Rating: Summary: Switch to a Switch (Linksys EZXS55W) Review: Don't buy this HUB, instead buy the 5 port SWITCH put out by the same company (EZXS55W). Anything a hub can do, a switch can do better (DSL, Cable, Networking). A must for Pic n' Save shoppers who demand Mercedes Benz performance. Most important feature: Each port has devoted, uncomprimisable bandwidth. A hub, on the other hand, has bandwidth that varies directly with network demands. The rather insignificant price difference between Linksys' 5 port hub and 5 port switch demands that EVERYONE buy the switch. The hub is by far a more profitable item for Linksys. Don't be fooled by the best seller indices that we see upon entering the networking page, or you too may fall victim to the cult of mob rule.
Rating: Summary: One of the 5 ports went dead, caused serious downtime Review: During a server room reorganization I added some new servers and plugged in our DSL router into a previously unused port. The port was half-dead in a weird, difficult to diagnose way. Machines in the IT area could still ping the DSL router and get Internet access, but everybody else's Internet and email went down for several hours - nobody could figure out what was wrong. Problem solved when the DSL router was plugged in to a different port again. We're getting rid of this hub fast.
Rating: Summary: Works great! Review: I bought this hub a while back, and it has been working great ever since. I've been using it with my DSL modem to share the connection with multiple computers.
Rating: Summary: Not the best experience for me Review: I bought this hub about a year ago and it ran without issue for 3/4 of a year thereafter, exhibiting no anomalies and overall being quite an efficient little hub.That was until one port died a few months ago with a second one now dying. This is the first linksys product I have purchased, and it has problems. Maybe it was from a bad batch, but a failure rate of 40% in less than a year is unacceptable. The general verdict about linksys is it either works for about a year or two or doesn't work at all. i.e. if you want reliability, don't buy them. Trust me, I've config'd their BEFSR41 router and even port unblocking is a nightmare. That and getting supposedly ROUTABLE protocols working across all ports. People only get this stuff because they know no better. I have avoided the router and used a K6-2/450 as my "router," a system whose CPU is about 100x more powerful than the one in the linksys anyway. If you really really want a single-purpose router, get a real one, like the Cisco 2610XM. If that's out of your price range, your application probably doesn't call for a router.
Rating: Summary: Not the best experience for me Review: I bought this hub about a year ago and it ran without issue for about 3/4 of a year thereafter, exhibiting no anomalies and overall being quite an efficient little hub. That was until one port died a few months ago with a second one now dying. That event was a nightmare to troubleshoot until I actually started flipping cables on the hub...and lo and behold, that port wasn't working even though the LEDs were blinking. This is the first linksys product I have purchased, and it has problems. Maybe it was from a bad batch, but a failure rate of 40% in less than a year is unacceptable. The general verdict about linksys is it either works for about a year or two or doesn't work at all... i.e. if you want reliability, don't buy them. Trust me, I've config'd their BEFSR41 router and even port unblocking is a nightmare. That and getting supposedly ROUTABLE protocols working across all ports. People only get this stuff because they know no better. I have avoided the router and used a K6-2/450 as my "router," a system whose CPU is about 100x more powerful than the one in the linksys anyway. If you want a router, get a real one, like the Cisco 2610XM. If that's out of your price range, you don't need a router.
Rating: Summary: Two of my Linksys hubs are dead Review: I bought this one 1.5 year ago and it died after a year of use at home. I thought it's just one of few defected product bought by an unlucky guy. Plus, it is definatly not a complex product that will break easily, so I bought another one for the office 6 months ago. Well it died today with the same sympton - the light indicator can't even tell you which port is in use or not (you plug in to the 1st port but the fifth light will be on instead of the 1st one). Did the same thing happen to anyone?
Rating: Summary: The best solution for sharing CABLE/DSL on the net. Review: I bought this under the impression it would effortlessly share my @home cable connection between 3 computers. I can happily say it works awesome! This thing does everything! It' so simple to setup, and the switch is just an added bonus! Toss that Hub and make room for the SWITCH! The router has DHCP, IPSEC, IP Filtering, etc..etc.. I can truly recommened this as a MUST BUY! Unless you need more than 4 computers shared, then go with the 8 Port version that comes with QoS.
Rating: Summary: good and simple Review: I bought two of these hubs and I have connected them at a distance of about 60 feet apart. I completely upgraded my 6 computer 10 Mbps system to 10/100 in about 1/2 an hour. Also, I upgraded in the middle of the day while the network was running and with little interruption to the workstations or the network. The only trouble I had was my own mistake. I couldn't get two of my computers NIC to run at the faster 100 Mbps speed only to later find that the hubs had automatically sensed that the NIC's were 10 mbps only. They work like a charm and so does my new fast network.
Rating: Summary: Effortless, Fast Home networking!!! Review: I have been running a Linux router/firewall/print server/backup file server for yonks, and i was satisfied with the performance my 56k dial-up was providing me, over my 10baseT network (a Surecom 8-port hub at the centre of it all). However, as soon as I updated to a 1Mbit/256Kbit ADSL line, the performance of the 10Mbit network started to just frustrate me. Whenever I wished to copy files from one drive to another, whatever downloads/bandwidth going on with the ADSL connection was sapped and strangled. Not happy. Then I thought I'd make the plunge to a propper 100mbit switch. I haven't looked back. I researced into a number of 5-port switches from the likes of all companies (netgear, smc, belkin, linksys and one no-name 8-port) and i found that the best value for money was in the LinkSys. The unit itself is solidly constructed and the quality of workmanship would be as good as the big guns in networking stuff (baystack, designated novell stuff etc...). Speed-wise, I have no complaints. Very very very rarely do i ever get a collision and it has no troubles at all transfering data between my 4 computers and my server. The documentation is brilliant. Its easy to understand and in-depth, making its set up a walk in the park. Setup!! It is true plug and play. All i did is replace the connections from my old hub to my new switch, and whala! Going. No mess. No fuss. I'd recommend this switch to anyone wanting to set-up a home network. It'd also have few complaints even in small office. Its dedicated uplink port means its not going to be superceded any time soon which is always reassuring in this world. Out of 5 stars, I give it 10!!!
Rating: Summary: Good, but ac adapter blew up Review: I loved it while it worked. but after about 2 months the ac adapter blew up internally. I loved it completely while it worked, but you cannot find a 5 volt ac adapter anywhere! I guess that I will have to ask for one by the manufacterer.
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