The Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router Model WRT54G With 4-Port Switch
Years ago I set out to make my small apartment a wireless hotspot. I wanted the same feeling that I got at the coffee shop down the street but without the daily price tag of a fancy coffee and a pastry. My home was outfitted with a cable Internet connection and I had been plugging my laptop into an Ethernet chord to surf the net. I found myself sitting in one position on the couch for hours on end without the ability to move to the table or to lounge on the bed. This caused back and neck pain that left me exhausted by the end of the day. My solution was to spend my mornings at the café down the street digesting scones made with heavy cream and cup after cup of deeply roasted coffee. These 2 things didn’t always agree with my wallet, waist or digestive system.
It was time to by a router. And at the time my laptop was an old hand-me-down, a gift from my mother, and it didn’t have a wireless card, so I had to buy one of those too. I went online and did a lot of research. I talked to friends and family that had routers, and I considered my budget. I couldn’t spend more than $100 on a wireless card and router. Linksys came up time and again as a reliable company that produced durable products, and they made a Broadband router for $44. I bundled myself up in my snuggest winter gear and set off to the box store to make my purchase.
The Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router was a sound purchase. It worked right out of the package, and I didn’t have to install any software or download any updates. Although I didn’t have any extra desktops or printers to add to the network at the time, the router came with 4 Ethernet plugs. My new wireless connection operated on a Wireless-G Broadband network, the most advanced and fastest network available then and the standard now. I learned how to make café a lues and scones with applesauce and ate both at a high table on my terrace. A little jazz in the background and I was good to go.
Like I said, it was years ago that I bought my Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router. I used it the entire time I lived in that apartment and it never failed me. But I packed it away when I moved to the city. I lived in a building with shared wireless and had no need for a router of my own, but I didn’t get rid of it. A little voice in the back of my head told me that someday I would need the equipment again so I stored it in its original box in my father’s basement. Check out my Bright Hub article, Setting up a Wireless Home, to read the next chapter in the life of my wireless router.
