Rating: 
Summary: Highly unreliable producet, terrible support
Review: In theory the Linksys BEFW11S4 is a terrific product. It combines wirless support with a four port router. It has a DHCP server and supports 128-bit WEP. A perfect wi-fi router for the home or SOHO, right?Wrong. This is an extremely unreliable product backed by a company whose technical support is so bad it borders on the scandalous (see the warnings about their support policies on the Better Business Bureau's website). This router is so unreliable that moving it can cause a failure. I had to unplug it to move it to another location in my house. When I rebooted the diagnostic light came on and stayed on, indicating an unrepairable fault. I had to ship it back to Linksys at my expenser to get a replacement. This morning I tried to put one of my machines into the DMZ so that I could enable video conferencing through the firewall. Trying to do that hung the firewall, to the point where I had to do a hard reset on the router (loosing all configuration information). Now the wireless feature is not working and cannot be restored. I am faced with a five hour wait in line on their technical "support" line - yes it really does take that long on hold to get through to a person. No doubt I'll have to pay again for the privilege of sending them back their own faulty hardware. In my opinion, Linsys are selling a product so flawed that it should be withdrawn immediately. Chnaging a simple setting should not irrepairably damage a product. And their support service is abysmal. Do NOT buy this product and do NOT trust Linksys to give you adequate service when - not if - it fails in service.
Rating: 
Summary: Works Well, Setup was a Snap
Review: I'm a home owner and a small business owner, and I think setup was a snap. You plug it in, you make your configurations, and it works like a charm. I don't know what to compare this with since its the only one that I need. Highly recommended. Problems with the router might actually be problems with the card. Exchange the card and see what happens. Overall, a great introduction to the wireless experience.
Rating: 
Summary: the software makes it easy
Review: The CD you get with the hardware makes the whole process so simple. I had to get this with my ATTbi, according to the ISP. I initially tried to use another brand with my ATTbi, but it failed to work. I don't have my network certification, nor do I really work with networks...so this was a snap to connect & get connected with our laptop which receives the wireless transmission via a Linksys USB Network Adaptor.
Rating:
Summary: Contrary to what others say, this router works well
Review: I spent a lot of time reading the reviews about wireless access points and wireless routers. I finally decided on the Linksys router and the Netgear MA 301/401 interface card. So, here's the deal. I have a PII-400 running Win98 that is connected to the router using Cat 5 cable, which is then connected to a cable modem. For those of you who don't know, Cat 5 cable is simply the standard ethernet cable. I then installed the MA 301/401 combo on another computer, a Packard Bell PII-233 running Win95. Unfortunately Win95 had an IRQ conflict with the PCI card (MA 301) that could not be resolved. I installed Win98 and the IRQ conflict disappeared. After getting the Packard Bell system set up, the MA 301/401 would not link up with the Linksys router. I called Netgear tech support and discovered that the SSID on the card must be identical to the SSID on the router. I discovered that the Linksys SSID was "linksys" and the SSID on the card was "Linksys." When I changed the "L" to an "l", the card connected to the router immediately and I was in business. The Packard Bell machine is on the 2nd floor of my townhouse and the Linksys router is in the basement. The signal, therefore, is passing thru 2 floors and 2 walls. The link quality and signal strength are consistently in the "good" category and sometimes they are "excellent." These are qualitative measures reported by the Netgear card's software. As for performance, I downloaded a 19MB file off Microsoft's web site and it took less than 5 minutes via the wireless connection. I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about buying the Linksys router. The reviews are mixed and some people have totally trashed it. I decided to give it a try, figuring that I would return it if it didn't work well. The same thing for the MA301/401 card; some loved it and some hated it. I was also concerned that having a router and card from different manufacturers would cause problems. It turns out that I didn't need to be concerned at all because both pieces are working perfectly. Contrary to what others have said, my connection has not been lost and it takes only a few seconds to establish the wireless connection on startup. I have found that the documentation provided with both items was adequate. However, I wish each of them would have mentioned the importance of having the same SSID on the router and the card. I have not talked with Linksys tech support, but the two calls to Netgear went well. Things to watch out for: 1)The Netgear MA 301, which is the PCI card that plugs into the desktop computer must be used with the Netgear MA 401 wireless PC card. This PC card will also fit in a laptop. 2) As I mentioned, the SSID must be the same on both pieces of hardware. 3)I have not activated the WEP encryption so I have no idea how it will affect performance. The bottom line: I highly recommend the Linksys BEFW11S4 V.2 router and the Netgear MA 301/401 interface card.
Rating:
Summary: Worked out of the box for me.
Review: I got this thing set up in about 30 minutes. Took another 15-30 minutes to set up my computers with their wireless cards. I have linksys in a laptop, a linksys PCI card in a desktop, and a Cisco card in another laptop. They all work well and I am pretty pleased with the results. For those of you sitting on the fence because you think it will be a pain to set up: read the instructions before you start. The set up is not that hard, just go slow. The worst that will happen is you wasted a few hours and you return it.
Rating:
Summary: Great product, great price!
Review: You want marketing for this product? How's this for marketing... I am an engineer for Cisco Systems and I use this product in my home. Fair enough? I still have to deduct a star though because I would feel more comfortable with slightly more advanced security features, but then it might not be user friendly enough for less advanced folks (and perhaps more $$$ as well). There are also known issues with WEP, but let's be realistic here folks... How many people are trying to crack your home network from your front yard? Just remember to change your WEP key every so often and be on the lookout for suspicious looking individuals hanging out around your home with a PC.
Rating:
Summary: The easiest computer component I've ever set up!
Review: Wow, if you want wireless, this is the way to go! After picking up my new laptop and all other accessories to go with it, including this router by Linksys, I will never recommend another to set up in your home! It was so simple to setup... Plug the network cable into the router from the Cable/DSL modem, plug the network cable into the computer from the router... Throw the disk in the computer... BAM! You're done! This was all done with the Windows 2000 Pro machine STILL RUNNING. Everything has run flawlessly. I live in a 1200 sq. ft. home, and I can go anywhere with this router hooked up. Why I gave it four stars... I run a web page off of my computer, and it's been hell trying to figure out how to get that up and running. I found out I need to shut DHCP off, but when I do that, I loose the laptop when I restart it. (Any help out there?) This has truly got to be what anyone wanting to go wireless needs! It's better than paying another company to set it up. It's just so simple! Okay... Update! On 6/28/02 (a month since I bought it), it stopped working. I tried everything in the book to get it working again, nothing. Today (7/19/02) I finally called Linksys, tried everything they said, and now the cable modem can't even see it. They have to send me a new one, we'll see how that works out. They do have very nice customer support, though, and they do everything to make you happy. In being on the phone for less than 7 minutes, they set me up to have the new one mailed to me... Just make sure to keep your receipt!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Value
Review: I have had the router for over one year now without any problems. The indoor range could be a little better, but I think the electronics and walls in the house are not helping much. I know this is a house problem because I get better signal strength outside and down the street than in my front room. The router is instantly configured out of the box. I didnt have to do anything. Anyone who says they are having problems, is describing a problem of their own creation. I have two Apple desktops, one Gateway, one apple airport Tibook, and two Sony VAIO laptops connected to this thing without a glitch. The wireless is being accessed from a combination of Linksys, Orinoco, and Farallon PCCards without any setup issues. The only minor issure was knowning that I needed to change one setting on the router to allow airport access. If you are looking for a router, this is THE one to get. If you have a huge house, or have to place the router in a corner., consider getting two and sticking one at each end of the house for full overlapping coverage. You'll never look back.
Rating:
Summary: Good product after firmware update - fair security
Review: I purchased this product to add a wireless access point to my existing Linksys network (consisting of Linksys print server and DSL router). In order to use only the Wireless features without conflicting with other devices, I had to disable DHCP services and modify the IP address. The main IP address couldn't be modified, so I went to the Linksys site and updated the firmware for Version 2 of the WAP/Router(there are 2 versions of this router). After the upgrade everything went very quickly. I noticed that using the uplink ports to connect other network switches in the chain is the preferred method to connect Linksys devices. In the field I generally use crossover cables to connect devices, but linksys wants things done thier way. I am a computer security professional and was not overly impressed with the security of the device, however; it is sufficient. I enabled WEP (Encryption) and modified the channel number and SSID. I recommend these changes along with modifying the admin password. I was disappointd that I could not set up an access control list that restricted by MAC Address of the wireless NIC. Overall, it's a solid product, with an intuitive user interface and more functionality then the average user will ever require. I did pair the product with wireless linksys nic (wpc11 v.3.0) that Amazon offers a great package deal on. The Windows XP configuration of the wireless nic was not as easy as configuring the wireless router, but that's another product review. I will say that I had to call tech support to verify some of the settings and the tech was excellent(fixed all in 10 minutes). I know some people complain about the wait time from linksys support, but I had a positive experience. Another advatage of this product is the ability to maintian network connections without dropping between roaming access points. There are new wireless standards on the market, such as 802.11a (uses exclusive range for networks only), however; this product uses proven technology that works today, and is more cost effective. Next, year there is a wireless gigabyte standard, but it's still being developed. Enjoy the freedom today...I give the product 4 starts because of the excellent value and intuitive interface.
Rating:
Summary: Easy setup, excellent performance
Review: Delayed a day in getting the box because UPS is getting more insistant on handing high value packages to actual people. Amazon shipped the latest version (BEFW11S4-V2) at the old price of [price]. No tax and free shipping. Wireless link came right up without any configuration. TrueMobile 1150 WiFi card was pre-installed in Dell laptop. Win2K seems to be pretty good at handling dynamic configuration of stuff. Just one router config needed to clone the MAC address and fool Adelphia, then I was on the internet. Haven't read the Linksys documentation yet. Did go to Linksys site and upgrade the firmware, went without a hitch. Had do re-enter the cloned MAC address, though. Getting excellent signal strength all around the house (about -38 dBm with 60 dB S/N). Initially some interference from 2.4GHZ cordless phone, but after a minute or so, they got out of each other's way. Microwave oven creates some noise if it's between the laptop and the WAP, but still usable connection. Performance degradation is minimal (wireless connection through router compared to direct wired connection to the cable modem). Ping times to ISP mail server went from 10mS to 15mS. Download speed went from 2,500kpbs to 2,300kbps. IPSSEC VPN pass-through works fine. No problem to tunnel into Nortel Contivity swith at work using Nortel EAC client. Life is good.
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