You know, it's a funny thing about wireless routers: there are success and horror stories for every brand. I would have been happy to stick with Linksys if it hadn't caused me problems. And I don't mind admiting that in the beginning I did need some help setting it up, because the terminology and configuration options can be confusing to a newbie if you want to change any of the default settings.
I know that it may be hard for some people to believe, but a lot of folks don't know the difference between a WAN or a LAN, or what SSID stands for. The two Linksys manuals I am familiar with aren't that clear if you are new to wireless routers. When Linksys would upgrade the firmware, the layout of the configuration settings would often change and sometimes even the terminology of particular settings, which doesn't make things any easier. (I suspect that most folks don't even change the default network name and password and use a router as it comes out of the box.) Later I had problems regarding security and at that point in time I knew a lot more about what I was doing.
I have no idea why people love to hate Linksys; until the previous post I was not aware of it. I lucked-out the first time I called Linksys and connected with a sympathetic guy who knew a little about Macs and who bothered to take the time to help me. I knew enough that between the two of us we figured it out. (I don't recall the specific problem, but it was more than just basic configuring of the router.)
But I had reason to call Linksys sometime later and they were not helpful at all, and I have read about this sort of thing elsewhere, so there may be a good reasons why some Mac people don't care to deal with Linksys. For some of us it may be more important to support a company who actively supports the Mac platform, even if it costs a little more money. But I realize that many people don't feel that way, either because price is the bottom-line for them or they really cannot afford more expensive gear.
On another Mac forum I frequent folks who do not use Apple equipment mention other brands more often than Linksys, such as Netgear and D-Link. They seem to have fewer compatibility glitches and can utilize wireless printing when it is supported. (That's a nice feature when using a portable Mac. The AppleTalk compatibility built-in to the Airport Extreme Base Station was a nice bonus, as it made it possible for me to share my mint-condition LaserWriter.) If I were looking for a router I would do some poking around and see if there isn't another option that meets more of my needs. I think there are some viable alternatives that cost the same as a comparable Linksys router.
(BTW, I was at a Costco store yesterday and I saw at least two different brands of wireless routers and Costco generally has very competitive prices. Costco has one of the most liberal return policies I know of, so I love to buy techno gadgets there just in case it doesn't work out and I can return the item with zero hassle.)
For me, fiddling around trying to get the Linksys to work on a network with Macs running both OS 9 and OS X, Airport and Airport Extreme cards and with WPA enabled got to be too much of a chore. My time is worth something to me and I could afford the higher-priced alternative, so I went for it. Fortunately, it turned out to be the right decision for me. YMMV.
I know that it may be hard for some people to believe, but a lot of folks don't know the difference between a WAN or a LAN, or what SSID stands for. The two Linksys manuals I am familiar with aren't that clear if you are new to wireless routers. When Linksys would upgrade the firmware, the layout of the configuration settings would often change and sometimes even the terminology of particular settings, which doesn't make things any easier. (I suspect that most folks don't even change the default network name and password and use a router as it comes out of the box.) Later I had problems regarding security and at that point in time I knew a lot more about what I was doing.
I have no idea why people love to hate Linksys; until the previous post I was not aware of it. I lucked-out the first time I called Linksys and connected with a sympathetic guy who knew a little about Macs and who bothered to take the time to help me. I knew enough that between the two of us we figured it out. (I don't recall the specific problem, but it was more than just basic configuring of the router.)
But I had reason to call Linksys sometime later and they were not helpful at all, and I have read about this sort of thing elsewhere, so there may be a good reasons why some Mac people don't care to deal with Linksys. For some of us it may be more important to support a company who actively supports the Mac platform, even if it costs a little more money. But I realize that many people don't feel that way, either because price is the bottom-line for them or they really cannot afford more expensive gear.
On another Mac forum I frequent folks who do not use Apple equipment mention other brands more often than Linksys, such as Netgear and D-Link. They seem to have fewer compatibility glitches and can utilize wireless printing when it is supported. (That's a nice feature when using a portable Mac. The AppleTalk compatibility built-in to the Airport Extreme Base Station was a nice bonus, as it made it possible for me to share my mint-condition LaserWriter.) If I were looking for a router I would do some poking around and see if there isn't another option that meets more of my needs. I think there are some viable alternatives that cost the same as a comparable Linksys router.
(BTW, I was at a Costco store yesterday and I saw at least two different brands of wireless routers and Costco generally has very competitive prices. Costco has one of the most liberal return policies I know of, so I love to buy techno gadgets there just in case it doesn't work out and I can return the item with zero hassle.)
For me, fiddling around trying to get the Linksys to work on a network with Macs running both OS 9 and OS X, Airport and Airport Extreme cards and with WPA enabled got to be too much of a chore. My time is worth something to me and I could afford the higher-priced alternative, so I went for it. Fortunately, it turned out to be the right decision for me. YMMV.