

Cisco to Kill Linksys Brand Name 262
Mav sent in this article that opens, "In a roundtable with the European press, John Chambers confirmed the "end of life" of the Linksys name, being replaced by the new and redesigned Cisco branding." He explains, "It will all come over time into a Cisco brand. The reason we kept Linksys' brand because it was better known in the US than even Cisco was for the consumer. As you go globally there's very little advantage in that."
So what happens now (Score:5, Insightful)
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I think there were two versions of the WRT54G, one with enough puff to run the good stuff and a "cheapened" (later) version that turned into a brick if you breathed on it due to a lower memory spec. The early ones were good, the latter kind of sucked.
Re:So what happens now (Score:5, Informative)
Re:So what happens now (Score:5, Informative)
Also, the WRT54GL is basically a WRT54G version 4. It's the safest bet if you want a new router to run custom Linux firmware on.
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I don't know about their other consumer stuff, but I really like my WRT54G wireless router. Especially since they provided the GPL'd software, and there are so many after-market features added through the magic of open source.
I had one of those, and, well, my mileage varied. The first one I had brickified itself (I'd just updated to the firmware version that supported Telstra's braindead heartbeat system, it worked fine for a week or two then refused to load the firmware even after a full reset, which should have kicked it back to factory condition). I took it back to the warehouse under warranty, three months later they were still waiting to hear back from Linksys so they gave me a new one. That one worked, kinda - it would be
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The Linksys products I've encountered have always seemed just a little unpolished, with variable QC... then again I got it for fifty bucks, so I can't really complain.
Repeat after me:
I will not confuse price with quality. Just because big corporations tell me otherwise, I know better.
Seriously, one ought to be able to trust that a piece of hardware purchased works without hitch - no matter the price. For the free market to function, companies that produce faulty hardware should suffer for it.
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So, no, they didn't get "progressively worse to flash". When they forked the models, one fork was just as easy to flash as before, and one was harder. Then again, this would only matter to somebody who continuously bought new models without paying attention to if they were buying the Linux mod
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There are definitely worse (Score:2)
The D-Link has subsequently been replaced with a cheap Linksys. As far as I know, the Linksys routers are far more reliable.
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Re:So what happens now (Score:5, Interesting)
Long story short, Cisco's enterprise products will lose market share to their competitors, and Cisco will do one of three things: 1) They'll pull out of the consumer market and focus on their enterprise customers. 2) They'll work to keep their enterprise and consumer product divisions separate, even if it means duplication of effort. 3) They'll do neither, decrease in value, and get bought up by an equity firm to be sold off for parts.
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Re:So what happens now (Score:5, Interesting)
Anyone read the articles about how Wal-Mart would approach companies whose brands are positioned as high-quality and asked them to spank together some cheap-ass China-made crap to market under that brand-name? The article I'm thinking of in particular is Snapper lawnmowers. The Snapper people finally told Wal-Mart where to stick it because it was impossible to make a quality mower at a Wal-Mart price, they'd have had to whore the company name and ruin their reputation to do it.
Hopefully I'm overreacting here and this won't even be a speed-bump for the company. But I'm thinking back to that topic yesterday about "dead companies with good products" and my Spidey sense is tingling.
Re:So what happens now (Score:5, Informative)
We all know that over-paid execs don't want customers ("consumers" to them) to enjoy products for any longer than need be. With that said, my latest "Linksys" cable/dsl router whivh is now Cisco branded and has a different non-Linux firmware just sucks. I have had issues with systems not getting an IP, wireless not working, slow network speeds on an 8 Mbps connection and all other crap. Switching back to an earlier Linksys model fixes things right up.
Re:So what happens now (Score:4, Interesting)
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These days Buffaloes are the best price performance wise.
Re:So what happens now (Score:5, Insightful)
We had in our office a little WiFi network based on those blue/purple Linksys routers. And it worked really well for couple of years. After some failures one of my colleagues decided it was time for a state-of-the-art replacement with those new silver colored Cisco/Linksys boxes. Yep, consumer pricing, but branded by Cisco.
Well, if I would get just 10 bucks for every hour he was on the phone with Cisco support or installing new firmware, I would be a rich man. Even up to stupid things that an configuration webpage for firewall port forwarding has 20 fields, but the moment you put in more than 10 entries, number 11 and higher don't work. Seems that the GUI designers didn't talk to the developers of the firewall software.
Not to mention the number of times we have to power-switch those stupid boxes (BTW, they look like grey Mac mini's). And half the time after replugging the power brick, the thing doesn't want to reboot and no lights come on. Because we have four of them, in a roaming network, I know it's not simply the failure of a single unit, but design flaws.
These are simply crappy design. Yes, they were cheap (like Linksys also always was) and yes they are Cisco branded. But definitely not professional Cisco quality!! I think Cisco should be careful, there is the chance they are dilluting their professional brand recognition with these low-cost, low-quality consumer products.
Re:So what happens now (Score:4, Informative)
If you'd ever used cisco stuff you'd know that they're popular not because of their quality but because of their support. IOS has persistent issues with bugs, and it's not unusual for them to release hardware that doesn't work properly (the first 87x routers for example had a buggy DSL implementation that couldn't hold sync, making them pretty useless. I had 5 swapouts on one unit alone before they admitted that none of them worked...
One word - Inprise (Score:5, Insightful)
Borland - Inprise - Borland.
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Cisco - Expresea! - Cisco
Cisco is one of the most widely known brand names in the computing industry.
Re:One word - Inprise (Score:4, Interesting)
They have two great brand names. It would be silly to kill one of them off, since they use them to segment their markets. If they were both aimed at the same buyers (a la "Nissan" and "Datsun" back in the day) I could understand rationalizing the nameplate, but this is just a waste.
If they wanted to, they could always do "Linksys by Cisco" - reaping the benefits of both brand names.
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Nissan and Datsun were in the same basic price range.
Re:One word - Inprise (Score:4, Funny)
Forgive me if I'm being really stupid here and missed something obvious that I shouldn't have. It's hot and I may have eaten some dodgy hamburger.
In fact if nobody ever hears from me again - it WAS the hamburrger.
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Re:One word - Inprise (Score:5, Funny)
They are already doing this. I have one sitting on the desk next to me. Doesn't say "by Cisco," but it has the Cisco Systems name/logo on it along side the Linksys one. Of course it is no longer functional. Good thing they are stackable so I can build lego like creations with the pile of dead Linksys devices.
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In the northeastern US they had a rep for under-engineered bodywork. The 10 guage uncoated steel body on the 240Z did not stand up well to New England Winters. But the rest of the car was rock solid and the drivetrains were downright bullet proof. IMHO, if you didn't mind cutting out some rust every once in a while, Datsuns were by far the most robust Japanese imports of the 70s and early 80s. They were also the fastest and had
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The 510's were quite bulletproof but the 240Z engines tended to warp heads if they overheated once, which a lot of them did. Or rather the ones my friends owned did. The engine was an almostg direct copy of the one in a W108 Mercedes ('cept that had an iron head) and was otherwise pretty bulletproof.
As for the rust, well, um yeah. I still HAVE a 108 Mercedes and I've s
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But they did one (slightly OT) good thing between all the namechanging:
they released a version of Interbase as Open Source, which has grown into the Firebird RDBMS. See
http://www.firebirdsql.org/ [firebirdsql.org]
Cisco recently raised their brand awareness (Score:5, Funny)
Should have been the plan from the beginning (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Should have been the plan from the beginning (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Should have been the plan from the beginning (Score:5, Insightful)
With something like OpenWRT loaded onto such a device, somewhat more esoteric and useful stuff can be done. But even then, it's just a Linux box, whereas "full-featured" Cisco (non-Linksys) routers run IOS.
Oh, well.
Back on topic: My mother knows what a Linksys router is for. If the one at her house failed, she would be able to produce an equivalent replacement from Wal-Mart without my assistance. Abandoning the Linksys brand for everything to say Cisco will smash this brand-recognition and loyalty; she'd be just as likely to buy one that says "Belkin" as "Cisco."
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For example, a WRT54GL router that I procured recently for a project at work says "Linksys" on the top, but "Cisco Systems" on the front.
My interpretation of the Cisco announcement is that they now intend to fully kill (instead of merely dilute) the Linksys name. I still think it's a bad move, but I'll keep buying their stuff for as long as it remains easily and productively hackable with a hug
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The uninformed user knows Cisco as "the network company that the Internet is connected with."
Yeah, but the informed user knows Cisco sucks and would rather have a Juniper. :-)
Had someone told me 10 years ago that I could own *my very own* full-featured Cisco router for under $100, I would've given a finger to sign up.
Changing the name and artwork on the box doesn't magically make the Linksys routers full-featured Cisco routers. What most people consider full-featured Cisco includes IOS, and I doubt they're planning to put IOS on a home wireless router (certainly not for $50).
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Ah, but can juniper push 92 terabits per second? [cisco.com]
True. On the legendary Cisco 677 ADSL Modem they included a cut-down version of IOS named CBOS (Cisco Broadband Operating System). It was very IOS-like, but had only what was needed to route PPP over ATM (including NAT).
Ah, th
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I work with Linksys VoIP gear day in and day out, Cisco branding is on every bit.
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No, it shouldn't (Score:3)
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Re:Should have been the plan from the beginning (Score:5, Interesting)
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Cisco is a stronger brand name (Score:5, Funny)
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Shouldn't they have told me? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Shouldn't they have told me? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm a loyal customer who has used "linksys" as his nationwide wireless ISP for years. You'd think they would have sent out a letter to me or something.
I certainly expect a press release on what they plan to use for the default WAP name, just to eliminate the guessing.
Linksys reliability problems?! (Score:2)
[grunt@turing ~]$ ping slashdot.org
PING slashdot.org (66.35.250.151) 56(84) bytes of data.
From 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=1 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=2 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=3 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.1.1 icmp_seq=4 Destination Host Unreachable
From 192.168.1.1 icmp_s
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Maybe Altiris is Next..... (Score:3, Funny)
Let's see.... YouTube goes to GooTube which devolves back to Google.
Branding has become a useless exercise..... brand assets are as good as the purchasing company's mindset.
So, listen up there all you 3rd-Mortgaged Startups: Make That Brand Count. But don't fall in love with it.
I'll bet DLink is laughing their butts off. Now they compete with Cisco instead of measily old Linksys. Whoohooo!
Name Recognition (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Name Recognition (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not sure this is a good idea. (Score:5, Interesting)
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You seem to be assuming that Cisco is higher quality than Linksys. That's not my experience. The Cisco switches we use at [[name of my global financial institution omitted]] have for years been unable to properly auto-resolve to our PC's or Macs at full duplex unless the ports are forced manually to that speed. Even an upgrade to 6500-series switches did not solve that. But an
Crap (Score:5, Funny)
Well, (Score:2)
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Yeah, and Clinksys just doesn't sound good.
The Best To Come Of This (Score:4, Interesting)
Even if Cisco releases the same router with a new brand name, there is a good chance that the sales drones won't recognize it, and I can stop saying, "I told you so," to my customers.
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What you want to start recommending is the Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 [amazon.com]. It's also sold by Best Buy [bestbuy.com] and the Best Buy salespeople will be more than happy to sell them this item when a specific request is made. Tell them tha
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I'm not surprised that Cisco thinks the Linksys name has been milked out and is moving on to milk their own name now. I'd bet this has nothing to do with increased Cisco name awareness and everything to do with Linksys being synonymous with 'crap routers'. I don't k
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Does this mean... (Score:5, Funny)
rj
Well, that could be interesting. (Score:2)
Re:Well, that could be interesting. (Score:5, Informative)
More on topic, I really don't see the point of giving up a well established brand like Linksys. It already says "A Division of Cisco" with the Cisco bridge logo on both the retail box and router itself. Isn't that good enough?
But (Score:2)
well won't that just be neat (Score:3, Interesting)
it is kinda sad how much crappier the home stuff is built over the last few years as the home networking stuff became more commoditized.
my old RT314 router had nice rugged metal housing and plethora of status lights now you get a cheapy plastic housing and 1 light be port if lucky.... not to mention crap like the cutting in half of the RAM on the WRT54G and other bs cost cutting moves by linksys on that product making later wrt54g garbage.
but i don't entirely care cause i use a old PC / monowall for my routing / firewall needs. and I have a nice rack mount switch i picked up off ebay for very little...
Will they also kill all those Linksys products? (Score:3, Funny)
Pleeeeze?
Saw this one coming... (Score:2)
Not that I have anything against Linksys per se: I'm currently using a DSL router (RV082) that bears both the Linksys and Cisco Systems logos. I
What's in a name (Score:2, Informative)
Just take a look at all the complaints around the SRW2008MP ( which I recently regret purchasing ).
What a stupid idea... (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't get me wrong - most Cisco stuff is still pretty damn good - but there are fairly reasonable alternatives nowadays and a significant amount of their stuff sells because their customers are running all / mostly Cisco infrastructure or someone recommended Cisco.
Putting their name on shitty consumer level DSL routers and 4 port switches isn't going help in the recommendation department - some of you know that purchasing decisions can be easily affected by some person who isn't all that technical (I saw Cisco phones on 24, they must be great!, etc)"
Of course, that works the other way too. I've seen people reject proposals w/ 3com because some shitty 3com branded consumer level lemon caused them aggravation at home. 3com isn't top of the line, but it was pretty damn good a few years ago.
One Cisco gets their first lemon product - and they will, because consumer equipment is cheap crap mass produced by peasant labour - that will leave a lasting bad taste in the mouths of the people who will make future decisions. And while Cisco consumer stuff might be a bit better than the other crap on the market, "not being as bad as ___________" is a really crappy goal to strive for (and when your competitors suck, it doesn't make a great advertising slogan either)
I don't expect prices to go anywhere but up either - when Cisco started putting their name all over Linksys boxes, the prices went through the roof (unmanaged, stock 16 port switches for $300+?). Same shit, but twice(+) the money. Not cool. People aren't stupid, they will eventually catch on.
I bet some consultant asshole and some fucking buzzwords had something to do with this.
"Standardized Branding" ftw.
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Value of a brand == Don't throw 'em away (Score:4, Insightful)
I was listening to a show on CBC radio (gov't-funded NPR-like radio in Canada) a month or so back and they had a marketing guy talking about the value of brands. The speaker asserted that even bad brands have tremendous value, because they need to be focused, not established. Establishing a brand takes years and a shit-pile of money, with no guarantees, said he. From this guy's perspective, there is nothing more difficult in marketing and sales than establishing a brand, where a brand is a gut feeling about products+prior experience+what you've heard+service+etc. It's all that stuff that is evoked when you hear the company name, see the logo, think about buying a product.
This is completely off my cuff, but I think Linksys is a very established brand in residential markets, where 'Cisco' isn't. My girlfriend's son (first marriage stuff) even called his wireless router 'the linksys' last week ... and his wireless router is labeled by Dlink.
He sure as shit didn't call it 'my cisco'.
I call this move a mistake. Here's a Slideshare doc I cam across a few months back; the writer can't spell 'Porsche' correctly, but nonetheless I think it's a good intro blurb:
http://www.slideshare.net/coolstuff/the-brand-gap [slideshare.net]
Killed by Broadcom (Score:5, Interesting)
Black and Decker and DeWalt again? (Score:5, Insightful)
The same may happen to Cisco. Sometimes it's best to have a "professional-grade" brand versus a consumer-grade one.
Click here [reveries.com] to learn a little bit more about the Black and Decker and DeWalt name game.
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Maybe I was wrong... (Score:4, Insightful)
This may be modded as flamebait but back in the days when I ran an ISP, I know for a fact that if I had purchased Cisco products instead of Allied Telesyn, Livinston (Lucent) and others I would have run bankrupt, the price difference was 1:3 between Cisco and the other brands and I simply couldn't afford it. They are going to mess up the skinny athletic Linksys with their big fat lethargic ways... For me, Cisco is a brand name like 'Microsoft' but it really doesn't mean it's better...
Please stay hackable (Score:2, Interesting)
Will the Cisco-ification of Linksys stop this from happening in the future?
In Other News (Score:3, Funny)
The Linksys brand was fine! (Score:2, Insightful)
I think it was fine the way it was.
Looks like a typical manager-decission "oh, we call it cisco, it will allow us to make it more expensive"
Won't miss the Linksys tech support (Score:2)
This probably means nothing for quality. (Score:2, Interesting)
Every single Linksys consumer / home wireless product I've used has been much more expensive and worse quality than even cheap taiwan made no-name brands or stuff like planex which costs 1/2 as much as linksys in terms of product life and reliability.