Linksys router (WRT54GS) for an office setup of 25 people?

Question

Presently i have a Cisco SOHO97 router in the office. Unfotunately we dont have any control systems in place for bandwidth shaping. I have some guys who use P2P programs and wreck havok on the internet in the office and i cannot do much about it. So ive been reading about the Linksys WRT54GS and Bufallo routers and the Tomato Fimware that can be installed on it. Im pretty impressed with what can be done with the fimware. I can have some decent QOS for the Skype calls etc and also put some serious limits on P2P to some degree.

I have 25 people in the office most of whom use the internet for basic email. and there are some that kill it. My question is, Will the WRT54GS be able to handle the load of 25 computers? SERIOUS ANSWERS ONLY. Thanks a ton.

Answer 1

if this is exclusively for wireless, than you may have a problem with 25 people connecting (i believe "g" is maxed out at 22, but i can't remember for sure)



software: i have no experience with tomato, i've just used the factory firmware.

hardware: i've been using one form of this router or another (usually with at least one 8port switch) for close to three years, and i've been surprised that it could handle the kind of loads of users that it has and the bandwidth i've sent through it. i used a 3com 8port 10/100 switch that failed without a fan when more than 5 users were connected and sending regular data (that was back in the diablo 2 days).

Answer 2

You need also a Cisco Switch if possible. Then you can configure VLAN for everyone that is connected to the office. You can direct which traffic each computer or port are allowed to traffic, that means those guys who uses the Internet can still have their time and it means security for whole office as you can disallow or deny some of the people who are not supposed to have access to some of the resources.



Even if the computers are wireless, you now have better encryptions (WAP and even WAP2) which can help you with security on who logs on to the system.

Answer 3

I don't see why not, but unless at least 21 of your computers are wireless, you will need to connect a switch to the router, as it only has 4 ports.



Edit: There are 14 WLAN channels, 13 are avalible in Europe, 11 in North America.