Rating: 
Summary: HPRO200 Slow Internet Connection
Review: After installation of the HPRO200 phoneline 10M cable/dsl router to my LAN. (First computer XP) My internet connection is reduced from 2010 Mbps to 850 Mbps. No other computers is on for the LAN/HPNA. The HPNA is hooked-up and working fine with file/print share for the only other computer on my Second 98 OS computer system. I have tried the tweaks the linksys tech asked me to with no results. Another tech told me I had a bad router and send it back. If I plug the cable modem directly to the computer, the connection speed goes back to above 2000 Mbps, plug it back to the router and it goes SOUTH. UPDATE: I just downloaded the new beta firmware V 1.40.2 for the router and the broadband speed on the LAN side is close to before the router installation. Life is Great! The HPNA (phoneline)side is ok, around half the speed of the LAN side, which I can live with.
Rating:
Summary: Very Poor Service (RMA)
Review: Hi, I must say that the products may be good but when it comes to customer service specially RMA dept it is really poor. I bought a router few months ago and recently I have trouble I called tech supp they determined it is FAULTY and can not work any more and refered me to RMA (Return Merchandize Area) and now I have trying to contact them OH boy it is like pulling teeth. So if you are one of those who cares about service specially after the product is bought then you want to think again when buying LinkSys products..... Any one had any argument I can send them my email and number of voice mails I left to get the replacement but they don't have ears for that. If you don't beleieve it then buy their products and I am sure you will learn yourself. but I think smart people learn from other people's mistake...I think I should have reviewed the customer service as well not just product.. your choice. Kamal Hassaan
(905) 790-2800 ext. 4849 or feel free to call me at 1-800-891-7727 ext. 4849
Rating: 
Summary: Does what its supposed to do
Review: I am now using the router bridge out of the USA. The local Linksys reprsentative was extremely helpful in updating the firmware to run with the exotic PPTP protocol on ADSL adopted by only 2 countries in the world. With the instructions from the representative the network was up and running in minutes. Even though the HPNA card on a mobile computer is version 1 (i.e. 1M/sec), bandwidth for surfing is great - even better then before router was installed. Bandwidth for file transfers between computers on the network is sufficient for all practical purposes.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor performance
Review: I bought this product about a year ago because of its router and bridge function, and presumably Linksys reputation. I wanted to network my two kids' computers at the other end of the house through the phoneline. I have the Netgear PA-301 card (a great product) in their computers. Installation of the HPRO200 was easy, but performance poor. My connection speed (both ethernet and phoneline) dropped sharply and became slightly better than my old 56k. Linksys tech support which was very marginal, (took several phone calls and a run around between markedly different 2 cents opinions), finally after reaching someone who knew, advised me to upgrade the firmware. That part actually was easy and improved the speed some, but still slow. Linksys finally admitted this was a known issue with this product and were "working" on newer upgrades "at some point in the near future". Fortunately, I was still within my 30 days, and returned it for a refund. Instead I got a separate router (D-link DI704) & phoneline bridge (Netgear PE102), both of which work great. Maybe you will have better luck than me, but I cannot recommend this Linksys product.
Rating:
Summary: Good Router
Review: I bought this router along with two Linksys Phonecards. I initially had problems setting up the router because the instruction manuel was not very detailed and my firewall was interferring with the router. It took me several days but I got it up and running. Flashed the firmware to the latest version which is avaiable on the linksys website for better performance and now the two computers in my house are sharing my DSL connection.
Rating:
Summary: Good Router
Review: I bought this router along with two Linksys Phonecards. I initially had problems setting up the router because the instruction manuel was not very detailed and my firewall was interferring with the router. It took me several days but I got it up and running. Flashed the firmware to the latest version which is avaiable on the linksys website for better performance and now the two computers in my house are sharing my DSL connection.
Rating:
Summary: Works just as it should
Review: I could not rewire my house. There was too much distance and too many obstructions for wireless - and I was concerned about security. I installed the Linksys phoneline router and USB phoneline adapters. Everthing installed easily. Works great. And has been working great for about a year. Slower than Ethernet (I can tell when I transfer files between PCs) - but faster than my DSL connection - which is all that matters. Anyone who wants a no new wires installation should consider this approach.
Rating:
Summary: Good Product
Review: I have a Win2K pc connected to the LAN (ethernet) port and two PC's (One WinXP and one Win98) on a phoneline network connected to the HPNA port. On the WinXP machine I have a Netgear USB phoneline adapter (HPNA 2.0) and on the Win98 machine, I have a Intel Anypoint phoneline parallel port adapter (HPNA 1.0). I am using this router to share a DSL connection and to bridge the Win2K PC with the phoneline network. I must say it is doing its job. I reduced one star in my rating because I ran into problems that I wasn't warned of. The internet connection sharing worked like a charm, but I couldn't make the Win2K machine visible from the phoneline network and vice versa. Also, I have a web server running on the Win2K machine which couldn't be accessed from outside (even though I had set up the forwarding correctly). Anyway, after a lot of research that yielded no results and an email to Linksys support which hasn't been replied yet after 3 weeks, I downloaded the latest firmware from Linksys which made everything work. The installation of firmware wasn't without problems either. The first 5 times I tried to install it, I kept getting some error message and I was almost certain I [messed] up the device. The 6th time, it installed correctly. Anyway, the thing has been working fine for 2 weeks now, hopefully, it will continue to work until the wireless routers get cheaper and better. I believe that wireless is the future. Another issue that I have with this router is occasional freezing needing a resetting. It happens very rarely, but not sure why it occurs. I have left it on for days, but it doesn't seem to freeze because of long usage. Everytime it froze, it did it when I was browsing lightly.
Rating:
Summary: Works great, easy to set up
Review: I live in an old multi-room apartment with thick concrete walls and long hallways. A wireless network wasn't the solution for me (even my cordless phones give out from room to room), but HPNA was a less-expensive and much simpler solution. I have the HPRO200 with a desktop running Windows 95 on the LAN side, and a laptop running Windows XP roaming the network in all the other rooms using a Linksys USB200HA adapter and plugging into phone jacks. The computers see each other and share files and broadband internet perfectly. I'm using the desktop as a print server on the network with no problems. I constantly get 10mbps speed, fast enough to watch video and download music files quickly on the roaming laptop, and the router was a piece of cake to set up. I recommend assigning static IP addresses instead of using the router's DHCP capability, which has ensured total reliability. I recommend this product for anyone in a similar situation.
Rating:
Summary: Bad customer service & out-of-date firmware
Review: I purchased and successfully installed this product in September 2002. I was quite satisfied with it until recently. The problem began when I switched DSL providers. I cannot get the router to function properly with the new DSL service. I've gone so far as to have a networking technician out to look at it. As near as we can tell, the router is not picking up a gateway from the new DSL service. My extreme dissatisfaction with Linksys is (1)because their customer service is very poor and (2)because they have not updated the firmware for this product in over 2 years. With regard to (1), Linksys apparently does not assign case numbers to help calls. Consequently, when I tried a fix that didn't work and called back in, I would have to start from the beginning ("Tell us what the lights on the router are doing. Tell us what the lights on the modem are doing. Now power cycle the modem." Etc.) with a different technician. The technicians have a very limited knowledge. One went so far as to say she couldn't help me further because Internet Explorer 6 doesn't work well with the router. That's bologna; the browser is just a container for information. Another kept trying to pawn the problem off on my DSL provider even though I have a connection via the modem. With regard to (2), PPPoE protocols can change. Given that I can't get a gateway for my service, maybe they need to update their firmware. I'm going to get rid of this router and do what I should have done in the first place, hard-wire some CAT5 cable in my house. My recommendation to others is that you look at different solutions. It seems that Linksys does not want to provide sufficient support for this product. HomePNA will be passed up by wireless options, the new electrical networking protocol, etc. So, it might not make sense to purchase it anyway. Perhaps Linksys is just focusing its attention on newer technologies.
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