivers for my hardware and launch the app. That's all any OS needs to do.
How do you quantify a unit?
I have bought half a dozen of the WRT54GL since they came out--two for me and the others to help other people. They were great, and I'm surprised to see them still for sale. I've loaded DD-WRT and Tomato on this model and was very happy in general. My last one bit the dust and I've moved on.
There are plenty of routers out there now that work with DD-WRT. After doing a bit of research, I settled on the TP-LINK TL-WDR4300. I did not get a newer model, however, because DD-WRT didn't support the newest radios. Take a look before you buy, these firmware projects are always updating.
After having run the new hardware, I would recommend going this way. The processors are so much better that it's a dream to run the custom firmware compared to the WRT54GL.
And custom firmware.
Not everyone cares about using wifi with these.
If I have to transfer lots of data between computers, I would use Ethernet.
Behind the WiFi of my Router is a 'relatively' slow DSL line.
I would not know why I would need a Router with more than 54MBit WiFi bandwidth.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
news at 10.
Here about 2 years ago, I finally retired my 54GL that I'd been running as my edge router for close to 10 years. Of course it had Tomato f/w on it, and never gave me a bit of trouble. The only reason I retired it was the fact I wanted a router that had more available space than the measly 4mb that the 54GL had, and support for ipv6. I went with an Asus RT-N12 with 8mb and put Tomato 1.28Mega on it, and moved the 54GL out to provide a wifi bridge for some computers in the living room that don't have wifi... Still working there just fine...
THANK YOU, Edward Snowden!! Americans owe you a debt of gratitude (whether they know it or not..)
I am pretty sure there are plenty of products that have been sold for a lot longer than 11 years without changing their specs or design.
While we computer geeks might not put loads of care into the looks of most of our hardware, the visual design of all other routers is just astonishingly atrocious. Just really bad copies of Apple. Shiny, single colours, and all curves. Meanwhile the WRT looks amazing. Add to that, that is is the only famous router that exists, and it is sort of the default for the fantastic open source firmware projects. Sure, I would love N, but I will wait until the WRT gets a worthy successor.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
Commercial/industrial settings running residential gear are dumb.
yes indeed those plaster walls suddenly become impenetrable when the zoning laws change
HP's financial calculator, first made in 1981 and still being sold despite being dog-slow by modern standards. My first calculator was an HP-15C (same form factor, scientific instead of financial functions) and there's something about that form factor which makes it very easy to "touch type" in data. It was by far my favorite to use compared to the 28C, 41CX, and 48SX I've owned since.
Could never understand the appeal of the original WRT54G router. I think I actually have one sitting in storage that I haven't used in years (just in case). There are literally hundreds of modern routers with much higher speeds and more memory that support the same DD-WRT firmware:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/ind...
I'm using one right now, and it has 802.11ac and 5 Gigabit ports. Has been rock solid ever since I updated the stock firmware to DD-WRT.
I maintained a 54g/Cisco677 combo for myself and any of my family members who wanted support for a LONG time, and knew how to make very low level core config changes to both, and I eventually gave up when I realized that I could get better radios, more ram, and better CPU in newer (non-linksys) gear. It's like keeping core 10/100 switching infrastructure around - it may have been top of the line when you bought it a decade ago, but even the cheap stuff running gig-e is going to blow it away in practical use now.
Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!
Had one of these since 2008. Awesome router, never had any problems with it.
Clive DaSilva Email: clive.dasilva@gmail.com Ubuntu 18.10 Kernel 4.18
My 54GL finally gave up the ghost a couple of months ago after many, many years of faithful service. An Asus RT-AC56U with Shibby's Tomato firmware has replaced it, and is doing very well so far.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
I have one. The last one met its maker in a thunderstorm. I have had bad experiences with any other wireless router, and I saw the current one at a thrift store... so I bought it and replaced the overloaded garbage I was using.
I also have the non-wireless version of this router, just in case. My main computer is wired anyway, so the only things affected by the speed limitations are my phone, tablet, and a old computer I don't use much. Even then, 54 Mbps? That's not too bad. It's only annoying for big transfers between systems. Rare.
What matters is that it works.
We've got an ADSL modem with integrated wireless router, but our WRT45G (purchased second-hand about 10 years ago) is still in use as a bridge from wireless to wired for our web server (with no wireless card).
I'm still keeping the WRT45G around, just in case we change to a cable or fibre modem, and have further need for a separate router.
Ask me about repetitive DNA
most people just use there wifi for there net so unless there Internet is over 54mbs it made no sense to upgrade the hardware. but linksys has made a new ac 1600 wrt rougher.
At the time, the WRT54G(L) was a great router. I've still got two of them on the desk next to me. Don't buy them now.
They were wonderful routers, but it's time. Unless you're just doing it for the nostalgia, do yourself a favor and get something that uses the improvements that have been made in the last 14 years.
-=Lothsahn=-
...and only because i was running into troubles with active IP limits on a very busy home network - it is very memory limited by todays standards, and lacks gigabit ethernet. If it weren't for that i'd probably wouldn't even carel; flashed that device with DD-WRT back in its day and never, ever had a single issue with it.
I'm now replacing it with a RT-AC56U which is also very well supported by DD-WRT.
I just replaced my wrt54gl with a Linksys WRT1900AC. It runs DDWRT, it's blue, and it's fast!
http://www.linksys.com/us/p/P-...
Regardless of features, I thought DD kind of struggled on that thing and it's why it was ported to many other devices?
11 year old hardware, considering the bandwidth people have nowadays, amount of devices connected, seems like they might just be better off buying a more modern router which can run DD?
I use a WRT54G in school with almost 30~50 netbooks since 10 years. Later install modern access point but the WRT54G work much better and major distance power that modern N-norm
Little reason to buy one? My roommates keep saying I should get a new router to replace my 54GL (bought it in highschool for $40 or something). I looked around at the offerings, expecting something similar in price with better performance. Lo and behold, everything is $100+. Screw that, you can get a 54GL at Goodwill for a buck.
" without ever changing its specs"
There have been over ten different hardware versions. Same specs but different insides.
Try running an OpenVPN client on an old router and watch your throughput get cut down to a fraction of that which you will get with a new router with a fast processor (A 20 Mb/s gets cut down to 5 Mb/s with an Asus RT-N16 and OpenVPN, e.g.). Client VPN software that runs directly on daily use computers is a pain for the enduser, because it is not transparent--it does, however, keep throughput up (assuming you have a non-antiquated CPU).
Yes. OpenVPN brings the old routers to their knees.
I have one in the hold pile of crap. I had to use it recently for a short time to bring wifi to another part of my house. Plugged it in, reset it because God knows I have no idea what the password or even the IP address to it is anymore. Poof, it's working just fine. I also have the big mother antenna on it. It's great in a pinch.