Rating: 
Summary: A great product, but spoiled by stupid design
Review: This is a nice box. It supports just about everything you could want to do. However I have two bones to pick with Linksys, the first of which forces me to give the product a low rating when I would otherwise have rated it highly :1. All the ports require you use a crossover cable. This is totally unnecessary and significantly adds to the cost of setting up a home network. Every other switch I've seen uses standard patch cables, which are much cheaper to buy and easier to find. 2. The diagram on the back of the packing box indicates that you need a Linksys DSL modem as well as the Linksys router. This is slightly misleading and could lead to inexperienced consumers buying and extra piece of hardware that it totally redundant. If, and only if, you have to plug directly into a phone line do you need a DSL modem or bridge. In this scenario you would run an ethernet cable from the Linksys router to your DSL modem/bridge, and a phone line from the DSL modem/bridge to the wall. However, if you DSL provider has wired your house with an ethernet port then you can plug the Linksys router directly into the wall port, and plug your computers into the router.
Rating: 
Summary: firewall has some holes
Review: I bought this in July 2003 just for the firewall capability. The install wizard wouldn't run properly on my machine (WIN ME), so I just followed the setup directions. They are very simple. I left my Mcafee Firewall Plus software running. After a week, I found certain port probes are passing through Linksys and then being caught by Mcafee! The firmware in my router is 1.44.3 dated 12/24/02. There is no upgrade available on the Linksys website. Linksys customer suport sent me a Beta release of firmware 1.44.7. It installed easily and seems to have fixed the problem. Reviews say this is the best consumer firewall router on the market. It may be, but don't turn off your software firewall. A copy of Norton internet security products comes with the router. Free updates for virus checking and firewall rules are included for 60 days. After that an annual license must be purchased to stay current. The programs are single use only licenses. A very useful program to read the firewall log is WallWatcher. It is freeware, source included. WallWatcher runs as a SNMP server and collects events from the router as they happen. Linksys does not include a similar program with the box, but they do have a download available. I didn't try it. If you play Internet games, you may need to adjust the MTU setting or performance may suffer. Download the documentation from the Linksys site. This is an easy change to make. Amazon does have the best price for this product. Locally I found it for $$$$$. The router ships with a patch cable, so you don't need to buy anything else. This is a very good product for SOHO with minimal requirements. For a business, I'd keep looking.
Rating: 
Summary: Go buy an electric fan to go with this router!!
Review: I have been a very loyal Linksys customer with high brand confidence. But, I will have to say that, this particular model get over-heated very easily. When it get over-heated, it will start to drop network connections, then the web interface will get shut, and the Ethernet port will refuse to work. I will have to unplug the power, and wait for ten minutes, then the router will get back on once it cools down. But this heat problem will repeat itself almost every couple hour. My solution: I grabbed a Westinghouse electric fan, and blow directly at it with the fan. Result: It has been working perfectly for almost 3 straight weeks now, not even with a hiccup. Verdict: Coincidence?
Rating:
Summary: Beware BEFSX41 Compatibility w/ Moto SB4100-- Support??
Review: After reading the various mixed but generally positive reviews of the BEFSX41 router I decided to purchase the unit hoping the one note of a compatiblity problem between the router and Motorola SB4100 cable modem was an isolated situation. I experienced the same problem described in the earlier review. The router and SB4100 will not talk to each other directly. I have it working now by using a 50 foot ethernet cable between the modem and router. It works perfectly now but will likely replace the cable with a hub.
My bigger concern is the lack of support by Linksys. It took two tries to get a knowledgeable support person on their "chat line". After 30 minutes she suggested a warranty return. I confirmed the compatibility problem by using a high end ethernet tester (I sell such test equipment) and decided to keep the router and fix the problem myself using the 50 ft cable or hub.
I also sent two emails to Linksys identifying the problem. It has been two weeks and I have yet to receive a reply.
I understand and accept the fact that there can be compatibilty problems between these types of products. My concern is over the fact that with the exception of a lone support person at Linksys there has been little acknowledgement of such a problem. My thanks to the reviewer who found the problem in the first place and offered a solution. I suggest anyone considering the purchase of Linksys products do with the understanding that their support may be lacking.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Router
Review: I purchased this router based on PC Magazine's editor's choice award, its stateful packet inspection, firewall capabilities, high PC to PC transfer tests in review, and the good experiences that people I know have had with Linksys routers in the past. I was not disappointed. I popped the CD that came with the router into my computer and was literally up and running in a matter of minutes. Everything works great including the ability to connect to my office VPN.
Rating: 
Summary: Solid Hardware
Review: The positive:
I have had the Linksys BEFSX41 for about 6 weeks now and i must say overall i'm quite happy. The NAT functions work admirably, and the port forwarding features are also excellent (works well for IRC DCC connections). I run windows on the boxes behind this unit and use it to connect to a FreeSwan linux box which connects me to a windows domain behind that; works perfectly (some people mentioned not being able to see microsoft drives or computers, you need to enable NetBIOS broadcasts in the Advanced tab of the sx41's VPN setup). Also, remember to set your MTU to 1440 if you're VPN connection is dying after a few packets. Lastly, the DHCP works well and quickly. The negative:
It seems to drop any inactive connection after ~10 minutes for a reason i can't fathom. SSH connections, ftp sessions, anything that hasn't been used in ~10 minutes gets dropped. I am using firmware 1.44, i have tried 1.44.8 (beta) but the problem was not fixed (nor apparently is it in the newer beta firmwares). Overall this is only a minor annoyance, but i would like to see it fixed in the future. Tech Support: While i did not have to call their tech support for anything that i've done with this unit, it should be mentioned that their tech support is notoriously ignorant. If you're having trouble with some basic function i'm sure they are willing and able to help you, but answers to questions about advanced issues are usually spotty at best. Overall - 4/5 (5/5 could be achieved later with better firmware)
Rating:
Summary: Most features work
Review: Although I have not seen any negative reviews regarding this product on Amazon, it needs to be said that not all features advertised are present. I purchased the router with hopes of using the DDNS feature allowing me to not need a PC running a third-party app or need to pay for a static IP. However, the feature simply is not functional. In fact, if you visit the [DynDNS] site, they state that the Linksys company did not conform to the standards, so the function does not work...very lame (and it is impossible to get a response from technical support)!
Rating:
Summary: Simplicity itself
Review: I'm not a networking expert by any means, but setting up this router was just too easy. Opened the box, followed the quick start guide for 3 minutes - and that was it. Everything worked, and I was connected to my VPN network at work and my 3 PCs in literally 5 minutes. An excellent buy, and I got it at a great price too!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent router for home, but beware VPN users
Review: I have no problems whatsoever with the router performing and protecting for standard home use: in fact, I'd recommend it strongly for this use alone. Where I have a problem is connecting into my company's VPN. Tried turning off SPI, it connected, but couldn't broswe the MS network drives. Put the laptop on the DMZ w/SPI off, still the same issue. Moved the laptop to the DSL connection before the router: works fine (router isn't involved at this point). I also tried the laptop on other routers and it was fine with connecting in. By process of elimination, it has to be a problem with the Linksys, unfortunately. I still recommend this product, just beware if you're using it for connecting to a VPN. This is NOT related to the VPN functionality of the router itself, just its pass-through ability for IPSec/PPTP.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent features and very easy to set up.
Review: Works well with my Motorola SB4100,... Thing to look out for is that if you need to register your MAC address with your ISP, then you need to run 'ipconfig /all' (windows users) to find the WAN MAC address, as the LAN MAC address is the only one printed on the router. Once this is done, then it will communicate with the Motorola SB4100 Cable Modem without problem. This is a very good router and I would not hesitate to buy another. Much better than the cheaper Linksys BEFSR41, which is also excellent, but doesn't have the features I need.
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