Linksys → Anyone tried the WRV54G ?

I just noticed on Linksys' website this product.
It's a Wireless 802.11G, 4 port Router _and_ VPN in one.

Sounds like a very cool combination, would eliminate my WRT54G & BEFVP41 combination that I have right now & move it into one cool looking box.

Anyone tried this yet?

looks like only one external antenna
[text was edited by author 2003-09-16 19:20:10]

Linkified for the lazy



I guess they're going for a different look.. not stackable anymore.

I wonder what the range is - does having 2 antennas help?

[text was edited by author 2003-09-18 13:11:43]

Does it have a built in VPN client? It says built in VPN endpoint. I'm not sure where the difference lies in the terms being used.

VPN endpoint - can serve as a VPN end - client or server.
VPN client - can only connect to a VPN server, can't have clients connect to it.

Knowing the chip it uses, it's more than adequate for the job...

bump-
Sure doesn't seem to be much talk about this unit yet. It might go a long way toward explaining why support for the BEFxx41 line has seemingly disappeared. I wonder if having the Cisco logo on every UI page makes the firmware work better. I don't think I want to spend $200 for something that might not work any better that my BEFSX41.

Guess I'll wait.

It doesnt even have WPA.
Thats odd spend more and less protection for wireless.

-illusion

I was thinking about getting an 11g AP to replace my current WAP11 this winter
I'd like to see some comments on how good this router is with its "powerful SPI firewall"
I might just replace my BEFSX41 and WAP11 with this bad boy

time for someone to play guiney pig and buy one of these

oh btw
take a look at the user guide on the Linksys site...its still stackable...those feet come off and you can lay it on its side
I like the new Linksys style...IMO it looks more professional than the old blue ones

From the look of the WRV54G, stacking the new style cases could exacerbate the heat problem that already exist with the old style cases.

said by Mr_Stealth:

---

I like the new Linksys style...IMO it looks more professional than the old blue ones

---

If they could promise me in writing that it would do everything that it's advertised to do without bugs that run on for years, I would buy one that looked like a cow patty.

said by MrMoke:

---

said by Mr_Stealth:

---

I like the new Linksys style...IMO it looks more professional than the old blue ones

---

If they could promise me in writing that it would do everything that it's advertised to do without bugs that run on for years, I would buy one that looked like a cow patty.

---

Hey, as they say "presentation is half the battle". With Linksys/Cisco's marketing machine, if they come out with a sufficiently spiffy packaging, they'll probably sell a bunch even if it's a "cow patty" inside.

I dunno... when I see Cisco stuff, I think of nice solid metal-cased equipment like the 2501 and Cat 2924 switch I have. The WRT54G I have certainly won't stand a chance.

I've got one ordered. Should have it next week. I'll report in when I've had some time to play with it. I'm especially interested in the VPN endpoint and the ability to restrict the tunnel to certain IPs on the LAN. The only other SOHO box that I've seen that can do this is a SonicWALL SOHO TZW ($500), which is just too much $$$.

Does it support UPnP?

yes it does have it, I have not tested it yet

[text was edited by author 2003-10-13 19:22:31]

said by kennz3:

---

yes it does have it yet.
[text was edited by author 2003-10-13 17:11:24]

---

What does that mean?

typo... I mean it has a upnp capability..

I have one and it's really cool. I'm using it right now. It has a ton of options for configuration. DMZ was a bit rough, I could not get tech support to help me get a Packet8 VOIP working through it. It's far more advanced than my other equipment and I don't regret buying it. They could fix the DMZ problem and I would be happier.

1) I am just setting up a SOHO network from scratch, and I had identified the WRV54G as a strong candidate to purchase. However, I am concerned about your (and other) references to bugs and lack of support/fixes from Linksys. Can you please elaborate more on your concerns in this area?

2) Also, my second candidate currently is the Netgear WGR614, which seems to have equivalent capability and which claims a VPN capability in the advertising copy, but does not reference such a capability at all in the User Manual. Does anybody know anything about this unit?

Thx.

Very disappointed with this product! Would not recommend this product to anyone at this time! For those familiar with previous versions of Linksys VPN products like the BEFV41 and the BEFSX41 I will explain some of the differences as well as some new problems.

1. The UI is different. Not better, but different, more like worse. Except for the cute little “CISCO” logo, which means absolutely nothing to me! It’s more difficult to navigate as well as it’s hard to find menus that you were used to seeing before

2. It comes with a new logging program. It has some new wanted features like the ability to log to a file, as well as some unwanted features like the logging program continuously crashing!

3. Using the previous VPN UI you had the ability to accept tunnels from any IP address if you specified it. You no longer have the option of specifying “ANY” you now have to specify a remote IP address. A real problem if most of your clients have dynamic IP addresses

4. Oh, and one other problem. I have not been able to establish a VPN tunnel between my WRV54G and my BEFVP41. A real big problem!!!! I’ve spent several hours with Linksys tech support trying to figure out the problem. All of the settings are correct but the routers are unable to establish a connection.

5. Linksys tech support had no solution for the problem! They mentioned that they might be able to send me a beta version of the firmware version. Already? They just released the product!

Sounds like a typical story from a Corporation that’s gone from a private company to a publicly traded company. No longer does the company have an interest in their product to make a profit. It’s only concern now it is it’s stock price. What a shame, I used to love Linksys!

I'm also having problems with a brand-new WRV54G.

It freezes randomly after a few hours uptime. All the LEDs continue to flicker but I lose wired AND wireless access inbound and outbound. I can't ping the router, let alone bring up the web admin interface. It doesn't even reboot itself, it just sits there zombified (made-up word).

I've trawled the newsgroups and linksys site. I'll be calling them next.

"3. Using the previous VPN UI you had the ability to accept tunnels from any IP address if you specified it. You no longer have the option of specifying “ANY” you now have to specify a remote IP address. A real problem if most of your clients have dynamic IP addresses "

This is a deal breaker. This makes the VPN feature all but useless to me. I was considering buying this for my laptop users who travel and home users who dial in. Crap

Update on freezing problem:

I called Linksys - (very quick answer): first suggestion was to use UPS for surge protection. Tried this - the box still froze.

I called again. This time they suggested reapplying the current firmware. I wasn't convinced that this would help but I tried anyway. No change.

Linksys's final answer was to return the router to the vendor for replacement.

I did further testing. I found out that I could make the router freeze when a remote FTP session (that was being port-forwarded to an internal host) timed-out. It was timing-out due to my, as yet unresolved, PASV/PORT incompatibilities. I still can't get this to work and each time it times-out while attempting a 'ls' on the client, I usually lose my router. It appears that the problem isn't hardware related and I will continue to try to resolve.

Although this issue is frustrating, I assume that I'll get it fixed when I get some smarts. I have no other complaints: great value at $190 (street).

This question may sound stupid.

Is it possible to connect directly to the WRV54G using a VPN Client?

Do I need to have a VPN Server on the Network or the WRV54G is going to function as the VPN Server?

What VPN client is good for the WRV54G?

Is there any link where I can download one?

I really want to be able to work from home and access the data of some of the server on my work using my DSL connection.

Is the WRV54G the right device?

Let me know!!

Thanks

I've also had a disappointing experience with this router. I can't get it to stay connected to my ISP for more than a few seconds at a time. My ADSL service requires a PPTP login, which this router is *supposed* to support. I've tried all the possible options in the PPTP login and it always disconnects. This is really lame, because I've had several Netgear routers handle this and stay on for months at a time. PPTP login at this point in time should be easy to setup and maintain, but alas, Linksys found a way to mess it up.

Those that have been using the WRV54G - is WPA available for it yet? I couldn't tell from the firmware update information on the Linksys site whether their latest updates include WPA... Thanks.

My two cents... I have played with the box for a little bit more than a week now.

I know for sure:
*I can't do tunnel to tunnel traffic.
-As in Branch A connecting to resources at Branch B though this box at the "main" office
*I can't terminate PPTP sessions into it, but it does allow PPTP traffic through
*I can't VPN with "ANY" ip (we have to fix it, no dynamic)
*I have not been able to get a CLI (Linux shell) reference from OpenRG, I am thinking We might be able to modify real time much more with the Linux Shell Command reference than with the windows based config wizard or the Browser based admin pages.
*The IPSEC sessions seems quite "active". as soon as I configure the tunnel, it comes up no matter what, I would like to have the ability to bring it up ONLY if traffic is generated to that other remote local IP network.
*As far as I know there is no Split Tunneling support.

Have anyone tried my approach to validate my input?

Zancaman

I bought one, and have spent days trying to get VPN to work. Linksys support was useless, I logged two separate cases and neither one could even get my XP machine to connect to it using L2TP. What the previous post said about clients having to have defined IP address is also correct, so connecting in from a remote location with a dynamic IP address won't work. DO NOT COUNT on this device doing anything in VPN for you !!

The product is a great concept, but failed in execution. If they would fix the problems, and admit it has some, then it could be a good product, but until then stick with Netgear and save your time.

I've had the wrv54g for a few weeks. It was working fine until 5 days ago when I could no longer get access to the internet. If I bypassed the router I was able to get right out to the internet so I knew it wasn't my Charter pipeline having the problem. I tried everything but it still wouldn't work. I reloaded the firmware(2.03) but still no luck. I tried posting support question for linksys but they never would get back in touch with me. I finally got them on the phone after waiting for about a half hour and we tried several things but could not get the internet connection to work. They suggested to either wait for a firmware upgrade or return the router where I bought it. I think they definitely have a problem with this router. Hopefully it is just in the firmware and maybe they will get some new firmware posted on their web very soon because I bought my router over the net and accidentally threw away the information I needed. I spent $200 bucks for a router that is essentially useless to me right now.

This router sucks. I was hoping that by parterning with Cisco, Linksys would get better on their quality control. Alas, I see that it is worthless as always.

This device will randomly disconnect from the internet. When it does, I can't pull an IP. I can't ping anything, and router functions just come to a grinding halt.

As others have mentioned, the "any" selector is gone from the VPN menu.

Screw you Linksys. I went through this with the befvp41. I refuse to be your free-of-charge QA department. Mix in some quality control and stop forcing users to fix your crappy products for you.