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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.
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.
Actually, a lot of them still are hackable. The challenge being in WRT54G land, it was *the* definitive hackable router. While several are hackable, it's more confusing and frankly with projects named things like 'openwrt' or 'ddwrt', the very name of the ecosystem is still rooted in that product line. So people who want to load up a custom distro but aren't *that* informed have a hard time knowing what is and isn't and which download to pair with which product.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
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
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.
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=-