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Linksys BEFSR41 Wired Router

Linksys BEFSR41 Wired Router

List Price: $79.99
Your Price: $49.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy to Install. Easy to use.
Review: I worried this product would be hard to install, configure and use. This sounds silly since I'm an engineer working at a dot-com company, building a large Internet network. Even engineers get stuck with computer hardware they can't get to work. Also, being net savvy, I tend to want my network hardware to work MY way and not in some configuration deemed "good" by marketing monkeys. All fears quickly faded, however as the router was up and running with my network 15 minutes after opening the box.

Ease of use is important, as I frequently distrust technical support for networking products. No fault of Linksys, but years with inept customer service apes, trained only to hold phones, ruined me. If I can not get a product to work in short order when other, equivalent products exist, I quickly return, exchange and try again. Thankfully, I did not have to do so. The Linksys jumped all hurtles without effort.

Ease of use goes past the install to the packaging and into the web-based configuration. The packaging comes with a quick start guide. Smart. Impatient males with more eagerness than brains don't want to read manuals, even short ones. The quick start has everything you need to get online in short order. If you need the advanced features, like port redirection, a DMZ host, or PPP over ethernet, the manual is friendly and the configuration screens are kind. Five minutes after surfing the web, I reconfigured my PC to have a static IP address (rather than the DHCP generated address, given to me by the quick start guide), and set up port redirection for my web server.

DHCP is great, especially if you take tote your laptop between home and work. DHCP is a service, run on a network, allowing computers on the network to ask what their IP addresses, gateways, DNS servers and subnet masks are. The DHCP server replies, allowing computers to dynamically configure themselves based on what network the computer is on. Thus, you can conveniently carry your laptop into work, hook it up without reconfiguring the networking. If you're me, you're likely too lazy to set up a UNIX computer on your network just for a DHCP server. So, having the Linksys Cable/DSL router provide DHCP is a big bonus.

Net novices may wonder if this router is a risk to have. With all the media attention, you likely think an army of computer and network savvy teens are just waiting for you to go online, so they can infect and hack your computer. I've never had a problem, but then, I'm cautious from where I download software and with whom I interact. One risk is placing a bad password on your router, allowing others to reconfigure your network. I envision several lazy people not bothering to change the default password on their Linksys routers, creating some minor havoc.

However, because the router uses network address translation, you have the potential to be safer as outsiders see only the IP address of your router and not your host. So far as I know, the only listening port on the router is the embedded wed server and any in-bound port-forwarding you set up, so people trying to get in, from the outside, will likely rely on you to do something dumb. A few dumb things include an easily guessed password on the router -- your first name, or the word "router" are really terrible ideas -- downloading software from any web page with the words "d00d" or "kewl," or setting up a web server from an old Linux distribution without checking CERT advisories for known security holes. More dumb things exist. Use common sense, but never fear making mistakes; it's just a computer.

If you have several computers in your home and want them all to be networked, the Linksys can do the job. Yes, only 5 ports exist on the back, but 10 megabit per second (MBPS) hubs are less than $30 and 100 MBPS hubs are around $100. Multiples of either hub can be added, to get up to 255 computer on your network. Though, if you have 255 computers, just using hubs will lead to frightening performance problems, but one hopes, anyone with so many computers, knows better.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Firewall, CableModem Router & more
Review: My ISP, Time-Warner Cable, provider of Road Runner High Speed Access, requires $10 per month for each additional IP. Although any computer on my LAN at home can request a new IP from Road Runner, it will invalidate any existing IP. I tried running various Internet Sharing Software, such as Microsoft's Internet Connection Sharing under Windows 98 SE, and ... WinProxy. These required my "server" system to be running, and I had lots of problems with this scenario. I plugged in the LinkSys Calbe/DSL Router, and it automatically configured itself. I tweaked a few things to fit my LAN, since I have networked printers throughout my house, and this solved my ISP's restriction of one-user-at-a-time policy without forking out 25% more per month just for the convenience of sharing the 10mbps pipeline the cable modem affords me. This works well, and I use it strictly for hooking into my other router, so the lack of ports was not an issue for me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Fantastic Product!
Review: I have two computers using a Motorola cable modem for AT&T/Mediaone Internet Services. After trying for over a week to get Win98's ICS to work without success I bought this product. What a difference! I had this up in 5 minutes. It basically configured itself - all I had to do was check everything over. I was also suprised because I'm using BlackIce Defender (personal firewall) and there weren't any conflicts. It also appears to clean up the connection - the pages are loading more quickly than when I ran without it. If you have a small home network and want to share your cable connection - buy this product! For the money it is well worth it. Not only do you get a high speed network and internet connection but you get the added security of NAT and the built in firewall. I didn't have to use tech support so I can't comment on that.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great productbut poor technical support
Review: Loved the product even though the first one was DOA (dead on arrival). The replacement went in without a hitch. Speed test confirmed minimal loss even with the added addition of zone alarm firewall software on each computer on my network. Also updated the internal software in order to update my DSL connection (PPoE). Linksys tech support wasn't very helpful in confirming that the first router was defective. Also didn't need a crossover cable with my setup. I guess it depends onthe cable or DSL modem used. I am really happy with this product and the response time from Amazon. thanks Amazon

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: THIS ROUTER IS THE BEST!
Review: I have P.P.P.o.E. with my swbell dsl server,after downloading the firmware upgrade, i had a problem getting it on the web, i could ping the router and the card but still no luck, called tech support, they were very helpful but still couldn't get me online,the next day i hooked my son's up and behold! wrote down all the info in networking from his and found out one thing they did not tell me, make sure the PRIMARY NETWORK LOGON is set for Client For Microsoft Networks! after that it has been to good to be true,both me and my son are running at top speed,with no bottleneck whatsoever! he plays his games and i do my work, can't even tell anyone else is online(except for the cool blinking lights on the front panel of the router which was posted by another happy camper earlier) you can download music while the other puter is playing multiplayer games online with unstoppable perfomance! really would like to give this a 10 STAR if not for the little problem at the beginning, a must for all folks starting to network their homes!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Be Warned!
Review: This product works intermittantly and product tech support is practically non-exsistant. The only people I can reach at LinkSys is Sales or Customer Service. It took me 4 days to set up the network hub portion. (I started with an operational network). Once the network was working I managed to get the DSL connection working on a couple of computers, not all. The next morning when I booted the network; no network and no DSL connection. Then no support. Returning product.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Other factors to consider...
Review: I decided to purchase this product for several reasons the main one being the fan on my hub previously was way too loud. The linksys product is extremely silent.

One thing I don't like about this product is that it only has 4 lan ports and an uplink. Minimally it should have 5 ports and an uplink. If you need to, you can run a cross over cable strait to a station and use the uplink port as a 5th lan port. Or you can always uplink to a hub or switch, but the cost per port for linksys to have added a couple more would have been minimal.

It would have been nice if this unit did not have those legs and had slots to make it mountable on a wall.

Additionally in the quick install guide it should mention that it will take almost a full minute to load the http based management, I had already began troubleshooting my connections because it is assumed that the management interface should load instantly.

FYI, I'm using it on a charter earthlink cable modem connection. It's working fine so far, I'm quite satisfied with it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Can't find a better router/firewall for the money.
Review: I found this product very easy to setup and easily installed. For the money I couldn't find anything that came as close. My only complaint is the lack of manual support for advanced features and the fact that it did not come with a CAT5 cable.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Product
Review: I have used many different internet routers and I have to say this was the easiest to setup and upgrade. Also many advanced features that others charge more for like the Port Mapping, and allows up to 253 users for the same price. Great Price... Great Product..

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This router is the bomb!
Review: If you have more than 1 computer, you need this. If you have a broadband internet connection (DSL, Cable, etc.), you need this! Very easy to hookup. I was up and running in 10 minutes.

The fact that this router has a 4 port switch is even more amazing. Why? because a switch(as opposed to a hub) lets you enjoy your full bandwith regardless of how many computers are "talking" to each other. Example using a switch: computer A and computer B are transfering files between each other on your LAN while at the very same time computer C is accessing the internet at the fastest speed possible depending on your ISP. If you were using a hub however, all those computers would have to wait in line until the other computer stopped "taliking".

Plus the little LED lights look cool.


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