Thanks to the shoddy job that Linksys did with the WRT300N, I grudgingly purchased a new Linksys WRT610N. What a pleasant surprise! Finally another decent product from Linksys. Not that i’ve ever expected much from the bargain networking gear, but the WRT300N was very, very bad. Several of the features didn’t work consistently, new firmware was no where in sight, and the 802.11n was abysmal. The WRT300N made me regret ever upgrading from the WRT54GS, which was one of the best routers on the market and still is in the 802.11g game.

Fortunately the new WRT610N solves most of those problems. The simultaneous 2.4/5ghz radios make life really nice and performance is good. I’m now able to run all of my 802.11n gear on 5ghz while 802.11g stays on 2.4ghz. Each radio can also be restricted accordingly. Very handy. Well done Linksys. The updated features of the firmware are always welcome as well. More granular control over the system for those who need it definitely helps. And then there are those surprise features that we get from time to time.

I’ve recently started running IPv6 on my home network for the enhanced features that are offered. Things that were extensions in v4 are part of the standard in v6 and can make life nice, especially in high throughput situations. Imagine my surprise when I was updating my Ubuntu box and noticed that the WINE mirrors’ IP address was a v6 one! So apparently, the WRT610N does IPv6, it just doesn’t tell you! This is some scary stuff folks, imagine that modern operating systems come with IPv6 enabled and people go and buy this router, not knowing that their doors are now open via a whole new protocol. Granted, most home users will never know, but I seriously wonder if the firewall in the 610N has v6 support.

Let’s hope that Linksys is one step ahead of us here or a lot of users are about to get their horizons broadened when the hackers start coming in via IPv6.

For those who are unfamiliar with IPv6 and would like to know more, Ars Technica has a nice primer. Read more here.