Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Product
Review: After spending about 30 hours trying to get working a hub and trying both Wingate and Sygate software, I gave up. The computers constantly locked up. I got no response from Wingate and Sygate support. I connected the Linksys router in 10 minutes and everything is working perfectly. This product is a snap to set up and performs great. I wish I had had some one advising me to buy this router rather then the wasted hub purchase from another manufacturer.
Rating: 
Summary: Piece of Junk
Review: This is probably the worst supported router on the market, if you buy it dont expect to get any help from Technical Support it is non exsistent. The router did not work out of the box, called Tech support. They returned my call 5 days later after I had already sent it back and ordered the Netgear router, it has never skipped a beat.
Rating: 
Summary: OK for some users, but beware
Review: Rather than doing a full review, which others have done, of this fairly decent product, I just want to point out one major shortcoming that makes the BEFSR41 not such a good choice for some users.If you have, or plan to have, multiple external IP addresses, do not buy this router. Better to find one that supports multiple IP addresses. (I don't have a specific brand to suggest. Personally I am now using a UNIX PC as a router and firewall). With the BEFSR41 the world can see only one IP address. This is fine for some users who never, ever plan to have more than one IP address. If you only need one IP forever, this is a great product for you. Why would someone need more than one IP address? 1) You want to have two or more separate domain names and you do not want them to map to the same IP address; or 2) you need to both run a web server that is always available and use an IPSec company VPN at the same time; 3) you want to use an IPSec company VPN and do personal, non-company web surfing at the same time; or 4) you want to set up multiple ip addresses so you can learn more about networking; or 5) you got DSL and want to run a web server, and your ISP requires that you get the multiple IP address option before they will be willing point their DNS server to your IP address. If any of these applies to you, you will be disappointed to find that this router only supports one publicly visible IP address. To clear up any possible confusion, I should repeat what others have said: if you want to have multiple computers hooked up to your internet connection, this product will do that. It will give you multiple PRIVATE IP addresses. For many people, that is exactly what you are looking for. But this product does limit your options if, down the road, you should ever decide that you need multiple external IP addresses.
Rating:
Summary: Money Saver
Review: I just recomended this one to a friend the cable company was charging him $20 a month so he could access the internet on his two computers. This product lets you connect up to 254 computers. He was also about to purchase Firewall software for another $50. So this was the logical choice. I would also like to add that linksys has a great support site and the products are very easy to administer.
Rating: 
Summary: Once you get it working its great
Review: Heard all the good things about the product and just got DSL and purchased it to share the connection. It worked great for connections and when I decided to put a web server it began to act flakey. (Locking up and such) a new patch to the firmware fixed everthing. It has good documentation so a person with minimal computer skills (they know the difference between RAM and hard drive space) can get it running or know someone who can help. 4 stars because of the flakey firmware.
Rating:
Summary: Great but problematic for more advanced users
Review: This router is absolutely amazing for almost everything except if you download many files (8+) at the same time via Napster or Cutemx peer-to-peer exchanges. This router will crash frequently if you are doing that and you will have to reset it -- no if's, and's, or but's. It will generally crash if data transfers get very busy, which is frustrating. However, this router has an impressive list of features like forwarding that allow you to do things like: - Setup WWW server. - Setup FTP server. - Setup remote control software. Combined with dynamic DNS services, you can host a fairly decent site on the web from your home.
Rating:
Summary: Linksys Says They Do Not "Support" Macs
Review: We purchased a Linksys Etherfast 10/100 Auto Sensing 8 Port Workgroup Hub and connected 5 Apple computers and all was fine. We purchased a new G-4 500 meg and it would not connect to the internet. After troubleshooting with our own tech and Mac techs, we bypassed the Linksys hub and connected that one computer to a switch. It worked fine. We tried everything to get this to work with the Linksys hub to no avail. We called Linksys and they basically ran us around for days telling us they would replace the unit. They never did. We finally got in touch with them for the third time and a "senior" tech said, "We do not support Macs".
Rating:
Summary: This is a great product, but...
Review: Installing this product wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. First of all, I have a DSL connection that requires PPPoE to connect. My provider gave me the software to do this. However, the router takes care of this for you and you therefore must remove any PPPoE applications off your computer, as this will cause you not to be able to surf the web. Even though I did this, there was still lingering software that kept popping up a dial up networking connection whenever I tried to enter a URL. I then learned how bad linksys' customer service is. On average, my wait was about 40 minutes and I generally got technicians who were more interested in getting you off the line than helping you. Sometimes, you get an operator who takes down your name and number, promising that someone will get back to you. Hah! They never did with me. I admit that the problem was not their fault, and knowledge in tcp/ip still wouldn't have helped (knowledge that I do have). However, do realize that it took me about 3 days worth of 45 minute per call phone calls to get my first pc up and running. I didn't have the same problem on any of my other computers (including my Linux box). Also, the current software that I have (I bought the router about 1 1/2 months ago) has three small bugs in it. First, once I make a connection to my dsl modem, the status page continually refreshes, letting me know the status. However, once connected, the status always says "connected" even if I know that I'm not (like if I unplug the phone line!). Secondly, the router doesn't save the password, even though I check the checkbox saying that it should. So I have to therefore enter the password every time that I go to the admin page. Thirdly, the box rarely gives accurate user info. For example, four computers may be connected. However, when one checks, they may see only one two or three people connected. I only have four computers connected right now. However, the incorrect info would definitely cause problems in a soho. However, these bugs may have been fixed (and I may simply need to download the latest router OS), so... Overall, great product. I've had computers collecting dust simply because it was impossible to share all of the resources before. I've downloaded a file on separate computers, at an average rate of 55kb/sec on each computer. Obviously, this will be affected with more users. However, great product overall.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic device. Easy to set up, easy to upgrade.
Review: I picked up one of these about three months ago when I bought a second PC. Since I wanted to use both on my cable modem, I read the reviews on this one and decided to buy. I was not disappointed. Through the web-based interface, this baby is extremely easy to set up. I just entered in my IP and gateway addresses and I was up and running in no time. I consulted the Linksys website and found out that they had a firmware update which I downloaded and installed with ease. I also recently switched to a DSL connection which uses a PPPoE interface to connect. I'm happy to say that this router also supports PPPoE. After I entered in my username and password in the PPPoE section, as long as I have power to my router, I am automatically connected. I know first hand that this device works flawlessly with both Cable and DSL. To get the full scope of the features available on this router, I recommend consulting the Linksys website for the latest firmware.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I work as an engineer for a MAJOR networking company. The first great thing about this thing is that you don't have to be an engineer to set it up. Basic PC knowledge and an ability to follow straight-forward instructions are all that are needed. I have AT&T cable, and I had it up and running in about 10-15 minutes. I have 2 PC's (1 in another room) and a laptop set up. I plan to add the Instant Wireless setup (which, incidentally, is on sale at CompUSA with instant and mail-in rebates) as soon as possible. Even when I've had power outages, it has come back up with little more than a power down/up of the PC, modem and router required. When I originally set it up, the cable folks indicated that I'd need to provide them with the MAC, but this was not so, as I had it running without any assistance from them ("your actual results may vary"). I have recommended this router to 2 other people, one of which is another engineer I work with, and both are delighted with its performance and ease of use. Another interesting point is that I can't a comparable product at my own company for anywhere near this low price (which is actually lower now than when I bought it about 3 months ago). A great way to share your internet connection, nevermind accessing files, printers, etc. on other machines. And, a hub or switch can be added for more port density as required. Don't wait; buy it!
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