Well, it's better than the Linksys...
344223
I picked this up after returning the equivalent Linksys product because that router wouldn't play nice with my girlfriend's ancient cable modem.  The MR814(v2) installed without a hitch -- I did have to unplug the cable modem and let it reset before I could get the router to pick up a DHCP address, but it's been smooth sailing since then.  I like its web interface more than the one on the Linksys router -- there are fewer screens to navigate, and it has an autodetection mode for quick setup.  It works great -- as long as you're on wires.
I'm having the same problem that some other reviewers are seeing -- the wireless connection occasionally drops out whenever it's being used, causing annoying messages to pop up in Windows XP, and generally making web surfing unresponsive.  I'm sure it would interfere with FTP, etc. as well.  I've also had it "lock up" once -- my computer (a Dell Inspiron 600m with the Intel Centrino 802.11b card) disconnected from the router, and although it still showed up in the list of available networks, it wouldn't reconnect (the wired network continued functioning flawlessly, though).  Resetting the router fixed it, and it hasn't happened again.  When it works, though, it's fast.  Range seems okay (though the Linksys was better with its dual antennas) -- I did have to try a few different channels to get one with a stable signal throughout the house.
I'm still trying to figure out if maybe there's something causing interference nearby, and I haven't spoken to Netgear's tech support yet either, so I'm still hoping this can be resolved.  I did upgrade the firmware, which didn't help.
In short, when it works, it's good, but it seems a little flaky when used with non-Netgear hardware.  It does *work*, though, which is more than I could say about the Linksys router.
UPDATE:
I found some more information on what was wrong, and seem to have fixed my problem.  The issue is apparently that the Intel Centrino wireless card (the Intel PRO/2100) has power management features that do not work properly with this router.  The recommended workaround was to disable the power management (by setting it to "manual" and then putting the slider to "maximum performance" in the Intel configuration utility).  That helped a little, but it was still not quite right.  However, Netgear released a new beta firmware for this router on October 15th, and after installing that and updated drivers for the wireless card, it seems to be working fine now.  The router still says it has firmware from July (when the last official one was put out), but I'm sure it loaded the new file, and it works.  I'm not sure why it took this long for them to fix it (this is one of the most common 802.11b wireless solutions), but I'm happy that it works correctly now.
4413833
The Good - Extension cord comes with it so you can position device for best reception possible.  Ive seen pretty high transfer speeds.

the bad - overheats/overloads quite easily.  If you run a torrent program for instance and get too many connections.. it just overloads and loses connection.  I find myself unplugging the device and replugging it in to have it re-detect the wireless signal quite often....even just regular web browsing.  This happens on xp,vista and win 7 and connecting to a linksys router.  I do keep my pc on 24/7 so that may have something to do with it.

Id think maybe I just got a bad device but to be honest.. every linksys product Ive owned seems to have problems,, be it a laptop card or whatever.. Its really quite aggravating actually. I think this might be my last linksys product I buy.
3357948
After finding that the fabled Netgear Nighthawk was dropping nearly 30% of my late-2013 MacBook Pro's packets, I jumped at the chance to try out another 802.11ac router. I run about 27 devices across 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, and GigE ethernet, so the dual-core processor was certainly welcome.

Admittedly, I haven't thought very highly of anything Linksys made after the&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/WRT54GL-Wireless-G-Broadband-Router/dp/B000BTL0OA/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">WRT54GL Wireless-G Broadband Router</a>, but I was kept an open mind. I was a little surprised to see that Linksys changed hands again from Cisco to Belkin -- a company that made routers so horrible, their QoS thought my VoIP traffic was a DDoS attack. Again... open mind...

I screwed in each antenna with care, connected the router, and skipped over the dumb "Make an account here before you configure your router!" prompting. Luckily (much unlike D-Link), it lets you configure the router manually, without setting up some dumb account.

Now, there are a few things that Belkin/Linksys has done exceedingly well. Probably better than I've seen on other routers:
1) The ability to locally rename the appearance of devices in the interface based on their MAC or IP address is brilliant.
2) QoS is, beyond question, easier to set up on this router than any other router I've seen.
3) The underlying OS is merciful, and doesn't need to reboot the whole router to apply minor changes.

Those are all really great things that I wish other manufacturers would do. Beyond that, though, I have to report that the rest isn't so great.

Throughput is probably one of the bigger factors here, and I'm prone to move VM images from a flash-based MBP over 802.11ac to a NAS connected to a GigE switch with failover. When the MBP is connected to the switch, transfers are pretty speedy. Over 802.11ac, they should be just as good (even factoring for overhead), but the Linksys seems to throttle back the transfer, even with QoS disabled.

Worse than mediocre throughput though, is that every other day, I have to hard-reset the router. It's a real pain, and downloading the latest firmware hasn't helped. I don't know if it's because my device count is so high, or if I'm just pushing the router to its limits, but it's really annoying to have to reset the router so often.

The same kind of money gets you close enough to the Nighthawk (assuming my bad experience was just hardware-related) or an Airport Extreme (if you have a Mac... word has it, this generation doesn't have a Windows admin tool). While they both have their own flaws, I'd take either of them over this router.
514944
I finally replaced my old blue 2 antenna Linksys wireless G router.  I did some research and (as expected) the reviews took some time to wade through.  The router I was replacing was my second Linksys wireless router.  The first lasted several years and so did the second.  Given that Cisco took over Linksys, I was cautious and did a lot of reading first.  This router was more expensive than either previous router.  It has some bells and whistles that I may or may not ever use... I'll update this review If I give them a try.
Meanwhile, the set up was a breeze.  If you have set up a router before, you know it should not be rocket surgery to get everything connected and working.  ONe thing I did pick up from the reviews was the potentially buggy Linksys software.  So I opted for the old school setup.  Disconnected the old router and unplugged everything right down to the cable modem.  Then, starting at the wall, I reconnected each piece of hardware.  I plugged my laptop into the router and Windows H8 (hate) spotted it and tried to take over (imagine that).  I pointed my browser to the modem (192.168.1.1) and it was a simple step by step process to get it up and running in no time.
OK - so the goal was better coverage in my basement and on the second floor (the router sits in the family room in a closed wooden cabinet.  Previously. my HP laptop got (on average) 2 bars of coverage - occasionally 3 and sometimes one bar.  This router has a solid four to 5 bars (5 is max).  My iPad had 1 to 2 bars and now has a solid 3 to 4.  Upstairs its the same story... better coverage.  As for speed - I did not speed test my connection before... but the after is 26Mbs down and 5Mbs up... which is great by most standards for a home cable internet over wi-fi connection.  Overall I am very happy with this purchase.
4504230
The setup is pretty much standard for Linksys Routers.  Speeds seem fine, and it's a much nicer profile than the older blue boxes with the "rabbit ear" antennae.  It does get a litle hot underneath, so I wouldn't place it on top of anything that might melt or warp - I guess that's what you get with such a low profile.

If you're getting this to extend an existing network via a wireless connection (like me), Linksys' documentation is a little misleading.  You need an Ethernet cable between the two routers to be able to extend a network with any of Linksys' firmware.  Luckily, you can get third-party firmware that will let you turn it into just a wireless bridge.
1753484
My connected devices would just slow to a crawl, until I rebooted this thing... ever couple of days.  Got a Linksys and I'm much happier now.
2850118
I moved to linksys E2500 from a previous WRTG-54, signal strenght is better, reach is greater, speed is improved, and, also, design is very much enhanced.
1566873
It worked better than I expected once I got it set up.  But there was so much I didn't know that it took hours to set up. For example, I didn't know you need to set up your network on Windows before running Linksys's configuration CD. The software makes it seem like Linksys will set it up for you; but in reality, you need to set it up on Windows and input the data into the Linksys configuration. Or maybe you don't -- either way, the set-up instructions don't guide you around this issue.

Of course, if you're an old hand at home networking, then you're probably just laughing at me now, but for a networking newbie like me, there was a lot of frustrating trial and error going on.

Now that I've got it set up, though, the wireless speed is great.
4458477
I use the Linksys WRV54G in conjunction with the Linksys WPC54G notebook adapter as well as on a traditional RJ45 wired "ethernet" lan.  As a router, the WRV54G seems to serve its purpose quite well.  This is my second Linksys router, and I expected after my first experience with the Linksys BEFSR41 to have some initial difficulty in setting up the router, but I knew that as soon as I had all the initial setup "bugs" fixed it would work flawlessly.  I was not disappointed on either account.
Linksys is an excellent company, and from what I have heard their other routers with embedded Linux work just fine.  I have had trouble with this one however, primarily with obtaining a stable wireless connection.  I have never had much luck with wifi networks in the first place, probably because my place of residence is heavily laden with devices that can cause interference with 802.11b and 802.11g networks.
I have yet to try establishing a VPN connection with the router, and from reading the other reviews I have decided not to try.  I purchased the router primarily for its built-in firewall, because, although I run one of the best consumer-level software firewalls available (Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm) on every computer on my lan, I am very paranoid when it comes to network security.  The router's firewall seems to work fairly well, as every test I have thrown at it it has passed.
My advice, if you are willing to spend the money on this router, invest instead in a cheap low-end computer and any Linksys 802.11g access point.  Install in the computer 2 NICs and install Smoothwall Express ([...]  Your results should be much better, and Smoothwall is free.
2136340
Better than my TPlink-WDR4300, even though it does not have those antennas. Signals are stronger. It provides more coverage. Interface is easy to use.

HOWEVER, the app is a joke. DLink is a router company afterall.
3455974
Thought my ancient modem died! After my wife and son spent hours and hours of messing around (I was out of town, of course) they realized it was the router.  I've had this router for a very short time.  It worked slightly better than the one it replaced.

Fortunately, I have the old wireless router and am now using it until I find a replacement N standard router.  Not a bad idea to keep an old router if your upgrading.

We're noticing response time with the old gal is fine:  not much different than this new kid.  Kind of makes me wonder what all the fuss is about.  ;)
2025122
The wireless speeds from my Linksys router are unacceptable for video data streams,
and I had been planning to hardwire my house from one of the router ports in my kitchen
to my smart TV in my living room.  But before doing so, and despite the negative reviews,
I figured it would be worth at least trying one of these first -- and I'm glad I did.
It is simply plug-and-play.  Instead of pitiful wireless speeds measured in Kbytes per
second, this little unit gives me 25mbs+, basically maxing out my top Comcast speed!
I'm ordering another one for a second smart device.
2109225
This is the second one of these routers I have set up.  I'm not an expert, just someone who has some computer skills.  I bought this and set this up for my in-laws, who decided to get a computer for their home, and they wanted a WiFi laptop.  I got this Linksys model since it's pretty common and reliable.  If you have any networking experience, and if you've never had one of these before, don't use the setup CD.  From what I've read, it gets you into more trouble than it's worth, and it sets up easily without it.  However, you should go to the the Linksys website and download the latest firmware, load it, and then you're ready to go.  This is just a pretty basic unit that probably has lots of extras, but I don't know what all they are, and like I said, it just does what it's supposed to do.
Mark
3612590
Even at a distance, it works better than the power line adapter and network cable I had before.
1055602
Linksys firmware has taken a few steps back in recent years. While the router has been working since I go it, there are time it just acts up. At times I feel like my internet slows down, but there is no way to view what is eating up the bandwidth.
1227472
I was skeptical because of its small size, but it actually works very well.  In terms of performance, I can't really complain.  It seems reliable, unlike several previous Linksys adapters I've used.  My only complaint is that if you plug the network adapter in before installing the CD program that comes with it, this can apparently cause the adapter to *not work at all*, something my Dad (who also bought one) had the misfortune of discovering.  (To be fair, this huge pitfall is mentioned by Linksys several times, but should this problem even exist?  I think not.)  But besides this, it seems to work well.  One tip I have is that you should buy a USB 2.0 cable so that you don't have to connect the adapter directly to your computer.  The adapter may be compact, but it can still get in the way of other devices that need to connect to your USB ports, plus you might need the extra length to get the adapter (which uses the 2.4 gigahertz frequency) away from other 2.4 gigahertz devices to avoid needless interference.
1572837
Pro: Very fast setting up to get wireless connection and the speed was pretty good at 24-36 Mbps.

Con: But I have no luck connecting it to my broadband cable ISP for over 90 min of fruitless tweaking (I'm an IT guy and consider myself geek), I decided to give it a shot upgrading firmware before calling up the tech support... Bingo, it worked!

Con: One reason it took me over 90 min troubleshooting... almost every configuration change requires a router reboot! It certainly beats Microsoft, Netgear, and Linksys on that.

Con: Btw, you can't forward a range of ports to a specific host, you have to specify port by port.

Con: if you want to secure your network by using MAC address filter to prohibit unauthorized access, you have to put in the MAC of your wireless clients, as well as the MAC of the wired clients. I don't know why D-Link would consider wired eithernet client a risk.

Pro: But once you set it up properly, the router works fine.