Rating: 
Summary: GARBAGE!!!!!
Review: Yes, this Wireless router is garbage. If the signal does stay up for any length of time, it will be cut off by nearby cell phone, cordless phones, microwave ovens etc.I have had mine for 90 days, and now am unble to return it. Stay wired!!!! I would not advise this as a purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Product
Review: Perhaps I got one of the first ones off the assembly line, because I have encountered nothing but problems over thirty months of use. Using the WPC-11 PCMCIA cards, I have encountered constant connectivity "hangs" over the months, always requiring me to hit the reset switch on the back of the unit to regain a connection to the Internet. Too late to return the unit and 3 wireless cards - stuck with the thing. Downloaded and successfully installed 3 firmware upgrades to no avail, including 1.39.2, 1.42.7, and 1.44.2. Tech support, somewhere in India or Pakistan, told me my chip set is damaged, even though the unit has been plugged into APC UPS with filters, etc. for the last 30 months. When the unit did work, I never got better than 30 foot range. Beyond that the signal would degrade to the point of no connectivity. Company unwilling to offer a coupon or discount on latest and greatest unit, so I'll move on as you should. A Dissatisfied Customer
Rating:
Summary: if you were convinced by the positive feedbacks, think again
Review: beware that not all 5-star reviews are factual.
the version 4 of this product has major bugs. I've purchased this router august 28, 2003 in lieu of a big linksys sale. Along with the usb wirelles adaptor.
the router will drop my connections every 10min. and it would even drop my connection on my wired computer!!
i've seen many forums offering help with problems like these, but most are just quick fixes, like band-aids on cracked water pipes.
most consumers that purchased the version 3 or version 2's have no problems what so ever. the version 4 is a slimmed down version 3 with a bunk chipset. and even the a/c adaptor is different.
getting stuck with the version 4(which is the newest version on sale) is just a big no no. trust me you will tear your hair out.
i've upgraded the firmware, i've even took my router to my friend's house to see if the problem is universal, and yet it is! same problems, cannot stay connected, keeps rebooting my dsl modem! wep slows down my connection big time. linksys customer care keeps suggesting different MTU sizes which were not the problem. isn't Cisco suppose to have quality products? i got a big refund and went with another router.
Rating:
Summary: Very frustating
Review: I ended up returning this product. It never worked for long. A call to Linksys got it working, and it died after 20 minutes of surfing. The next day, I got it running again, and it died again after a slightly longer period. I gave up and went back to the wire. I hesitate to give a bad rating, because with "new" technology, it's hard to tell if there's something wrong with the product, or my computer, or my modem (linksys also), or my internet provider. However, I took all the steps, called my cable ISP, called linksys, searched the knowledge database, and it still wouldn't work. I can't wait until they work out the bugs and I can go wireless.
Rating:
Summary: I Can NOT Believe It Is From LinkSys and Cisco
Review: My friends are so dependent on me about this product. Because they bought this one, and unfortunately they had a problem - wireless and wired connection never worked. I helped, it worked, both wireless and wired. It took me a whole Saturday ! I was phoned next day. No Internet connection. Since I am a smarter rat and learned from yesterday, it took me 2 hours to get the connection. Next day, I called. My shy friends told me, it lost again. So, situation for the next 7 days was: ..Infinite Loop Begin for this Router
....1. Let that fool think he fixed it
....2. Greater than 1 hour or not
....3. If longer than one hour
........3.1 take a random number
........3.2 lose that damn connection
........3.3 and do not tell those fools how I did it
....4. If less than one hour
........4.1 show them the confidence
........4.2 pretend everything has been under their control
..Loop Back to Beginning The loop has been repaeted for about 10 times. and, I can feel my friends get shyer and shyer. I thought I have 15 years' experience on Computer Hardware and Software. Tell you a truth, I never met this kind of product. Their tech supports let me feel ashame to be an engineer. No wander IT is declining.
Rating: 
Summary: Ver. 4 router worked flawlessly!
Review: ... on the advice of my ISP. I have an XP computer connected to the router via RJ45 cable in a 2nd floor corner bedrom, and I have another XP computer networked via Microsoft MN-510 wireless USB adapter in the basement. I used the installation wizard which worked flawlessly and I was online in minutes. This router also works well with the MN-510 I have on my other computer. File transfers between the computers are a little faster with this router than with the MS router. Wireless range is very good, appears to be about the same as with the MS Router but perhaps a better quality signal. ... I had no problems in installing the Linksys. If a total novice followed the directions carefully and used the Wizard to install the Linksys router, they won't have any problems either. But if the wizard should fail to run, setting up this router might not be as easy ... . I like the design of this router better. It lays horizontally like a typical external modem would, and is built heavier ... . ... But the ability to surf, download, upload, etc., without any fear of the router dropping the connection is a real treat.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible Product
Review: I approached installation with a bit of trepidation as I had heard horror stories about some folks running into lots of difficulties. However, my worry was for naught as I installed the router (using the supplied easy setup disks) between my cable modem and both my main desktop (wired) and my business laptop (USB wireless otion) within a half hour including unpacking and physical setup. Couldn't have been easier and the flexibility it has given me on my laptop (not just the speed versus my previous dial-up connection, but also the mobility - I can even connect from my deck and maintain a 4 out of 5 signal!) is more than welcome. I'm a big fan of electronic "toys" and I have to say this has become my favorite overnight. I've set up a wireless phone system, wireless headphone system, and a wireless guitar connection system and have to say that the Linksys product provided the easiest, fastest, out of the box setup. I don't think you can go wrong with this product.
Rating:
Summary: Really 2 stars, but I wanted to balance positive reviews.
Review: This router is ok, at best. PROS:
-Installation with cable or DSL modem is really easy. SEtup in windows XP is almost automatic.
-Regular websurfing for WIRED computers works well. CONS:
(NOTE: I am using a linksys wireless 802.11b usb enabled, which connection appears to be STRONG (4/5 bars); the router is located on the second floor, but not more than 40 feet away)
- Though connection appears strong navigation is slow and lags. At time it does not even respond.
- If you plan to do online games, forget it. You will lag out constantly. I also reinstalled it several times opening different ports, and nothing worked.
- The lagging occurs even while WIRED to the router, so it is not the wireless feature that has this problem.
- If you are a webmaster, and need to FTP to a server from your house, forget it. This device, (wired or wireless) only occasionally (1 of 10 times) lets you FTP files. Basically, for the most expensive 802.11b wireless router in the market, this is not worth the price or the trouble.
I find myself bringing the DSL modem downstairs whenever I need to FTP files to the server, and sometimes during websurfing I get so annoyed at the constant 'hesitation' that I bring it down again. Defeating the purpose of having a wireless connection, (while leaving the other people without internet for the time I need to ftp files). I tried different ports, and none gave me good results. Any suggestions are welcomed.
Rating:
Summary: Easy wireless that works great :>)
Review: I read a lot of reviews about linksys and all the other brands. After a while you think none of them will work based on some of these reviews... I finally worked up the courage to buy a Linksys BEFW11S4 broadband router and matching card for my used dell laptop. Out of the box working in about 10 minutes would have been faster but I was very cautious I expected to have problems. But it was problem free. I still have some configuring to do like setting up the e-mail acct and printer sharing. But I am surfing the net in every room in the house with this router right now. I am writing this on my laptop in a spare bedroom. I walked out into my garage listening to a net radio station from LA. I have been in all the rooms of my house and the signal is strong and the net speed is fast. I think this is going to be a great router its worked great all night. I would like to go outside to test more range but its raining really hard.
Rating: 
Summary: Avoid Ver. 4!!
Review: This is the umpteenth Linksys product I have bought, and up until now, I have been completely satisfied with the company. Linksys, to me has been great for producing extremely cheap but very reliable networking products. Unfortunately, I purchased this router without doing my homework. Now I've realized that a new version of the router made it's debut in late summer 2003, and I happened to get one of the first of these routers (marked on the device and box as the BEFW11S4 Ver.4). This particular incarnation of the product is junk. The actual device is a cost reduced version of the previous versions, and has less "blinky" lights in the front (if you happen to like those sort of things), as well as a new cost-reduced Broadcom chipset. "Word" is that the bugs in the firmware have NOT been worked out as of recently, and the router is very unstable to say the least. Even after upgrading to the newest firmware (1.45.3), my particular router refuses to renew the DHCP after (usually less than) an hour of being connected. The only solution to this is to unplug/plug the unit to reset it. Extremely annoying. Other than that, the switch works fine, and I haven't been able to test the wi-fi operation. My final recommendation is either to find one of the older routers (ver.3 or earlier), or pick a different brand. Avoid the ver.4 of this unit like the plague.
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