Summary:The Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT Wireless-G Broadband Router is really four devices in one. It's a wireless access point, full-deplex 10/100 switch, broadband router and a VoIP adapter. This is the Swiss Army Knife of wireless routers!
The Swiss Army Knife of Wireless-G Broadband Routers
The Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT Wireless-G Broadband Router is really four devices in one. First, there's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect both Wireless-G and Wireless-B devices to the network. Second, there's a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together. Third, there is a Router function to lets your whole network share a high-speed Internet connection.
The fourth and most unique function is the VoIP phone adapter which enables high-quality feature-rich VoIP Service through your high-speed connection even while you're surfing the Internet. The router features two standard telephone jacks, each operating independently - like having two phone lines.
wrt54gp2a
The WRT54GP2A-AT is designed for use with AT&T CallVantage VoIP Service. If you don't know what VoIP is then you haven't been reading this site enough (go here for refresher course). The AT&T CallVantage service lets you save with unlimited local and long distance calling. Plus you can enjoy features like Call Waiting, Caller ID, Advanced Voicemail, Call Forwarding and lots of other special phone features. You can even organize your calls, and manage features easily with your own Personal Call Manager home page. And as long as you're an AT&T CallVantage customer you can keep the phone number for life, regardless of where you move in the world. Unlike the normal phone system, VoIP is not location dependant - you can use your VoIP number at home or move it to China if you like.
Wireless-G Broadband Router with 4 Ethernet Ports & 2 Phone Ports
The back of the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT looks like any other Linksys broadband router with the exception of the two phone jacks. The jacks operate completely independent of each other. It's just like having two phone lines and indeed, each jack can have its own phone number - one for the phone and the other for a fax machine for example.
33-124-172-02
Any corded or cordless phone can be plugged into the phone jacks. The WRT54GP2A-AT turns whatever phone that's connected to it into a VoIP phone. This is the biggest advantage of using the WRT54GP2A-AT for VoIP - you don't have to buy any special phones. Before these phone adapters came along, the most common way to get VoIP was to buy a special VoIP phone. The problem with that kind of setup was you had to get rid of that fancy office phone that you paid a lot of money for. For people who want VoIP but wish to keep their landline phones, the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT is a great way to do it.
Quality Of Service
The advantage with integrating the VoIP adapter and router together is that it delivers much better VoIP phone performance than a separate VoIP adapter. This is because the router is the gateway for all the traffic activity going across the network. So the WRT54GP2A-AT gives priority to time critical transmissions like VoIP phone calls. This function, known as Quality Of Service (QOS), allows for crystal clear phone calls even when your Internet connection is under a heavy load. Because of the explosion of VoiP, many broadband cable ISP now offers QOS for extra charge. With the cable company's QOS, you are offered a certain level of bandwidth no matter how much load is on your cable line. However, your router still has the job of dividing this load and can't offer QOS to the VoIP adapter. The Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT can.
The Rest Of The Router Packaging
Besides the broadband wireless router, the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT comes with the user's guide, setup CD, Ethernet cable and power adapter.
33-124-172-04
The router itself is the same size and weight as other Linksys wireless routers. At 7.32" wide by 2.48" tall by 6.08" deep and weighing in at 19.29 oz the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT isn't the most portable router. However, it was never designed to be. The Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router with 2 Phone Ports is designed to be at the center of your home or office network. With this router you can share a high-speed Internet connection, files, printers, and multi-player games, and turn that Internet connection into a high-quality carrier for VoIP calls.
In addition to VoIP, the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT Router can serve as a DHCP Server. It also features a powerful SPI firewall to protect your PCs against intruders and most known Internet attacks. Configuration is a snap with the web browser-based configuration utility.
Linksys Configuration Utility
There are two ways to configure the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT wireless-G router. If you're completely new to networking you will want to run the included Setup CD which will guide you step by step though the setup process. Those with a bit more experience can use the Setup CD as a drink coaster and log into the router's web-based utility and set up from there.
wrt54gp21
The router's web-based utility is where all action happens. Believe it or not, most people who buy wireless router never see their router's setup utility. This is because once your router is plugged into your broadband provider and computers, you should be able to get internet access on all the network comps. At this point, most people say "Hey! It works!" and leave it at that. Only problem is they've just left their entire network wide open for attacks.
Changing the default password and setting up security is crucial to the operation and safety of your wireless network. To protect your data and privacy, the Linksys Router offers both WEP and more advanced WPA encryption.
VoIP Performance
Setting up the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT was no harder than setting up any other Linksys routers. Just plug in everything to it's corresponding port, then fire up Firefox (or Internet Explorer) and log into the router to set it up. Total setup time is about 10 minutes.
The WRT54GP2A-AT is designed to work with AT&T CallVantage Phone Service For Broadband and will not work with any other VoIP provider (a Vonage version is available for those who don't like AT&T). Because the WRT54GP2A-AT is tied to AT&T’s VoIP service, AT&T locks certain parts of the router’s firmware to prevent you from flashing it so you can use it with other VoIP providers. We also found you can not disable the firewall (but you can set up DMZs) and the QOS settings are locked as well.
VoIP phone calls were amazingly good. Call quality was super clear and free of any background noise or echoes. Even when the router was downloading a bunch of files off the internet, voice quality never dropped. I have lost connections before with stand alone VoIP phone adapters and separate routers when uploading files and talking at the same time. That never happen with the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT. This is by far the best VoIP adapter I have ever experienced.
Router Performance
Router performance was equally as good as the VoIP performance. The WRT54GP2A-AT is among the fastest wireless router I ever tested, just a tick behind the D-Link DI-624. With my notebook right next to the Linksys router, I measure 37.8 Mbit per second transfer speed, dropping to 37Mbit/sec when I moved 5 feet away. At a distance of 50 feet, wireless speed dropped to a still very acceptable 17.5Mbit/sec.
Going into this review, I really thought a separate router and VoIP adapter was a better way to go than the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT. However, after experiencing the amazing voice quality offered by Linksys QOS feature, I wouldn't use a stand alone VoIP adapter again. Add in the fact that the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT is also among the fastest wireless broadband router we've ever tested and you have yourself a winner.
The Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT sells for $129.81 at CDW and $125.99 at Buy.com. The current low price of $119.99 can be found at our friends from New Egg. You can always get the current low price by checking the price box at the top of this review.
The Good
* Router with built in VoIP
* Quality of Service for super clean phone call even under heavy loads
* Excellent set of wireless security features
* Easy setup
* Fast wireless performance
The Bad
* You are limited to using just one VoIP provider
The Swiss Army Knife of Wireless-G Broadband Routers
The Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT Wireless-G Broadband Router is really four devices in one. First, there's the Wireless Access Point, which lets you connect both Wireless-G and Wireless-B devices to the network. Second, there's a built-in 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch to connect your wired-Ethernet devices together. Third, there is a Router function to lets your whole network share a high-speed Internet connection.
The fourth and most unique function is the VoIP phone adapter which enables high-quality feature-rich VoIP Service through your high-speed connection even while you're surfing the Internet. The router features two standard telephone jacks, each operating independently - like having two phone lines.
wrt54gp2a
The WRT54GP2A-AT is designed for use with AT&T CallVantage VoIP Service. If you don't know what VoIP is then you haven't been reading this site enough (go here for refresher course). The AT&T CallVantage service lets you save with unlimited local and long distance calling. Plus you can enjoy features like Call Waiting, Caller ID, Advanced Voicemail, Call Forwarding and lots of other special phone features. You can even organize your calls, and manage features easily with your own Personal Call Manager home page. And as long as you're an AT&T CallVantage customer you can keep the phone number for life, regardless of where you move in the world. Unlike the normal phone system, VoIP is not location dependant - you can use your VoIP number at home or move it to China if you like.
Wireless-G Broadband Router with 4 Ethernet Ports & 2 Phone Ports
The back of the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT looks like any other Linksys broadband router with the exception of the two phone jacks. The jacks operate completely independent of each other. It's just like having two phone lines and indeed, each jack can have its own phone number - one for the phone and the other for a fax machine for example.
33-124-172-02
Any corded or cordless phone can be plugged into the phone jacks. The WRT54GP2A-AT turns whatever phone that's connected to it into a VoIP phone. This is the biggest advantage of using the WRT54GP2A-AT for VoIP - you don't have to buy any special phones. Before these phone adapters came along, the most common way to get VoIP was to buy a special VoIP phone. The problem with that kind of setup was you had to get rid of that fancy office phone that you paid a lot of money for. For people who want VoIP but wish to keep their landline phones, the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT is a great way to do it.
Quality Of Service
The advantage with integrating the VoIP adapter and router together is that it delivers much better VoIP phone performance than a separate VoIP adapter. This is because the router is the gateway for all the traffic activity going across the network. So the WRT54GP2A-AT gives priority to time critical transmissions like VoIP phone calls. This function, known as Quality Of Service (QOS), allows for crystal clear phone calls even when your Internet connection is under a heavy load. Because of the explosion of VoiP, many broadband cable ISP now offers QOS for extra charge. With the cable company's QOS, you are offered a certain level of bandwidth no matter how much load is on your cable line. However, your router still has the job of dividing this load and can't offer QOS to the VoIP adapter. The Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT can.
The Rest Of The Router Packaging
Besides the broadband wireless router, the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT comes with the user's guide, setup CD, Ethernet cable and power adapter.
33-124-172-04
The router itself is the same size and weight as other Linksys wireless routers. At 7.32" wide by 2.48" tall by 6.08" deep and weighing in at 19.29 oz the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT isn't the most portable router. However, it was never designed to be. The Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router with 2 Phone Ports is designed to be at the center of your home or office network. With this router you can share a high-speed Internet connection, files, printers, and multi-player games, and turn that Internet connection into a high-quality carrier for VoIP calls.
In addition to VoIP, the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT Router can serve as a DHCP Server. It also features a powerful SPI firewall to protect your PCs against intruders and most known Internet attacks. Configuration is a snap with the web browser-based configuration utility.
Linksys Configuration Utility
There are two ways to configure the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT wireless-G router. If you're completely new to networking you will want to run the included Setup CD which will guide you step by step though the setup process. Those with a bit more experience can use the Setup CD as a drink coaster and log into the router's web-based utility and set up from there.
wrt54gp21
The router's web-based utility is where all action happens. Believe it or not, most people who buy wireless router never see their router's setup utility. This is because once your router is plugged into your broadband provider and computers, you should be able to get internet access on all the network comps. At this point, most people say "Hey! It works!" and leave it at that. Only problem is they've just left their entire network wide open for attacks.
Changing the default password and setting up security is crucial to the operation and safety of your wireless network. To protect your data and privacy, the Linksys Router offers both WEP and more advanced WPA encryption.
VoIP Performance
Setting up the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT was no harder than setting up any other Linksys routers. Just plug in everything to it's corresponding port, then fire up Firefox (or Internet Explorer) and log into the router to set it up. Total setup time is about 10 minutes.
The WRT54GP2A-AT is designed to work with AT&T CallVantage Phone Service For Broadband and will not work with any other VoIP provider (a Vonage version is available for those who don't like AT&T). Because the WRT54GP2A-AT is tied to AT&T’s VoIP service, AT&T locks certain parts of the router’s firmware to prevent you from flashing it so you can use it with other VoIP providers. We also found you can not disable the firewall (but you can set up DMZs) and the QOS settings are locked as well.
VoIP phone calls were amazingly good. Call quality was super clear and free of any background noise or echoes. Even when the router was downloading a bunch of files off the internet, voice quality never dropped. I have lost connections before with stand alone VoIP phone adapters and separate routers when uploading files and talking at the same time. That never happen with the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT. This is by far the best VoIP adapter I have ever experienced.
Router Performance
Router performance was equally as good as the VoIP performance. The WRT54GP2A-AT is among the fastest wireless router I ever tested, just a tick behind the D-Link DI-624. With my notebook right next to the Linksys router, I measure 37.8 Mbit per second transfer speed, dropping to 37Mbit/sec when I moved 5 feet away. At a distance of 50 feet, wireless speed dropped to a still very acceptable 17.5Mbit/sec.
Going into this review, I really thought a separate router and VoIP adapter was a better way to go than the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT. However, after experiencing the amazing voice quality offered by Linksys QOS feature, I wouldn't use a stand alone VoIP adapter again. Add in the fact that the Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT is also among the fastest wireless broadband router we've ever tested and you have yourself a winner.
The Linksys WRT54GP2A-AT sells for $129.81 at CDW and $125.99 at Buy.com. The current low price of $119.99 can be found at our friends from New Egg. You can always get the current low price by checking the price box at the top of this review.
The Good
* Router with built in VoIP
* Quality of Service for super clean phone call even under heavy loads
* Excellent set of wireless security features
* Easy setup
* Fast wireless performance
The Bad
* You are limited to using just one VoIP provider
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