Rating: 
Summary: Wireless=no connection
Review: Worst purchase i ever made. I had used wireless before with Webgear but thought a wireless router would be a good upgrade. Setup was extremely easy, but connection speed from 5 feet was so bad my connection kept timing out. I was running Windows ME and was not aware of any upgrade patch, but for the money I said screw it and returned it for store credit. I'm running wire this weekend. Stay away unless you get a cash back guarantee.
Rating: 
Summary: Terrible tech support
Review: Got this item plus Wireless PC Card for networking my PC and 2 laptops into my DSL. The wireless does not have the range advertised (or anything close). It does work within my house but signal is weak beyond 25'. I called tech support at Linksys and they are zero help (once you get through). Most of the time you get voice mail with a promise to call back that can happen at anytime and if you're not home, you're out of luck.It would not work with one laptop (a laptop that worked well on the DSL before adding the network) and they refused to help me with it because the network card was not Linksys. I still haven't got it networked in. I also needed to hook up to a Virtural Private Network, which it would not do at first. Then I downloaded the latest firmware which had an update for VPN's. Linksys sent me instructions which I could not understand. My corporate tech support took me through how to set that up or I would still be waiting. Mine is now up and working well on 2 of 3 computers but not without much grief and little help from Linksys.
Rating:
Summary: Beware of BEFW11P1 wireless router
Review: LinkSys written specifications say this router supports IPSec passthrough (needed for access to some secure networks) but their firmware doesn't. The latest firmware release for this router has the IPSec passthrough enable in the router menu but in exchange for this feature (apparently), the wireless network PC cards in my other computers became inoperable. So I had to chisel an older version of the firmware out of customer support just to get back to where I started. I often received conflicting information from their customer support and have since given up on them. On the one rare occasion that I was able to get through to a live person at LinkSys Sales department, they hung up on me while I was trying to explain my problem. LinkSys appears to be unresponsive to my issue and the bottom line is that I have to wait for how knows how long for them to make the required fix to get their router to do what they say they would do in the first place. A second issue is the advertised operating range for the wireless routers. What they don't tell you is that the range is line of sight. If you have intervening walls or other obstructions between a wireless PC network card and the router, ie,. you are using the router in yor house or apartment, you will lose significant signal strength. I didn't find this out until I complained to customer service about the weak signal at only 30 feet from the router.
Rating: 
Summary: Works great after initial trouble and download of fixes
Review: I experienced all the difficulties described, but I got the 6/21/2001 patch from the linksys site and everything is hunky dory! It works fine. We have uptime that lasts for days now. We use it wireless with a pc and mac portable + a mac and pc wired in. Moral: download the 6/21/2001 patch and you should be ok. (Of course it's the release they should have come out with so that they didn't have to shoot themselves in the foot by releasing early.)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Product / Worst Support I've ever encountered!
Review: If you want an awesome product that does EXACTLY what it advertises, this is it. But BEWARE. If you have to call support, you will be on hold forever and will never get a call back. I gave this product 5 stars because it works fantastic! The product itself is a dream, if you know what your doing. My only complaint is with the "utility" that shows your connection strength and speed. It's totally bogus. Many times it shows slow or no connection but I'm still able to surf or connect to the corporate VPN at 11M. The utility could definately use some work to be useful. Also, things are not set the same on the wap and linksys network card, even though they both com from the same manufacturer. Make sure you review the wap and card settings before tring connecting. One last comment. Make sure you know what you're doing and before you even start, get the latest firmware!! This is a MUST with any hardware you're installing.
Rating:
Summary: If you use VPN, don't bother with this router!
Review: This router isn't bad if you don't use the wireless option or plan on using VPN. But if the wireless option is poor, save yourself some bucks and get the much cheaper non-wireless version. Basically, my beefs are as follows: 1. Wireless... very poor reception... unless you are working within 15-20 feet of the router. 2. Use with VPN... constantly loses your connection... doesn't help with productivity at all.
Rating:
Summary: MAJOR Start-up issues
Review: I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Take it out, plug it in, play with some settings, and voila! a wireless network. Was I ever wrong... Once I configured it, it worked for about 30 seconds. As soon as it is started returning information, it would reset itself. I attempted to call Linksys technical support, but could not get through to them since all the numbers published inside of the manual had been disconnected. That's one way to stop the millions of phone calls from pouring in!! I ended up performing a firmware upgrade and re-configuring the router. Once I did that, all problems disappeared and I've been running smoothly ever since (for about 2 weeks). I'm running W98 on my PC while my laptop is on W2K. I haven't experienced any compatibility issues between the two and their sharing printers like a champ. The range on Wireless PC card is decent. Like everybody, it has some limitations, but for the most part, it works from afar. Remember, even with a 10% signal strength, you are still able to surf the net without a hitch. Overall, I would say once the system is up and running, it works well. But, given the start-up issues that I, and many others, have encountered, I would think twice about buying this product unless you're really into PC networking technologies.
Rating:
Summary: underinformed
Review: I bought this item with great expectation of sitting out on my back patio with my laptop, surfing the web unincumbered by wires and modems. This after two months of trying, has turned out to be nothing but a fantasy. Not only is the system difficult to install, but I find that my DSL provider will not support any router that isnt supplied by them and therefore this whole system is now unusable. So beware consumer. Check with your provider to see if they can support the new hardware youre buying.
Rating: 
Summary: Wireless hardware 5 stars. Support/Software 1 star
Review: I have a BEFSR41 which has been up and running for > 6 months. (I love it). I replaced it with the BEFW11S4 (The wireless model) After 3 minutes of setup, it worked perfectly for my old non-wireless connections. Including my laptop using a wired Ethernet card. I unplugged my wired Ethernet, and installed the WPC11 in my laptop. Well to make a long story short, it didnt work. I emailed Linksys twice and didnt get an answer ever. Finally I went to their web site and saw an article about problems with the WPC11 and Windows ME. (I should have guess this, I've had lots of ME problems) Anyway after downloading the newest drivers the WPC11 is working perfectly. (Well not at first. For some reason, they dont set their base station defaults and WPC11 default settings to be the same) Set mode to Infrastructure and SSSID to linksys. Their monitoring software could use a little work. It says I dont have a connection or a very poor connection and I can get 2.5Mbits/s downloading from the net. Bottom line, hardware great, WPC11 software could be a problem installing.
Rating:
Summary: I thought routers were supposed to hold your connection?
Review: Overall, this was the worst purchase I have ever made in my entire life. 1) It doesn't hold my connection, it dies out at a *MAX* after 2 hours of it working. 2) Whenever I make a router change it takes longer to propogate then ANY router I have ever seen. 3) The httpd on it dies SO fast, usually even before I get to make a change on the router configuration. 4) Oh my god, I thought this router was Wireless?! Across the hall in the next room my Laptop is at 0%-3% signal on this thing. Overall, go D-Link [the Wireless Router with 3 Port Switch that they made] Good luck.
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