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Summary: Don't go to BEST BUY! -- Cheaper HERE!!
Review: Linksys makes a good product, however the awkward cd-rom video they include is outdated, innaccurate...and makes the consumer think they must purchase many more items....THIS PRODUCT CAN DO IT ALL FOR YOU!!...WE BOUGHT IT AT A REGULAR STORE FOR mORE....
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Summary: Great Router if you don't want to use Net Meeting
Review: I am pretty handy with setting up networks so its not wonder I found the router easy to use. I do believe that if a novice follows the directions they can get it to work. I was disappointed to learn that I couldn't use MS NetMeeting with this router. Lynksys' technical support says that they are working on a firmware upgrade to allow NetMeeting use, but there is no date when it will be released. Other than that, this little gem has me completely at ease and all my PCs surfin.
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Summary: Linksys is A1 (UR going 2B happy as a smiley emoticon!) : )
Review: A few days after the ETA of the Y2K BS, I was having trouble connecting with any URLs. When I have HTTP/WWW troubles I usually blame my ISP, but even after following their istructions I was still getting 404s and GPFs in IE. I considered the settings of my DNS, and my TCP. Alas, it was my NetGear router that was F'd up and DOA leaving me SOL. This really had me PO'd considering I had just purchased a new IBM NT OS PC. I went all out. This thing is strictly computing VIP...w/ 12X DVD, CD-R/RW, GE Force3 32MB 4X AGP, 1.333GHZ AMD CPU(no MMX or SIMD), 266MHZ FSB,(2) PNY PC2100 256MB DIMMS of DDR RAM, Creative Labs PCI SB Live! 5.1, 2 ports each for IEEE 1394/USB, and a new ASUS A7M266 MoBo. All that with the addition of a RAID card, which accepts my 3 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HDs. No CRT I opted for an XL 19in NEC .26mm DP TFT LCD. I decided to go w/o any xtra I/Os like SCSI, IR, Zip, JAZ, or FD. I then added a 10/100bps network card by 3COM I was in biz. Since AOL 56k put me on mouse arrest, and I can't afford a T1, I decided to go DSL ASAP. I don't have my A+ or PHD in IT but, as for the LAN at my HQ I'm glad I got the Linksys(no RJ-45 CAT5 included). It arrived USPS overnight along with the UPS I ordered. It helped me easily connect to the NIC on my MAC, the wireless card in my HP WinCE HPC PDA, as well as, the PCMCIA PC Card on my KDS PIII Laptop. So U C in terms of connection, it was mostly P&P so I'd have to say, all in all,it was pretty EZ. I really liked the DMZ function allowing direct access of one PC to the web. Their hompage's FAQ was excellent but, as far as the manual, I felt it was far too complicated and technical. Why couldn't they just make it simple? -Bits, 2001
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Summary: Quick ,easy & running like a champ!
Review: I took it out the box, Plugged the power, connected to cable modem, configured it and off to the races. I have my home pc plugged into it. I also am running my laptop from it via VPN, thanks to the new IPsec support. It supports one session VPN and it is working Great!! I would Recommend to anyone who needs to have an acting DHCP server, plus Firewall. Need i say more!!
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Summary: Good Router, Think Your Install Through
Review: I use this router to support my home network. It is connected to a Speedstream 5260 DSL Ethernet modem on the WAN side and 3 of my 4 computers are plugged into it. The uplink port is connected to a Netgear DS108 hub, to which my 4th computer and a NetGear PS110 print server are connected. Router performance is satisfactory at this time but I am only starting out with DSL. I buy Linksys and Netgear components which, for the most part, have performed well. There were some exceptions. I quickly realized that both companies have extremely poor technical support. Both companies refuse to support operating systems other than Windows (they must have a contract with Microsoft about that?), and putting in a support request of any sort will result in disappointment. So if you buy Linksys or Netgear components, remember you are on your own. Don't expect support. You will usually do better to thoroughly read the provided documentation, then coldly analyze whether your network falls within the parameters specified by that documentation and what you want it to do. If you don't understand this or that networking issue, then dig in and be prepared to learn about it -- elsewhere, on the internet -- and to experiment until you get things right. Search off usenet discussion groups for help. Always be aware that the component you buy may not be able to do what you imagine it should be doing. Always realize that networking components from these manufacturers are not going to work "out of the box" in your particular network configuration because there is always going to be some software configuration you will have to do. The stuff you have to do will influence component performance very heavily. I don't buy these brands because of a superior quality perception. In fact, I'm still feeling my way around networking hardware components and I'm not terribly skilled with the software side either. Both Linksys and Netgear share a monopoly on the consumer networking hardware market. Netgear and Linksys products take up most of the shelf space at your friendly CompUSA store. I'd like to say one more thing about product support in general. I'm always amazed at how people will intially send a 1 or 2 line support request, devoid of crucial details, and then become upset that their problem hasn't been immediately fixed. A tech support professional probably sees this type of initial support request 80% of the time. He or she is forced to ask questions before enough information is accumulated in order to solve the real problem. It is not his (or her) fault that the customer did little more than say "I have a problem with your router. Fix it!" Much more detail is needed for a technical solution. So if you put in a support request -- do yourself and the support technician a huge favor. First, carefully read the manual again to see if that helps. I promise that 85% of the time, you will find the answer to the easier problems. If you don't, take the time to carefully describe the problem and give a good background to it. Even then, do not expect stellar support from either Linksys or Netgear. But don't use this as your excuse to be a poor support customer. Help yourself and help them by doing your homework and providing important details.
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Summary: An Australian Perspective
Review: This is a superb product and it works like a charm on the Telstra Australia ADSL connection. Highly recommended even if you don't have a network because it gives you hardware firewall protection. It is a simpler solution than a software proxy server or such. One caution though, I have had it working for a couple of months now and, like some others who have reviewed this unit, it has 'hung' a few times. I'm still very happy with it but I'm also keeping an eye on it.
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Summary: WARNING: Great product for 4 months, but now it's DEAD
Review: I bought this thing knowing that Linksys had a pretty decent reputation for networking hardware, and it claimed to satisfy all of my needs (multiple machines, no machine-specific software, DHCP server, built-in firewall, simple adminstration webpage). I bought mine on January 31, 2001. It was easy to set up and within minutes two machines were connected to it and it was talking to a cable modem. Speed was good, performance was good, no problems at all. Now, about 4 months later, something inside appears to have died, making it incapable of obtaining an IP address through the cable modem (my individual machines are still able to do this without problem if connected directly to the cable modem). I can still hit the admin webpage on the router over http, and it assigns IP addresses to the machines (so the router itself is 192.168.1.1 and it will correctly assign out 192.168.1.2 or .3) but the router itself is no longer able to obtain an IP from the cable modem. I've tried restarting it (there's no power switch, so you have to yank the power cord out of the back) as well as resetting it (tiny button that wipes all of the data off the router so your settings are gone) - neither one made a difference. I've also identified that every other piece of hardware in my environment works fine with the router removed from the picture. The computers can individuall talk to the cable modem without problem, and the cables and network cards are all in good shape. I tried installing the latest firmware (which, btw, you should be careful of doing unless you're experiencing problems - they admit that you might permanently ruin the router if you upgrade the firmware unnecessarily) and that didn't make a difference. It still behaves and responds as before. I've just initiated email contact with Linksys technical support, and judging from some of the other reviews I've just read here, their support is pretty terrible. I don't have any recommendations for other products, but this one (and the support you're going to need in a few months) appears to be pretty bad.
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Summary: Undisputed king of Internet/Network simplicity
Review: This piece is so easy to set up that it qualifies as a no brainer. Unpack it, plug in the power cable, plug in you RJ45 cables and BAM. You are in business. Now I use mine as an internet sharing device for my network at home and also as a firewall for the company I work for. I telecomute for a large company and they require a firewall to use the internet tunneling software that allows me to access their internal network via my cable modem. This required a bit of configuration on the box, but no biggy. Friend of mine sent me the specs and it was done in 2 minutes. For the price, it is hands down the best that you can get.
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Summary: It solved my problems.
Review: This is a great solution. I have a cable modem and I was wanted to share that connection with my home network. I originally used a 100 mps hub and Internet Connection Sharing with WindowsMe. This caused several problems for me. The connection was never stable and had to be reset several times if the main computer needed to be turned off. Now that I installed this item it works great and I have the advantage of a switch running at full duplex. Set up was a breeze all I needed to do was pull the hub out and put in the router and it was off and running.
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Summary: Even a non techy can figure it out.
Review: I am so psyched. I am an accountant by trade, have basically no technical expertise and in a very short time, I was able to set up a wireless environment in my home. I used IBM wireless cards and the Linksys EtherFast Wireless Access Point + Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch and set up highspeed Road Runner Cable service to both my Thinkpads. The toughest part was using non-Linksys wireless cards, it caused me to bounce between help desks more than I would have liked. But I certainly wouldn't say that you have to have the access point and the wireless cards be from the same manufacturer. It makes things only a little more difficult to configure. Both my husband and I have been on testing out the performance if we are both on at the same time and have not noticed much in the way of degradated service. What an awesome product!!
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