Linksys, LinkSucks
Christoff knew the dangers, but he went ahead anyway. He bought a Linksys router. And lo, it broke. The day had come for him to deal with their outsourced tech support. Over four hours of conversation and hold time, mainly hold time, later, he has a 2nd replacement router. Both replacement routers had the same problem as the first. Read of his trials and tribulations, inside...
So, after years of hearing how bad linksys and their outsourced tech support is, I actually finally had to deal with it. Lets start this by saying I've got a good amount of years in the IT Field it is still the line of work I am in. This is the story of Linksys support yielding ZERO results. (the attached two images are screenshots on my phone of only the calls with linksys)
A few weeks back (Monday, may 9th), I decided to use the chat support on the Linksys site due to an issue I had with my WRT310N router, basically if set to Wide Band (40mhz) it would drop my Wireless N speeds to 1mbps as opposed to the 270mbps that wide band is supposed to allow, so I spoke with Kate B. (29800) [according to the logs they emailed ],
we went through troubleshooting and determined that it was a definite issue with the router, so we went through the
RMA process, skip forward a week to Monday the 16th, I get the replacement router and it does the same thing. So I
go deal with chat again, we double check then determine it has the SAME issue, so I was told to call the RMA
department again to see what could be done (this is where it went downhill).I got transferred around, asked the same questions, put on hold more than I've ever been in any customer service situation. For instance, in the attached image you'll see a call for 44 mins 44 seconds, 30 of that was on hold, I counted. I was told that I needed to talk to an advanced tech (this was after the first call you see for 52:37), in the call that was 52:37 I was told that since I spent an hour dealing with chat then just about another hour on the phone, that I would have a call that night to get this resolved, and I said that's fine and agreed to have them call me back, I said "call anytime tonight, I will be up until about 1am", 12:30am hits and I don't get the call back, so I call them (see call listed 1
hr 35min 34sec), they told me that it would actually be 24 hours for a callback, at this point I'm frustrated, so I
ask for a manager, then someone tells me they can get me to the advanced tech dept, after 20 minutes on hold I hear
back from the tech finally and they say there is no way they can get me to a tech because they are all busy on other
calls. Frustrated, I get very angry and demand that someone take care of this immediately, I get placed on hold for
another 15 minutes, then get the same rep (didn't get IDs over the phone, was hard to understand the accents) telling
me nothing can be done and to wait for a callback, I asked if they could guarantee me a callback by Noon (that would
be roughly 11 hours after this call ended), and he said yes.Fast forward 11 hours, I call from work since they told me I wouldn't need to be near my equipment (at this point all
I want is my money back to buy a working router, or a different model sent to me). You will see the call that was
44:44, I kept getting passed around again, and more than half of that call was me being on hold, after waiting the
last bit on hold, I decided i was fed up, have spent almost 4 hours of my time at this point, including the time
doing the technical support chat, hung up and called the corporate office as listed on their website. After briefly
explaining my situation, the person who answered the phone guaranteed me a callback shortly, I ended up receiving a
callback from the number listed as 1267 that lasted 45 minutes, I thought this was my advanced tech, nope, another
general person at linksys who spent 45 minutes, just to tell me what everyone else did. they called again about 30
minutes later and it was an actual advanced tech who basically told me that the whole issue is electromagnetic
interference and that there's no way to fix this issue and that the only way to fix it is to isolate it which I cant
do without expensive equipment (which I found to a bit of a cop out since the Belkin N1 Vision router I had before
never had the issue). So after over 4 hours of a 24 hour period, all I got was a free return shipping label from him
to send back the defective one so I didn't have to pay for that.I'm really frustrated to the point where I almost dont want linksys products anymore, for all the testing I was
using two Linksys brand wireless N cards (WPC300n and WEC600n) and this is the support I get. 4 hours of runaround,
and no results. If anyone at consumerist has any extra eecb info I would appreciate it.
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Comments:
Thanks for posting this, Consumerist, I am in the process of setting up my home network at my new house and wanted to go N. after reading this, I'll be giving Linksys a pass.
Any recommendations for a good wireless N router?
I understand the OP has had a difficult time with customer support. However, Linksys is one of the most dependable brand of routers. I have had several Linksys routers for over five years and they are still working fine.
always get something that supports dd-wrt and tomato
my Netgear WNR834B refurb costed $25, loaded it up with DD-WRT.... a lot of stuff to play with (QoS, WiFi management... even played with my friends by redirecting facebook.com to myspace's IP :P)
I've actually had several Netgear routers that have either died, or had serious hardware flaws that could not be fixed.
..........I hate linksys myself now as well - They stopped helping me ALTOGETHER after my router went out of warranty....even if I just needed a reset from a thunderstorm (power outage) I really hope the company falls apart!
@frari489: weirdly, I've had my current LinkSys for 3 years, and my previous one for 5, and never had a problem with either. Maybe I'm just lucky?
My experience has only been with older Linksys WRT54G routers, firmware versions 6 and below, but they were very good, stable routers. I loaded DD-WRT on one of them and it lasted me a long time, I finally switched to Airport Extreme because I broke the Linksys on a clumsy day.
I haven't ever had to deal with their tech support, but this isn't surprising.
i have a linksys WRT54G with DDWRT that has been chugging along for the better part of 6 years with no problems.
I never knew linksys had a bad rep.. I bought mine specifically based on the GOOD reviews. Well... if it should die, I supposed I just won't be shocked... ??
All products break sometimes, but the real story here is the horrible service from Linksys.
A product is more than the hardware and software, just like value is more than just price. A company sets itself apart by the way it treats its customers.
Linksys, you disappoint the Consumerists. Shame on you, but congrats on being a potential Dark Horse entry into the 2010 Worst Company in America tournament!
Just a quick question for the OP. Did he have the router set to N only? B/c I didn't see this as a dual band router, and if it encounters a "B" signal, it will drop to match that speed, unless it's set to "N" only. Just my 2 cents. It's why I have my Linksys set to "G" only and let my FiOS router handle any "B" traffic.
@steveliv: My WRH54G has been running DDWRT since last summer. I recommend it over the stock firmware.
May 9th? Either this story is old or I'm a time traveler. I really hope it's the latter.
On a serious note, my linksys router has been working great for years. I use a 3rd party firmware though.
I have had good experiences with D-link. Give the DGL-4500 a shot, or if you have money to burn a DIR-855. I really like D-link's gear. But just like all electronics makers I'm sure someone has had a bad experience with D-Link as well.
I am in the IT field, and I have NEVER had nay good luck with linksys products. I have purchased them for clients and had them be FUBAR out of the box. I personally go with D-Link, have never had ANY issue with them. just my $.02 worth
If y'all think Linksys is bad you should try 2Wire! Now those really suck! I got an all in one router/modem from AT&T as a free "perk" for signing up for their internet service and it couldn't handle the download traffic my husband and I subjected it to. He was trying to download a bunch of open source software and it kept cutting out on him all the time! By all the time, I mean like every 5 minutes! We got sick of it after a few months and went out and spent $50 on a DSL modem from Newegg and hooked that up to an old Linksys router we had. That combo works fine.
I will admit that Linksys routers are a little buggy some times. Ours needs to be reset every once in awhile but its still better than that 2Wire we had.
I've had my Linksys for 5 years with no problems.
This is the first time I've heard anything negative about their routers. The general consensus among IT-types is Linksys is the best. Can't speak to their customer support, but as far as reliable hardware...they're #1.
Why knock the most reliable brand of a product? It's like someone saying, "Christoff knew the dangers, but he went ahead anyway. He bought a Toyota". This makes no sense.
I've had two Linksys WRT-54Gs for several years now... Have not had one problem with them. I did, however, have an older wired-only unit that did crap out on me.
Actually, WRT54 series routers historically suck - at one point my company bought a metric crapton of those to standardize home office setup for all of our remote users... In 12 months, We've replaced, RMAd or orbitally nuked close to 80% of them (if you prefer absolute figures, we've deployed close to 250).
Personally, I go to great lengths to avoid cable modem/router/wap combos such as WRT54G. My current home network node consists of Linksys CM100 cable modem, Cisco 871 Router and Cisco 1242 wireless access point - wouldn't you believe it, it's solid like rock of Alcatraz (though admittedly it's far from cheapest solution).
I am never one to blame the OP, and I will not start here. I too have had to sit on the phone with "Bob" for a while, but have always eventually gotten the issue resolved.
That said, I also tend to do some research before buying things. The N series (3xx and 6xx) of Linksys routers have uniformly bad reviews no matter where you look. They have heat (and therefore reliability) issues.
In this case, the OP had a double whammy. Exposure to bad outsourced support but due to buying universally bad hardware. Since the hardware is so bad, replacements will also be bad.
I must also note one more thing: I **ONLY** buy Linksys. I am not a linksys basher. But I do my research and know to stay with the "G" line until they figure out their bugs.
Linksys = bad router.
Linksys + custom firmware(DD-WRT, etc...) = great router.
Linksys is actually a decent brand, I don't know why the Consumerist is saying that it sucks.
To the OP: this issue does seem like interference. Perhaps you could try the router in a different location and see if it works? Having multiple routers display the same symptoms is very unlikely.
By contrast, I had a good experience with their tech help. After following the enclosed CD instructions to set up the router failed, the second rep successfully led me through multiple screens to clear software settings roadblocks. (The first rep call was disconnected midway, possibly due to my own cordless phone losing its charge, so I don't blame Linksys for that.)
Here's another vote in favor of using DD-WRT.
Somehow I accumulated 3 WRT54G routers of differing hardware revs. I needed a wireless bridge to connect my Netflix-enabled Blu-ray player to my Internet connection. I installed DD-WRT on one of them and within about 15 minutes I had it working.
I have FiOS so unfortunately I have to use their wireless router or I would have a WRT54G with DD-WRT on that end too. (Yes, I know you can tweak things so that you can use your own router with FiOS but it isn't worth the trouble to me to get it working.)
I've also used Netgear and D-Link routers using their own firmware instead of DD-WRT. I never had a problem with the Netgear, though the older ones required a silly Windows-only app to configure it (now you can skip that and configure it with a browser). The D-Link was a POS. If you had to reboot it (which was about once a week), it would take about a dozen power cycles before it would come back up.
@armandbrown: Agreed; I have a WRT54G that I have been using wiht DD-WRT for over two years with excellent results!
@taking_this_easy: Yup. I've got a WRT-54G, a WRT-54GS and a WRT-54GL running a mesh network to bridge the wireless network throughout the house (and bridge in the TIVOs and the emac in the bedroom).
@robocop_is_bleeding: I would actually recommend Linksys. I think they make the best consumer routers available. I have tried Netgear, D-Link, and Linksys and the one that I have kept as my primary router is the Linksys. Netgear was awful and had terrible customer service. Their routers are usually the cheapest but they seem to have the most compatibility issues. I had no problems with D-Link though so if you don't like Linksys, I would recommend a D-Link.
The D-Link DIR-625 looks decent for the price. ($56.27) [www.amazon.com]
@johnsakalauskas: Yeah, I have the WRT54-GL with DDWRT and it works great for all of my needs. The stock firmware doesn't let you access a lot of the areas that allow you to improve the router's functionality substancially in some cases.
Though I do hear that a lot of the new Linksys routers are a bit flakey since they scaled back the amount of RAM, and other features.
@frari489:
Hey, you made it longer than I did.
I purchased an 802.11n Linksys router, because I thought I was having problems with my current "WiFi-n" Netgear router. (Turns out the crappy Broadcom card on my crappy Dell laptop is just... crappy.) I plugged in the Linksys, and accessed the router's config page. What a mess. It looked like some high school student's "Intro to teh Internetz 100" webpage project. The interface was horrible, and options were buried within layers. My Netgear's interface is much more streamlined and easy to navigate.
Needless to say I kept my Netgear and returned the Linksuck. Pitty. Cisco churns out quality hardware; too bad their consumer division leaves a little to be desired.
Yeah I have a linksys router who's wireless hardware quit working after only two months. After spending about 3 hours on the phone I just gave up. It's not like I used the wireless part of the hub in the first place. However I will NEVER buy anything made by them again and I am passing that information around as well.
The plus side is that the wired ports work fine still. The wireless was for guests anyways, now I just run a 50ft of cat5 to their laptop.
I'm on my fourth Linksys router in roughly five years. It seems like I would have learned my lesson.
I bought a Linksys router two years ago. BIG MISTAKE. It would not work, period. I called their "customer service line" which was some girl in India that I could not understand her words, they were so heavily accented. She was not rude, just incomprehensible. I called back and got another hard to understand guy. In all it took 2 hours and 45 minutes to figure out the unit was broken.
I worked for cable, we got more calls about people having issues with Linksys routers that I used to start telling people to buy something else. My Netgear I have had for 5 years now with no issues. Cisco bought out Linksys and ever since then the routers have been terrible.
@Riff-Raff: I bought a netgear wireless-N router for my parents at their house. I have a linksys N router in my house with my housemates and it constantly drops my connection. I know it's somehow related to BT, but I've tried a few things. I have friends at Cisco (one being a very close friend), unfortunately they work on commercial equipment, not consumer stuff. Oh well...
Yeah Linksys tech support is nuts - I use to do a lot of RMA's for a company, and I always loathed having to deal w/ anything Linksys, because while I was also suppose to be answering the phones and checking customers in for service, I always had some pieces of Linksys hardware that needed, at the least, 2 hours to "troubleshoot" per item, before I could get an RMA and I'd always get in trouble with the bosses for being on the phone so long.
Bought a wireless gaming router from linksys 3 years ago, works great, no problems whatsoever. Used it a bunch too.
@Mooshie: He probably means March 9, as that was a Monday this year.
@frari489: I've had mine for a couple years now with no issues. it replaced one which crapped out after six months, and that one had replaced one that crapped out after 3-4 months. I think one was a US Robotics and the other was a Netgear (worst POS router ever, I hate hate hate netgear)
@Jason Holmes: That's what I was thinking. My only crap out issues have been with other brands, Linksys is by far the best I've ever had.
@Jason Holmes: I second/third that. I've almost always had Linksys stuff, with the exception of a Netgear router that an exboyfriend bought that later on emitted a high pitched squeal in time with the light blinking for the internet. That made it to the garbage pretty fast, as I proceeded to buy a Linksys router. And hey, still works great! Not to mention my parents have had one for years and it's never had any issues.
Did the OP update the firmware? Did he downgrade the firmware? In my experience features like this get either fixed or broken in firmwares and one way to fix it is to upgrade/downgrade. There are a lot of variables when it comes to this situation too. Does he have a 5ghz cordless phone? Is he running wide channels on all of his computers? How many walls does it take to get to the router? ect ect. I have gone through this same stuff since the first wireless N router that supported 5ghz came out, the airport extreme, and trust me, it was full of bugs. Thankfully the firmware matured and so did the router's personality.
Ok, I know it's off topic, but I have a G1 and I want to know how he changed the look of his notification bar.
@armandbrown: beat me to it! just buy a linksys WRT54GL (the one that has 'open source' plastered all over it) it costs about 10 bucks more, but if you flash it to DD-WRT it is a great router, i've been using it for about 2 years now with no problems. I even bricked the router on my first try, but was able to follow a guide on how to unbrick and reset it, then the second time it flashed right and has worked ever since.
@frari489: I've had better luck with Linksys than other router brands (specifically netgear) though my current one is quite a few years old (pre Cisco buying them) so maybe they've gone downhill in the last few years.
Christoff should of went with DD-WRT firmware on his WRT310N rather than dealing with Linksys and their joke of a firmware.
I definitely know it is unacceptable for Linksys to have any sort of problems yet not release many firmware updates to any of their products.
Yet to even have to resort to custom firmware such as DD-WRT to get the best out of the product you paid for.
I wish I knew how bad Linksys was before buying one. It crapped out after 5-6 months so I just tossed it.
The apple on I have now has worked great so far.