Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router Reviewed

[jdabbs]

FCC OET Filings for the v2 are available here.

Cost-cutting revision. They've consolidated one of the radios onto the router CPU.

Flash: Illegible
Memory: 64 MB DDR2
Switch: BCM53115
Discrete Radio: BCM4322 (same as v1). Unable to identify amps (probably 5 GHz).
CPU+Radio: Obscured by heatsink. If it is a Broadcom CPU I would assume it is the 480 MHz 4718, based on product positioning, feature set, and the linked spec's block diagram. The presence of SiGe 2528L amps indicates 2.4 GHz operation.

Evaluation:
CPU: The 4718 is clocked higher (480 MHz) than the 4717 (354 MHz), which powers the WRT320N. The 320N is faster than both the 610N and 400N, so this revision could top their performance.
Wireless (2.4 GHz): It's unlikely Broadcom used a different integrated dual-radio design between two chips in the same family. If true, throughput should be similar to the 320N's 2.4 GHz operation. Range is dependent upon antennas and amp choice, so that's uncertain.
Wireless (5 GHz): Same radio as the v1. Different amps though, so range caveat applies.

 

[jalyst]

amazing, looks as though they haven't actually crippled a 2nd revision for a change!

 

[Unregistered]

Anyone got any feedback on WRT-610 version 2?

Looks like the version 2 is shipping but apparently there is no telling if anyone would get the version 2 until unboxing is complete.

Is there anyone here who might be using version 2 and have any feedback regarding performance (especially stability/reliability)? Particularly interested in the 5 Ghz perfomance and stability. After reading about all the instability issues everywhere, very wary about the version 2. Its a pity that the features on the 610 really has no comparison (except for Airport Extreme) at its price-range.

 

[jacobp]

Partial Firmware Upgrade on WRT610N?

Hello. I have a WRT610N, version 1. I recently attempted to upgrade the firmware to the latest B15 version using the Router Setup Firmware Upgrade screen. After I locate the file and select upgrade, the progress bar gets up to 84% and then stops and a screen returns saying the upgrade was successful. I've retried this several times with the same result. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this "normal" or do I have a problem. Thanks.

 

[claykin]

Hello. I have a WRT610N, version 1. I recently attempted to upgrade the firmware to the latest B15 version using the Router Setup Firmware Upgrade screen. After I locate the file and select upgrade, the progress bar gets up to 84% and then stops and a screen returns saying the upgrade was successful. I've retried this several times with the same result. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this "normal" or do I have a problem. Thanks.

Can you download the .bin firmware file from http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/support/WRT610N/download and do a manual upgrade?

 

[jacobp]

Yes. That's how I started. I downloaded the latest firmware from the Linksys site. Saved the file to my desktop. Opened up the router setup in my firefox browser. Navigated to the Firmware Update section, browsed to locate the .bin file on my desktop and selected Upgrade. The upgrade stops at 84% but says that the upgrade is successful.

since then my wireless is always going out and I need to reboot the router several times per day.

 

[claykin]

Yes. That's how I started. I downloaded the latest firmware from the Linksys site. Saved the file to my desktop. Opened up the router setup in my firefox browser. Navigated to the Firmware Update section, browsed to locate the .bin file on my desktop and selected Upgrade. The upgrade stops at 84% but says that the upgrade is successful.

since then my wireless is always going out and I need to reboot the router several times per day.

Try the same using Internet Explorer. it may be a good idea to do a hard reset of the router before trying the upgrade. Maybe something is fubared in your router config??

 

[jacobp]

Try the same using Internet Explorer. it may be a good idea to do a hard reset of the router before trying the upgrade. Maybe something is fubared in your router config??

I am using a Mac. But I have Windows installed within VMWare Fusion. So I tried to do the upgrade using Internet Explorer within the Windows XP virtual machine and the upgrade stops at around 70% and then I get the Upgrade is Successful window.

I then borrowed a pure Windows laptop. Hooked up the router to the laptop, tried the upgrade from that machine and again at about 70% or so, the upgrade stops and I get the Upgrade is Successful message.

Then I did a hard reset (holding reset in for 30 secs, then while holding in reset, unplugging, waiting 30 seconds and then replugging). Tried a hard reset. And the exact same behavior occurs. this is very bizarre. Any other ideas?

 

[satwar]

Hello. I have a WRT610N, version 1. I recently attempted to upgrade the firmware to the latest B15 version using the Router Setup Firmware Upgrade screen. After I locate the file and select upgrade, the progress bar gets up to 84% and then stops and a screen returns saying the upgrade was successful. I've retried this several times with the same result. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this "normal" or do I have a problem. Thanks.

Just for your info, I had no problem upgrading to 1.00.03 B15.

 

[jacobp]

Just for your info, I had no problem upgrading to 1.00.03 B15.

Are you using a Mac? If so, which browser did you use? And, was anything else plugged into the router when you did the upgrade? Thanks.

 

[satwar]

Are you using a Mac? If so, which browser did you use? And, was anything else plugged into the router when you did the upgrade? Thanks.

Yep, everything plugged in and running. I was using Firefox running on Vista 64 bit Home Premium to look at the router.

 

[jacobp]

Sorry for being so thick about this. But I just took my router to an entirely different location and tried to upgrade the firmware and now the upgrade process stops at around 64% but then reports that the upgrade is successful.

Can someone confirm for me that they have actually watched the progress bar hit 100% on a firmware upgrade. Thanks.

 

[satwar]

Well if the router web page shows the correct version and everything works, I would think it is successful. The upgrade process may not take so long because it detects that the updated firmware version is already installed.

 

[Dawgneck]

Ver 2 info

I just purchased the new Ver 2 610n (from Fry's). I sold my ver 1 to a friend.

The box looks completely different from the Ver 1 box. The Ver 2 box has a red colored top and a red colored right side. The front of the box has a thin red stripe in the lower half.

The Ver 2 model has an on-off power switch between to the power adapter plug and reset hole and is bundled with a different power adapter and a trial version of Linksys' Network Magic.

Initial installation revealed an extra bar of strength when my laptop connects from its normal location in my house.

Too soon to report on the stability of Ver 2. I could not find anything on the internet that described the internal differences.

Linksys rolled ver 2 out quietly. Perhaps there are issues with ver 1 that cannot be resolved with firmware updates.

 

[claykin]

The Ver 2 model has an on-off power switch between to the power adapter plug and reset hole and is bundled with a different power adapter and a trial version of Linksys' Network Magic.

Initial installation revealed an extra bar of strength when my laptop connects from its normal location in my house.

Too soon to report anything else.

Good luck with the V2 hardware. Let us know how it works for you....

 

[Daniel_L]

Linksys rolled ver 2 out quietly.

Just noticed that too when I wanted to see if there was a new firmware i saw they are now asking if we own a version or 2.

Will SNB review it soon? I also want to compare with v1.

 

[Unregistered]

v2 feedback

Thanks for the update and explaining the visual differences. Amazon is still shipping v1 according to a discussion thread on the wrt-610n's page.

Would eagerly await a note on your experience with v2 and might then just head to Frys

I just purchased the new Ver 2 610n (from Fry's). I sold my ver 1 to a friend.

The box looks completely different from the Ver 1 box. The Ver 2 box has a red colored top and a red colored right side. The front of the box has a thin red stripe in the lower half.

 

[jalyst]

Based on the FCC filings I suspect the improvements will be observable but very small.
As an AP it could even be worse, as there a few things we just don't know yet...

The improvements seem so minimal that I doubt they'll be enough to nudge the best all-round dual-band/dual-radio contenders from their throne.
One can hope though!!

 

[Unregistered]

Oh well, given the stellar review of the Netgear Rangemax WNDR3700, I may just now go for that (when its restocked) rather than bother with the 610n...

Oh sweet competition

 

[tech324]

I just purchased a WRT610n from Amazon last week and received it two days ago. It is definitely version 2. I hope dd-wrt can be ported to this soon. So far the router has been working well, no reboots or instability so far. Wireless appears to work fine as well.