Linksys WRT54G2 isn't ugly, for a change
Linksys' home routers have always had a familiar look: royal blue, hard edges built to stack, with a pair of utilitarian antenna peeking up from the back like your favorite Martian. It worked, but it was hardly attractive, taking its cues more from server closets than home appliance design.
So good on 'em for the design of the new WRT54G2, the latest in the popular line of home Wi-Fi routers. It's sleek but not overwrought; it also manages to hide its dual antennas inside the case itself while exceeding the useable range of the previous models. Sure, you won't be able to boost your send/receive range by screwing on a bigger antenna, but for most home users that will matter less than having a router that isn't an embarrassment to leave on the desk.
The suggested price is $52, right in line with most of Linksys' other home routers.
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Anyone trying to embarrass ME by pointing out the aesthetic qualities of MY rig is asking for a hard one to the stones.
That being said these DO look better and I'll try one when my existing ugly bastard rig kicks it. ;)
Hey, I ain't saying I don't have some ugly hardware in my rig, too! I'm even a little sad to see the ol' blue sandwiches going away. But just a little.
How can they get away with charging $50 for a wireless-g router? I thought you'd be able to buy these things out of the quarter machines at the supermarket by now.
I think the question that is on everyone's mind ... will it blend?! Woops, I actually meant, will it run software such as the popular dd-wrt firmware replacement?
No external antennas? No thanks. I'll stick with the ugly blue one.
@3 I'm using a Chinese one my roommate got for $10 with a $10 rebate, and it works as well as or better than any linksys I've used.
If you can't put Linux on it, the hell with it.
Equipment that cannot be stacked is an abomination, popularly called "the macintosh effect" by computer room dwellers. Apple Macs themselves are not usually good examples of the mac effect - 3rd party periphs are where it reaches truly lunatic levels.
I saw a Mac-compatible modem once that was bright orange and literally shaped like a breaking wave. It was a total art statement rather than a functional piece of kit... and why would I want a soulless, mass-produced art statement on my desk? I can get more powerful art by feeding my kids some chocolate-frosted sugar bombs and giving them a box of play-doh for chrissakes.
Those old linksys bricks you disparage were made so they could be stacked to the ceiling without heat problems or antennae (physically) interfering. This thing forces you to give up valuable space or mount it on the wall.
--Charlie
You probably can't put Linux on it, because the linux firmware replacement only works with version 7 and below if I remember correctly.
Apparently I have poor taste because my D-link router died on Friday and I went to Best Buy to get a new one and saw these and thought they were too ugly for my home. I ended up with another D-link.
Charlie Anonymous is 100% correct.
It had BETTER look terrific on your desk, because out on your desk is the only place you'll be able to put it. And frankly, blobs of gray plastic with blinky lights aren't very damned aesthetic to me. It looks tatty. Make one with a wood box.
I hate equipment made to look cool on my desk. If it's not keyboard mouse or monitor, why do I want it on my desk? Everything else gets cable-tied to a piece of pegboard screwed into the underside of the table. This "sleek" junk is a pain; I just got rid of the cable modem disguised as a shark fin.
I don't want equipment can't stack, I want unobtrusive stuff I can hide away. What do these designers think? We have square miles of display space for their products? All we want is that it works as advertised!
PS: This stuff only looks good when the power and ethernet cables have been photoshopped out.
And the stacking feature is kind of nice, but my cable modem isn't a linksys, so now I've got disparate pieces of equipment fighting me with their conflicting standards, and inability to inobtrusively tuck away.
Homes would be well served by AV cabinets with integrated data center racks. Mount your AV gear, and then home consumer stuff could come with a half-width rack standard. Mount two of 'em side by side to take up a single u... Now I'm talking crazy.
And at any rate, if they don't come out with a WRT54GL2, this thing is pretty much a non-starter for me. PoE and a power injector would be another great start for this thing too.
PoE into a WRT 54GL
I guess you could just MAKE the existing one into PoE. Never thought of that. Noice!
Styrofoam:
That's HOTT