Linksys BEFSR41 Wired Router

Rating:
Summary: No complaints....yet.
Review: Despite complaints about configuration issues and support issues, I purchased this router as a simple way to sidestep my ISP's greediness. I now have a Sun workstation and a Win95 laptop using my internet connection simultaneously (without paying the cable company for the extra MAC addresses). Favorite feature: MAC address cloning, which saved me the grief of calling the ISP to change the MAC address on their end.

Rating:
Summary: easy to use router for home use
Review: Our cable modem is shared between a W98 and a WME PCs using this router. Setup was a breeze - I didn't have to change any default entries in the brwoser based setup window, except enter MAC address of ethernet card supplied by cable company in advanced window. I use Netbuei for file sharing and I get about 4.5MB/sec transfer speed between PCs.

Rating:
Summary: HORRIBLE!!
Review: This router is horrible!! I bought one around late January and after maybe a month it died. I called LinkSys to have it replaced. No help there from them. So I buy a NEW one, it dies within a month as well. Go with the D-Link router!!!

Rating:
Summary: Great product
Review: Firewall security, a subnet beyond the reach of the ISP, a 4 port 100MB switch - you get alot for the price. This has been a "set-it-and-forget-it" piece of equipment for me. Setup may be a bit confusing for the non-network-savvy, but once set up it does its job transparently (with a few exceptions noted in other reviews, but unimportant to me).

Rating:
Summary: Network in a box
Review: I needed a way for my home-from-college daughter to take advantage of my @home cable internet account with her PC, so I bought this device on the advice of some REAL network administrators where I work. Physical setup was easy, and even color-blind people can do the Category 5e cabling with some advice from the folks at Home Depot and serious ridicule from family members. When I plugged it in, it immediately established a 100 meg connection. COOL! Configuration was more difficult, since networking is uncharted territory for most home users. While the instructions explain about IP addressing in general terms, they still presumed that I knew more about this arcane world than I did. It took some semi-random poking around and a leap of faith, but after an hour or so things worked great. I still have all the speed of the cable connection and the router operation is transparent. Hard-learned advice: They don't include RJ45 cables, so visit Radio Shack on your way home. Hard-learned advice (continued): Do some internet research on how to configure things & print the articles BEFORE disconnecting to install the router. In summary, it was a fun way to spend a Saturday, and it helps me justify the cost of cable internet. Also has some good gloat value for co-workers!

Rating:
Summary: Great Product
Review: For the price and features nothing beats this little gem. It was so easy to install, just follow the instructions. After installation, I too actually found that this router improved my DSL performance! Built in firewall, expandable. All you got to do is run your CAT 5 and your set!. Nothing on the market beats the price & value. I am a little concerned about the note and comments about the lack of customer support, but hopefully I will not have to use them.

Rating:
Summary: Linksys Kicks butt!
Review: Got it to work after a few hours of tweaking, it serves my mac7600 and PC running Doze98. Be sure to buy cables as it doesn't come with any and if using a mac disable all proxy check boxes in internet explorer. Set the tcp\ip to ethernet and dhcp server and you should be in business!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent product great deal
Review: For the functionality you get this product is a superb deal. You could go out and buy a professional quality router for at least 5 times the cost, but this product has all the functionality an amateur or a small business would require at a fraction of the cost. The ease of use is great and it practically does not require documentation to install. It is nice to know that it is virtually impossible for someone to hack into your system with this little device. Took me about 15 minutes to set it up. Its been up for several weeks now no problems. Friends have reported problems but they are using DHCP INTERNALLY to manage their network and they move PCs around. You are better off statically assinging IP addresses to your private network than using DHCP internally. DHCP is great for managing IP addresses for larger networks, smaller networks, stick with static IP addresses. Thats my advice.

Rating:
Summary: Good product, bad documentation
Review: You should definitely buy this router, but don't rely on the documentation to help you get it up and running.

Rating:
Summary: DO NOT BUY
Review: I bought the router and it worked fine. Then I decided to upgrade the firmware in it to try and fix a few problems. Well it erassed my passwords and left the unit inoperable. I am now without a router because of this and I have yet to recieve a phone call from tech support. Oh and their tech support is non existant. One word of advice. DO NOT BUY if you think you are going to need tech support.