Rating: 
Summary: Linksys Access Point - not quite the strength you may need
Review: I purchased the BEFW11S4 access point from Linksys for my home network. While it did connect up eventually, I needed to follow the CD installation instructions rather than the quick start instructions to get it communicating. My biggest problem with the unit is the low signal strenght available from the unit. We have a space that is only 60x40x30 feet requiring coverage inside the house, and there are often problems maintaining a connection through two walls and 40 feet of distance. Outside connectivity, through only one wall, only extends to about 60 feet. This is a far cry from the specification stating >50 meters. I do not get 2MB at 50 meters, must less the advertised 11Mb at that distance. I will be buying another access point to extend my operating range.
Rating: 
Summary: AWESOME PRODUCT
Review: This was my first network, so I expected to have some problems... I could not get the network tot work for a few hours so I decided to give Linksys Tech Sopport. You might be able to call it as good as Dell's (I have an Inspiron 4000 and a Dimension 2100). Linksys got me up and running in 10 minutes and I was wireless with my notebook. Great Product. If you are thinking about buying this product, go for it!!
Rating: 
Summary: Powerful, easy to use router for cable/DSL modems
Review: I installed my unit to serve as a router for my cable modem and to act as LAN router between my three home computers. I set it up in a peer-to-peer network using Windows 2000 Professional on one and Win 98SE on the other two. The Win2K computer is hooked to the router via a 10Base CatE cable and the other two computers use Linksys's USB wireless access point controllers.The router is easily managed via the web browser on your computer and setup was relatively easy for this beginner. The primary problems were caused by my firewall software (Symantec) and were resolved easily. I am now able to access the net from all computers (at between 5 and 11 Mbs) and transfer files, etc. The computers are about 30 and 50 feet from the wireless router and speed is always very good. While a wired setup is always best, I did not want to run wires everywhere and I wanted the flexibility to move things around. Security is good as the Linksys has 128bit WEP capability. A good product at a decent price.
Rating: 
Summary: be prepared...
Review: novell ipx users? skip this. they dont pass ipx... in my office of like 50' away from the linksys pcmcia card? good reception. outside the walls? [not good]. granted i have about a foot of stucco walls. another test. i covered the antenna part of the card in the laptop. still about 20' away from the base unit. the signal drop by almost to 50-60%. so i stuck the unit by a window on the second floor. then i walked outside. 1500'??? not even close... so when you get this, open it and use it immediately. i waited to receive the pcmcia unit from another place and my 30 days return policy ran out. if you keep it, upgrade the firmware of the unit immediately. on mine, the WEP did not work at all with its own card for the laptop until i made the change... kinda sad... again, novell users, unless you upgrade to pure IP... stay away from this...
Rating:
Summary: Thank you Linksys
Review: It only took 30 minutes to get everything up and running. I can connect with my laptop from anywhere in the house or out by the pool with great speed. It makes working at home much more relaxing. I have my access point at one corner of the house and my room is at the other corner, about 100 feet through 3 walls. The red light blinks when I am far away, but it still works. Thanks to all the people who wrote reviews I have read here and elsewhere. It helped me to decide to buy this. Plus I figured if it didn't work accross the whole house, I would just take it back. If you are thinking about this product, I highly suggest it.
Rating:
Summary: Works Fine -- MAC Address Cloning Saved Me
Review: I'm using this router along with the Linksys WPC11 Wireless network card on two computers. This setup is purely for internet access. The software & hardware installation was simple and the signal strength appears adequate (install the utility software that comes with the wireless card). The big help came when I discovered my broadband provider (Roadrunner) used MAC Addresses. Roadrunner as a policy will not register additional MAC Addresses. Fortunately, this Router comes with MAC Address cloning. I entered the Cable Modem MAC Address onto the cloning configuration page, reset the router (a little button in the back and is a necessary step [I found this out the hard way]), powered everything down and back up and I was in business.
Rating:
Summary: It works... barely
Review: The router as a basic platform for browsing the web and recieving email works allright. If thats all you want to do and you want both the wireless and hardwired abilities in one package.. this is an acceptable product. Its hardware offers pretty much every feature you could imagine would be packaged into a device like this save one, which is QoS (quality of serivce) i.e. the ability to limit specific users to specific speeds.. but as this is not found in any comparable competitors products its not a big loss... The problem comes in with their firmware. To put it simply you could consider this device to be in beta testing at the firmware level... at BEST While the problems won't be seen with simple mail, web and messaging software.. it gets alot stickier with persistent connections... i.e. chatrooms, conferencing, and games. If the wireless module is enabled, it will 'hang' roughly 2-3 seconds after each minute. It only does this when wireless is active. Its a firmware issue dealing with the searching for new clients that they haven't ironed out (and who knows if they ever will, its already been through 12 firmware revisions) similarly, the current firmware lacks the ability to set the MTU (packet size) which again while it won't interfere with your email will cause a game to crash out eventually as the packet size is nonstandard (i.e. not 1500) and eventually persistant connections will die with packet fragmentation. Again their customer support acknowledges this is a problem with their firmware but cannot say when it will be fixed. In the end, on their customer support's own reccomendation, i had to take the device back and am using their normal 4 port router (no problems) with their seperate wireless access point (no problems)... its a shame they can't get their act together and successfully combine two of their own products into one box
Rating:
Summary: Piece of junk
Review: I was a previous owner of the Linksys 1 port DSL router, and it worked fine. When I upgraded to this system, trying to use it with Pacific Bell DSL service, forget it! I've spent DAYS trying to get it to work - and actually had it working for most of one day (once). But all in all, this is a piece of crap. I think I'm going to sell mine on ebay and buy a netgear.
Rating:
Summary: Surfing in bed now ... pretty happy so far
Review: Let's call this rating 4.5 stars ... I purchased the BEFW11S4 router along with the Linksys PCMCIA card for my home desktop system and laptop, respectively. Basically I wanted the ability to surf the Web from my laptop anywhere in the house (in bed, on the sofa, watching TV, etc.) using the wireless connection but also have the hard-wire ports available as a backup. I'm using the wired port from my desktop that is located 70 feet away in another part of the house where the DSL line/modem live, but the wireless connection via my laptop to write this review. All I can say is so far so good and no real complaints. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was some of the setup/config I had to do eventually wasn't covered in the manual and I had to call tech support at 800 number to get up and running. The quickstart setup and driver installation takes about five minutes total for both the router and the card and I had absolutely no trouble following the directions. I knew the card was connecting as it was clearly getting a signal, and there were a couple tweaks that the tech support operator helped with immediately. The basic problem I had was with DNS ... I had to enter some basic DNS server settings in both the router and the card's TCP/IP properties and immediately began surfing the Web! Pretty cool. Tech support was solid, responsive, friendly ... but like most these days really overworked. It took me a day to get a callback but once I did, no problems. They even gave me some good advice for extending the range of the wireless service, such as trying different channels, antenna positions and downloading a new driver from the company Web site. That's something none of the other reviewers who had problems mentioned trying, but very sensible. I should also say that I consider myself a novice network admin at best. The real selling points for me were the price/feature set and the PC World "Best Buy" recommendation. The $40 in rebates I got at the time I purchased were an unexpected bonus, but unfortunately no longer offered. OK, so it wasn't 100 percent plug-and-play, but anyone who deals with networking -- home or office -- will tell you some minor tweaking is to be expected. Don't be discouraged or let this prevent you from diving in -- I'm glad I did!
Rating: 
Summary: It never worked!
Review: Horrendous, horrible, and a waste of my time. Bought the router, the card, and the adapter. After many long and frustrating hours with tech support (and waiting for them to call back :( ) They told me on three different occasions, that I should exchange the router, the card, and the adapter. I did and needless to say, it ended up costing me money in gas and tolls, as well as time. The bottom line is they still couldn't figure out what was wrong, and eventually, the last tech support (who hardly spoke English) simply told me to return the product and get another model. Can you imagine that? What loyalty to the company. Makes you wonder what really happens behind their doors. Needless to say, I did just that, and bought Netgear. Regarding Netgear? Fantastic!!!!!!!! Up and running in a jiffy, and I'm enjoying my wireless access. Richard Periut
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