ZyXEL X-550 Xtrememimo 802.11G MIMO Wireless Broadband Router Reviews

• Easy to set up and great signal strength

  
  By A2615JKP2EEDH4 on 2007-03-27
  After my Linksys WRT54G failed, I was not looking forward to another wireless router installation 'experience'. It took the better part of one day to install the Linksys with the aid of multiple downloaded documents from their web site to finally get the right combination to work. The Linksys was still in warranty when it failed, but no amount of money or service would convince me to continue using this unit. I was tired of having to reconfigure it about once a month when it would just decide to quit working.
  
  So, thanks to high ratings for the Zyxel X-550 router on Amazon.com, I thought I would go this route. I am not a real technical writer so I am not going to get into the comptuer buzz words that the geeks will use (I do not understand what they say anyway). I do not care how it works, as long as it works and is easy to install.
  
  Well, I followed the basic installation instructions and it was working within minutes. I use a Bellsouth provided DSL modem and there was absolutely not one single hang up to get on-line in just a few minutes. Setting up the security encryption was just about as easy.
  
  I have used the Zyxel X-550 for several months now without a hiccup. I have two, and sometimes three, different brands of wireless access points connected most of the time without any problems. I did add a Zyxel directional antenna to one unit which was in a bad location.
  
  The Zyxel X-550 is easy to configure and is now basically one of those items I just ignore and forget about because it just does its job day in and day out and needs no attention.
  
  

• Best router I have purchased so far

  
  By A1L2JR1NHXRG1R on 2006-06-28
  I've been through a bunch of routers and found various faults with them. The last purchase was a Belkin Pre-N wireless router which had terrific wireless range, but rotten firewall and routing capabilities. It now serves as a wireless access point.
  
  So here's my caveat - I can't comment on the wireless performance as I don't have it turned on. I did like the fact that the wireless functionality is turned off with a dip switch however.
  
  I came to the Zyxel after reading that it has a large NAT table, which in simple terms means it can handle lots of connections if, say, one were to use peer to peer software that talked to a lot of other systems. This has so far proven to be true and the router has been solid in terms of performance while using said software.
  
  The other thing I read is that the Zyxel has quality of service built in to it by virtue of the Ubicom StreamEngine technology. The idea apparently is that StreamEngine is intelligent enough to prioritize your VOIP and other traffic at the expense of less critical types of traffic, thus ensuring your conversations over your Vonage line (for example) stay clear. I am still a little unclear as to how well this really works. The router interface is mostly quite clear and easy to use, and the StreamEngine sections is the same.
  
  There are some irritations however. For example, Comcast has deployed "PowerBoost" recently, a technology which apparently gives you extra burst speeds when downloading large amounts of data. I've seen this in action using the speed tests at Broadbandreports.com - my 8192 down connection appears to double depending upon the testing locale I choose. However, when I enable StreamEngine this niceness seems to go away. Frankly it isn't a very big deal as 8192 kb/s down is pretty good anyway, but I am not entirely clear what effect this has on the upstream bandwidth as well.
  
  Upstream bandwidth has to be much better managed as it is considerably less generous (768k). Even though my Vonage line apparently only needs 90k for good performance, either I am not getting what I ought to or there are some serious network problems hitting me occasionally. If you want a telephone line that gives you adequate call quality all the time you are better off with a POTS line, but I can get the functionality of my ninety dollar a month POTS line from Vonage for about a third of the price, plus free calls to my parents in the UK. For that price I will take the rough spots.
  
  Back to the subject which is the router. The StreamEngine function works by testing your upstream bandwidth when it starts up and shows a measured upstream throughput. It can take a good while to do this and holds up traffic (i.e. no Internet activity while it does it). The calculated value has varied wildly, quite honestly. I have seen ranges from a few hundred k to over twenty thousand! Putting in the actual value from the provider doesn't seem to have made a whole bunch of difference as I still suffer from occasional poor voice quality.
  
  Don't get me wrong, I may just not have quite figured out the best way to use this yet and as a router I like it very much - highly recommend it in fact. Also you need to think about the fact that any issues I have with VOIP may be affected by all sorts of things - the time of day; equipment problems with the ISP, or the VOIP vendor, or both; and so on.
  
  [...]
  
  ADDENDUM:
  An unreleased version of firmware for this router obtained from the Zyxel forum of the previously mentioned [...] seems to work very well indeed. I don't know if that was the fix, or if my VOIP provider has resolved some network issues, but the router and my VOIP service have been very good since. Still a highly recommended buy. I can see myself keeping this device in service even after the 802.11n standard is ratified, and just purchasing another box to replace my wireless AP.
  
  

• Solid router with great features

  
  By A1DMVNB3A02CL6 on 2006-06-12
  After struggling with other routers that had firmware bugs and hardware problems, the Zyxel X-550 impresses me with its reliability. Not only that, but it has some features that I haven't found in very many routers. Manual configuration of routing table entries and named schedules are just two examples. The named schedules can be used to control when content filtering, port mapping, and other functions are activated. You only have to enter a time period once and give it a name to use everywhere else.
  
  The router supports the most advanced encryption options, including WPA PSK with either TKIP or AES. It also supports negotiation of TKIP versus AES, and WPA versus WPA2. That makes it support a wide range of wireless clients, taking advantage of their maximum capabilities.
  
  Security is no problem for this router. It supports MAC filtering, and can disable SSID broadcasts to further secure the wireless network. It has very flexible content filtering to block unwanted sites. The stateful firewall shows all ports in stealth mode with "SheildsUp".
  
  The wireless coverage is also impressive. I had no problems with signal quality, where other routers failed to reach in my house.
  
  The port triggering and forwarding all work as advertised, including port 113 (IDENTD) which has caused me problems with nearly every other router. I have not found any firmware bugs.
  
  The firmware keeps running, with no reboots or strage errors. The wireless is just as flawless. The communication speed is great, including opening new connections through the stateful firewall.
  
  There are features for prioritizing some packets for gaming and other applications. There are also features to support things like NetMeeting, which require special handling.
  
  The status log has options to send it via e-mail, and options to enable just the items you want in the log.
  
  There are so many features I haven't mentioned it's worth downloading the manual from the Zyxel site if you're thinking about buying this.
  
  

• Fantastic for VOIP (Vonage)

  
  By A22KHQ0R8EHJXT on 2006-06-28
  I recently got Vonage and was unhappy with the voice quality when uploading from my PC. The Vonage adapter was supposed to have QOS (Quality of Service) for downstream PC's, but it didn't work for me.
  I got this router, and was amazed. It worked great and handled QOS perfectly out of the box - no configuration required. As a test, I called someone on the Vonage phone while uploading at full speed from my PC (bittorrent). The person on the other end of the line didn't hear any voice quality degradation. Highly recommended for this feature alone.
  
  

• Best router I've had in a long time

  
  By A1FRZBJGGORTY0 on 2006-07-26
  By far, this is the best router I've had in a long time. My previous router, the D-Link DI-624 WirelessG, was unstable, had a poor signal range, and over-all proved to be a tremendous headache. I decided it was time to replace it, and after a great deal of research, purchased the Zyxel X-550 XtremeMimo 802.11G.
  
  Firstly, there was one quirk on setup that I feel needs to be mentioned. I had an issue where my wireless clients were receiving the wrong Gateway address. Everything else was just fine, but for some reason they received a completely different IP for the gateway. The LAN clients, in contrast, had no such issues. This was solved by simply changing the network IP distributed by the router. Very strange issue, but it was ultimately easily solved.
  
  Beyond that one issue though, this router has been fantastic! Excellent wireless signal strength, range, and speed. To put it in perspective, with the old DI-624, I was lucky to get one bar of signal strength, with a speed of 2MB/s, at a range of 20feet, through one wall. Now with the X-550, I'm getting a full five bars, 35MB/s, through three walls, fifty feet away!
  
  The rest of the router, so far, is equally superb. The firewall was very easy to set-up and configure, as was the Mac filtering, routing tables, and firewall exceptions. Up time has been superb as well. No crashes in the month I've been using it.
  
  Overall, I could easily recommend this router to anyone who needs a stronger, faster, better wireless router in their home. It is simply a great router at an equally great price.
  
  
  
• Setup not designed for novice users, Died Early
  By A3SLC8F6VIWXIR on 2007-03-22
  *Added November, 2008*
  Mine first got flaky last week and this morning died completely. Apparently the power adapter shipped with these was marginal, and Zyxel is sending me a replacement. But, I have work which needs doing this weekend ... so it was off to the local Staples for a new Netgear router. I figured it was time to upgrade to Wireless-N and Gigabit hardwired anyhow. Prior to this Zyxel I had always bought Netgear hubs, adapters, routers and they never once failed or burped on me.
  *********************************
  
  I bought this unit based primarly on previous rave reviews here on Amazon, but nobody mentioned that it can be more complicated to setup for a casual network admin. than are products oriented to the home/small office user such as from Netgear and others.
  
  Once I got the router working with my Verizon DSL/Westell modem combination all was well. However, compared to the Netgear router this replaced (an older 802.11b unit) the quick start guide and setup procedure is lacking for novice users. Zyxel seems oriented towards the professional who works with this sort of thing all the time. After reinstalling my Netgear router and spending some quality time on google I figured out that the MAC address might be an issue. I wrote down the MAC address from my older Netgear, reinstalled the Zyxel, configured the Zyxel to use the same MAC address as the Netgear had been using and tada, all was well! I also manually changed the default IP address for the router to the commonly used gateway address of 192.68.0.1 so that I didn't have to go change all of our computers. It seems strange that Zyxel defaults to a non-standard gateway address.
  
  If you are prepared to get down into the details and figure out your correct configuration then this may be the router for you, but if you are looking for plug-and-play with a CD based configurator then this product might frustrate you.
  
  Performance wise I am thrilled with the upgrade, but who wouldn't be when moving up from 802.11b?
  
  
• Do NOT buy for a Mac only network
  By A3IRPZD2X1TXJO on 2007-07-31
  After much frustration with trying to setup the router through Safari on the Mac, I finally switched on the PC. Aahhh. It actually does work well after all.
  
  Almost all of the setup options kept producing errors when trying to setup on the Mac, but worked smoothly on the PC. Very annoying.
  
  
• Fast... when it worked
  By AG4QPBLVE0856 on 2007-12-08
  Worked well... when it worked. It was fast, reasonably easy to set up, and rarely needed to be reset. Then it started acting glitchy. At first I thought it was my cable modem or my cable service, but it was not that. I replaced the router with an Airport Extreme (which has been great) and sent the Zyxel back to California in September for service. After repeated emails and phone calls to customer support it turns out that..... THEY LOST THE ROUTER. They have no clue where it is and keep passing the buck. This has been one of the lamest, most time-wasting experiences I have ever faced.
  
  If the router works, great. But if you need help with your warranty... good luck. Hopefully they don't lose your router and make up excuses and fail to keep promises like they did with me. Two months later and it seems they have no intention on making good on their warranty. Boo Zyxel!
  
  The worst part of all of this is that I know they got the router, have proof of delivery (which they have seen also) and..... they now have my email address and keep sending me spam of their products. Double boo.
  
  Sorry if this angers the Zyxel fans out there. I used to be a huge fan, but after this experience I am no longer pleased with them. Two thumbs down for their service. If an item is under warranty, just replace it and make good on your warranty, otherwise it's not even worth the paper it's printed on.
  
  
• Great Router!
  By A27NOXF1EMIJC on 2007-03-04
  We struggled with a Linksys router for years, with increasingly frequent times where we needed to reset it manually because it had stopped all through traffic. We also had poor reception in parts of our house with every other router we tried. I became fairly experienced with routers just trying to tweak them into working better. Finally gave up on Linksys and bought the Zyxel X-550 after much research.
  
  We've had it for a few months now and have never had any problems. Never! We run multiple PC computers (Windows) and a Mac, and also a Wii game system and Tivo DVR that are connected 24/7 and they all get great reception and stay connected all the time. Not even one hiccup. The Zyxel was easy to set up and has been completely maintenance free. This is a great router.
  
  
• it just works
  By AB1NE2S3TA6NJ on 2007-06-12
  I am not into computers as far as the innerworkings are concerned. I like to turn it on and get to what I need to do. Zyxel did just that. Also, I am in a concrete building and I still get signal on all three levels of the building. I would recommend it to anyone.
  
  Carl Caylor
  
  
• Awesome Product!!
  By A1REXRQLHC9UWQ on 2007-07-12
  I kept reading such wonderful reviews about this router that I had to buy it. I really needed to set up a wireless network in my home because I wanted to put my computer in my bedroom. Which incidently is on the opposite side of the house of where the modem is located at. Considering there is a large bedroom, a bathroom, 2 closets, and a hall between the area where the router would be at and my room, I was having doubts about any router being able to handle that many walls. All I can say is that this product totally blew my mind. I thought that I would probably get a "good" signal at best or maybe even end up with a dead spot, but low and behold... I have an "Excellent" signal about 80% of the time and a "very good" the other 20%. I can download music and do all I normally did and best of all I haven't lost connection once. Besides that, I am not the most computer savy person, but the instructions were so easy to follow I had no problems setting everything up. It took me about 15 min. max... including setting up security. If you want a router that really works, that is easy to set up, and that you won't have to worry about, buy this one you won't be sorry.
  
  
• it's great--now that it's finally working!
  By A2QKITP8WEPFPQ on 2007-09-14
  I set up my Zxyel X-550 in minutes (I used an Ethernet connection to my desktop, and was planning to connect wirelessly with laptop), and all seemed well through the installation process. Then I tried to connect with my laptop, and even though it could "see" the connection, it could not connect, nor could it diagnose the problem.
  
  I spent a lot of time on the phone with Zyxel tech support covering all of the most obvious possible problem areas. Eventually, the rep told me that my unit was probably defective, and that the next step would be to send it back for replacement.
  
  But I'm stubborn, and I remembered that another reviewer mentioned a MAC address problem. So I poked around in the online admin interface for the router (instructions for accessing this program are included with the router), and lo and behold, MAC filtering was enabled! This meant that any computer whose MAC address wasn't listed couldn't connect.
  
  I'm a reasonably savvy computer user, but not a techie, so I had to Google "what is my MAC address?" to find out how to locate it on my laptop(you can do this via the DOS prompt--Google it yourself, and you should find instructions easily). I entered the MAC addresses of both my laptop's wireless adapter and Ethernet adapter into the online admin program, just to be safe; I probably really only needed the wireless adapter.
  
  As soon as I did that--voila! I had a connection!
  
  So if you're having a problem similar to mine, try this first before you send in your unit for an exchange.
  
  
• Finally One That Works!
  By A3R1HCYZERIHPF on 2007-02-03
  After installing two different brands where they were either defective, or extremely dificult to install, I installed this (to me) unknown brand. It was an easy install and works flawlessly. The range is great, speed improved. Very pleased!
  
  
• Flawed, then Dead
  By A12H036FVDA44 on 2007-11-04
  This router did most of what it was supposed to. In basic areas (range, speed) it was fine.
  
  However I had at least three major problems with it:
  
  First, the admin interface is very poorly designed, with little help or documentation. There are whole sections that use only technical acronyms with no explanation or help text. You'll be completely lost if you don't already know what "SPI" is, and how WPA2 relates to AES. I majored in IT in college - not that long ago - and I ran into parts that completely baffled me. I have no idea how an average consumer is supposed to figure it out.
  
  Second, its firewall was incompatible with basic, common FTP software on my Windows XP computer. It wouldn't block it completely, just every other file (literally). Unchecking the "SPI" checkbox for the X-550 fixed the problem, but that disables the firewall completely.
  
  Third, it completely died on me after less than a year. The power lights don't even come on anymore.
  
  I also had a problem where my Mac Mini didn't want to stay connected to it sometimes. It could have been a problem with the Mac, although it hasn't happened so far with the Netgear router that replaced the X-550 after it died.
  
  In short, I wouldn't recommend the X-550. I am much happier now with my Netgear WPN824.
  
  
• The reviews were right!
  By A1QGZ22H0SVF9Z on 2006-11-03
  No problems whatsoever!!! Great signal and range. I highly recommend it!!
  
  
• Excellent, as long as it doesn't have 1.4 firmware on it
  By A2GE0R26IONINY on 2007-02-09
  Bought it based on excellent reviews and the need for the QoS feature. It had the 1.4 firmware on it, which is known to be flaky and did seem to be in my case. I tried to back it down to 1.3 without success, and then tried to upgrade it to a 1.5 Beta release and bricked it. I did an advance RMA and got another one direct from Zyxel. It had 1.3 and has been working as well as all the positive reviews said it would. So, a bit of a hassle in my case, but it ended well. On a positive note, the shipping on the original purchase was amazingly fast.
  
  
• Zyxel X-550 - very good router
  By A3FMNLJU4YZ9LM on 2007-06-11
  it's a very good easy use router
  I am currently very satified with it.
  With my old $30 router, any p2p download software running will block other home members' internet. With this one, I can run 2 p2p softwares at the same time and other people in home can still browse internet with no problem.
  Only exception is my girlfriend found her vpn will get slow down a lot if I have p2p running.
  After all, it's the best router I had ever use, better than the 99$ netgear router I purchased before, and I think it's worth the price quite well.
  
  
  
• Very reliable and smiple.
  By A1C2BIRLCMDWUY on 2007-06-20
  Its seems impossible but as the other reviews say it never drops ever, also i have a really bad spot for the router. I'm running v1.6 on it now and no problems. i have it sitting 50 feet away in another building and the building im in trying to pick up signal has aluminum siding and if you know anything about wireless signal you know it puts a damper on it big, as well as having 4 cars parked between the line of sight and another 2 walls in the house i'm trying to get the signal really makes my signal even for this router BAD!!!
  just looked at the signal quality now at 57% and it stays there most of the time, yet it never loses signal ever its really is amazing by far better then my old router and the signal is just half of it.
  Now the other good thing which is also important is the ease of it. i find it fun setting it up for routering. Like portforwarding and setting static ip on the lan is realling the simplest for ex: it has a couple dozen games and programs with their ports and the info you need on it there so all you need to do is select the computer by mac address you want and select the game whose ports you need to open and then click save and reboot very very simple. And how the easy it is to setup a DHCP Server chose the mac address chose the ip BOOM static ip formed. Really if you want a Good router for your money just buy this one free shipping got in a week. I have fooled with a router (my old one) for over a year thinking it was the best and i just had a bad spot for it well i did have a good router and it was a bad spot and now i have this router and i am not going to buy another It's money well spent besides i blow more money a month on fast food then what i spent on this router if you dont think this router will help you then good luck finding one that will.
  
  
  
• Finally a product that delivers!!!
  By A2KYT0SFKB0P0U on 2007-06-30
  Once I decided to enter the world of 802.11g and leave the old 'b' behind, I was loyal to my old D-Link system and bought a MIMO router assuming that my speed and coverage would improve. Wrong! The speed probably improved, but not at a point where my brain could even notice it. But all of a sudden I started having service interruptions (several times a day), coverage was about the same or even worse. Then I read all the beauties about the Zyxel X-550 and decided to give it a try.
  It was actually even better!!! Very easy setup, worked with every computer in the house, both XP and Vista systems, they all see each other and we share folders and printer. If you're looking for a reliable router, definitely consider this product. And the user's reviews, are really, really a great service.
  
  
• Great Value - Massively Reliable!!!
  By A11MLVACXYMGAT on 2007-07-01
  I have worked with computer systems since 1982 and installed countless of networks, both large and small. We installed this a replacement for the much flawed Linksys WRT54G (a unit that has a fundamental design flaw that causes the buffer to shut down and require a manual reboot on any but the smallest of systems).
  
  The Zyxel X-550 had glowing reviews on Amazon and I have learned to trust a product that consistently inspires folks to leave a good review.
  I myself almost never spare the time to actively review a product but in this case I cannot recommend it enough.
  
  If you can follow the wizards (easy enough with a little common sense) and understand that you need a good reboot on every machine after any network install this is a piece of cake to put in place and, since I first plugged the unit in, I have not had a second of trouble. Far from it, our range is increased and the bandwidth flow is much improved.
  
  Thanks to the previous reviewers who recommended this and if you have need a good and reliable home / home office / small business network you can literally do no better than this unit!
  
  
• Wireless is off by default. Cannot be unlocked without connecting.
  By A2FJBXZAOC8K3G on 2007-10-25
  My wired ethernet port died and I needed to get some critical work done. The wireless LAN is off by default and cannot be activated without first connecting to the router through the ethernet or using an indirect method of establishing a WPA key with a USB memory stick. Although I received a message saying the installation via the USB memory stick was successful, the router did not appear in my list of wireless networks, nor did it when I attempted to power cycle the router. Attempts to connect to the ethernet LAN port after purchasing a new PCMCIA were unsuccessful (I used a straight-thru cable). I then purchased a NetGear router and I was able to configure through the ethernet without any problems. Having set up 15 brands/models of wireless routers, this was by far the most frustrating and unpleasant experience I've had.
  
  
• Zyxel is great
  By A3BMM2GA1BXLXI on 2006-11-13
  Never have a problem with this router, never had to be reset
  
  
• Excellent so far
  By APBPG9WY8L1F0 on 2006-11-24
  This replaced a Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router which was horrible (see my Amazon review on that item). Total trash. Thanks Amazon for taking it back!
  
  The ZyXEL just does what it's told. Hasn't had to be rebooted yet in appx. 3 weeks. Haven't yet figured out how to remotely access the router but I believe that's operator error, not the router's problem. Have only tested it's wireless capabilities a couple of times and it was fine - primarily use it in wired mode.
  
  This router has a nice user interface, looks sharp, is nicely configurable, and works well. I recommend it.
  
  
• Great Product
  By A39OL0SY3C3FT1 on 2007-02-12
  The router works great, easy to install and my network was up and running in no time. I run it 24/7 and haven't had any problems with it whatsoever.
  
  
• Impressive router
  By AY5TAQ2YQJWHV on 2007-03-06
  Using VoIP? Meager upstream bandwidth? [For me thats 256k upload]. Well,I have found a router that finally has some smarts! Without even looking to configure my VoIP service from Voicepulse, this router handles traffic like advertised. Voice quality was great, even as I tried to degregate my bandwidth with large file uploads. Wireless signal and performance is superb, even with router in basement. Overall throughput is handled well. Best of all, even with out of the box fw ver 1.4, I've not needed any reboots, other than change password, or other certain config changes. I'll live with that! My stack of used routers are now 'out the door'!
  
  
• good replacement
  By A3ML84WFLX18A on 2007-05-13
  While it took a week longer than expected to arrive, it only took about 10 minutes to set up. I replaced my linksys with this and I find that my connections throughout and outside the house (home is 2000+ sq ft) is a lot more acceptable than before.
  
  
• Rock solid!
  By A12T9AMRY7U67P on 2007-06-22
  I decided to upgradre from a Linksys WRT54G to this one, basically because the linksys would drop signal several times a week, and I was experiencing problems with my Vonage adapter.
  The zyxel is rock solid. It actually does it's job. Strong signal, my voip works great.
  Exceeded expectations.
  
  
• Finially a router that works well. Highly recomended
  By A1JMCY0XKUXT6X on 2007-07-06
  I bought this router because of the review on Amazon and my disappointment with the previous routers. I had previous used and installed several wireless routers made by several different companies including netgear, linksys, and dlink, respectfully. This wireless router is by far the best I have used or installed.
  This wireless router has the strongest signal out of the entire router that I have used and this router has not need to be unplugged since I bought it over 2-3 weeks ago. Unlike the linksys and netgear that loose the ip address so they have be unplugged.
  People on here write about the setup which was not difficult although the instructions from the company could be improved. The only thing I don't like about this router is that it does not have "a" wireless which means is very minor problem. I am a computer consultant and have installed several routers. I consider this to be the best router that I have installed or used. I highly recommended.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Great & EZ
  By AH1LFGRAN3GPC on 2007-07-13
  Very easy to set up even for a dummy like me who has no clue what end goes where non the less what some of the terms mean. Customer service answered without me even being put on hold & was helpful and friendly (just don't say to them that it's "Chinese" to you, they don't seem like that). Works perfectly without any problems. Highly recommended!!
  
  
• Excellent for Home Networking
  By A63WW5UC6KU18 on 2007-07-24
  I did a lot of shopping around for a wireless router, but was discouraged to find that almost all routers had 3.5 or fewer stars on Amazon, and that many of the top brands suffered from inconsistent coverage and speed.
  
  It was a great surprise to find the Zyxel, which has performed as the ratings here promise. It is a snap to set up - Windows users can simply insert a flash drive into their PC and click "wireless network setup" in the control panel. Insert the flash drive into your router, grab the network settings, and plug the flash drive into every computer you want on the network. That's it. Setup requires a bit of tinkering in the router's control panel (accessible by typing an IP address into your web browser), but anyone with even a bit of experience with computers and networks will have no trouble setting this hardware up.
  
  Coverage is excellent - I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex and managed to get a signal (albeit low) in my garage on the ground floor. Speed is not an issue - we enjoy consistently high speed throughout our 1300 square foot apartment. The signal never drops and, better yet, you can even opt to turn wireless off by flicking a switch on the back of the router.
  
  Those of you concerned about security need not worry, either. The router has a built in firewall, WPA authentication, and an optional DMZ. For the non-technical, this simply means you can rest easy. Setting up your network with the Windows flash drive option creates a lengthy WPA key, which means would-be hackers are going to look for other networks to play with.
  
  Highly recommended.
  
  

• Windows Live OneCare 2.0 (Up to 3 Users)
• Norton Internet Security 2009
• Quicken Deluxe 2009
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007

• ZyXEL M202 802.11g Xtreme Mimo USB 2.0 Wireless Network Adapter
• Zyxel M-102 Xtrememimo 802.11G Wireless Cardbus Adapter
• Motorola Surfboard SB5101 Cable Modem
• Kingston Data Traveler 4 GB USB Flash Drive DTI/4GB
• Plantronics Voyager 510 Bluetooth Headset [Retail Packaged]