Reviews for Linksys WRT350N Wireless Router
802.11Draft N, 300 Mbps, 256 Bit WEP, WPA - MPN: WRT350N
Linksys WRT350N
Strengths: N is very fast, Gigabit integrated switch, Storage Link, Low Profile vertical stand.
Weakness: None thus far, but the 4x range on 802.11G is far fetched, it is the same or slightly less then my WRT54GS with hi gain antennas.
Overall, this product is very good to excellent, I have not had any problems with it so far like others have, maybe I have newer hardware. 802.11N is very fast compared to G, and the range is OK not 4x better on G on N it does have a slight gain. Its storage link is stable for me running a Seagate storage product. The integrated Gigabit switch is excellent for wired transfers to devices on my network both wired and wireless. I would definitely recommend buying the newer production versions. But one bad part is that it may be trial and error with these to see if you have a stable one. My first and only one is running smooth for me with no wifi knock offs so far. I went through the same trial and error process with my WRT54GS so give it a shot. My second WRT54GS was and still is super stable.
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TopA Decent Router, not sent out ready for use
Strengths: Storage Link, N-Speed, Gigabit
Weakness: Lack of "official" firmware updates, N compatibility lacking, storage link slow
Many of the above weaknesses are relieved by a firmware update. v1.05.8 This is a beta version, but I have ran it for three weeks now with no trouble. Linksys still has 1.03.2 on their website. This finally made it able to connect at N speeds with an Intel 4965AGN card in my laptop. I have had the router for about 6 months, and with this firmware update, it is like a whole new router. Storage link is very fast. I now am able to store pictures, music, etc on the drive, and access them just as fast as something on my hard drive. This is not true for the original firmware however. Overall it has FINALLY satisfied what I purchased it for, but it took 6 months. When linksys plans to release an official update I am not sure, so maybe wait a while before buying unless you feel comfortable updating to the beta firmware.
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Top
DH21187
- Nov 10, 2006
Linksys drops the ball again
Strengths: It hold papers down on your desk nicely.
Weakness: No stable internet connection, USB storage option doesn't work, No stable firmware for product, Tech support is in India and cannot be understood, India speakers read from manuals and are rude.
DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. IT DOES NOT WORK.
I installed this unit approximately one week ago and it will not stay connected to the internet no matter what I have tried or Linksys technical support has. Their support staff is in India and they have no idea of what to do without reading from a manual. I spent hours on the phone with them being transferred from one person to the next who could not resolve the problems with the product. They originally claimed it was user configuration error, which wasn't true, as I spent hours with them and they could not find anything configured improperly to explain why the unit would not maintain a connection to the internet.
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After several days of no help from India, I was eventually passed back to the US and spoke to Brian Beals, the supposed guru who could fix the problem, NOT.
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I spent about an hour on the phone with him and he admitted the unit has an unstable firmware version installed on it from the factory. He sent me a new firmware version, 1.03.2, which he claimed would fix the problem, but it didn't. I now have no connection at all and have been forced back to using a direct connection from my PC to my cable modem to get an internet connection. He, rather than stay on the phone with me to ensure the firmware worked, rushed me off the line and said he would contact me if I was still having the same problem, which I am, but is now even worse. NICE CUSTOMER SERVICE.
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Beals also mentioned there was a problem with the USB storage capability with the unit, which also doesn't work with most units also due to firmware problems. This explained why I couldn't see my NAS on my network after I plugged it into the WRT350N. GREAT JOB LINKSYS....
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My repeated e-mails back to this guru have gone unanswered and I am stuck with a $160.00 paperweight on my desk now. I am going to request a refund from where I purchased it as Linksys has shown quality and service are not a priority to them.
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It's been almost a month since the latest firware flash and it now seems to be stable. If it reamins this way, I would recommend this unit.
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January 12, 2007, the router has stopped working once again and will no longer allow a wired internet connection from my PC to the router. The wireless connection still works, but the wired connections are non-functioning. I have tried several other PCs, as I have 5, with the same results. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT
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Today, January 15, 2007, I had the pleasure of chatting with another Linksys tech, as my router has gone paws up again. I spent about an hour between holding and actually chatting with a tech who did not or could not resolve my problems. The router will not allow an internet connection for some reason, however, I can still access the router through my PCs. After sitting and chatting with the tech, she said they would be sending me an RMA number, which still hasn't appeared in my in-box hours after our chat session....Since then I have reflashed the router's firmware with an older version and it appears I have restored its connection to the internet. This issue is clearly a firmware related issue with this product, as the connection comes back after the flash....Will Linksys ever fix this product....IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD SO FAR..
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I do have to add that the last firmware downgrade did double the rate of my N-network cards. I went from 130Mbps to 260-270Mbps. Too bad they can't do the same for my wired connections to the internet.
November 5, 2007-
I came home today to once again find that my router has died for no apparent reason. All wired connections to the unit no longer work and I have to once again go through Linksys's terrible technical support staff to try to get a new one. This will be my third or fourth replacement since I originally purchased it. Once I get the new one, I will just sell it on E-Bay and try to recover some of money back from this piece of junk. I purchased the Netgear WNR854T in the interim and it works just fine. The minute I plugged it into my network all was well with the world. Too bad I can't sue Linksys in small claims court to get my money back. I will never buy another Linksys product again.
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TopNov 17, 2006
Many thanks for the heads up on the Linksys WRT350N unit. I was just ready to buy one over the Internet when I saw your review comments. I'm for sure going to wait until they stabilize the firmware, etc before I pay my money for something that sounds like it's a piece of junk right now. I also have had some interaction with the Linksys Technical Support folks who are on the other side of the world and whom you can't understand on the telephone. Linksys Tech Support has degraded to the level of worthless, and that's a shame since they are now part of Cisco, whose products are usually pretty good. I'll be looking for some editorial reviews of the WRT350N before I venture any further toward buying what sounds like a nightmare - at least right now. Thanks again for your candor and honesty. TheBeagle
Dec 21, 2006
I am considering this product.. Any additional comments would be great. I am hoping to increase my wireless signal.
Thanks
Reply by member: DH21187
Jan 12, 2007
Even after the new firware was installed, the product has once again failed.
Aug 17, 2007
Try updating to the new 1.05.8 beta firmware. You can find links to it throughout linksys forums. It worked for me anyway.
Reply by member: DH21187
Aug 18, 2007
I tried to install the new Beta version of their firmware and it would not install despite repeated attempts using 3 different versions of the firmware. I kept getting an error message from the router saying it was the wrong file type.
I am considering a class action lawsuit against Linksys. If you are willing to participate, please let me know. If we get enough people to make it worth while, I will ask my sister or father to consider doing it.
Reply by member: DH21187
Aug 18, 2007
My most recent bug with the router has been trying to get it to run at a decent speed on my fully gigabit home network.
First, my entire house has Cat 6 cable, cat 6 ends, and is wired to the gigabit standard. I have verified all wiring and RJ45 ends using multiple hardware diagnostic tools. Yes.. I'm a geek.
No matter what I have tried, I cannot get the speed on the network above 8-9 MB/Sec during file transfers using the WRT350N. However, when I eliminate the WRT350N from the mix and run DHCP directly from my server using a gigabit switch, I get up 65 MB/sec and sometimes faster. I know the router is the problem, but Linksys techs swear it's my network.
They claim there is some type of hardware issue, yeah theirs, that is causing the problem. I am still waiting for a new version of their firmware that will actually install to see if it helps. In the interim I will be doing research on Westlaw to see how I can sue them to recover my money plus damages.
A Top of the Line Dissapointment
Strengths: Speedy when functional
Weakness: Access Control function renders it useless for hours.
The Linksys WRT350N has weak ineffective control software, and support that’s even worse! Cisco, shame on you! For a flagship consumer product, unfortunately the Linksys WRT350N is far below par. I lived with one for 3 weeks (as I invested many, many hours in failed attempts to obtain effective Linksys technical support) before I returned it to Best Buy.
The firewall (and associated tech support) was what drove it back to the store. I have had many routers: Net Gear, D-Link, SMC, and several Linksys over the years. First, understand that I use the firewall’s access control for parental control purposes. So far the one that had the best potential to serve my needs was this one. I initially setup the access control, and found that while all settings were saved successfully, they were not in effect. I found my 16 year old still web surfing well after 2:00AM on a school night. So I called for help. I spent hours getting to someone who understood me. I thought those hours were well spent when they told me that I had not configured it right. The person said first you have to deny all access; then setup permission to allow. She said; “you can not just apply restrictions.” Ok I did that, with the same effect, none. I called again and the next person who could understand what I was saying, after I explained my problem told me that the first Linksys tech support was wrong, and I should do it the way I had initially done it, but I must power cycle the router to invoke the rules. Ok I’m game. I thought I was doing it right in the first place, Power cycling invoked the set rules, and all was right with the world. Then a day or so later I added another rule. Same story, the rule would not work until power was cycled. Now I’m getting the hang of this, power cycling to invoke rules is inconvenient but effective. BUT NOW, every time I power cycle the router after a rule change... and only after a rule change… all Internet access is blocked on all nodes for 2 to 4 hours. Once it recovers, its fine, the rules work, and all is well until you touch the rules and power cycle it again.
The last Linksys technical support person I spoke to said that the product team would be in touch with me to help resolve the product’s issues. I said I was glad to work with them. The promise was to expect a call in the next 48 hours. After 72 hours, the same person called back and said the product team need clarifications on all of the things we had already been over. So now I’m repeating this and dozens of other lame and unrelated questions to the same person because the product team did not have time to share directly with me. Three more days went by, no call from the product team, during the return process and again for the benefit of a salesperson I told this story at the Best Buy. Avoid the WRT350N, it’s not worth the money or trouble.
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Top350n v1 not good
Strengths: it hassome good features like the gigaports and storage link and some detailed firmware options
Weakness: wireless signal kept dropping not stable
couldnt get my new laptop with n card to connect couldnt get my g cards to connect wireless signal dropped. my laptop was place about 5ft from router and no signal could be found when changed to g and b mode my cards could see a signal but couldnt connect. updated to new firmware and even exchanged for another but it had the same problems got it out of the box cards seen signal after about 10 min it dropped and never came back. i have a wrt54gs v3 running 3rd party firmware and never had any problems out of it. we also called tech support and they tried to tell me it was because i didnt have my router set up with wep. my old one isn't and don't have any problems out of it....
the ones i received was version 1 maybe i just got a bad batch
i will get one when it is more stable a later version not a version 1
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TopJan 27, 2007
This person needs to learn how to compose and write sentences. It was difficult to follow, especially with the very poor punctuation.
Great router, as all Linksys products are
Strengths: Stable connection, easy to install, good indoor/outdoor coverage area - thanks to wireless-N technology
Weakness: no extention cable for antenna, no outdoor antenna, router is not built for outdoor use.
I installed this Linksys on the roof of my office. The intention was to establish a network connection between office building and my boss's house when he has a desktop with Linksys wireless-N network card plus external outdoor antenna. The distance is around 200 feet so the clear visibility between two antennas is required. Connection is stable and my boss can even connect to the office network using his laptop (indoor, wireless-G card). The only thing I didn't like is that if you want to use this router outdoor:
- It's dangerouse to keep this router outdoor because rain, show, morning dew can easily damage its internal elements.
- Linksys doesn't produce outdoor external antennas for these wireless-N routers yet.
But it's great choice for indoor use.
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TopDO NOT BUY THIS JUNK!!!!!
Strengths: Power indicator light works flawlessly.
Weakness: Nothing else does.
I'm now on my second WRT350N on my second wasted weekend sitting on hold with the unknowledgable, unhelpful, rude Linksys technical support. All they can do is read me 5 pages from a manual and then pass me off to someone else who in turn reads me 5 more pages. They can find nothing wrong with my computer/network configuration as it works flawlessly with my existing WRT54G router.
The WRT350N will not return pings, and will not respond to anything you do to it.
It's pure garbage and if it were not for the hope that TigerDirect will refund my purchase of this flaming turd I'd take it out in my driveway right now and back the car over it.
PLEASE LISTEN TO WHAT I AM SAYING AND DO NOT BUY THIS JUNK ROUTER!!
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TopAug 13, 2008
I've been running my version 1 WRT350N for almost a year(with third party firmware) with no major problems. I've had to reboot a couple of times because of power outages and the ocassional thunder storm. The system is mixed with both G and draft N devices. The router seamlessly handless a Lexmark 9190x all-in-one with a Dell print server, an XBox cabled to a Netgear AP/print server, an HP photo printer with a Linksys print server, two laptops with Buffalo hi-power PCMCIA cards, another laptop using a Linksys usb draft N dongle and a PC with a Linksys WRT54GS as an AP. Finally, a third Linksys is serving bridge/repeater duty in a weatherproof housing while driving a home brew biquad Direct TV antenna. It relays the signal to our family business about 450 feet away. Maybe We are lucky!! If Augerhead would care to sell his WRT350N at a deep discount.....
Devil in the details...
Strengths: Good range, both horizontal and vertical. Get reception of 61% two floors down in opposite corner of basement when using linksys made Wireless-n receivermade Wireless-n receiver.
Weakness: While the router software seems fine, the driver for the PCI receiver can cause serious issues with your system ranging from a complete hang, to audio/video popping and crackling.
I was initially pleased with the ease of setup and the range and speed improvement over my old wireless G network. Then I noticed that the audio/video on my receiving computer (Using the WMP300N PCI DESKTOP CARD) had become choppy and static. After days of rollbacks and uninstalls I traced it to the linksys driver for the WMP300N. To make matters worse, the uninstall for this does not work properly and leaves keys in the registry which prevent the new driver from installing without some geek activities that might be daunting to the average user. Then the new driver after I finally got it installed, was much better but not completely fixed. As a former driver developer I noticed that the new driver solution for the problem was simply to saturate the PCI bus with data! The computer equivalent of talking faster and louder so no one else can get a word in edgewise! If you attempt to run other intensive data applications such as gaming, or video rendering applications, this "solution" will cause your computer to hang. Microsoft would NEVER certify a driver written like this.
Since the value of this router in terms of range and speed, depends on the use of Linksys’ own desktop receiver solution, the overall system you set up is severely flawed and I cannot and would not recommend it.
I do not know if the laptop receiver card exhibits the same behavior.
One other thing related to the router is that configuring the so called network hard drive feature is all but impossible for the average user. Even after tech support configured it for me, I lost it when I moved the router to another computer and have been unable to restore it since.
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TopAbsolute Garbage
Strengths: Supports DD-WRT USB Drive support (maybe)
Weakness: Unstable (!) Infrequent firmware updates from Linksys
I bought this to replace a WRT54G, thinking that the reason it would hang every day and have to be restarted was its paltry memory. This was even worse. With this one, not only would it hang almost daily, but power cycling didn't work - I had to hard-reset it (holding the little button on the back and returning it to factory settings). This was absolutely the only way to get it back to working condition.
Specifically, when it would start one of two things would happen: (a) it would fail (over and over) to get a connection from the modem, and/or (b) it would not connect with the compuer ("limited or no connectivity"), and I am talking about a HARD-WIRED connection. The wireless was even worse.
Linksys sent me a replacement, so I have now had TWO OF THESE THINGS and they both had the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. Just to prove it's a hardware problem: I have installed DD-WRT (third party firmware) and it still hangs and hiccups, the only difference is that now it will generally recover. Oh, and I have had to forgo use of the USB and N-speeds in doing so.
DO NOT BUY THIS or, for my money, any other Linksys product. If you insist on buying Linksys, word of caution, check the version number (not just model number) of the one you are going to buy and look it up online. Linksys has a habit of completely changing the innards of these things and releasing them under the same name.
5 months, countless hours, 30+ phone calls, and 2 routers later I can confidently declare this thing GARBAGE!
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TopDont waste your money
Strengths: None that I can find
Weakness: Its a piece of dung Software is Horrible and doesn't work Stops working intermittently or forever
I got one set it up, it stopped routing.
I returned it got another thinking it was a fluke.
It stopped routing after the return period, and then it stopped working wirelessly.
One is a fluke 2 in a row means dont waste your money on this dung.
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TopDisappointing new product from Linksys
Strengths: It is suppose to have a lot of nice features such as create list of machines to grant/deny internet access for time periods, attach USB storage.
Weakness: Most of the improved features do not work such as multiple Access Policies setup with hardware addresses, and or IP address. Being able to retain wireless connection for longer than few hours.
This unit was disappointment, even after firmware upgrade, all the features did not work as promised. I wanted to create Internet access policy for my children’s PC’s. I created one policy for each with specific time period and added the MAC addresses to the machine list. Only the first active access policy worked all others failed, after spending 3 ½ hours with tech support the problem is still unresolved. May be when all the bugs are ironed out that this unit may turnout to be useful.
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TopWhite elephant
Strengths: Odd looking shape; quite bulky and noisy. It hold papers down on your desk nicely.
Weakness: Urm ...
DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. IT DOES NOT WORK.
I installed this unit approximately one week ago and it will not stay connected to the internet no matter what I have tried or Linksys technical support has. Their support staff is in India and they have no idea of what to do without reading from a manual. I spent hours on the phone with them being transferred from one person to the next who could not resolve the problems with the product. They originally claimed it was user configuration error, which wasn't true, as I spent hours with them and they could not find anything configured improperly to explain why the unit would not maintain a connection to the internet.
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TopWeak Linksys effort
Strengths: N/A
Weakness: Functionality
I purchased this router a few weeks after buying the Linksys WRT160N, fully intending to return the older 160N version once I got the 350N up and running. After seeing some of the reviews here, it seems others have had similar problems with this unit. The 350N had quite a few features that lured me in, such as USB networked storage and gigabit ethernet ports. Too bad the routing simply didn't work on the unit that I bought.
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I set up the router with the typical wireless settings, security, etc. All went well, but neither my server (connected via ethernet) nor my wireless computers could access the web. I could see that website was found, but it would simply hang indefinitely. I must admit that I just assumed that the other reviewers here didn't set their routers up properly or didn't know what they were doing. Well now I beg forgiveness.
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I've set up a lot of routers in my time and this one's nothing special. Linksys actually makes router installation very easy...but that assumes that your hardware is functional. I'm not about to waste my time upgrading firmware or sit on the phone with customer support, and I recommend that anyone reading this follows suit. Don't waste your time on a product that was obviously rushed to market without the proper quality control measures or testing.
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P.S. If you don't need all the bells and whistles of the 350 (or comparable), the 160N is a nice n-based option. It has worked like a charm for me. I've been up and running without a hitch for about 2 weeks now and the speed has been excellent.
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TopThis is a piece of crap
Strengths: Look cool
Weakness: every aspect
After hooked up for 3-4 days, I stops working. every of my computer can not connect to it. However, by cable through the port my computer can connect to it. Their damn software(named easylink which should be hardlink) keeps telling me it is working perfectly. I could not find anything wrong. After kick it and slap it, it might works again. And after 3-4 days, it goes to the cycle again.
what a crap!! DO NOT BUY IT EVEN IF IT IS 1 DOLLAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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TopLinksys WRT350N wireless router with Storage Link
THE GOOD: The Linksys WRT350N router offers USB port for networking hard drives; Gigabit Ethernet ports; UPnP media server and FTP server; generous warranty and service package. THE BAD: Throughput is lackluster. THE BOTTOM LINE: Although the Linksys WRT350N router offers some interesting and compelling features, its performance is slow compared to the competitions. If youre after the fastest...
TopBest Support Linksys Wireless Router
Performance is Average according to 5 Wireless Router experts. -- "It works great with standard Wireless-G and -B equipment, but when both ends of the wireless link are Wireless-N, the router can increase the throughput even more by using twice as much radio band, yielding speeds up to 15 times as fast as standard Wireless-G."-tigerdirect.com -- "very good range"-jiwire.com -- "The Access Point...
TopLinksys WRT350N Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link
Testseek.com has collected 11 expert reviews for Linksys WRT350N Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link and the average expert rating is 81 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.
TopLinksys WRT350N Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link Review
The WRT350N is essentially a single-band version of the WRT600N, with slightly lower wireless performance.
Top
Solid Router
Strengths: USB Hard Drive support, uPNP Media Server, Easy setup, Gigabit
Weakness: Doesn't support other USB devices (Printers, etc), run a little warm (not too hot to touch, but warm)
I used to have a 54G Linksys router with high gain antennas before it went belly up. I averaged 70% signal strength with it, using the 350N, I've been averaging 90%.
My 350N came with the v1.03.2 firmware, and have no issues. I connect to the internet over DSL, and take advantage of the PPPoE connection type.
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The router includes all of the normal setup options, as well as some extras:
DDNS - The router will take over the updating of Dynamic DNS entries through DynDNS.org or TZO.com
Storage - I'm not sure if it's supported or not but I have connected multiple drives via a hub to the router. They are able to be setup and usable. You are able to configure which directories on the disk are usable, and the access to those disks.
FTP Server - You can use the drives that are mounted via a built in FTP server. The FTP server can be enabled or disabled and access from the internet can be enabled or disabled.
Internet Access Policy - You can add policies to allow/disallow access to the internet/URLs/ports based on a schedule.
Overall, a strong router. Setup of the router was simple. I wouldn't have purchased a router if my old router hadn't died. So far, I have been pleased with the new router and haven't experienced any issues.
I'm not sure if this router will be upgradeable to the final N spec... there are no guarantees.
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