Read‐06 - Skalyx866/Notes GitHub Wiki

What makes the Linksys WRT54GL famous?

What makes the Linksys WRT54GL famous was that you were capable of putting on open source firmware on it as long as it doesn't violate the FCC ant-interference policy. On top of that, it was incredibly reliable.

Given it’s age, why do people continue to buy the Linksys WRT54GL?

People still continue to buy the Linksys WRT54GL due to the name recognition, the reliability of the product, and the ability to flash open source software on it.

What does the “WRT54GL” stand for in the name?

WRT54GL stands for Wireless RouTer, 54 is the speed, and G stands for the 802.11G frequency.

What did Linksys sell before routers?

Linksys sold home networking kits before routers. The home networking kit contained a five port switch and two local area network cards.

When did Linksys preview their first consumer router?

Linksys previewed their first consumer router at the COMDEX computer industry conference where they were calling it an integrated internet hub.

Who suggested to name it a “router”?

The one who suggested to name it a router was the owner of Microsoft at the time, Bill Gates

What happened when Cisco replaced the Linux-based firmware with the VxWorks platform?

When Cisco replaced the Linux-based firmware with VxWorks, it made it much more difficult to flash open source software on the routers and the customers were outraged

Why doesn’t the WRT54GL model need to be modified to abide by the new FCC rules?

The WRT54GL model didn't need to be modified to abide by the new FCC rules because the new FCC rules only affected the routers than ran on 5GHz bands.

Does the WRT54GL model still get updates from Linksys?

The WRT54GL model does still get occasional update from Linksys to this day.

Source: The WRT54GL

Things I would like to know more about

I would like to more about the hardware of routers and modems and why the different bands of frequencies that would help me make a more educated decision on choosing a router.