Will a Linksys WRT54G work with Vista?

I have a Linksys wireless "g" router, ( Model #WRT54G ) which I have used for the last 3 years with computers having Windows Home XP. I received a new Dell Vostro 1510 last week, a laptop computer which came configured with Windows Vista Home Premium and a Dell 1395 wireless "g" card. Will a Linksys WRT54G wireless "g" router work with a computer having Vista?

I posted a similar question over at CNET and several said that the WRT54G would not work with Vista. If that's the case which model Linksys wireless "g" router should I upgrade to? I have a 3 year old Dell Dimension 3100 desktop PC which has Windows Home XP and now a new Dell Vostro 1510 laptop which has Windows Vista Home Premium.

 

Of course. Vista does not care what router you have.

 

Well I was on the phone with Linksys tech support in India on Friday for almost 2 hours. The techie helped me reset my router and reset my password. Once that was all done the Vostro 1510 recognized the wireless signal but for some reason I could not get on the Internet with the laptop unless I disconnected the DSL cable which was connected to the back of my Dell desktop, bypass the router and connected the modular cord I had disconnected from my desktop then reconnected that cord to the jack on my Dell Vostro 1510 laptop. It was then that I could finally access the Internet from my new Dell Vostro 1510 laptop.

 

Probably because it wasnt setup initially correctly.

 

I have that router (got a great deal on it too). And, it works fine with my XPS 1530 and my Mini 9. Now, when I first got it last year..I didn't set it up correctly. So, I had to go about reinstalling. Works great with both Vista and XP.

Other than that..it's been good!

Cin

 

Could my problem be ISP related or a bad set up related problem? That day I was on the phone with Linksys the techie had me pulling up black screens typing in phrases like "ping 1.2.1.2.1. and such. After an hour with my legs hanging down and beginning to ache sitting here at my desktop computer I told the very patient guy who sounded like he was from India that I'd have to get with him later and I'd try again. My brain was literally drained after going through all of the motions with him at Linksys tech support. I'll try again next week so for now I'm sending this message to you from my Dell desktop PC.

 

When you connected the modem directly to your notebook (bypassing the router) did you make a broadband connection with a user name and a password ?

 

This looks like a setup problem to me. Vista/XP/Linux should not have any issues connecting to the Internet using this router. I have all 3 OSs on different machines and a WRT54GS router and they all work fine. Here are some questions I will ask where the answers to them will help us diagnose your problem better:

1.) What is your network setup like. Ex: My setup is a DSL modem connected to a router which connects to my PC and then to the phone jack in the wall.

2.) Do you have any kind of security on your Wifi connection(ex: WEP, WPA, WPA2)? If so, make sure that you are entering the correct password to connect to your router.

3.) When you start your laptop and look at the Wifi networks in the area, do you see your's in the list?

4.) Are you using MAC address filtering on your router?

 

To answer your 4th question, I do not know, sorry.

 

Yes I did. The blue screen appeared with my assigned name "Stevoreno" and a place to enter my password which I did then hit enter and I was taken to my desktop.

 

I use the router with my Vista Ultimate SP1 with WPA2 AES wireless encryption. I haven't seen a single connection drop for a long time, and yes, I have DSL.

 

Steveoreno,
Are you sure you are entering your correct WEP password to connect to your network?

 

After another call first to my ISP, AT&T and then to Linksys tech support I am glad to report that I can now surf the web wirelessly on my new Dell Vostro 1510. This time I spoke to a nice lady in the Phillipines (sp?) with Linksys tech support who talked much faster than the other tech support rep who I spoke to in India last week but with a few changes here and there I'm now able to surf wirelessly on the new Vostro. One thing I have a question about, she had me set my computer to WPA Personal rather than WEP, I read somewhere that WEP was considered more safe than WPA, more secure. Am I wrong because if I am I'll call Linksys back in a few days and make the necessary changes to make my laptop's signal more safe.

 

WPA is more secure than WEP. It came after WEP. WEP is considered very unsafe nowadays since people have demostrated that they can break into it in 2 minutes ! But even WPA is old now. You should really look into WPA2 with AES encryption as that is the most secure(for a normal home network at least).

BTW - What ultimately was your problem preventing your Wifi connection from working

 

If I switched to WPA2 as you suggested would I have to buy a new router or will WPA2 work with my Linksys WRT54G router? As for what the problem was, I was told by AT&T that something in my DSL modem from AT&T had to be updated and the router from Linksys also had to be updated, I believe the lady said "firmware" needed to be updated.

 

Hmmm. Thats' strange. If your router and modem were working before and the only thing different was the new laptop, I am not sure why you had to upgrade the firmware. Oh well, not a bad thing to do any way.

It sounds like you are using the Linksys firmware so you might not be able to have WPA2 capabilities. You can check for yourself by typing in http://192.168.1.1 into your browser(do this from your desktop that is connected to the router wired). This should take you to your router's config page. Check under your encryption options and see if WPA2 is in the list.

BTW - What version is your router. If you don't know then, flip over your router and on the bottom there should be a MAC address and serial number. Tell me the first 4 characters of the SN and I can tell you. If you have version 4 and below you can upgrade your firmware to an open source one called "Tomato". This would allow you to have WPA2 encryption but this voids your warranty as well(maybe it is already expired). Your call if you want to mess with this. I did this to my WRT54GS that is several years old(before WPA2 was around) and I have WPA2 capabilities. I specifically bought this router for this purpose. Hope this isn't over your head

If the best you can do is stay stock, and your choice is between WPA and WEP, do WPA.

 

My WRT54G supports WPA2-AES and has worked just fine with XP, Vista, Win 7 and Ubuntu Linux. I use a 63 character long key and, even though it's not really effective, MAC address filtering.

I think my firmware version is 8. something (I'm at work and can't check right now).

 

My router is a version 5, as for that default address of 192.168.1.1 the Linksys tech rep had me change it to 10.10.10.1.1 I'll check the other information out later from the desktop since I'm on the new laptop now. My router was purchased at Wal-Mart in April 2006 so I would imagine that the warranty has already expired.

 

Does your router and all your devices support WPA2 security mode?

 

I don't know and if I did how would I know?