U.S. Robotics Wireless MAXg Router (USR5461)

I've got this second hand, after my router fried and I tried a few in between. Simple to set-up, very stable, I connect it with a Voip Adapter, one computer cabled in and up to 6 other devices in wi-fi.
Very pleased with dual voltage (110 - 220 V), which is a plus for me.
Also, I am very satisfied with the support website: it is good and easy to navigate. Contrary to some other brands, 3Com has made it easy to download manuals, firmware upgrades etc.

This product is well worth the price! It was simple to set up and I can use my printer with all my computers via the USB port on the router. The service was also good from the supplier. The unit arrived intact and promptly.I'm very well pleased with this unit. 125bps ...top speed for a G router!!!

I had all linksys earlier, but when I changed my printer to new canon mfc 4150 it had only usb port, so I had to buy a new print server, this router not only updated my wireless but also provided me with a print server function. I use 2 laptops and one server at home both laptop use wireless works great, and server use a wire, all machine can use printer works great. The only problem I had once - I think the firmware corrupted and USR support fixed it in 2 days - first their general support could not fix it, because the wireless light went off and even the router could not be accessed by a wired computer, laptop got some funny windows assigned IP , and no admin screen on 192.168.2.1 showed up .. so the next day their adv tech support called to update the firmware, tftp command from the command window updated the firmware and all lights came up nice and bright - ie a working router again ..

I have media com cable a motorola modem, connected to this maxg, and from maxg i connect one linksys vonage phone adaptor, that also has dns server and i use both just have them on diff ip range..

so basically working nice for me for a year or so ..

My old Robotics wireless router (USR8054) works better than this newer model. My old system had two antennas, this one only has one. Not sure if that's the reason. All I know is I tried this MAXg and it could not transmit through my home's plaster walls as well as the older model I have. It's probably OK for those with sheetrock walls and without steel beams/studs.

If you are looking for a router with the latest in security and simple set-up for a reasonable price... this is the router for you. It does what it's supposed to do... send a decent wireless signal, allow wired connections, and provide security against people using your network.

I have an issue with the Print server (did not work for the Dell Printer). Dell has not been able to resolve the issue if the issue lies with their software or otherwise.

Overall, I think this is a good router and has worked very well for me for the past two years. I give it a 5, even though the print server did not work for me. Provides what I need it for - wireless and network security!!!

I have owned this product for several months now. I have to go through a stupid step to use it. I was having a really hard time getting connected to the Web after I hooked up this router. I finally figured out a fool-proof way. I have to turn on my laptop and let it boot up. Then I have to walk over to the router and unplug it on the back of the unit and wait about 30 seconds. I then plug it back in. After a minute or two of waiting, I then get my wireless connection to the Web. How dumb! I should have returned it, but waited too long (guess I was hoping for a miracle). If I buy another router, it won't be this brand.

I purchased the USR5461 router to set up a wireless connection a PC located in another room from the cable modem. I installed a USR5417 PCI card in the PC. Installation of both the card and the router were straight forward and the wireless networking came up painlessly. However, early on I had trouble maintaining the connection so I downloaded a new driver for the PCI card and that fixed the issue of dropped connections. I get 54Mb connection routinely but cannot get the 125 Mb MaxG rate.

The primary reason I chose this router is for the built-in print server. I wanted to print from the PC to the HP printer in my wife's office where the cable modem resides. While I successfully installed the printer on both computers and printed from each, the print server would hang in the middle of most print jobs. The only way to clear it was to power cycle the router. I'm investigating newer printer drivers but so far nothing has helped.

Bottom line is: OK networking but poor print server preformance.

I think this Router is like other ones. Not so goog for me. 2 or 3 times a week i need to power off the router because it doesn't give internet access.

This router does everything it describes.
The USB printer setup was very easy and it works flawlessly.
The wireless connection is very fast to connect.
The range is pretty good.
The one option I miss with this one is the ability to assign a DNS within the router configuration. You have to use windows network options to set them locally instead of setting one in the router. This would have been helpful since my ISP's DNS's are terrible and when people visit and connect I have to walk them through the process to avoid the "page not found" that charter frequently sticks you with.
I bought 2 of these - one for me and one for my in-laws and both of them have performed great.

Combined with the matching 5417A network card, this makes an excellent wireless setup. Can't tell a difference between wired or wireless when on the internet. It is a full function router with every feature found on Linksys models with the added bonus of a print server (works perfectly for me to). The setup is easier to do than the Linksys WTR54GL. I didn't need to use the CD that came with it. Just go to 198.168.2.1 and follow the prompts.

Highly recommended.

Have been using this router for 10 months now without major problems. Laptop with XP and desktop with 98SE and a Canon i860 printer all work flawless on the internet, LAN and print server. Tech support has been very informative when I needed some additional information when I was planning to install some signal extenders.
No complaints.

I bought this product because I wanted a printer server integrated with my router, so that everybody in my house (sometimes up to 5 computers) could freely share a printer. I had already enjoyed such nicety with my previous SMC router, except that the printer connection was based in old parallel connector instead of USB of this router, and my new printer required USB. So I also upgraded my old router from 802.11b to this router which is compatible, but also supports faster 802.11g.
So far my experience has been excellent. Almost no problems. Occassionally I have to reset the router (turn off and then on) to unhung the printer when there are printer problems (and I mean the printer, not the router). This is really minor and rare though, so I am very satisfied all in all....

I just replaced a D-Link DI-624 router with this one from US Robotics. I am very happy with the product! The setup was easy enough although I did have a minor problem. Since I was changing from one router to another I had to release & renew my IP addresses (ipconfig) before turning on the router and my modem. It wasn't quite as simple as the directions said but it worked out fine, no big deal. The range is excellent; the router is upstairs and I get great reception on the other side of the house through the floor and numerous walls. The security setup was much easier than the D-Link too. Plus, and this is a big plus for me, the print server actually works flawlessly. Finally! A product that works as advertised!

Great router, very easy to setup, works flawlessly. Haven't connected my printer to router yet, hence the 4 stars.

I purchased about a month ago. Other than noted below I have not had to reset the router, I am using ATT DSL. Setup as others have said is very simple. The setup program has all the flexibility I need to configure Mac addressing and encryption. I am connecting to the router with wireless cards/USB (both B and G) from Belkin, Linksys and Netgear.

Don't count of the print server working. I could not get it to work at all with Win98/ME and XP only works occasionally. I used this printer (HP 895) on another older router that had a print server for many years without a problem. When printing from XP it would print once and then I have to reset the router to print again. Tech support was no help and USR does not provide a list of printers. I could have purchased a cheaper router without the print server, so I give it 3 stars. I used windows print sharing on the printer but now I have to keep a PC on all the time. Too bad, if the print server worked I think USR could sell a bunch of these.

Easy setup, great signal & works well with the USB adapter if you don't have wireless cards in all of your systems

I was using a linksys router but it was slow when using my laptops and would have to be reset about once a month. Since purchasing this router the connection speed on the laptops are faster and as of yet I have only had to reset the router once which was the fault of my internet company. I bought this router also for the built in print server but my old lexmark printer was a peer to peer and was not able to use. Purchased a new printer and it works well. I would and have suggested this router to others.

I was a little disappointed when at first I could not connect at 125Mbps. After some troubleshooting on their website I learned that if you have other wireless devices that are not MAXg you will only get a 54Mbps connection. Also mentioned is possible interference from cordless telephones (who doesn't have several of these nowadays). After unplugging my networks two wireless printers and one wireless ethernet bridge it did connect my laptop at 125Mbps. I probably wouldn't have purchased this setup if I'd known. But wait, it is supposed to give me 50% greater range, I found the range is about the same or less.

I have 2 laptops (Macbook Pro & Gateway), and 2 desktops (HP & Gateway). I have owned 2 other routers and both did not operate as promised. I finally purchased the MAXg and within a couple of minutes all of my computers were connected to the internet. All but the Macbook Pro had a connection to my Canon i560. Because of my consistant lack of time and patients when I needed to print something from my Mac I just made a hard connection to the printer and printed. However this past weekend I had time to figure out the wireless connection issues, and presto I found the OS X instructions on the US Robotics site and I was able to make that connection. BTW if any one is having an issue with the Macbook Pro and wireless connect to a iSeries Canon use the bjc 7000, and you will be squared away. By and large this Router is great!

This equipmet was easy to install and use. I am using all features (wired, wireless & USB printer server).

Everything Great: easy ordering, arrived quickly, easy installation - took 20 minutes, very good instruction/user manual - has been working for fine for 2 months with no problems.

I am impressed with a lot of things about this router. It has great performance, many functions, a low price and above all: the easiest and most straight-forward administration interface I have ever seen on a network device.

I thought I was perhaps going to have installation problems because my adsl modem is also a 1-port router, and I was not sure if the MAXg router setup would handle that easily. I was wrong, though: It was a breeze.

The step-by-step setup was easy to understand, with descriptions and help files available directly in the web interface. The wireless security functions are easy to set up and enabled by default, which is a no-brainer that many other routers miss.

The print server worked flawlessly and the setup was straightforward because all the information and help files necessary are built into the router administration interface, with pictures and step-by-step instructions. Great.

The wireless performance seems good, but to be honest I haven't stress tested it. It worked with my laptop all over the house and in my garden, and that is what matters to me.

The only complaint I have is that the interface perhaps is a bit too simple. It lacks the "total control" functions with all the status data and extremely detailed network configuration functions that some other routers I have owned used to have. One example is the ability to assign an certain IP to a connected computer based on its MAC address. It's not a problem for me at the time, but if I get more computers in the future it will make port forwarding more difficult (for using DC++ and other file sharing programs, for instance).

Overall, I am very pleased with this purchase.

Great range, easy setup, hasn't gone down yet as long as you enable security. Highly recommend.

This router was good for about 3 months. It worked great on my wired machines. The wireless worked great for MS machines, but my IBook wouldn't connect. I tried to upgrade to the latest firmware, but it crapped out and I had to send it in for repair. I have a webserver on the network and I couldn't connect to it locally. Suppoort said that the firewall wouldn't let me and there was no solution. I finally bought a linksys. Couldn't be happier.

I got this refurbished from overstock and although it didn't come with the installation CD, I had no problem at all getting everything set up in about 10 minutes.

The US Robotics website had very good instructions around setting up the router and the printer so the absence of the CD was no big deal.

I currently have 2 laptops and a desktop that are able to use the router to access the printer (HP 845c) and the internet wirelessly with zero problems.

Not sure how the speed is yet as have a satellite connection which is notoriously unreliable... :(

This router works excellent and most importantly tech. support is toll free and extremely knowledgeable.
Tech. support walked me through the installation and set up my desktop and laptop to wirelessly print from my printer.
I can take my laptop outside and it works great with high speed and coverage is in my entire home with no dead spots anywhere.
The other router companies advertise more, sell directly through Dell.. but US Robotics delivers a quality product.
You won't be sorry you bought it.
God Bless, Al Stevens

Installation from my desktop is smooth and straight forward.
Within 15 minutes, our two desktops and one laptop are connected to the internet, and start printing.

However, printing through the printer server are limited in functions. You have to disable "advanced printing features". Havn't got chance to try out other advanced options yet, but our Canon MP390 would not print the multiple-page document in the proper order ("Reverse Order" option is disabled, "Collate" works ), it stacks Page 2 on top of Page 1, etc. And you have to manually sort the printout. This is a pain if you try to print multiple copies of a big document.

I now simply work around this by unplugging from the router and replugging the printer to my PC whenever I want to do some serious printing. It's not too hard because my desktop and the router are sitting side by side, and it's a usb connection.

But beware of this when you consider buying this product.

If you are looking for a router with the latest in security, extremely easy set-up, and a print server for a reasonable price...then stop looking and buy this router. It does what it's supposed to do...sends a good wireless signal, allows up to 4 wired connections, and serves as a print server (works fine with my Canon i860). If you are somewhat technically challenged, and just want a wirless router that you can plug in, follow the set-up and then forget about it...this one is for you. Now I do have to discourage you from also purchasing the matching USB wireless adapter...the software that comes with the USB adapter is cumbersome and locked up my computer.

I was replacing a Netgear wireless router and needed to
fulfill these requirements:
* USB print server
* multiple 100BT ethernet ports
* 802.11a/g wireless
* Through-the-web (TTW) management
* good firewall capabilities
* No requirements on Microsoft protocols/products

I first looked at current Netgear routers but ended up with this one. It achieves all my requirements and is very inexpensive compared to its competition. As a bonus it adheres closely to RFC2979 (IETF firewall requirements) and RFC2811 (Internet Printing Protocol) and the manual discusses Linux support.

I will purchase again.

In less than 10 minutes I had my old PC running Windows 98 and my new Apple MacBook interfacing and running wireless without problems. All through the usr.com web site. I did later put in MAC address of Apple to limit wireless use from "outsiders" as well as other security features, again with easy set up.

I have installed several routers in home and office networks. The US Robotics 5461 router is by far the simpliest one yet. The software detects if an internet connection is available and which type. It greatly simplifies the issues associated with DSL versus cable and the need for PPoE information.

There is a firmware error in the USR5461 wherein the adminitrator's
interface is immediately accessable to anyone on the internal network
(e.g., drive-by wireless sniffers) simply by entering the the router's
WAN IP address in the address bar of any browser. It makes no difference
whether or not 'remote administration' is disabled or enabled.
If you are using this router, create a new and complex password NOW
and change it often. Meanwhile, complain vigorously through email and by
telephone to usrobotics until the error is corrected. They are aware of
this problem yet, don't seem in much of a hurry to fix it.

I set the unit to 192.168.1.76 and all prints came out mirror image. Customer support advised settings to no avail. But when I changed the IP address, it printed alright. However, I was never able to implement my automatic double-sided printing so I exchanged it for a Linksys PSUS4 which had no problem doing automatic double-sided printing and using any ip address.

I've installed 4 wireless routers until I settled on the popular Linksys WRT54G. I wanted a wireless printsever so I got the Linksys WPS54GU2 which ended up in the dumpster.

When I needed more range I started considering changing my router for something a bit more powerful... enter USR5461.

Not only did it take literally 1 minute to install and configure, but it also covered some spots previously no signal could reach.

But the golden feature is the built-in printserver. In no time I could print my documents from across the apartment. Very fast.

Con: For no known reason, it goes AWOL every once in a while and you have to reboot it.

Other than that, it's the perfect product and I'll be on the lookout for USR products from now on. Kudos!

I had a Dlink and it died. This router is fantastic for the price. Easy to setup. Enabled security easy too. If I had an EZ button I'd be pressing it on this router.

Pros:
1. Very easy to setup (my first time setting up a wireless router). In fact I think it pretty much worked after plugging it in. Logging in to the settings allows you to set up secure mode, if desired. You can designate MAC addresses for specific wireless devices which are allowed to connect, and block all others.
2. The print server works easily. As with any printer, you need to install the print driver on each machine you want to print from. That's it.
3. The range is good enough for my 1600 sq feet on one floor.

Neutral points: Does not support some advanced print functions. Does not support scanner function on multi-function devices. (AFAIK, no print server does this.)

Problems: I am not sure whether these are problems with Comcast Cable service or the router....
1. IP addresses sometimes expire (often overnight). When this happens the connection to the DHCP server also fails. I have to reboot in order to get a new address. Rather annoying. This can be solved by setting the IP address manually on the wireless connection, but that has to be changed whenever you want to use the wireless on your notebook on another wireless network.
2. Lately it has been "dying". My wireless devices cannot even see the network even though the wireless router is on. After I unplug it for a little while it works again. (I was here looking to see if others had that problem)

Overall: I have really been happy with this router. Good wireless signal and printer server for a very low price when it goes on sale. I just hope I can get this signal problem solved.

A great 5-star 802.11g router, I got two.
But it is poor in wireless bridge mode. The web admin interface does not handle 'Wireless Bridge' mode configuration well, there is no status for Wireless Bridge, or elaborated help doc .
Even if you can make it to work, the speed on the bridged side is low (70 Kbps). The Tech support seemed unfamiliar with bridge support ( they seemed happily surprised that the bridge mode actually worked)

I would actually rate it closer to 4.5 stars. The range is comparable to the Linksys WRT54G v5 that it replaced so don't be discouraged by the single antenna on the USR5461.

The router software interface is simple and pretty straight forward. I don't think the options are laid out as nicely as with Linksys and D-Link, but it still works well. The HTML code is a bit sloppy because it doesn't render as well in Firefox as it does in Internet Explorer. The interface is still usable with FF though.

The print server is VERY easy to setup and works perfectly with our Brother HL-1440 laser printer. Once the router detects the printer, it creates a network printer address (which you get by logging in), which you just enter in the Add Printer Wizard in Windows. You'll need to install drivers for your printer, but no drivers or special configuration is needed to connect to the print server.

Transferring files wirelessly using normal 54mbps mode is decently fast. I transferred about 700MB of files wirelessly in about 10 minutes from a computer downstairs to my laptop upstairs. Both computers use 11g wireless cards made by different companies: Shuttle PN18 and D-Link DWL-G650.

The DHCP server doesn't let me manually associate IP addresses to MAC addresses, but that isn't a big issue. My old D-Link 713p let me do that, which made port forwarding a lot easier.

My biggest complaint is that Bittorrent will slow http traffic to a crawl when it's connecting to peers and seeds. This doesn't happen all the time, and once the torrent is going, everything works smoothly and quickly.

Also, the firmware is open source, but the router itself does not have enough memory to hold any of the current opensource firmwares like OpenWRT or DD-WRT. The processor that the router uses is supposed to be compatible though. Maybe someone will come up with something once the router becomes more popular.

I was able to set up this router easily even though it was the first one I ever used. It serves both the desk top and laptop while allowing both access to the printer. I made a few mistakes with the settings, but then I reread the instructions and was able to reload the drivers on both systems to enable it work with Win XP. Great product so far.

This US Robotics model 5461 router is by far the easiest to setup than any of 4 I've done. The 5461 automatically detects ISP settings, has another channel other than channel 6 selected as default, has WPA security selected as default and has universal plug&play disabled, and all one need do is follow installation wizard, enter WPA encryption key when prompted and turn off SSID broadcast. I was up and running in only about 5 minutes! Note WPA security is very secure whereas WEP is not secure, and both SSID broadcast and universal plug&play should be turned off for best wireless security. For more details on wireless security go to www.twit.tv and www.grc.com. Range of this router is as good or better than the excellent AT&T 6850G router I have, and both are much better than a D-Link and Hawking I tried that were such poor range that I returned them for refund. This US Robotics also has removable antenna that allows attatchment of stronger antenna devices to further increase range if needed. The only negative I can think of is US Robotics tech support is only Monday thru Friday 9 AM to 6 PM CT (that's 10 AM to 7 PM ET) and not 24/7 like AT&T and some others, but I'd buy another if needed and highly recommend this US Robotics router to everyone. This product would easily get 5 stars except for limited tech support hours.

Best set up of any router I have tried hands down. Amazon did another great job as well.

I was looking for a router for a new HP "LiveStrong" XP laptop. I already had a working XP PC with a 2WIRE DSL modem and a printer. I wanted to be able to print from the laptop through the router and USR seemed to be one of three router that do that (also, linksys and SMC). The reason why I chose URS was that it had a USB printer connection (linksys doesnt) and got great previous reviews (SMC had a lot of negatives). I am very happy with this gadget. It's small and stylish. The installation was tricky because I had to change some settings on the laptop that I didn't know about. I went through installing the software on laptop fast, but still was unable to connect. I called the tech support number and got through in just two minutes. I had the issue resolved with a patient technician who was able to point me to the XP settings that were preventing me from using the internet. The singal is excellent - I walked outside of the house to test it and the streaming video did not stop for buffering once. I have quite a few walls in the house and a terrible cell phone reception, but no problems whatsoever with the router.

My other PC does not have a LAN connection yet but the great thing is that I can still get to the internet while being connected to my 2WIRE modem via USB outlet (the router does not block the connection for non-LAN cables).

Printing works like magic - very fast. I found the setup instructions online at www.usr.com.

I also have an old e-Machines PC that has Win98 running on it. I tried installing the software on it, but I couldn't even get to the setup screen. I think it is the problem of the Windows 1998, not the router (I'm saying it in regard to an earlier review in which the person complains about compatibility with Win98). I would not suggest it to a machine with OS older than 2000.

The only problem I have encountered was being trown into LowID in eMule. I have not been able to resolve the issue yet.

If you are looking for a router with a printing capability, I am strongly recommending USR MaxG 5461 to you. It's light, easy to install and reliable.

I am very pleased with this router. It the only router, that I'm aware of, that has a built in print server. Set-up was easy. It walked me through security and encryption without giving me all the techie verbiage. Buy this product if you want wireless at home. Hook you printer up to it and print from any room in the house. Signal is great. I have it buried in my basement under my desk and still was getting an "Excellent Signal" the next floor up.