Cisco-Linksys WRT120N Wireless-N Home Router

I hardly ever write reviews (like someone else said) but wow, what a piece of crap this is! DO NOT BUY THIS! The setup is easy but this router is junk. It will just stop working for no reason. I don't know if it is overheating or what. I have even tried flipping it over so the vents are facing up. It will just stop working once is a while. By once is a while I mean around 1-3 times a day. Sometimes I have to manually reset(unplug - the reset button doesn't always do it.). Other times it takes a few minutes to start working again. I had a $30 Belkin before and it lasted 2 years with no problems until the end. Once I find a good replacement I'm going to pull an Office Space on this thing.

I see quite a few negative reviews here from frustrated customers, but the truth is that this isn't a bad router. I've set these up for plenty of users and they've had no issues. You just need to know what's inside and how to configure it, and as an electrical engineer who specializes in wireless, I can tell you about this.

This router -- unlike most Linksys routers -- uses an Atheros SoC (system-on-chip). (Most Linksys routers use Broadcom chips.) This means that it has some quirks that are peculiar to Atheros. For example, most Atheros-based devices are well known to have what's called the "stuck beacon" problem in their internal software. The problem is not due to overheating, as is speculated in some of the reviews here, but it can be triggered by heavy network loading or noise on the airwaves. Without going into too much technical detail, this is a problem that happens when the router gets busy or encounters noise and misses its chance to send a "beacon" signal...Read more

The ratio of success with these units is about 1:5, meaning that for every five that we purchase, only one will function properly. I am an IT Professional and install several residential and commercial wireless systems a month and I have had great success with the previous line of Linksys Wireless Routers (WRT54G's), but these newer Linksys/Cisco Wireless Router must have a design or a component fault. Typical Chinese junk(IMHO). Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE Cisco fan, but I'm very disappointed in this newer line of consumer grade routers now offered by Linksys/Cisco....