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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: 5 stars
Summary: Nice & easy...
Review: I've purchased a bunch of these in order to "wire-up" my relatives' houses, therefore when I visit I can just wirelessly latch onto their broadband connections with my laptop... It made for an easy Christmas deciding what to get them...

These things have become so easy to set up... Compared to my Netgear NAT'ing router that I got over 3 years ago...

The only thing that I had to do with this Linksys box was upgrade the firmware in order to do IPsec over the 802.11b link... Most of the shipping versions that I've come across ship with older code, but it's an easy upgrade, and not enough trouble to change my mind about giving this device 5 stars... And with the generous mail-in rebate, how can ya go wrong?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Product for My Needs
Review: This review is for the BEFW11S4 (version 2) Wireless Router. I wanted to take advantage of my laptop's wireless capabilities so I did a bit a research online and in various stores on wireless networking. I finally settled on the Linksys router.

I have a Toshiba wireless LAN card (Toshiba Satellite) and it works flawlessly with the router. The speed is a little slower compared to a wired connection directly with my cable modem, but to be able to take my notebook all over my home (upstairs and downstairs) while maintaining a broadband internet connection is quite cool. I live in a townhouse so the range this router provides was more than adequate.

It took me minutes to set up a wired connection. Version 2 of the router comes with a CD that basically makes set up simple. I did have some difficulty getting my laptop to interact with the wireless access point, but that was due to me not knowing where my laptop's internal antenna was.

It's been smooth sailing ever since. I am very happy with my purchase.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Tastes great, less filling!
Review: The Quick Start Guide could be a tad less obscure, but overall this product does everything the manufacturer claims at an attractive price. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy setup, works fine
Review: When my neighbor got cable internet, I set up a (2) home network using this wireless router and a Linksys WET-11 wireless bridge. On her end, she has a PC and a Mac connected directly to the router. On my end, I have three PCs connected to a switch, which is connected to the WET-11. The router is set up as the DHCP server for the local network. The distance between the router and the bridge is ~75', with just two exterior walls to pass through. This has been working trouble free since we set it up three weeks ago.

Setup of the router and the bridge was simple and relatively painless for me. If you don't have a working knowledge of how simple networks are put together, or have difficulty with technical instructions, you'll probably want to get help. I haven't had any personal experience with Linksys tech support, but reviews haven't been promising.

FWIW, the Linksys routers were highly recommended by the cable installation guys ...

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good news, bad news
Review: The good news: Linksys wireless devices, including this router/AP/switch come up and online easily with the default factory settings. Surprising that things are so simple out of the box. This has been my friends experiences as well as my own first hand. This includes wireless adapter installations on XP/2000/98/95 systems, although if you still have Win 95 you may want to research compatibility for this unit (BEFW11S4 Ver2). Tech Support is available 24x7, a nice plus. If you wonder about interference from 2.4Ghz cordless phones, there seems no significant problems affecting wireless data rate with my Panasonic 2.4Ghz FHSS wireless telephone system. My friend reports no interference problems with his Siemens 2.4G system either. This holds true even when talking and surfing in the same room.
The bad news: Expect some troubles if you are trying to configure the router to something other than default (which you certainly should do) WITHOUT a LAN attached PC. This is inherent in a wireless system, not just Linksys. The router manual is on a CD, but it was for a backlevel version of the router. Unfortunately, even the correct manual is very weak in giving you any good information on the significance of some key config settings, leaving you to wonder what the settings do or what happens if you changed it. Examples - SSID broadcasting, MAC filtering, channel #s, and many more.

Summary: what appears to be a good, smooth operating product with 7x24 support, low/no 2.4G interference, easy install, along with poor documentation.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best networking product on the market!
Review: I have setup this handy device with RoadRunner, Cox, DirectvDSL (RIP), and Everest Communications....point is, it doesn't really matter who the broadband provider is, unless you purchase a special setup, you'll probably be getting a dynamic IP address provided with your connection. That's all this thing needs to bring internet connectivity across your entire home. Simply do the following:

power off the cable/dsl modem
plug in the router (connect from cable/dsl modem to WAN port on router)

turn on the modem, let it activate properly
turn on the router, and plug in cable to computers
that's it!

if you want to do more, just open up a web browser and go to
192.168.1.1 (password 'admin') and you can access the configuration of the router allowing you to turn off wireless, change DHCP structure, and many more things you won't ever need to touch since it's default is how most people will use it.

Great product!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nearly a turnkey wired/wireless home network...
Review: Very impressed with the ease of setup & the outstanding performance. In conjunction with the WPC11 Wireless PC Card, I had a Laptop with WIN2000 and a Desktop with WINMe sharing a high speed cable internet connection in about 2 hours -- with no prior networking experience. Built-in security protocols are a bit more complex to fully deploy, but even their default is far better protection than nothing at all (for an always-on internet connection).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Great Idea with some serious problems
Review: This is an e-mail I sent to Linksys regarding my experience with this product. I hope it is helpful to potential buyers of this product.

I am writing to let you know about my experience with your product.

I purchased a router and a wireless USB access point so that I could connect my wife's laptop to the broadband internet connection we had set up. I got the router set up and working easily enough and had contact between my (wired) desktop and the cable modem in short order. I then brought my wife's laptop into the room and set up the wireless connection, which seemed to work fine...at a distance of about 1 foot.

As I moved the computer to the other room to show my wife how this was going to allow her to stop using the dial-up service that she had been using, the signal dropped off significantly...and I mean significantly...I lost the signal within 30 feet.

I read about the causes of lack of range and decided that the room had to be the cause of the problem, because of filing cabinets etc.

I drilled some holes, bought long ethernet patch cables and an extension cord and moved the router to a shelf that I built in the hallway...only to find that I had wasted an afternoon and [money] moving the router. The range was unchanged...I could connect a few feet away, but walk 10 feet and the signal started to fade. If I walked 30 feet away (where I could now SEE the router) I lost the signal entirely.

My first phone call to your tech support elicited a suggestion that I change the channel...so I tested all of them with no success.

My next phone call to your tech support I terminated after and hour and a half on hold.

Needless to say, I have returned the router and wireless access port to Amazon, at the cost of the shipping.

There are two things you should take away from this:
1. Your quality control appears to be lacking...since the range was clearly not due to inadequate operating environment.
2. Your technical support is not adequate. It is difficult to get through, and once I got through, I had the most disinterested response I have ever had. The technician couldn't have more convincingly conveyed his total lack of care for your customers. I would have tried to do an RMA on the router and the access point if I had believed that your company would have been willing to help, but as it was I found that you simply don't care.

I am very disappointed with your product. I don't know whether I am going to try another wireless product or not, but I do know that your company will have to work very hard to convince me that your products are worthy of my consideration in the future.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Easy to set up.
Review: My room-mate had this up and running in 30 mins along with one PCI card and one PCMCIA card on the network.

My only gripe is that it does not have a printer port and print server capability. I dropped it down 1 star for that.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: easy to set up.
Review: The best way to get the internet to all our computers. Each of my two children have there on computer. It was so fast to set up all the linksys router and the wireless pc cards.With the (install)disk it set my computer up in minutes. We love it


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