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Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router

Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router

List Price: $69.99
Your Price: $49.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great! and all the speed I need
Review: First -- an overview: the unit works great and installation wasn't really a problem, only an irritation.

I have cable modem service that cranks out a pretty decent downstream speed. I needed both security and wireless options, so I bought this unit bundled with a B notebook card (PCMCIA). As soon as I got this out of the box, plugged in the connections and plugged the unit in, it worked, getting the internet service to my desktop. The software installation was a breeze.

Then, I needed to get the wireless up and running. That was more of a challenge. I followed the instructions (which was illustrative, but lacking in detail) and got the wireless base transmitting. Then, after installing the software into the laptop, I inserted the card and, after a bit, the card picked up the wireless signal. The only small issue was that the installation program didn't tell Windows XP (laptop) to not look for more drivers to install when the card is inserted. That was mildly irritating, but nothing to get upset over. My laptop worked great, kept a good signal, and I was surfing in the living room on a lazy boy in about 25 minutes. That night I installed the software in her laptop, and after a bit more trouble than I had with mine, got it up and running.

The signal never dropped, and worked through walls while appliances (tv, water cooler, AC, etc.) came on and off. That was with an unsecure broadcast. So, a day or two later, I decided to make the broadcast secure, but couldn't quite figure it out. The instructions didn't help, and when I did what I thought I needed to, the signal didn't get picked up on the laptop. So, I called customer support and got through fairly quickly. The lady on the other end was helpful and after about 5-7 minutes of explanation and pushing the right buttons, we got it going. Her english wasn't great, but she could communicate spoken words well -- just not letters when it came to clearing the network settings in the DOS (do they still call it that?) prompt. Oh, well, 15 minutes after I placed the call, I was back online and working with a secure connection.

The unit and card work great and, so far, are deserving of 5 stars. The documentation is what bumps this thing down for me. The biggest irritation is that a manual would have made things a snap for me. Though I know little about wireless, I've built computers and administered networks. However: I will say that if there must be something lacking along the lines of product, documentation, or support, I'm glad its documentation and not the other two.

If you get this and have some trouble, just pick up the phone. Before you do, though, get familiar with the ip* commands in your command prompt (e.g. ipconfig, etc.). That may help if the technician has a hard time pronouncing English letters clearly!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Works out of the box
Review: My ADSL link is an Alcatel router running the PPPoE connection.
All I had to do was connect the Linksys to the Alcatel box and plug the power cord.
The Linksys router worked immediately out of the box, after installing the Linksys wireless NIC (about 45 sec).
Naturally, at that stage I had absolutely no security, which took another 15 mins of playing with (I had to reset to defaults because I did not write down the settings ...).
Great product, no wonder Cisco bought the company.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: wireless functionality stopped working after one year
Review: A good product but not built to last. Wireless capablities stopped working after 13 months. Conveniently after the warranty was up. Linksys advise was to but a new unit.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Mine broke after only 14 months
Review: Look at other brands, mine broke only 2 months after the 1-yr warranty expired. No physical damage, simply stopped working, and after an hour with Linksys tech support was told that I had a broken router, but was out of luck because it was more than a year old. Tech support also wouldn't let me talk to any managers. Lasting only 14 months is very weak, my advise is choose another brand.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: no range because "i have walls"
Review: the wired part works fine. the wireless works fine, too -- in the same room as the router. i have less than a 20' range -- instead of the claimed 300' (indoors -- more outdoors, which i also don't have, because it has to go through -- get this! -- a wall).

when i phoned tech support, i was asked if i was in the same room as the router. "of course not," i said, "if i were, i wouldn't need wireless, i'd just hook it to a cable."

"oh, that's your problem. you have walls. have you tried staying in the same room?"

well, yes. but then what's the point of wireless?

"why not buy a booster?"

i don't want to buy a booster, because i just spent far too much money on this, and i am well near enough the router that i should have decent range.

"yes, but the walls block the signal."

a great product, as long as you're right next to the router, or your house has no walls.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Outstanding product!
Review: This is a great product. The included installation guide was clear and straightforward (with great illustrations). It included all I needed to know to get the router up and running. I didn't even have to install any of the included software. I had a DSL connection on a laptop running Windows XP, and I wanted both to share the DSL connection via a RJ45 wire to another laptop (running Windows 98 2d ed.) in another room, and to be able to get online wirelessly on my primary laptop. This router allowed me to do precisely that. When my primary laptop is on its docking station, it's connected via LAN, and when it's not, it's connected via Wireless LAN (WLAN).

Also, some people have complained that it gets too hot, but mine hasn't yet. Maybe their units were defective.

Finally, Linksys' website (unlike Netgear's) is very well designed, and you can learn a lot about the product before you even order it, which allows you to prevent unpleasant surprises. I'd strongly recommend this product.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Simple to install, nice integrated package
Review: Installed very easily under Windows XP Home. You don't even need the instructions. One complaint: the online manual did not match the screens for configuration. So novices beware, there may be some trial and error to get your advanced settings right. With that said, the standard settings worked out of the box for me, and I was up and running in about 10 minutes. I setup WEP encryption easily between a notebook PC using a Netgear USB adapter and the Linksys. Works great, strong signal, nice package.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfecto!
Review: This baby came with all the right moves: 1)easy to install, 2)easy to operate, 3)never lets me down. I might add, it also works flawlessly with the WET and my Playstation2. What else do you want, your router to be your girlfriend? Five stars.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: So user friendly it can't work
Review: I have a Linksys Cable/DSL router and was very happy with it, so it seemed like this product would make a great addition to my network. I uplinked it to the router, and after an hour on the phone with tech support, was able to make the two work together. When I tried to make it work with my Airport extreme card on my Powerbook, it would only find the network intermittantly, and when it did, it asked for a password. I called Linksys and was informed that they could not help me because I have a Mac. When I asked for a supervisor, CUSOMER CARE HUNG UP ON ME. I bought a Netgear access point, and it worked like a charm right out of the box. No configuration necessary. I am very disappointed in Linksys.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good but stopped working
Review: The wireless functionality stopped working after about a year. Not built to last. I replaced it with NetGear equivalent, now I'm back in business.


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