Who else noticed massive evidence of Linksys/Cisco routers being designed to fail?

aab1 · 07-06-2011, 03:46 PM

It seems virtually every Linksys router fails just after the warranty expires, it happened to me and absolutely every person I know that has a Linksys router.

Has there been a class action lawsuit against these crooks yet?

And I assume many people here noticed the exact same behavior from their Linksys routers?

BTW I am in Canada, in case they are implanting this "feature" only in Canadian models.

Has anyone had a Linksys router outlive the warranty by more than a few months and in what country was it purchased?

In any case I'm certainly not going to be fooled again, I got a Netgear which comes with a Lifetime warranty, so this proves it cannot be designed to fail after the warranty like the Linksys routers are.

BTW, I know about electronics and the only way a solid state device like this can fail so soon is by being purposefully designed to do so (either it counts a certain number of days after the first power up, or is designed with improper cooling to ensure the parts die prematurely), a router should easily last 10 years minimum, there's no reason for one to last any less than that other than if it's designed to fail intentionally after a set period of time.

In any case I'd be curious to know if there is a class action lawsuit as almost everyone I know could join.

Thanks

Wand3r3r · 07-06-2011, 04:50 PM

experienced the same with dozens deployed at work and home. Simply won't buy or recommend linksys anymore.

aab1 · 07-06-2011, 04:58 PM

I know people that insist on continuing to buy Linksys even when they are having this problem with every replacement. At least you're not repeating the same mistake.

So what brands are good? My Netgear has a lifetime warranty but if ever I want to upgrade I'd like to know which are reliable and last at least 3-5 years.

Amd_Man · 07-06-2011, 04:58 PM

That's what happens when the corporate big wigs greed for money takes over. Corners are cut and internal parts are bought from the cheapest supplier. Linksys where the best in the past, but no longer. Greed is destroying this world, period!

Wand3r3r · 07-06-2011, 05:02 PM

I like Netgear but their support is simply incompetent putting it mildly.
Dlink is another that seems to hang in there just fine.
No belkins for me either.

rgsalinger · 07-06-2011, 08:42 PM

Not me. My old (5 years) linksys router is still working fine at my son in laws house these days. I guess I've owned about 5 routers over the past 12 years and never had a hardware failure now that I think about it. Have certainly had trouble getting some of them to work, though!

**Fred Garvin** · 07-07-2011, 09:25 AM

It's a bit ironic that Linksys started turning to junk after being bought out by Cisco. I thought better of Cisco at the time. Though Linksys's farmed out tech support has always been awful.

**Jay_JWLH** · 07-07-2011, 09:34 AM

Guys, you are tarnishing my faith in Linksys products.

But hopefully Cisco products on the other hand used for business use are still reliable as some of their older products.

In my country, warranty is a clear thing, but if you feel a consumer product hasn't lasted as long as you would reasonably expect the device to last, you have the choice to take it up with them (preferably the retailer) under the Consumers Guarantees Act (New Zealand consumer law). Under our law a product is supposed to last "a reasonable amount of time". So if all other brands are doing great, and a reasonable life expectancy is longer, they will have to repair or replace it for you. That is certainly something to think about after your 1 year warranty is over, and you expected at least another 3 years out of it.
Business-grade on the other hand, is something else.