Rating: 
Summary: Novice found it easy
Review: I have had a laptop as the sole computer in the house for 4 or 5 years. The kids (3 of them) use it too and the cable modem connection is under the bench at the kitchen table. I'd been looking into wireless networks for a couple of years but never got around to putting one in; they seemed too expensive, too many technical issues to deal with, etc. Finally, it got to be important that the PC move around for homework reasons or just to find a quiet place to surf and I bought the Linksys BEFW11S4 EtherFast Wireless-B Access Point + Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port 10/100 Switch, and their wireless laptop PC card also. I was expecting some difficulty either installing the router or configuring it with my PC. I am still running Win 98, I use a proxy server (Proximitron) to kill popups and other ads and it seems that every time I add software or hardware I end up having to play around with numerous settings to make everything work again. Another concern I had was fitting the new router into the tight space I use as the preferred spot to house modems, etc so they are accessible yet out of the way. I've had the cable modem in the cabinet part of a bench at the kitchen table. When I use the laptop, I open the bench, take out the power and Ethernet cables and plug in. I wanted to add the Linksys router to the storage area. Would it fit and still work? Installing this turned out to be as easy as taking it out of the box, figuring out were to plug in the power and following the 3 step user docs. I was a little confused by the initial description of how to plug into the router instead of directly into the cable modem but just blindly followed along. Right away, the router was on and working and I still could access the Internet. Configuring it was easy through a provided wizard. Again, just follow their recipe and it goes very smoothly. Next, I took out my existing Ethernet PC card, swapped in the new wireless card, and did 5 seconds of following the configuration procedures, and that was it. Done, and it worked right away. I immediately started moving the computer around the house to test it. Everything continues to work beautifully. As I get further away, I can see the meter showing the performance is degraded, but I am still getting very reasonable Internet response. I had a dropped session today but I had those occasionally prior to the wireless access. All in all, I am happy with this purchase. It works how I hoped and it was very easy to install. And everything fits in the bench.
Rating: 
Summary: Version 4.....so far bad.
Review: I have used Linksys routers/hubs for about 4 years (including an earlier version of this model) and have always been very happy with them. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why the internet connection would stop working both on my wired computer and wireless one, I can't even access the internal "admin" site. The only fix I found was to unplug the router for a minute and plug back in. Linksys tech support emailed me suggesting to do a "hard reset" by
1. Unplug the RJ45 and power supply from the router.
2. With power off, hold down the reset button and don't let go for about 30 seconds.
3. Insert the power cord with the reset button pushed in.
4. Wait for the Diag light to come on and go off.
Mines already in the box to be sent out back to Amazon. Not willing to wait around for a fix, may try Netgear. Good Luck.
Rating: 
Summary: Good router though Released too soon..
Review: This router works great as long as you dont need to download files larger than say... er.. 300k. Most all large file downloads stall. Once it stalls the progam I'm using to download the file freezes also so I need to shut that down. If Im lucky I'll sometimes I'll be able to get a 3mb file downloaded. I've contacted Linksys and they told me to try different MTU settings. Each time I tried a different setting it seemed to fix the problem for a little while but it was only an illusion. Hopefully Linksys releases a new Firmware version to fix this problem. Hey for [the money]it's still not a bad deal for a wireless router even though it does not work quite right. I say wait a month and see if they release a fix for this problem. If you need a router ASAP then pick another one. I have a Netgear MR314 that works wonderfully.
Rating:
Summary: REBOOT CITY ROUTER - BEFW11S4 V4
Review: Been having the same problem every one else has with Version 4
At first it seems to work great then if you use IM or ICQ etc. BINGO it seems to lockup. Using a WET 11 on upstairs DELL.
On my second unit and after about 2 hours it went "South". Weird thing also happened..lost connection them my e-mail computer (DURON 1.0G) dialed up ISP through telco modem and made connection, then unit seemed to "unlock". This firmware has to have bugs for sure. Having set up wired LINKSYS Routers before and had mostly no problems with FTP or AIM. BEFW11S4 V4 needs a firmware update or a technical bulletin explaining what settings are needed to keep it working online. Rebooting seems to fix for a while 1/2 Hour to 8 Hours (overnight). Most likely will return
it for a wired unit and a stand alone access point. Have 4 computers on this unit 3 wired 1 wireless.
Rating:
Summary: Great for wireless but don't compare it to wired
Review: I've had my router/access point for more than 6 months and it's great for my environment - home network for disk/printer/cable modem sharing. I have 3 computers connected, 2 desktops and one laptop. I use a direct connect (desktop), USB network adapter (desktop), and PC card (laptop). All installations were very easy, with very good instructions for both XP (desktops) and ME (laptop). My access point is on the second floor and two of my computers are in my basement; physical distance is about 45 feet. Occasionally I have a dropout with the USB adapter, but it's quickly reconnected with either moving the adapter or, sometimes, a reboot. I've also implemented WEP (encryption) with only one problem: the USB adapter requires the key to be entered manually. Also, it only supports a 64-bit key but doesn't say so. Finally, someone else in my neighborhood has a network but there's no interference with mine. As for wired networks, that physical connection is certainly more stable but I get 11Mbps via wireless vs. 2-3 Mbps via wired. For novices, this is because the Ethernet PC card is limited to this speed even though the cabling supports 10Mbps.
Rating: 
Summary: Simple to set up, difficult to keep up.
Review: My experience with all of Linksys' products prior to this device seem to be extremely simple to set up, and always seem to be very stable. That said, this product keeps up the fine tradition of being easy to set up, but loses its claim to fame on the stability issue. My device has locked up about every 6 hours since I plugged it in and gave it an Internet connection. I've read around that this is an issue related to NAT at high speeds. If this is the case, it doesn't make a very good broadband router, but if you're just using it for wireless access to your existing network, you might get along just fine with this.
Rating:
Summary: Great router if you don't want to stay connected to the net
Review: I can't keep anyting connected to the internet for more than a couple of minutes without a disconnect. IM and PCAnywhere lose connection at the same time on two different computers. One wired, the other wireless. Transfering files from a wireless laptop to a wired desktop works flawlessly. Linksys tech support suggested upgrading to the most recent firmware, but the website specifically says not to upgrade the version 4 router with that very patch. Lovely. If you want a steady connection to the net, skip this router.
Rating:
Summary: keeps logging out
Review: The setup was fine but even at a distance of less than 20 feet,I cannot chat on Yahoo or MSN for few minutes.The tech support asked me to change channels ,upgrade firmware but still has the same problem.The signal strength is excellent but will go low for few seconds every 2-3 minutes causing you to logout and its really annoying.
I have the version 4 and I dont recommend it if you want to chat!
Rating:
Summary: Capable product
Review: The product is very easy to set up. The ethernet ports seem to be a bit too small so removing cat 5 cables is difficult. I was dissapointed to learn that you cannot lock down the wireless network to a specific set of MACs. This seems like a very basic and useful feature. Overall, I would shop around and see if you can do better with NetGear for the money.
Rating:
Summary: Frequent disconnects from internet and cable modem
Review: This item was a big headache. I had big hopes for this Linksys item, but it let me down big time. It frequently terminated the internet connection. It seemd to be periodically automatically releasing and renewing the IP settings. Couldn't stay connected to AOL thru TCP/IP for more than a few minutes at a time without getting booted off. At least three times a day, the internet connection would be completely dead, and the router and cable modem would have to be powered down and powered back up to re-establish the internet connection. After reading many message boards, and seeing lots of people had the same problem with Linksys routers (not just this model), I sent this back. I got a Belkin F5D6231-4 wireless router as a replacement for about 90 bucks. It's been working great with none of the problems I experienced with the Linksys router. My advice is to go with the Belkin router, or try one of the Netgear models.
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