さようなら Linksysの! (Sayonara, Linksys!)

Sometimes I wish I knew what really goes on inside certain companies...

I understand one cannot be the "best" forever but some companies just go from "crème de la crème" to worthless in no time at all!

Sometimes it is because the company gets accquired by a bigger company, its products abandoned or not cared for until they slowly fade away. Sometimes the new company thinks they 'know too well' how to handle the recently accquired products ("Oh, yeah! Let's make this better!!!") and realize too late they were too wrong.

I guess this was the case with USRobotics, which used to produce the most inovative and reliable modems at its time and simply vanished after being bought over by 3Com.

But, what happens when a company just allows their products and customer base go down the drain? I wish I knew!

Linksys used to be so damned good! There was a time I would not think twice before recommending their products to anyone who asked. Sadly, that is not the case anymore...

My old faithful router was sent to router's heaven after a thunderstorm and, devoted to Linksys like I had been for such a long time, I started searching for a new, more advanced replacement. I ended up with a WAG54G2. Not for long, though.

First, the bloody thing looks like someone ran over an old router with a truck and instead of breaking it, just squashed it enough to make it look... different. It might look good and modern to you but, to me, it just doesn't look right.

The design itself causes a bigger issue: it gets too hot. Seriously! So hot I started having problems with it. What problems, you ask. Well, I noticed there were frequent disconnections while using it (which, for me, is all the time). I thought I ought to upgrade the firmware or something but Google-ing it a bit I found out I was not the only one having problems with disconnections. The stated reason? You guessed it: the damn router gets too hot and stops working.

Perhaps I would not have noticed the problem had I installed it in my previous apartment. I used to have a small room I used to call my 'office' and where I kept all my computers. There, the air-conditioner was always on. It was niiiice. In my new home, I get a nicer office space. Big, spacious, ample office. Gosh, I love it! Unfortunately, having such a big office also means 24/7 AirCon becomes prohibitive.

With no other viable solution to my problem, I replaced the Linksys with a D-Link and must say I am very happy, thank you very much.

I would be willing to forbear my disappointment with Linksys had it not been for other problems I had with the brand.

For example: my wireless sound bridge (WMB54G) doesn't play along with other operating systems. If I elect not to have a Windows machine at home (which is my plan), I simply can't use it. There are no known drivers for Linux or Mac.

My Print Server (WPS54GU2) does not support WPA. I am forced to WEP security for the entire network. Not that I really worry about security - in my neighbourhood everybody's got the same broadband provider and speed, noone has the time/inclination/need to try hacking on neighbour's WANs - but "why oh why" won't Linksys keep up with other vendors and provide the stupid security option everyone else does?!

I got tired of searching for solutions for Linksys problems. So that's was it. Linksys is now officially shunned from my home and my customers will definitely be buying other brands if it depends on me.

Sayonara, Linksys!