Linksys went from being the "iPhone of home networking" to being something I won't recommend. In Cisco's care the company has gone from being a market leader to a dud.
Now a lot of people might say "I doesn't matter who makes it, I'll just flash OpenWRT or DD-WRT onto it!" But I say to that, "then why buy a Linksys?"
Asus for one example are cheaper, they often have external antenna giving you more power and flexibility (both literally and figuratively) plus and most importantly they can be flashed with OpenWRT or DD-WRT at your pleasure.
Even without the security issues there is no good reason to buy a Linksys.
Right now I am using my ISP supplied "router" in cable-modem "mode" (i.e. just dumb pass-through to ethernet) and have a cheap MikroTik/RouterOS device sitting behind it which was cheaper than most retail grade routers but with the functionality of commercial grade equipment.
RouterOS might not be as easy to use as DD-WRT, but if you can use it then it is far more powerful as a web-based environment. Just for one example, want a VPN server? RouterOS supports IPSec/L2TP, PPtP/GRE, SSTP, and OpenVPN. Basically everything. The list of its network functionality is almost endless...
Howso? All I remember from their heyday was that they were good enough, cheap enough, and flashable. I don't remember them commanding a premium for any particular reason.
I think they meant it not in terms of a premium price, but rather as the default product to buy. They were never that much more expensive (if at all), but back in the day it was the one most people bought.
Now a lot of people might say "I doesn't matter who makes it, I'll just flash OpenWRT or DD-WRT onto it!" But I say to that, "then why buy a Linksys?"
Asus for one example are cheaper, they often have external antenna giving you more power and flexibility (both literally and figuratively) plus and most importantly they can be flashed with OpenWRT or DD-WRT at your pleasure.
Even without the security issues there is no good reason to buy a Linksys.
Right now I am using my ISP supplied "router" in cable-modem "mode" (i.e. just dumb pass-through to ethernet) and have a cheap MikroTik/RouterOS device sitting behind it which was cheaper than most retail grade routers but with the functionality of commercial grade equipment.
RouterOS might not be as easy to use as DD-WRT, but if you can use it then it is far more powerful as a web-based environment. Just for one example, want a VPN server? RouterOS supports IPSec/L2TP, PPtP/GRE, SSTP, and OpenVPN. Basically everything. The list of its network functionality is almost endless...