# Linksys WRT54G

14 Hacker News commenters recommended Linksys WRT54G and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 18 years (5 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for its long-lasting hardware and open firmware that let owners install OpenWRT. The most common caveat is that its hardware is outdated and slow by modern Wi-Fi standards.

## Why people recommend it

- Long-lasting, reliable hardware (4 comments): "Lovely little piece of hardware that just refuses to die." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48813511)) "still works fine and I find this amusing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48262200)) "they just work in all situations" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48814262))
- Hackable, flashable open firmware (4 comments): "Linksys were certainly kind enough to permit people to flash their own firmware to that router" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46082975)) "That little hackable Linux box was a very fun introduction to the rabbit hole" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45906671)) "potentially cheaply by flashing Linksys WRT54G with OpenWRT" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950431))
- Fond memories, favorite model (4 comments): "The WRT54 is still one of my favorite pieces of industrial design." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810480)) "I'd love to go back to my linksys wrt54 roots" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48312272)) "Loved that thing. Just toslow now tho." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810951))

## What people warn about

- Hardware outdated and slow (3 comments): "there's no software route around the hardware being outdated and slow" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810833)) "It's pretty little slow by modern wifi standards" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46374388)) "Loved that thing. Just toslow now tho." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810951))
- Stock firmware buggy and poor (2 comments): "Why every company feels the need to roll their own firmware that is buggy, slow, crashy, and doesn't implement half of the promised functionality properly" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48812032)) "the default software was hot garbage" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50079676))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [MikroTik router](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mikrotik-router.md): 59 recommend
- [GL.iNet travel router](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gl-inet-travel-router.md): 54 recommend
- [Ubiquiti UniFi Travel Router](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unifi-travel-router.md): 35 recommend
- [OpenWrt One](https://hackerapproved.com/p/openwrt-one.md): 34 recommend
- [Ubiquiti UniFi 5G](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unifi-5g.md): 17 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Linksys+WRT54GL+wireless-G+router&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Linksys WRT54G", https://hackerapproved.com/p/linksys-wrt54g/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).