Rating: 
Summary: Firmware update worked wonders
Review: I originally gave this a 2 star rating after purchasing Version 4 of the BEFW11S4. The router was very buggy, locked up very, very frequently (on the order of once every 10 minutes or so.) I gave up on it. Today I found new firmware on the Linksys website, and it has now worked flawlessly for a full day without a hiccup. So if you have Version 4 or you buy Version 4 of this router, do yourself a favor and update the firmware now. The difference is like night and day. Once the firmware is updated, this is a solid router.
Rating: 
Summary: Product Works, but with Beta Firmware
Review: I bought one of these and installed it in my in-laws' house, and it hung every 30 minutes or so, blocking Internet access to every computer on the network, including those directly connect via Ethernet. Then I installed the latest firmware (released 01-Jul-2003) and it has been working perfectly. But read the release notes with the latest firmware: "This release is only for beta testing. This is not an official release. Linksys will not provide any technical support. Use this firmware at your own risk".I would avoid this product until Linksys releases non-Beta firmware (and the firmware works, based on user reviews), and then I would buy it only if you are adept at firmware upgrades. I'm surprised that Linksys (now owned by Cisco) would let a product out the door like this. Their tech support was no help on this issue.
Rating: 
Summary: Great when it works
Review: This is a great product WHEN it works. I fell in love with this product when I first bought it and installed it in my home. Setup was easy and uptime was great. Being able to access the Internet from my couch in my living room or sitting out on my deck was absolutely amazing. However, when I bought the exact same product for my office, I quickly fell out of love with the product. I run a Microsoft network with XP machines through a DSL connection and this router constantly (maybe 5 or 6 times a day) loses the connection to the Internet. The only way to fix it is to walk down the hallway to the router and unplug it and then replug it. Tech support was pretty much useless in helping to solve the problem. I downloaded the latest firmware and it didn't solve the problem. Their only other suggestion was to swap out the product for a new one, which I will probably do even though it's a bit of a pain. Still, despite their being tons of complaints all over the Internet from BEFW11S4 owners that they are losing their connections all the time, and having to unplug and replug in the router to reconnect, Linksys doesn't seem to acknowledge that there is a real problem still outstanding. If they would just say, there's a known problem and we are working to isolate it and fix it, I'd have a lot more respect for them. My recommendation to anyone who is looking at buying this product is this. Buy it. Install it. The moment you lose your connection, return it for a full refund and go buy a competing product (unless you want a new exercise program that entails doing a lot of standing up and walking over to your router). Because when this router works, it's really good -- but the problem is that it often doesn't work and nobody seems to know exactly why.
Rating: 
Summary: As Revolutionary as the Internet Itself
Review: Wireless technology has allowed me to easily access the Internet at home, my office, and a local cafe. When I drive out of town and need to check e-mail, I can often find a free "hot spot" where I can get my mail.
The Linksys product has proven easy to install and configure. I've used it for both cable modem and ADSL services. With ADSL, the unit automatically dials, so you don't need any "dialer" software on your PC.
Should you get this model, or the faster "G" version? Although the "G" wireless standard is faster, the 11 Megabit speed offered by this "B" router is 5 to 10 times faster than a cable modem or ADSL Interent connection - a "G" router won't make your Internet connection faster. The higher speed will only help when transferring large files locally.
As far as security, cable modem technology and the Internet itself are insecure networks. The best way to secure yourself is to ensure that you don't share any files on your home computers, except while briefly copying files. Secondly, firewall software such as ZoneAlarm can further block intrusions. Many home users, including myself, leave the encryption features turned off, so that others can easily share the Internet connection.
Overall, this product ROCKS, and has made computing far more versatile and convenient for me.
Rating:
Summary: Still Disappointed
Review: Normally I don't write reviews, but I'm so mad about this lockup issue and I don't want anyone else to go through it. Other posts here are right, this modem locks up at least 3 times per day for me. I have to run down to the basement unplug and plug back in. Absolutely frustrating and makes me wish I hadn't lost my old router by a power surge. What's more frustrating is there is nothing on the linksys support site and the firmware has not been updated since December of 02. Seven months and I'm the first one with this problem? I don't think so Linksys and I will be replacing you shortly.
Rating:
Summary: Good product, after getting 1.45.3 firmware (V4 router)
Review: All of the things that people have said in the other comments about the version 4 router are true. I bought a version 4 router that shipped with v1.44.2 firmware.
I was having a lot of problems with it because streaming media would need to pause and buffer every couple of minutes (really annoying) and also ALL downloads would halt after about 1.6 MB. I was really upset.
After I downloaded the version 1.45.3 firmware, things are much better. It was released July 1. You can get it at ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pub/befsr41/befw11s4v4-fw-1453.zip
(for some reason clicking on the link in IE wouldn't work for me and I had to navigate to the parent directory and then drag & drop the file to a folder on my computer. Before figuring out that I needed to browse I called linksys help and asked them to email it to me. Twice they said I'd get it in 15-30 minutes, but it never arrived) Setting the thing up was very easy with my DSL from Verizon. You can configure it from an internet browser and there are lots of options. I'm giving it 5 stars because it works great now. If I was rating the old firmware, I'd only give it 1 star. One more thing, when I first set this up, all my connections would drop every couple of minutes. I then changed to cables that I knew were rated for 100Mbit and things worked better.
Rating: 
Summary: AVOID VERSION 4 of this router at this time
Review: Okay, I've been hunting for a wireless router for a long time. This one looked wonderfully promising, but after 3 weeks of random lockups (after which you must unplug the power cord and reinsert it to get it to respond) in which the PC thinks the router is dead, I'm pulling my hair out. I've read on several Broadband discussion sites that this is a VERY COMMON problem with the BEFW11S4 router VERSION 4. Apparently, version 2 and 3 are fine, but 4 (which is what is currently sold in the US) has some flaws they still have not resolved. Most recent firmware you say? Alas! I have installed it and same thing still happens. Other folks suggested a new beta version of the firmware, but it still has lockup issues too. I would say if you can grab a version 2 or 3 of this router, by all means. But unless you like unplugging your router twice a day to get it unstuck, avoid it until they fix the firmware. As of July 1st, it is still unresolved. -Jim
Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware
Review: Over the years I have bought Linksys products and have recommended their products to co-workers. Based on my experience with this product I will think twice before I do that again. I have the v4 edition of this router - I would think after 4 revisions they would start to get it right. The DHCP server on the hardware was very flaky and would stop giving IP addresses. The broadband router portion of the router would stop serving up web pages. I resorted to resetting the thing to get it to work again - this didn't always work either. ...
Rating:
Summary: Lots of problems but I found one solution
Review: This router works great for the pcs that are wired directly to it. However, I've had all sorts of problems with wireless connections; everytime I reboot my laptop it takes a few DAYS to get it to connect again! I can reinstall the firmware, reinstall the card (wpc11), format the laptop, it doesn't matter, it still refuses to work. The best I could get was "you have successfully connected to the access point but the internet cannot be found". However, once I stopped using dhcp on the laptop (assigned it an ip address and manually entered the gateway and dns numbers for the wpc11) it began working. It works this way but it's aggrivating and does not work when using the router as a dhcp server as it should.
Rating:
Summary: It's lucky I haven't smashed it yet
Review: All I can say after setting this router up (and rebooting it way too frequently, resetting it to defaults, upgrading the firmware, walking away and hoping it fixes itself, etc...) is don't buy it. When it works, it's fine. But it doesn't work without freezing for a couple minutes out of every 10, and after freezing a few times, it just locks up permanently (leading to the above-mentioned attempts at remedy). Oh, and when I say it freezes, I mean everything freezes. I have it connected to a cable modem on the internet side and a wired desktop and a wireless notebook on the local side. When it freezes, I have no internet, period. Wired or wireless. Zilch. So spend your money elsewhere--on something more reliable and stable.
| 
