Linksys WRTP54G Wireless-G Broadband Router for Vonage Internet Phone Service
By: Linksys Average Rating: 2.5 Total Reviews: 56
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 On: 2008-08-03
I had this router for ~2 years. Thankfully it finally died in a power outage we had. The concept is great and the outside appearance is good as well. The functionality left a lot to be desired.
I have used Vonage since 2005 and have been more than happy with them. The service is great and the price is right. This Linksys router would occassionally go out or drop all of the wireless connections when I received a phone call. This was a pain because I have to use a VPN system for my work laptop.
I went a different route now and it seems to be more robust. I bought the cheap D-Link hardwired Vonage box and the Linksys WRT54GS wireless router. It adds an additional piece of hardware, but so far it seems to work much better.
 On: 2008-06-30
I was browsing around when I ran across this router that Ive been using for 3+ years. I was stunned at its user rating. I have never had ANY issues with it. It works perfectly wirelessly with 2 computers, the phone connection has never been a problem. And Ive had no issues faxing. I have a great wireless range. Ive been outside with my laptop and used the internet up to 150 feet away with no problem. Setting up for basic use or advanced security settings is simple to fairly simple. The only reason I may replace it is so we can upgrade to a wireless N router. And that may be turn out to be a mistake, since weve never had problems with this router. Weve even moved from a Comcast area to a Metrocast Cablevision area. So no issues with either broadband provider. As Ive said, its been flawless. For what its worth, those are my two cents about this router.
On: 2008-06-19
I would rather use Morse code than Vonage.
I dont care which router you buy from Vonage, you will certainly regret it. I have had Vonage for about 4 years now and once a year no matter what, your router will go bad and you will have to get on the phone with these people. The customer service could no be any worse. My router stopped working again for about the 5th time since i started the service. Today I was on the phone for more than an hour and the rep told me that if I had any more problems that they would not be able to replace my router again. Please keep in mind that they have never replaced a router for free since the very first year. I have never, never been so frustrated in my life with any other customer service. Not to mention the fact that my phone will be down for about 7 days while I wait for my new equipment. The service is so bad, that the last time this happened I didnt even bother calling customer service until I know I had about 1.5 hrs free to deal with them. Trust me, it is not worth it in my opinion. As soon as I get this new eqipment, i will throw it on ebay and go back to my old hardline service. Even if you see good reviews on here, I can assure you that those people are new to the service and have not had to deal with them on the phone yet. Buyer beware, buy at your own risk.
On: 2008-04-23
Its a pity Amazon does not have zero to negative 5 stars!
I am one of the first Vonage clients (5 years now), and have always had a multi-computer wired + wireless network. Originally, I used the Linksys WRT54G with signal booster hooked through Vonages PAP2. The PAP2 failed, and Vonage replaced it with an RTP300. The RTP300 was never supported by Linksys or Vonage. It failed twice in a year. Next up was the current subject: WRTP54G-VR. It has now failed twice. AGAIN, unsuppported by both Vonage and Linksys. If you go to their websites, you will not even find this item listed. Vonage also due to their continuing cash and legal probelms NO LONGER CARRIES any multi port routers. I had to buy a DLink VWR (also not listed by DLINK) and a Motorola 2542 (ditto Motorola) through Amazon and eBay, respectively, or face the horrible prospect of switch phone carriers. Linksys used to build great products. Do not know what happened, but it is awful now and customer service (oxymoron) is worse. After 3 straight hours on the phone, bumped from one tech to another (with 15 to 30 minute wait times), no resolution - except to send me a replacement under warranty.
Im going to sell it on eBay or Amazon when I get it. I am done with Linksys - another once respected company outsourcing (and we consiumers paying for) junk (how appropriate - as in a junk is a rat infested Chinese intercoastal barge) from China.
 On: 2008-04-17
I am not sure why there are so many negative reviews of this product. I have had a variety of other cable and dsl modems, as well as two other VOIP products. Three years ago, I tried Vonage and quit because the modems phone function did not work when the computer was plugged in. With this Linksys, setup was a snap. I have only had one major problem, and I traced it to the fact someone else had set up a network on the same frequency I was using. I changed my frequency and all is well. The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is that the range and wall penetration are somewhat limited. I have been using it for 9 months.
On: 2008-03-28
Ive been using Vonage since June 2006 with relatively few problems overall, and thought I would share my experiences to possibly help others. When I first got this router everything worked perfectly, including the four 10/100 Base-T Ethernet ports that would allow my cable connected PCs to auto-negotiate a 100 MB connection on my Category 5e cables. Overall the voice quality was fine, but sometimes there was a delay in getting dial tone.
One day Vonage automatically (and without asking) updated my router firmware. I have read Vonage has the ability to download new firmware anytime the device is powered off and on. Since then, the 10/100 Base-T Ethernet ports can no longer auto-negotiate anything. I had to set my cable attached PCs to a fixed 10 MB full-duplex to avoid constant messages of "a cable has been disconnected" (100 MB just does not work.) Annoying, but once I figured it out, not bad since it is a rare day you would ever get more than 10 MB of throughput anyway.
Later, as more and more of my neighbors switched to comcast.net, we started having trouble with the phone service as the neighborhood network had more traffic. I contacted Vonage and they pointed me to a web page in their "help" screens titled "Will my cable modem work with Vonage?" (http://www.vonage.com/help.php?article=1097&category=124&nav=5). From this page I learned that Vonage service works best with cable modems that use a standard called "DOCSIS 1.1 or 2.0" (which I had never heard of before.) I also learned from that page, that my model of rented cable modem only had "DOCSIS 1.0". I disconnected my rented cable modem and took it over to the local Comcast office, where they swapped it at no charge for a new Motorola SURFboard cable modem that has DOCSIS 2.0. I immediately saw a HUGE difference in how well the Vonage phone service worked, AND overall faster surfing of the Internet too.
The point being if your Linksys WRTP54G is hooked up to an older cable modem that does not have DOCSIS 1.1 or 2.0 ability (that among other things assures the packets get through), you could have problems with this Vonage router. If you are renting your cable modem, you probably can upgrade for nothing and fix at least some of your problems. My local router ports still will not auto-negotiate or work at 100 MB, but I am hopeful that one day Vonage will download new firmware that will fix that too. While not perfect, Vonage is still better than the "BOE" (Big Old Expensive phone company. :-)
On: 2008-03-26
I have had this about 1 1/2 years. A couple of weeks ago my phone conversations started getting very staticy. After testing everything else, Vonage advised I replace the adaptor. What a headache. I switched to Vonage to save money, but buying new hardware every 1-2 years negates any savings Ive experienced. Vonage has agreed to credit my account $40. But where can I get a replacement for $40?
On: 2008-03-10
I bought this product on 7 February 2008 and since then no problem. Very good web interface and many settings you can change.
On: 2008-02-02
When I terminated Vonage service, they charged the disconnection fee of around $30.00; however, they never advertise this anywhere. I was not aware of the hidden fees by vonage. I am outraged by this.
It took me almost 20 minutes to tell them I want to disconnect the service, but the operator would not accept this and wasted lots of my time, and I had to tell them again and again that I just want to disconnect the service, finally they did.
Now that I dont have vongage anymore, they have bombarded my mailbox with specials, and they need to stop this as well.
I am not recommending Vonage to anyone, especially because of bad support.
On: 2007-10-22
I was quite skeptic in purchasing this router after reading the reviews. I had limited time before an international trip and so had no choice but to go ahead and buy it. Fortunately, the router has delivered. Ive had no issues. The folks at Vonage were excellent in walking me through the setup. Ive used this in the US, Europe and Asia, without any problem thus far (purchased in July 2007). I do have a few observations, which should be fixed in the next version but are not show-stoppers. (a) As someone has already observed, the router does tend to be on the warmer side, (b) The LED lights are over-bright - a personal opinion, (c) the Linksys router didnt come with a stand or rubber feet to keep it steady - this can be aggravating. Tech support at Linksys had no clue what to do about it. They have asked me to contact Customer Service at Linksys, and I still have to do that. Thats the reason for 4 and not 5 stars. Im using Vista and XP notebooks/desktops, and Im a normal business user who needs the stuff to work. I dont have the technical expertise or need to go in and change various protocols. So I cant judge from a smart techie perspective. This is my personal experience, and I dont question the issues that others have encountered.
On: 2007-10-21
I was quite skeptic in purchasing this router after reading the reviews. I had limited time before an international trip and so had no choice but to go ahead and buy it. Fortunately, the router has delivered. Ive had no issues. The folks at Vonage were excellent in walking me through the setup. Ive used this in the US, Europe and Asia, without any problem thus far (purchased in July 2007). I do have a few observations, which should be fixed in the next version but are not show-stoppers. (a) As someone has already observed, the router does tend to be on the warmer side, (b) The LED lights are over-bright - a personal opinion, (c) the Linksys router didnt come with a stand or rubber feet to keep it steady - this can be aggravating. Tech support at Linksys had no clue what to do about it. They have asked me to contact Customer Service at Linksys, and I still have to do that. Thats the reason for 4 and not 5 stars. Im using Vista and XP notebooks/desktops, and Im a normal business user who needs the stuff to work. I dont have the technical expertise or need to go in and change various protocols. So I cant judge from a smart techie perspective. This is my personal experience, and I dont question the issues that others have encountered.
On: 2007-05-31
May 30, 2007
If you already started the bad Vonage trip, be sure to close out your
debit card BEFORE you attempt to cancel. They are experienced at
getting there before you can. Youll open your account and find those
add-on surprise fees for cancelling their very bad product/service.
PLEASE keep records and file complaints. This is dirty business.
On: 2007-05-20
Summary: This product works perfectly as a wireless router with my Dell laptop PC and also works perfectly with the new Vonage phone service that I signed up for. Im using a Panasonic 5.8 GHz cordless phone plugged into the Linksys. Call quality is great - domestic and overseas.
My only surprise was that I needed to wait several hours after signing up for Vonage before I could routinely make and receive phone calls. I dont know if it was normal or not but now - 12 hours later - all phone features works perfectly. Most importantly, it operates just like any regular phone service - no difference.
Ive worked for local telephone service providers my whole life and they FEAR broadband (or VoIP) phone service in a big way - whether its Vonage or the cable TV version of VoIP. They will do anything to discredit it. The fact of the matter is that I can now speak from first hand experience that this service - along with this particular wireless router - is great.
On: 2007-03-31
I got this router and vonage service for about a year and a half. For the most part, it worked OK - vonage voice quality and the router, except I have problem with the fax and it didnt work with my security monitoring service. But starting a week ago, the router started to lose packets and connection -- and I have to reboot the router every 2 hours or the phone line will not work. I called Vonage and they said the warranty of the router has expired and Ill have to pay another $50 just to get another router/phone adaptor, or I can bid and get one off eBay. I tried Sunrocket before and the sevice is much worse than Vonage -- frequency of drop, voice quality, customer service. I may consider switching back to the landline with AT&T.
On: 2007-01-26
If you use a VPN connection to work from home, dont buy this device. I did thinking it would be nice to upgrade my router, but ended up wasting both time and money trying to make this device work properly. If you have a router that is working just go with the phone adapter. I would hate to total up all the time lost trying to get this to work (and I am IT savy). My stubborness prevented me from crying uncle as early as I should have. So if your considering Vonage or any VoIP service, run dont walk away from this device.
On: 2007-01-09
Not much to say here. I bought this and for months had a delay when I answered the phone using Vonage. Id say "Hello? Hello? Hello?" and after 5-10 seconds someone would answer. At first my friend suggested that my phone was bad!
Not only that but when calling out itd take 3 seconds to hear a dial tone.
I replaced this with the new D-link Vonage Wireless router and the problem was instantly fixed! Too bad I cant return this defective product.
Works fine as just a wireless router though. Ive had no problems with using my laptop wirelessly using this device.
On: 2006-11-27
Vonage service is twice costly compared to Sunrocket. The Linksys WRTP54G failed in just 7 months.
Dont buy Vonage service. Lot of complications to deal with once you get into trouble with the devices. They dont have a contract but they charge you $40 to cancel service. Now thats a mental torture.
Then they have a distinct entity to cancel services which remains only open for few hours on working days and they promise a credit which does never get reflected on your statement. Then when you call back they say they dont have notes it. Wheres the value of the word they give.
The customer service has sweet sound but they will waste your time by making things complicated, till the point you say why the hell did you get into this one. The opportunity cost of time wasted in dealing with Vonage is too high.
Plain and simple dont get a Vonage Service. Cost of cancelling out may be pay for getting a cheaper and simpler service.
Oh, its such a pain !!!!
On: 2006-11-26
Vonage service is twice costly compared to Sunrocket. The Linksys WRTP54G failed in just 7 months.
Dont buy Vonage service. Lot of complications to deal with once you get into trouble with the devices. They dont have a contract but they charge you $40 to cancel service. Now thats a mental torture.
Then they have a distinct entity to cancel services which remains only open for few hours on working days and they promise a credit which does never get reflected on your statement. Then when you call back they say they dont have notes it. Wheres the value of the word they give.
The customer service has sweet sound but they will waste your time by making things complicated, till the point you say why the hell did you get into this one. The opportunity cost of time wasted in dealing with Vonage is too high.
Plain and simple dont get a Vonage Service. Cost of cancelling out may be pay for getting a cheaper and simpler service.
Oh, its such a pain !!!!
On: 2006-11-15
I dont know how much of my problems can be attributed to the router, and how much to Vonage service. But from what Ive read elsewhere, lots of people have the same problems with different routers. Seventy percent of the time the call quality was so poor that the person on the other end couldnt hear us. Not just static, but garbled noises that my kids called "the phone going techno". They still argued over the home phone because no one wanted to use Vonage. I stuck with it hoping I could do something to improve the reception, and being to busy to start looking for another VOIP service. We had used Packet8 the previous year, and while the call quality was good, the service went out sometimes, and customer service was hit and miss. It turns out the Vonage customer service is worse. When I signed up the web site was touting no contracts, no disconnection fees, which was the main reason I chose them instead of going back to Packet8. However Vonage customer service says Ill have to pay $39.99 for having service less than a year. But thats still better than paying $30.00 a month for the next four months of really bad service.
 On: 2006-10-29
Im not going to comment on Vonage as a Voip company, but I can speak to two issues:
1) this router has real problems with the VPN pass-through function, so forget about telecommuting with this one. It works, but often only after 4 or 5 tries
2) the stability of the wireless connection is poor. Ive had much better experiences with my (pre-Vonage) D-Link router.
On: 2006-10-28
Im not going to comment on Vonage as a Voip company, but I can speak to two issues:
1) this router has real problems with the VPN pass-through function, so forget about telecommuting with this one. It works, but often only after 4 or 5 tries
2) the stability of the wireless connection is poor. Ive had much better experiences with my (pre-Vonage) D-Link router.
On: 2006-10-21
I have been using this router and had not experienced any issues with the vonage service but cannot say the same thing about the vonage phone monthly bill.
Vonage seems to be adding additional charges to the monthly bill some line items include Regulatory Recovery Fees , Federal universal service surchage. These items are not charged by other VOIP providers such as AT&T Call Vantage service.
Copy of my October Bill Charges Detail include :
Residential Basic 500 for 1-(919)-xxx-xxxx (01/Oct-31/Oct) $14.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee $0.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery $0.99
State Telecommunications Sales Tax $1.19
Federal Universal Service Surcharge $0.90
Total Amount $19.06
When I looked at my billing history for the $14.99 500 Minutes calling plan , the monthly charge seems to have increased from $16.94 in Dec 05,$17.42 in April 06 ,$18.67 in May 06 , $19.06 in Oct 06.
My thoughts were Vonage is supposed to be an innovative company and these hidden charges tacked to the monthly bill donot seem to be earn any customer loyalty.
by: wludford On: 2006-10-14
I had Vonage since April, 2006. I finally switched back to Qwest after unending problems and hours and hours on the phone (my cell phone, as my Vonage line didnt work) with tech support. Here is my experience:
1) It took about 2 months and about 2 hours on the phone for them to switch my existing phone # over to Vonage. Dont be too excited about getting the first month free- if your moving an existing number it will take about that long to get it switched over.
2) After my number was finally switched over, outgoing calls were constantly being dropped after about 20-30 seconds. Incoming calls would also be dropped occasionally after about a minute. This resulted in having to call the person back, saying "sorry the call was dropped- we switched to this cheaper phone service and have been having problems...."
This is with the highest speed cable internet service available (8mbps download, 600kbps upload) and a wireless g system which has provided top notch internet service consistently while I had Vonage problems. I spent no less than 4 - 5 calls and over 5 hours on the phone with tech support trying to fix the problem. After talking with tech support, sometimes the problem would be fixed temporarily- while I was on the phone with them- but return shortly thereafter.
3) As a result of the problems I had, I asked to be credited for the months in which my phone service was not working. Be warned, they are very hard-nosed about providing any credits for poor or no service. I spoke to a tech support person about getting a credit for a month of no service, and he told me to wait until the problem had been fixed so they could determine how much credit should be given. After the problem had been fixed (temporarily), I called back and they told me they could only provide credit for the current month, not previous months of no or poor service. THEY ARE NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY ABOUT PROVIDING REFUNDS FOR POOR OR NO SERVICE.
4) Finally, in September, still with dropped calls from Vonage, I switched back to Qwest to get reliable phone service. I found customer service there has improved and is much better than Vonage. And they gave me 3 months free promotion for coming back.
In the end, I am happy to pay the extra $10/month (after the first 3 months free) to get phone service that works. I notice that $5 of the extra cost is for fees, etc. that the phone company has to charge but Vonage does not, which is unfortunate. In any case, I guess you get what you pay for.
One last thing: Vonage has never made a profit and many business analysts say with their current business plan, they never will. This means eventually they will either go out of business, or have to raise rates.
Save yourself the problems I had- pay the extra $ to get phone service that works.
On: 2006-10-14
Im very untechnical so many of the other reviews in this forum are out of my realm, but Ive had good luck with both Vonage & the wireless router.
Mine was installed by someone from CompUSA as I would not have been able to. He wasnt able to get the security to kick-in, but Im not worried if a neighbor happens to be able to piggy-back off of my network, should they happen to find it. The router seems to send a strong signal to my laptop & has work flawlessly the 15 months Ive had it.
I did call Linksys tech support once to see if someone would have been willing to walk me through the set-up of making it sucure, but was essentially told to follow the manual. If I wanted to just have followed the manual, I would not have called.
As for the VONAGE part, after some initial problems - it seems fine. It did take a month to move my phone number as others here have noted, so the free month doesnt mean much as the old service was still needed to receive calls. Vonage tech support worked with me to get the service functioning well; it did take a bit of effort, but they were OK with me. My monthly phone bill dropped from a total of $45 (w/ taxes) to about $17 using Vonage. Since the house already had the $60/month high speed cable internet anyway, I look at it as a $28/monthly savings. Also Vonage customer support was good to work with when I had to switch credit cards for billing.
Finally, I got the router free with using several rebates involved in the purcahse in July 2005 with Vonage, Linksys & CompUSA. The rebates more than covered the $99 cost of the set-up/installation. Its been OK for me. I am, however, very glad I did not jump on Vonages stock IPO I was offered as a subscriber, but thats another story.
On: 2006-10-13
I had Vonage since April, 2006. I finally switched back to Qwest after unending problems and hours and hours on the phone (my cell phone, as my Vonage line didnt work) with tech support. Here is my experience:
1) It took about 2 months and about 2 hours on the phone for them to switch my existing phone # over to Vonage. Dont be too excited about getting the first month free- if your moving an existing number it will take about that long to get it switched over.
2) After my number was finally switched over, outgoing calls were constantly being dropped after about 20-30 seconds. Incoming calls would also be dropped occasionally after about a minute. This resulted in having to call the person back, saying "sorry the call was dropped- we switched to this cheaper phone service and have been having problems...."
This is with the highest speed cable internet service available (8mbps download, 600kbps upload) and a wireless g system which has provided top notch internet service consistently while I had Vonage problems. I spent no less than 4 - 5 calls and over 5 hours on the phone with tech support trying to fix the problem. After talking with tech support, sometimes the problem would be fixed temporarily- while I was on the phone with them- but return shortly thereafter.
3) As a result of the problems I had, I asked to be credited for the months in which my phone service was not working. Be warned, they are very hard-nosed about providing any credits for poor or no service. I spoke to a tech support person about getting a credit for a month of no service, and he told me to wait until the problem had been fixed so they could determine how much credit should be given. After the problem had been fixed (temporarily), I called back and they told me they could only provide credit for the current month, not previous months of no or poor service. THEY ARE NOT CUSTOMER FRIENDLY ABOUT PROVIDING REFUNDS FOR POOR OR NO SERVICE.
4) Finally, in September, still with dropped calls from Vonage, I switched back to Qwest to get reliable phone service. I found customer service there has improved and is much better than Vonage. And they gave me 3 months free promotion for coming back.
In the end, I am happy to pay the extra $10/month (after the first 3 months free) to get phone service that works. I notice that $5 of the extra cost is for fees, etc. that the phone company has to charge but Vonage does not, which is unfortunate. In any case, I guess you get what you pay for.
One last thing: Vonage has never made a profit and many business analysts say with their current business plan, they never will. This means eventually they will either go out of business, or have to raise rates.
Save yourself the problems I had- pay the extra $ to get phone service that works.
On: 2006-09-22
Im not a network engineer, but have significant experience configuring routers and wireless routers from Linksys, D-Link, ZyXEL, and others.
I was not able to get the wireless portion of this router to work properly. With no security, I could connect momentarily but would lose the IP address. My wireless clients could not EVER connect with any security enabled. I spent an hour on the phone with Linksys reconfiguring the router and my wireless clients -- no success.
The Linksys customer support person suspected problems with my wireless centrino laptop and remote desktop with wireless, but both machines could connect to over half a dozen unsecured wireless routers in my apartment building with no difficulty.
I eventually purchased a new ZyXEL router to plug into a wired port on this Linksys. Out of the box, the ZyXEL wireless worked flawlessly (like every other wireless router Ive ever used). Configured WEP, MAC filtering, and several other features without difficulty.
Linksys suggested that the Vonage firmware on my router might be faulty, but Vonage assured me that the most current firmware was downloaded to my router -- this could be confirmed via the web xface. In the end, I purchased an integrated phone adapter, router, and wireless router (WRTP54G) but since the wireless doesnt work I now have two routers!
VERY disappointed in this product and dont recommend it.
On: 2006-09-21
Im not a network engineer, but have significant experience configuring routers and wireless routers from Linksys, D-Link, ZyXEL, and others.
I was not able to get the wireless portion of this router to work properly. With no security, I could connect momentarily but would lose the IP address. My wireless clients could not EVER connect with any security enabled. I spent an hour on the phone with Linksys reconfiguring the router and my wireless clients -- no success.
The Linksys customer support person suspected problems with my wireless centrino laptop and remote desktop with wireless, but both machines could connect to over half a dozen unsecured wireless routers in my apartment building with no difficulty.
I eventually purchased a new ZyXEL router to plug into a wired port on this Linksys. Out of the box, the ZyXEL wireless worked flawlessly (like every other wireless router Ive ever used). Configured WEP, MAC filtering, and several other features without difficulty.
Linksys suggested that the Vonage firmware on my router might be faulty, but Vonage assured me that the most current firmware was downloaded to my router -- this could be confirmed via the web xface. In the end, I purchased an integrated phone adapter, router, and wireless router (WRTP54G) but since the wireless doesnt work I now have two routers!
VERY disappointed in this product and dont recommend it.
On: 2006-09-17
I am an engineer and a techy too. I never had problems with electronic devices in my life.
For this product not only did I have problem but I had to go back to radio shack and exchange it 3 times. And It still doesnt work.
Linksys support wont help. Vonage support is the worst ever. You talk to a guy who looks through a manual and gives predefined answers for 45 minutes and after transfers you to another guy with the same manual with who you have to start all over again. Not to mention it takes 20 minutes to reach them.
Bottom line, this is my 4th copy of the device and it still doesnt work. It is in my opinion an obvious software issue but no-one at linksys nor vonage is able to fix it. Their only answer is: "the device is defective, exchange it".
So stay away from this device as much as you can.
As for vonage, it is cheap, but the second you have a problem they are simply useless to solve it.
You may prefer to take VoIP from your cable company in a triple play package. It will cost you $10 more but youll have peace of mind and state of the art customer service.
On: 2006-09-13
If you want/need to create VPN (Virtual Private Connection) and telecommute - dont buy this router - the feature may not work. Its briefly mentioned in the routers manual - but I dont use the type of VPN connection described there and still dont get connected. Otherwise online experience is fine. By the way instead of this router a bought one from D-Link and have not had any problems since day one.
On: 2006-09-12
We started using Vonage in Feb. 2006 and we could never get it to work, their tech support would always tell us to unplug the box and we neede a faster internet connection, finally after 4 months of fighting it we went back to our local provider...then every month we were still getting charged for our Vonage service. Vonage would tell us that they never received the cancellation calls and that we were still using the service(which was disconnected from our computer) They lie through their teeth and we still havent resolved the issue. Do a search on Vonage complaints and youll see we arent the only ones.
On: 2006-09-09
I use this router to connect an Apple G4 and two Dell computers to the internet and to run my Vonage phone line. As is usual for a mac, the only configuring I needed to do was to plug them into each other. The Dells took a bit more work, but not much and considering they are each in different rooms from the router and on different floors, the signal strength is great. As for Vonage, I took a chance because Vonages unlimited local and long distance calling, at $24.99 a month, represents a 75% savings over my monthly combined BellSouth and AT&T bill. Ive had absolutly no problems with Vonage. The sound quality is no different than BellSouth and for my monthly fee I also get call waiting, call forwarding, caller id and voice mail - which I can retrieve via phone or email. Granted, I havent had to call 911, but hopefully Vonage has gotten those problems worked out. If not, Ill just have to rely on my cell phone. All in all, I give both the router and Vonage five stars.
On: 2006-09-04
2 words: Avoid Vonage.
The first wrtp54g I bought couldnt be recognized by the Vonage network. After 3 calls to customer service (each with a half hour wait time), I made the mistake of returning it and getting another one. Both units, although shrink-wrapped, looked like they had been returned (i.e. parts missing; cords inside not wrapped professionally).
The new one mostly works, but there are problems with a few calls every week. Calls are dropped regularly and sometimes only 1 party can hear the other. It also sends garbage to my caller id device numerous times per day. The problem is not my internet service - that works fine.
On top of that, Call Waiting does not work with Voicemail. If I get a call while listening to voicemail, then try to switch to the new call, both calls get dropped 2 seconds later.
I have contacted Vonage customer support 5 times over 3 weeks to get this resolved, but they dont respond.
Unless you like poor service and like to be abused, Avoid Vonage. Their system is buggy and their customer service is atrocious.
On: 2006-09-03
2 words: Avoid Vonage.
The first wrtp54g I bought couldnt be recognized by the Vonage network. After 3 calls to customer service (each with a half hour wait time), I made the mistake of returning it and getting another one. Both units, although shrink-wrapped, looked like they had been returned (i.e. parts missing; cords inside not wrapped professionally).
The new one mostly works, but there are problems with a few calls every week. Calls are dropped regularly and sometimes only 1 party can hear the other. It also sends garbage to my caller id device numerous times per day. The problem is not my internet service - that works fine.
On top of that, Call Waiting does not work with Voicemail. If I get a call while listening to voicemail, then try to switch to the new call, both calls get dropped 2 seconds later.
I have contacted Vonage customer support 5 times over 3 weeks to get this resolved, but they dont respond.
Unless you like poor service and like to be abused, Avoid Vonage. Their system is buggy and their customer service is atrocious.
On: 2006-08-07
Im not sure if any of you who have written comments will continue to visit this page. If so, let me thank you for warning me against this product and against Vonages service. There is no way that Ill ever become one of their victims!
Now, let me return the favor. There are people that can help you (you pay their salaries each year in the form of taxes). Please contact your state and federal senators to let them know that their constituents are experiencing a problem and would like their help. Also, each state has a representative called the State Attorney General, and those representatives have been extremely helpful to me in years past when I had a problem with a company.
The reviewer who compared them to car salesman hit the nail on the head -- you were sold a lemon. If you have documented your troubles, and have had those troubles from the onset, you have a valid case against Vonage and should pursue it (either personally or through the states representative). A lot of times, these representatives express their concerns about not knowing what their constituents want because no one (or very few) ever calls or writes them. With you being the one who does contact them, you are very likely to see a response -- and action.
On: 2006-06-20
Linksys products are no more reliable than any other (sometimes less so in fact).
The real problem comes in their customer service (which is absolutely terrible!) which means that if anything DOES go wrong, youre stuffed.
Avoid Linksys products. Eventually, theyll take the hint and buck their ideas up. If not, well...there are lots of alternative suppliers.
On: 2006-06-15
No problems setting up router, added encryption for security (I do online personal banking, so want security especially over a wireless connection!), set up firewall, etc. with no problems. Have an old computer with 802.11b and a newer with 802.11g, neither have problems linking up with the router. The original intent was to have integrated router and phone adapter to reduce clutter, thats why I chose this router. Had one problem once, and technical support was helpful.
Signed up for Vonage in May. Its now August, and they still cannot get phone number transferred. Called to cancel service, and the operator tried everything possible to argue against. Then threatened to charge $39 for disconnection fee, even though reason for disconnection is Vonages own disability to do phone number transfer. Most serious service providers would recognize their own deficiency and treat their customers better. I might have decided to try their service in the future, but after this experience that is no longer in my plans.
If you want decent price with IP telephony, low equipment clutter, dont care about phone number transfer, and dont need to call customer service (tech support is fine), then this router and Vonage service may be for you.
On: 2006-05-22
I once have three devices...router, wireless AP, and a vonage router. When my router decided to go up in smoke, I started looking for a new solution. Most reviews on the net say positive things about this router; people on amazon are bashing the vonage service and not giving the router a fair shake.
With 1 week of ownership, I am very impressed with this product. No complaints. The installation and setup was very easy, and the router is feature rich.
Also, I have been a vonage customer for the last 2 years. I have been, and continue to be, satisfied with their service. Save yourself some money, go VOIP.
-mm
On: 2006-05-15
I dont have any problem with phone service. The wireless part of the apater is not upto the standard. ..
Stay away from this product like many other suggested .. If i had read these reviews before, i would not have bought this proudct..
On: 2006-05-10
Believe me, you do not want Vonage service. You will curse your luck that you ever signed up for it. I bought this unit few months ago. The vonage service worked for few days and then unit started giving trouble. It would not work half the time. Then one fine day it stopped working. I still have my land line so I wanted to cancel the Vonage account. I called the account dept several times but nobody would pick up the phone. I waited a total of 7 hours trying to get hold of somebody who would take my call. The only live person I could get to were from technical support who were of no use. On top of all this I was told that there is cancellation fee of $40. I still cannot figure out how to cancel my account. Looks like I will have take the vonage account to my grave.
SO DONT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT
On: 2006-05-05
I have had nothing but trouble from Vonage. They take forever to transfer your current number(I waited 4 months and it never transfered)while you still have to keep your current phone service. If you cancel in less than a year they charge you 40 dollars. Vonage is not customer friendly. Its hard to get a hold of their customer service group. Their corporate phone system is unreliable. The operators wont let you speak to their superior and they wont bend policies to make customers happy.
On: 2006-05-04
I have had nothing but trouble from Vonage. They take forever to transfer your current number(I waited 4 months and it never transfered)while you still have to keep your current phone service. If you cancel in less than a year they charge you 40 dollars. Vonage is not customer friendly. Its hard to get a hold of their customer service group. Their corporate phone system is unreliable. The operators wont let you speak to their superior and they wont bend policies to make customers happy.
 On: 2006-05-03
I loved Linksys, gotta tell you that. I have convinced my company to buy all of their wireless router (25 of them) made by Linksys and had one of my own at home. All of them work perfectly, are very user friendly and the quality of reception is great. No complains there.
However... Linksys seems to have become Vonages BITC*!!! I mean... Try and find this adapter/router that will work under any other VOIP provider. You wont be able to. Not even the standard phone adapters. The worst thing if it all:
LINKSYS TOLD ME IF I DID NOT BUY IT FROM VONAGE and PAID FULL PRICE FOR IT, the router and adapter would work with any provider. I mean... it makes sense. On the phone with Vonage technicians after I purchased the thing, they kept comparing their policy with cell phones. If that is the case, if you pay full price for it and still gets bound to a contract, you are either stupid or very stupid. Long story short, 3 contacts with Linksys technicians prior to the purchase and 11 (yes, ELEVEN) contacts after the purchase and only on ONE of them, the last one, they told me loud and clear "you can only use this with Vonage".
On the other hand, Linksys will not provide you with an unblocking solution. Nor will Vonage (which was already expected). Bottom line: bought the thing thinking I would be free to choose any VOIP provider I want once Linksys told me I would be able to but ended up paying full price for the device and stuck for life with Vonage.
MY PERSONAL ADVICE: The product works great, no doubt about it. So if you want Vonage, call them directly. They will give you the same deals, but you will pay half the price on the equipment.
On: 2006-03-29
The first Linksys device I bought (a BEFSR41, several years ago) was very good, so I foolishly thought that Linksys was a good name. In recent months, I bought a Linksys WRT54G. It worked great...when it worked at all. It was so unreliable that I finally had to take it off my network and use a lesser known wifi brand, which worked great. Then I decided to get Vonage. Vonage lists the Linksys WRTP54G as a device they recommend and support, so I thought that maybe Linksys had gotten their act together and fixed the problems in the WRT54G. I was wrong. The wired portion of the device seems to work without problems, but the wireless connectivity is very unreliable. It works great for about 10 or 15 minutes after a power cycle, then drops all connections. What Im trying right now is to use only the G connectivity instead of B and G together. Perhaps this will help, but Im still so disappointed with Linksys that I cannot recommend them at all. They do NOT seem to care about quality anymore.
On: 2006-03-28
The first Linksys device I bought (a BEFSR41, several years ago) was very good, so I foolishly thought that Linksys was a good name. In recent months, I bought a Linksys WRT54G. It worked great...when it worked at all. It was so unreliable that I finally had to take it off my network and use a lesser known wifi brand, which worked great. Then I decided to get Vonage. Vonage lists the Linksys WRTP54G as a device they recommend and support, so I thought that maybe Linksys had gotten their act together and fixed the problems in the WRT54G. I was wrong. The wired portion of the device seems to work without problems, but the wireless connectivity is very unreliable. It works great for about 10 or 15 minutes after a power cycle, then drops all connections. What Im trying right now is to use only the G connectivity instead of B and G together. Perhaps this will help, but Im still so disappointed with Linksys that I cannot recommend them at all. They do NOT seem to care about quality anymore.
On: 2006-03-23
Buyers beware! I have never written or posted a consumer rating in my life. I am so disappointed with Vonages overall customer service; I feel that I have no choice but to warn others.
Vonage in its own words does not guarantee the quality of its service. Vonage customers will experience: (1) dropped calls, (2) garbled communications, and (3) a non-responsive and dishonest customer service department. The reason Vonage does not guarantee performance is because it knows that it cannot. My first mistake was in believing the Vonage help desk, during my initial, "30 Day Money Back Guarantee Period," when they told me my issues were due to line quality and not Vonage. Since then, I have spent three months with Vonage and my High Speed Internet Service Providers technicians attempting to make this service work. All speed tests indicate my ISP lines are fine. I had a High Speed Internet Technician visit my house last week only to tell me everything checks out. All this said, my Vonage phone has never worked worse. I made a call today and the recipient could not even discern whom I was. When I finally threw in the towel and decided that Vonage was not for me, I was hit with a $39.99 service charge upon cancellation plus the cost of the phone, despite a documented lack of performance from day one.
Vonages performance is substandard by any measure. Closely look at all other options before bringing Vonage into your life and definitely terminate all agreements within your first 14 days to avoid the inevitable early termination fees.
Make sure you read the below clauses in Vonages Terms of Service agreement before you agree to anything. A Vonage Customer Service Manager, Mike, sited these disclaimers when I told him that I was not satisfied with the service:
(1) "No Warranties on Service," section 4, paragraph 4;
(2) "Return of Device," section 2, paragraph 10;
(3) "Termination Fee," section 3, paragraph 6; and
(4) "Money Back Guarantee; Limitations and Conditions," section 3, paragraph 7.
When I switched to Vonage, I was simply looking for a reliable telephone service and a company that stands behind its product and supports its customers. Vonages lack of line reliability and poor customer service has motivated me to document my experience.
I had to call Vonage Customer Service on my old fashion landline because the voice quality on my Vonage phone was so poor that I would not be able to have a conversation. After waiting for 20 minutes to talk to the Service Manager, Mike, I was told that I was contractually bound because I did not terminate my agreement within the first 30 days. At this moment I thought of the stereotypical shady used car transaction. I was lured to buy Vonage because of the promises of great service and all the free bells and whistles that only "internet calling can provide." Instead I received a lemon, a phone that was unreliable and a company that did not stand behind its product. While Vonage may get my $39.99 termination fee and the cost of the Vonage phone, I do not feel that I can just lay down about Vonages failure to perform. I feel compelled to (1) warn others about Vonage and hopefully save them the aggravation that I have experienced and (2) Hit Vonage where it hurts, in the economic pocket book. I am terminating my service as soon as possible.
On: 2006-03-18
This is excellent product to use as a phone adpater and wirless LAN. Cable connection is always more reliable to use in home desktop, but this product to excellent to use in a home laptop while moving from one room to another soon, or from dining room to living room. Also when friend come in the house with a laptop, they will have wireless internet in the apatment which is a nice thing to have.
Vonage phone service is always better then Verizon. Vonage is cheap, home phone number has easy mobility feature.
On: 2006-03-02
I have been a Vonage customer for the past 5 months. I have had quality problems with the service and it all seems to be due to the WRTP54G VOIP/Wireless router.
Initially, the quality of Vonage service was so poor I considered cancelling and going back to Verizon. I spent alot of time on the phone with Vonage customer support. They upgraded the firmware on the unit which significantly improved the voice quality, and reduced the number of dropped calls. After using it for a few weeks longer. I still had problems with dropped calls and it seems that my Internet connection would slow down significantly unless I powered off and on the unit every 3 days or so.
After checking with other users locally I discovered that the problem was with this router. I have heard similar horror stories about poor quality voice and internet performance.
I swapped out this unit with a Linksys WRT54G and the standard Vonage adapter. This WORKS GREAT. No dropped calls, Better Voice quality, higher internet speeds. And, I havent had to reboot the router or the Voice adapter once in over 2 months.
On: 2006-03-01
I have been a Vonage customer for the past 5 months. I have had quality problems with the service and it all seems to be due to the WRTP54G VOIP/Wireless router.
Initially, the quality of Vonage service was so poor I considered cancelling and going back to Verizon. I spent alot of time on the phone with Vonage customer support. They upgraded the firmware on the unit which significantly improved the voice quality, and reduced the number of dropped calls. After using it for a few weeks longer. I still had problems with dropped calls and it seems that my Internet connection would slow down significantly unless I powered off and on the unit every 3 days or so.
After checking with other users locally I discovered that the problem was with this router. I have heard similar horror stories about poor quality voice and internet performance.
I swapped out this unit with a Linksys WRT54G and the standard Vonage adapter. This WORKS GREAT. No dropped calls, Better Voice quality, higher internet speeds. And, I havent had to reboot the router or the Voice adapter once in over 2 months.
On: 2006-01-31
I bought this to get the Vonage service. I already had a wireless router so I copied the settings into the WRTP54G and was online immediately.
Then I used Vonages web site to sign up for service and had a working phone in minutes. I would recommend this router to anyone considering Vonage service.
On: 2006-01-05
I have only had my Vonage router for one day, but so far I am very impressed.
Set up was so easy. I have had trouble setting up other wireless routers (including other linksys ones) and this one worked the first time I plugged everything in. I then set up the security, I have had experience doing that before, and I had no problem.
I then plugged my phone in and it worked!!! I expected to have to call tech support from a lot of reviews I have read plus my experience with other products. I finished every step without getting confused or need for extra help.
The Vonage service is great. The sound quality is perfect. I have tested some of the free features Vonage includes and they work flawlessly.
Everything is now set up and I did not call tech support once. I am very happy I got this router and signed up with Vonage. I know it has gotten some bad reviews, but I think you should try it out. There is a money back guarantee so what do you have to lose?
Edit - 1/30/06 Okay now that I have had time to get to know the Vonage service I have a few more things to say.
I had no problems at all with my Vonage service. I did decide to cancel it before the 30 day trial period was up. One reason I canceled it is because I did not want to go without phone service incase my cable modem went down. The only other reason is because of 911 dialing. I am not familiar with the way it works so I wont go into it, but I have heard there is a chance that 911 would not get your address in an emergency call to them.
Now here is the part where Vonage sucks. I was told after talking to 3 customer service reps (who barely speak English) that I could not be transferred to the cancellation department in the US because their transfer system is down. I asked for a direct number and of course they claimed to not have it.
I finally got through later that night and talked to a very rude man that canceled my order after 10 attempts to try and make me keep their service. I was told to send everything back and when I do to call them with the tracking number provided by the USPS and they will credit my account.
He also tried to charge me $40.00 for canceling. I said "I am sorry but this is supposed to be a free trial. He rudely said "Yes, but you have our equipment." I complained and he said he would wave the fee.
I mailed my Vonage equipment back today and called their support number, as he told me to do to give them the tracking number from the USPS. Well, I talked to two different people (who barely spoke English) and they had no clue what I was talking about. After that I gave up and am just going to wait for them to receive the package to get my money back.
I would never go with them again just because of their poor customer service.
One more thing to think about is if you have your number ported over to them kiss it goodbye because you cannot get it back out of Vonage.
On: 2005-12-17
My experience with the router has been excellent. The wireless AP works very well and has never dropped the connection - in this regard this router has been better than Netgear and D-Link routers Ive used in the past. Of course the reason to get this router is the Vonage broadband phone service, and I can say that - as long as I have a good Internet connection - the Vonage service works great with this router, with excellent voice quality and no significant delay. Sometimes voice quality drops because of the Internet connection or the Vonage service, but thats not the hardwares fault. This router is capable of voice quality every bit as good as a landline, and far better than a cell phone.
On: 2005-12-07
I am so disappointed by the performance of this "LINKSYS CISCO", mentioning the name as this name is often taken as a quality name, that i wanted every one else know that please dont buy this product, i have the following issues:
1. Wireless keeps on droping 15-20 minutes.
2. Ethernet connection is "DEAD" after 2-3 days of usage, so have to reboot both the WRTP54G and cable modem.
3. Phone is some times choppy and echo is very common.
Please stay away from this WRTP54G and related products.
On: 2005-11-27
This is the worst wireless router Ive ever used. I drop connections every 15-20 minutes, and I can NOT get a VPN tunnel to work through it. Luckily I had my old Netgear available so I have it working as my "real" router and I just use this device as my Vonage adaptor. PLEASE do yourself a favor and stay away from this device.
On: 2005-11-11
I decided to upgrade from my combo of a Linksys RT31P2 phone adapter and Linksys BEFW1154 wireless B router. The install of each of these devices had been simple and they worked flawlessly. I jumped to the WRTP54G because it offered wirlesss G, WPA encryption, and did everything in one device.
My home internet service is almost mission critical - we have 2 desktops (1 MAC and 1 WIN/XP) and 3 wireless laptops (MACs and Win/XP), plus the vonage service going over it, and I have a network attached printer shared by all the computers. My kids depend on it to do their school work, and I depend on it to work from home.
The first WRTP54G (I returned the first one) would not allow me to access the internet. The wireless worked, the network-attached printer worked, I could access the WRTP54Gs own configuration web pages from any wired or wireless computer, but I couldnt go out past it.
I tried unplugging the Cable modem and the router a dozen times. Each time, I could see the internet light blinking from the router and the pc activity light on cable modem blinking, indicating that they were communicating to each other.
I called my cable company to see if the routers mac address needed to activated - it didnt, I called Vonage and I called Linksys. No one had a clue. Finally I had to give up. I packed up the WRTP54G and hooked up my old gear again which worked without a hitch.
I returned the WRTP54G, got a new replacement, went home, deinstalled my old gear, hooked up the new one, and guess what ? - same problem. At that point I was between thinking the WRTP54G is a real piece of crap or there is somerthing going on between the cable modem and the router.
Not willing to give up yet, I decided to reinstall my old gear again, and then attach the WRTP54G to the backend of my old gear. When I powered everything up, all the lights were blinking like they should so I fired up one of my PCs and tried to access the internet.
Didnt work, but when I looked up at the WRTP54G, I noticed something different, its internet light was blinking furiously, same with cable modems lights. This went on for maybe 10 minutes, then it stopped. So I gave the pc one more try, and I got internet access. Then I deinstalled my old gear, and hooked up the WRTP54G directly to the cable modem - still worked. I called vonage to activate the router for voice - no problem.
Ive been on the device now for several weeks with absolutely no problems. Ive concluded that the firmware as delivered was incompatible with my cable modem and that once I seperated the 2 devices, the router was able to download a firmware upgrade that worked with my cable modem.
Good luck to all!
On: 2005-10-07
This device is four devices in one. (1) You begin by creating a home or office network using the four-port SWITCH into which you plug up to four Ethernet cables from PCs or other switches or hubs. (2) Add wireless laptops with the WIRELESS ACCESS POINT. (3) Connected to your DSL or cable modem the device serves as a ROUTER, permitting all networked computers to simultaneously browse the web and do email while any mail or web servers on your network handle traffic routed to them. (4) Finally the device has two IP PHONE PORTS that permit connecting two standard analog phones. With third-party monthly service from Vonnage or others, you then can have one or two new phone numbers with transmission (after conversion to digital data in the device) over your DSL or cable modem line. All of these services function simultaneously.
There are limited firewall features as well, enough only for a home or very small office network.
We installed this device on a Verizon DSL line with a static IP, which replaced an AT&T DSL line. The line provides a web connection for an office network of thirty workstations (including a few wireless laptops) and servers (including a mail server, web server, and DNS servers). We left our Microsoft ISA (PC firewall and router software package) that has been in place since 2000 between the Linksys device and our LAN in order to add firewall features and to make the changeover easy. No changes of any kind were required downstream of ISA.
Our network worked fine with no problems including browsing, email, and web publishing. We rerouted our traffic for our domain names to the new IP address ourselves using our account with Network Solutions.
We have not yet tried the IP phone function and note that Vonnage is promoting this item at this time. We wanted the IP phone feature as an emergency backup. Dont forget that if your Internet connection is DSL from your phone company, your DSL line has at least one analog phone number in addition to any Vonnage IP numbers that you add.
Installation was lots of fun. Things have come a long way since I engineered our first wide-area dial-up network in 1984. The manual is written for consumers and adequate for the typical home or small office network using DHCP and operating without servers. Complexity beyond that will require experience or resources beyond what is in the box.
On: 2005-10-06
This device is four devices in one. (1) You begin by creating a home or office network using the four-port SWITCH into which you plug up to four Ethernet cables from PCs or other switches or hubs. (2) Add wireless laptops with the WIRELESS ACCESS POINT. (3) Connected to your DSL or cable modem the device serves as a ROUTER, permitting all networked computers to simultaneously browse the web and do email while any mail or web servers on your network handle traffic routed to them. (4) Finally the device has two IP PHONE PORTS that permit connecting two standard analog phones. With third-party monthly service from Vonnage or others, you then can have one or two new phone numbers with transmission (after conversion to digital data in the device) over your DSL or cable modem line. All of these services function simultaneously.
There are limited firewall features as well, enough only for a home or very small office network.
We installed this device on a Verizon DSL line with a static IP, which replaced an AT&T DSL line. The line provides a web connection for an office network of thirty workstations (including a few wireless laptops) and servers (including a mail server, web server, and DNS servers). We left our Microsoft ISA (PC firewall and router software package) that has been in place since 2000 between the Linksys device and our LAN in order to add firewall features and to make the changeover easy. No changes of any kind were required downstream of ISA.
Our network worked fine with no problems including browsing, email, and web publishing. We rerouted our traffic for our domain names to the new IP address ourselves using our account with Network Solutions.
We have not yet tried the IP phone function and note that Vonnage is promoting this item at this time. We wanted the IP phone feature as an emergency backup. Dont forget that if your Internet connection is DSL from your phone company, your DSL line has at least one analog phone number in addition to any Vonnage IP numbers that you add.
Installation was lots of fun. Things have come a long way since I engineered our first wide-area dial-up network in 1984. The manual is written for consumers and adequate for the typical home or small office network using DHCP and operating without servers. Complexity beyond that will require experience or resources beyond what is in the box.
On: 2005-09-24
I had already been a Vonage subscriber for some time but I wanted the wireless capability. The WRTP54G made my Vonage service go to **** !!! No dialtone for 10 seconds, most calls not connecting, and IM A NETWORKING PROFESSIONAL, so trust me. I will be doing my homework better after this experience.
On: 2005-09-23
I had already been a Vonage subscriber for some time but I wanted the wireless capability. The WRTP54G made my Vonage service go to **** !!! No dialtone for 10 seconds, most calls not connecting, and IM A NETWORKING PROFESSIONAL, so trust me. I will be doing my homework better after this experience.
On: 2005-09-19
I was using my dsl on my G5 to share via wifi to a Mac mini. Before I switched to this router it was very slow on the mac mini. Well, my neighbor had an open wifi and when the mac mini connected to it was much faster. So I presumed they had a non-apple wifi router so I went looking for one myself. Now, Ive put this router in place and everything is very, very fast on the mini! Nice. And you can lock it down to only your wifi devices via the mac address. Neat and easy.
As a side note... on the G5 and during the testing of this router, I used an extra Ethernet card in one of the PCI slots. I found, much to my surprise, the PCI card was faster that the built-in Ethernet! Much faster. ;)
On: 2005-09-19
Bought this "Linksys" wireless router with Vonage VOIP phone connections. Thought I might sign-up for Vonage later. However, when I tried to download the latest ROM software for this box (as I do for my other Linksys boxes), Linksys tech support told me they only allow Vonage to update the ROM software on this box. I mentioned to them that it claims to be a "Linksys" box, they distanced themselves and told me to call Vonage. I told them I am not a Vonage customer, thus Vonage will not upgrade my ROM software. At that point, there was no one taking ownership for this box. I returned it for a full-refund. Linksys gave me an attitude, thus I bought and am now trying my first NETGEAR wireless box, working fine so far.
On: 2005-09-18
I was using my dsl on my G5 to share via wifi to a Mac mini. Before I switched to this router it was very slow on the mac mini. Well, my neighbor had an open wifi and when the mac mini connected to it was much faster. So I presumed they had a non-apple wifi router so I went looking for one myself. Now, Ive put this router in place and everything is very, very fast on the mini! Nice. And you can lock it down to only your wifi devices via the mac address. Neat and easy.
As a side note... on the G5 and during the testing of this router, I used an extra Ethernet card in one of the PCI slots. I found, much to my surprise, the PCI card was faster that the built-in Ethernet! Much faster. ;)
On: 2005-09-06
This review isnt intended to forge new ground so much as it is intended to reinforce other reviews.
I too am a big fan of Linksys products in general, and the WRT54G (NOT the WRTP54G) in particular (please note that I mention both the WRT54G and the WRTP54G below - they are very different products). However, I am extremely disappointed in the WRTP54G/Vonage combination. Why?
(1) The phone portion of the router - due to issues with Vonage, the router, the routers firmware (which was revd to the latest release), or some combination of the three - is very problematic. My phone frequently (essentially every day) would stop working (no dial tone and/or others cannot hear my voice and/or I cannot hear them), and the best solution Ive come up with is to install a timer on the outlet to reboot the router every night. This solved most of the problems, but not all of them - and its insane to need to reboot the thing daily to get it to work.
(2) The router software isnt up to par with the latest WRT54G releases, and it doesnt seem to work consistently in terms of port forwarding. As a result (and due to (3) below), Im using my WRT54G (my good Linksys product) as the router and the WRTP54G as just a network device to attach to the phone line.
(3) I bought the WRTP54G and seemed to get decent initial results with Vonage, but, once my home phone number was switched (i.e., my local phone company service was disconnected) and I started using it full time, people I called could not - ever - hear me. After hours on the phone (fortunately, I have a cell plan with essentially unlimited minutes, as I couldnt call from my home phone) - and I do mean hours (I think it was four hours altogether) - I was finally told to put another router between the incoming connection and the WRTP54G. I doubt that the typically user who buys a WRTP54G would tend to have another router handy and be proficient at setting up the two to work together, so I dont think this was a good general solution, although it seems to have fixed the problem, most of the time.
Of course, by the time all the problems showed up - i.e., once my local service was disconnected - it was too late to return the product.
I think Linksys/Cisco should be ashamed to have their name on this product. Since others - including co-workers - are very happy with Vonage, and since, when my setup works, I am happy with the actual service and pricing, I can only assume that the WRTP54G is the primary source of my problems, although, as mentioned elsewhere, youd best hope Vonage works for you, as dealing with their customer service was, on each occasion I used it, a nightmare for me.
I am an experienced software engineer who develops network management software as well as firewall software. I am very familiar with networking. And Ive had problems with this product. Perhaps I got a bad one, perhaps my ISP causes some of the problems, and perhaps Ive managed to set things up poorly. However, I think its more likely that the WRTP54G is a poorly implemented product (if it were my setup or my ISP, I suspect it would never work, as opposed to working if rebooted daily). Regardless, it is certainly true that Vonage customer service - while staffed with friendly workers - is not capable of solving complex problems that cannot be fixed by rebooting the router or pushing a new firmware release.
I think it would be advisable - and cheaper - to get a network adapter that plugs into your existing home network. While those arent perfect either, at least you wont be paying for a product you cant use completely.
On: 2005-08-28
I agree with the previous reviewers comments that this product is defective. I have yet to have phone calls dropped, but I use my Vonage phone line for a Fax connection and dont use it as often, however, Im very frustruated with the constant dropped ethernet connections. This happens regardless over ethernet cable connections as well as wireless connections.
On: 2005-08-24
SUMMARY: Vonage is great for second lines, but keep a regular phone line for emergencies. At just $29.99 per month, Vonage is relatively inexpensive and offers fantastic features that the regular telephone company cant match. Vonages sound quality is exactly the same as a regular phone line and the customer support is okay. In contrast, Packet8 is cheaper ($19.99 per month), has very poor customer service and mechanized sounding audio. If you want good audio quality and dont mind paying more, Vonage wins. If you dont mind lower audio quality and no customer support, Packet8 may be a better choice for you.
REVIEW: There are a number of companies that offer the ability to use your broadband internet connection to give you a telephone jack that you can plug your regular phone into. This technology is known as Voice Over IP, or VOIP for short. When you sign up, you get an adaptor you hook up to your internet connection and to a regular telephone. When it works properly, you can pick-up your phone and make calls just like you normally might, but the call gets routed over the internet.
A lot has been said about using VOIP as your only phone line, but Id sum it up this way: Dont use VOIP as your only phone line. VOIP lines can go down for many reasons, including power failures, internet outages, or VOIP network problems. Also, as of August 2004, Vonage doesnt implement 911 service the same way that your local telephone company does. Although they can set-up 911 service so that it goes to your local police department, the call will not come in on the 911 emergency line, and the police will not know where are calling from.
These issues may not seem important to you if you know about them. But, consider the possibility that the VOIP line goes down while a babysitter is watching your kids, or a guest is at the house alone, and disaster strikes. Having a regular phone line that always works is crucial.
A regular POTS telephone line is essential to have as a backup for an emegency, but given the features Vonage offers, you could probably cancel all the expensive options off of your regular phone line and use Vonage as a line 2 as your primary method of calling.
The technology is a fantastic idea and is loaded with great features, including the ability to get a telephone number in just about any area code, even if it is nowhere near where you live. Vonage gives you the ability to have as many telephone numbers (in different area codes if you want) ring to the same line. Vonage also provide caller ID, call-waiting, call-waiting caller ID, three way calling, call forwarding (including forwarding to multiple numbers at the same time), voicemail, and the ability to transfer calls.
If you pay $29.99 per month, these features are free, along with unlimited local and long distance calling to the U.S. and Canada. You can also take the adaptor with you when you travel and plug it into any internet connection (such as at a hotel) anywhere in the world, and use it just like you were sitting at home.
Ive tried Vonage and another company called Packet 8. Vonages sound quality is fantastic and reliability is good enough for a second line. In contrast, Packet8s sound quality sounds a bit mechanized or computerized. Also, Vonages customer support, while not great, is far better than Packet8 (Read my Packet 8 Review for more details).
Packet8 has one advantage over Vonage. You can get most of the features of Packet8 for $19.99 a month, whereas Vonage charges $29.99 per month. However, Vonage has much better sound quality than Packet8 and better customer service, which matters more to me than $10.00 a month. Also, Vonage offers the ability to transfer calls, which Packet8 doesnt. Vonage also supports fax calls, but the audio on Packet8 is so bad that most fax machines cant handle it.
In sum, if you dont mind the extra $10.00 per month, Vonage is the way to go. If you want cheap, wont fax or use TIVO, and you wont need support, Packet8 may be better for you.
Note: There are several other companies that offer VOIP services: VoicePulse, Broadvox, IConnectHere, Lingo, and even AT&T
On: 2005-08-23
SUMMARY: Vonage is great for second lines, but keep a regular phone line for emergencies. At just $29.99 per month, Vonage is relatively inexpensive and offers fantastic features that the regular telephone company cant match. Vonages sound quality is exactly the same as a regular phone line and the customer support is okay. In contrast, Packet8 is cheaper ($19.99 per month), has very poor customer service and mechanized sounding audio. If you want good audio quality and dont mind paying more, Vonage wins. If you dont mind lower audio quality and no customer support, Packet8 may be a better choice for you.
REVIEW: There are a number of companies that offer the ability to use your broadband internet connection to give you a telephone jack that you can plug your regular phone into. This technology is known as Voice Over IP, or VOIP for short. When you sign up, you get an adaptor you hook up to your internet connection and to a regular telephone. When it works properly, you can pick-up your phone and make calls just like you normally might, but the call gets routed over the internet.
A lot has been said about using VOIP as your only phone line, but Id sum it up this way: Dont use VOIP as your only phone line. VOIP lines can go down for many reasons, including power failures, internet outages, or VOIP network problems. Also, as of August 2004, Vonage doesnt implement 911 service the same way that your local telephone company does. Although they can set-up 911 service so that it goes to your local police department, the call will not come in on the 911 emergency line, and the police will not know where are calling from.
These issues may not seem important to you if you know about them. But, consider the possibility that the VOIP line goes down while a babysitter is watching your kids, or a guest is at the house alone, and disaster strikes. Having a regular phone line that always works is crucial.
A regular POTS telephone line is essential to have as a backup for an emegency, but given the features Vonage offers, you could probably cancel all the expensive options off of your regular phone line and use Vonage as a line 2 as your primary method of calling.
The technology is a fantastic idea and is loaded with great features, including the ability to get a telephone number in just about any area code, even if it is nowhere near where you live. Vonage gives you the ability to have as many telephone numbers (in different area codes if you want) ring to the same line. Vonage also provide caller ID, call-waiting, call-waiting caller ID, three way calling, call forwarding (including forwarding to multiple numbers at the same time), voicemail, and the ability to transfer calls.
If you pay $29.99 per month, these features are free, along with unlimited local and long distance calling to the U.S. and Canada. You can also take the adaptor with you when you travel and plug it into any internet connection (such as at a hotel) anywhere in the world, and use it just like you were sitting at home.
Ive tried Vonage and another company called Packet 8. Vonages sound quality is fantastic and reliability is good enough for a second line. In contrast, Packet8s sound quality sounds a bit mechanized or computerized. Also, Vonages customer support, while not great, is far better than Packet8 (Read my Packet 8 Review for more details).
Packet8 has one advantage over Vonage. You can get most of the features of Packet8 for $19.99 a month, whereas Vonage charges $29.99 per month. However, Vonage has much better sound quality than Packet8 and better customer service, which matters more to me than $10.00 a month. Also, Vonage offers the ability to transfer calls, which Packet8 doesnt. Vonage also supports fax calls, but the audio on Packet8 is so bad that most fax machines cant handle it.
In sum, if you dont mind the extra $10.00 per month, Vonage is the way to go. If you want cheap, wont fax or use TIVO, and you wont need support, Packet8 may be better for you.
Note: There are several other companies that offer VOIP services: VoicePulse, Broadvox, IConnectHere, Lingo, and even AT&T
On: 2005-08-05
I got his router from vonage and it looks very impressive, nice bright blue lcd lights and four hub ports instead of three on the previous model. I called vonage and activated the router and it worked right away. Calls were clear on my end, until I found out that everyone I talked to could hear an echo. I have Comcast Cable for my internet with at least a 380 k upload speed which is more then enough, and when I do speed tests I average around 3mb down and 340kb upload. I even called myself with my cell phone and sure enough an echo. I looked at my firmware # it is 1.00.37 which it the most current. I even tried hooking up a phone to the second line and taking it off the hook (having read that this might reduce background noise), still an echo. I called vonage and they say that the router and service is working fine in all the reports they can pull, and there is nothing they can do. They did suggest the bandwidth saver function and I did try turning it to a lower setting but it just lowered the sound quality and still had an echo. Beware of an echo!
Next I have a web server and an FTP server behind the router. Big mistake! I have forwarded all of the required ports to the servers and I cant get to them from the outside. When I hook up my old router, (netgear WGT624), my ftp and web pages pull up fine so it has to be the linksys router. I even enabled DMZ hosting and still no change. I called vonage and they told me to use my old router first then go to the phone adapter. What customer service by the way "dont fix the problem just use someone elses product". I now cant use any of the QoS features that this router is suppose to have.
I gave it 2 stars because if all you are using it for is phone and to browse the internet it should work fine (except for an echo), but if you are using the router with any kind of service use another router first and then your linksys router/phone adapter.
On: 2005-08-04
I got his router from vonage and it looks very impressive, nice bright blue lcd lights and four hub ports instead of three on the previous model. I called vonage and activated the router and it worked right away. Calls were clear on my end, until I found out that everyone I talked to could hear an echo. I have Comcast Cable for my internet with at least a 380 k upload speed which is more then enough, and when I do speed tests I average around 3mb down and 340kb upload. I even called myself with my cell phone and sure enough an echo. I looked at my firmware # it is 1.00.37 which it the most current. I even tried hooking up a phone to the second line and taking it off the hook (having read that this might reduce background noise), still an echo. I called vonage and they say that the router and service is working fine in all the reports they can pull, and there is nothing they can do. They did suggest the bandwidth saver function and I did try turning it to a lower setting but it just lowered the sound quality and still had an echo. Beware of an echo!
Next I have a web server and an FTP server behind the router. Big mistake! I have forwarded all of the required ports to the servers and I cant get to them from the outside. When I hook up my old router, (netgear WGT624), my ftp and web pages pull up fine so it has to be the linksys router. I even enabled DMZ hosting and still no change. I called vonage and they told me to use my old router first then go to the phone adapter. What customer service by the way "dont fix the problem just use someone elses product". I now cant use any of the QoS features that this router is suppose to have.
I gave it 2 stars because if all you are using it for is phone and to browse the internet it should work fine (except for an echo), but if you are using the router with any kind of service use another router first and then your linksys router/phone adapter.
On: 2005-08-01
I purchased the WRTP54G router from Best Buy after subscribing to Vonage online cause I rather have the wireless router instead of the standard router Vonage sends you and Ive been completely satisfied with this router. Once I got it home and hooked it up I had to call Vonage to give them my new MAC Address since the MAC address they had in their system was from the router they shipped me. Once I gave them my new MAC address everything was then enabled. Tech support told me there was a FIRMWARE update for this router which he uploaded to me (1.00.37) and had me install. Once the router took the new firmware everything worked flawlessly.
Overall Im completely happy with this router
On: 2005-07-31
I purchased the WRTP54G router from Best Buy after subscribing to Vonage online cause I rather have the wireless router instead of the standard router Vonage sends you and Ive been completely satisfied with this router. Once I got it home and hooked it up I had to call Vonage to give them my new MAC Address since the MAC address they had in their system was from the router they shipped me. Once I gave them my new MAC address everything was then enabled. Tech support told me there was a FIRMWARE update for this router which he uploaded to me (1.00.37) and had me install. Once the router took the new firmware everything worked flawlessly.
Overall Im completely happy with this router
On: 2005-07-18
I dont write reviews on products very often. Im more of a passive observer when it comes to on-line products. But my experience from this device has led me to (or should I say forced me to) write this review!!! Ive been a network engineer for 5 years and Ive also been a long time owner of the Linksys BEF11WS4 which proved to be a very worthwhile investment. I also setup Vonage service for my moms home and for well over a year been totally satisfied. So when I saw this product, I thought to myself obviously why not get this as it combines the two very satisfying experience Ive had. And so the nightmare begins.
Ive had problems from wireless dropouts to the router freezing to the phone port not working. I have no idea who made this but it sure doesnt seem like it has the Linksys quality that Ive been used to. Thats where I learned that if you want support for this hardware you have to call Vonage, not Linksys. I dont know how Linksys/Cisco got their name on this thing but it doesnt seem like it is from them. Neither is the quality on par with Linksys nor is the support provided by them. Ive tried upgrading the firmware (this is sometimes done for you automatically by Vonage), Ive upgraded the driver on my laptops wireless card, tried dozens of different configurations through the web interface. NOTHING!!! Still get wireless dropouts, router freezes, and headaches to top it off.
If you are bent on buying this device please do some research on the web about it. You will find a plethora of information on it from a few websites and you will see my frustration in many others. I kept the router as it seems like Vonage is pushing it very hard from a marketing standpoint so maybe a real fix will be coming soon. But I decided to buy the WRT54G model which from the first few minutes of setting it up I can tell that this is a true quality product from Linksys. One thing I noticed right away is that the WRT54G operates a lot cooler than the WRTP54G. And ofcourse its been solid in its performance so far. If you decide to buy this, good luck, youll need it.
On: 2005-07-05
Let me preface the discussion with the fact that I was a network administrator for about 8 years and continuing experience with networking products since transitioning to application development.
The following are my experiences with attempting to get the Linksys WRTP54G router to function. I originally purchased it at Best Buy because the rebate program seemed to make it almost a no brainer with the rebates totalling more than the cost of the device.
After opening the box:
I read the agreement. An item to note is the nearly $40 cancelation fee that is charged by Vonage unless you send the router back to Vonage.
I read the rebate requirements, which state A WIRELESS router must be sent in, whereas Best Buy stated that any router could be sent in.
I read the manual cover to cover before attempting anything.
I used the installation software to configure the router, however, the internet could never be reached at the end of the configuration process when using the configuration software.
After a lot of trial and error attempting to manually configure the router using the built in administrative web pages, I realized that I could not use the administrative pages unless the router was disconnected from the internet. Every time I connected the WAN/Internet port, I would receive an "internal communication error" message when trying to access the administrative pages. This occurred with both a wired and wireless client. I also disabled all firewalls to eliminate all potential points of conflict. Once I got that error on the router, I would have to restart the router to get it to work with the internet again.
When trying to configure the wi-fi portion, I was not able to configure the router to disable SSID broadcasting and have a client (a Linksys WPC54GS) connect. Whenever the SSID broadcast on the router was disabled, the link lights on both the router and the wireless adapter card would flash extremely rapidly. It seemed as though some sort of flood was occurring. A wired connection would not work at this point either.
I called Linksys support. I spoke to an initial call taker, was transferred to a supervisor and was then supposed to get an expert. Instead I sat on hold for an hour. All this on my cell phone since my "land line" was supposed to be implemented by this device.
I browsed the internet some and saw that some people had been provided updated firware revisions. I was running on 1.00.18 and it appeared that there might be versions as high as 1.00.29, yet there were no firmware updates available for device on the linksys web site. Currious.
I decided I would give Linksys a call again and give them one more chance to resolve the issue. This time, the wait times were shorter but was stil transferred up to a third person. Rather than try to go through a long resolution on a marginal cell phone connection to India, listening to the echo of my voice, I simply asked if there was an updated firmware version I could try to resolve my problem. The tech said that if there was, it could only be provided by Vonage. I explained that I was concerned by the fact that they did not provide firmware for the device that they manufacture and he said. "It would be easiest to exchange the device for a new one since it is only two days old and should function out of the box."
Experience has taught me to never purchase equipment where you are unable to obtain firmware from the original manufacturer. Linksys/Cisco have been in business for a long time, I trust that I will be able to get firmware for some time to come. Vonage is a completely new company, if they go away, support for the device goes away. With two companies, it is too easy for the customer to be caught in the middle of finger pointing when there is a problem.
My personal opinion is that this device was an endeavor poorly executed by both companies. Either the manufacturer should provide all support for the device, or both companies should provide equal support (ie. firmware obtainable from either company). The product, from my perspective, was also brought to market before it had been adequately tested. All considered, I have no confidence in this product and I am returning both of my wireless products and will research my options more carefully.
I am a longtime owner of a Linksys BEFSR41 router that has met my needs well for the past 4 years or so (its been so long I cant recall when I specifically started using it). This isnt a case of any prior dissatisfaction with Linksys.
On: 2005-07-02
I purchased this device when switching phone companies to Vonage. I previously had the wireless G w/speed booster router from Linksys and was very pleased with that. Right out of the box this new device was great, my wireless worked perfect, and when I activated VoIP, the phones worked great also. However, the only flaw is call-waiting. When Im on the line and a second caller calls in, it disconnects my primary call, and rings for the second... This is a known issue and a fix is on the way Im told, so just be aware of this issue. Im sure they will have it sorted out with a software update shortly, then this will be a perfect device.
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