Cisco-Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port 10/100 Switch
by Linksys
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Our Price: $78.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $9.94 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port 10/100 Switch
Customer Review: Own it and love it... needs a fan
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this router from amazon, it was at my door within 4 days of ordering and set up and running in under 10 minutes, including installing 2 network cards. The computers on my home network consist of Redhat Linux and Microsoft Windows 2000 pro driven machines though at times we've had XP Pro Machines, and windows ME machines. Obviously we had the least difficulty with The linux Operating systems since it's much better and networking and security than windows is, and I'm a linux sysadmin myself and can't figure out window's networking and IIS settings for the life of me, but the cd included with the router did all the work for me on the windows machines in about 5 seconds. The linux machines automatically detected and configured everything on their own.
We are constantly downloading and uploading things at the max rate that our cable internet provider allows us and I have an FTP server set up on one of my computers that the Router forwards one port to (which was easily set up in the browser based configuration menu that it has) so this router gets pretty hot considering that it has no fan whatsoever. We also had a big scare one night when someone had laid a magazine down on top of the router blocking it's ventilation holes while we had been downloading at 1500k and uploading at 256k and sharing mp3s over the network with each other at 100 mbps for a couple of hours and by the time we noticed that the magazine had been left on the router it was so hot that it nearly burned my hand to touch it.
However I easily took a CPU fan off of an old computer that I had laying around and I screwed it down into the ventilation holes on top of the box and wired the fan into the 9v ac (the fan was for 12v ac but works fine, just doesn't spin as fast) power line for the router and now it always runs completely cool and it even performs better since it's not getting so over heated.
I really love this router though and the lack of a fan shouldn't be a problem for the average user however adding one on is a cinch and I would reccomend doing so to anyone who uses this router for long time (more than a half hour at a time) high bandwidth downloading/uploading/LAN transferring.
Customer Review: Works fine with PPPOE, Win2000, WindowsNT, and Linux
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this product after reading the reviews here on Amazon.com.The 4-port version was easy to setup and configure, and I did not have any problems when configuraing the router to work with PPPOE and my ISP. I am now running a Win2000 platform, a Linux platform, and periodically my laptop from the router. Linksys does not provide any instructions for configuring Linux to work with the router, but if you're familiar with Linux, networking, and TCP/IP you won't have any problems.
As per another reader's comments, I too have a mix of static and dynamic/DHCP IP addresses. All you need to do is set the router to start at a higher IP address (e.g. 192.168.1.100) and then the other IP addresses (e.g. 192.168.1.2 - 192.168.1.99) can be used as static/fixed IP addresses. This works great if you're like me and want at least one DHCP-managed IP address for a laptop or similar.
All outbound activity (from your computers to the Internet) works without any configuration changes. Individual ports (e.g. FTP, Telnet, etc.) are not exposed/available unless you configure them in the router, and when you do expose a port you map it to the specific/static IP address of one of your computers. This is a much better approach than attempting to use Linux as a firewall, since with the router you know exactly which ports are open/visible to the Internet.
I also like that (by default) a feature called "WAN Blocking" is enabled. If an Internet user PINGs your IP address, they won't get a response.
Consider doing a firmware upgrade from Linksys' website. You'll need to download the upgrade, unzip it, and then connect to the router and apply the upgrade. Note that this wasn't a difficult task.
The documentation for the product is pathetic. If anyone from Linksys reads this, please hire better Tech Writers or spend more time on producing thorough documentation (ie., "Linksys Router for Dummies").
In summary, a solid product at a good price. I now have a firewall and router/hub in a single, compact unit. Spend a few $ more and buy the 4-port version of the router if you ever think you might need more ports in the future.
Customer Review: Great product, feeble documentation, great support
Summary: 5 Stars
Customer feedback I had read on the BEFSR41 indicated a very solid product that performs well and is easy to install following the instructions provided. I love the product, but my experience with the installation was different. I had no luck at all on my own (and I even read the product manual -- PDF only, btw, nothing on paper -- in advance). The installation program (run from the CD accompanying the router) was hopeless. It tells you to start by leaving the router out of the system altogether, and connect the computer to the internet directly via the modem, which I did. The program then checked the internet connection, and gave this report: "Your router is already connected to the internet, and nothing further needs to be done." How can this be? I wondered, my router isn't even connected. And when I did proceed to connect the router physically, the internet was inaccessible and the installation program would not work. So the installation program failed completely.
Fortunately, a call to the LinkSys help desk solved the problem quickly and efficiently. My call was answered right away, and the technician (a charming and courteous young woman in India!) took me through a simple series of steps to complete the installation. (They involved connecting to the 192.168.1.1 web address and changing a few configuration settings.) It was laughably simple, and took only a few minutes.
I mention this because I've read feedback on other LinkSys service encounters that gripe about the terrible customer support and especially about the foreign service technicians. My experience is just the opposite -- fast, friendly, efficient, courteous -- and no American support person could have improved on it.
My question about LinkSys documentation is this: why can't they just write documentation as clear and simple as the help desk can provide? (I am no newbie, btw, having worked with computers and software for over 20 years. I've installed hardware and software on dozens of computers during that time, and I'm not intimidated by instructions for either kind of installation.)
Bottom line: great product, great support, lousy documentation.
Customer Review: Great product for Pacbell (SBC) users.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was motivated to get this product because the PPPoE software my ISP (PacBell - SBC) uses is completely worthless, and I wanted to impede the access of hackers to my computer (at a rate of one hack a day from places as far off as Denmark)So, I just want to say that I have everything up and running and working great. I did have a little bit of trouble with the configuration, but that was because of the Zone Alarms Pro software firewall I had installed. For this I did have to call their customer service, but I'm pleased to report that, at least on a Saturday morning, my wait time was LESS THAN A MINUTE (hard to believe, but true). When they suggested my problem was due to a firewall, it was obvious what the fix was. I have to say that I am *very pleased with the performance* - my old and new computers talking to one another at 100 Mb speed, and simultaneous web access (streaming video) is working flawlessly.
So, here's what you fellow SBC'ers need to do to get this up and running (assuming you have the Westell ADSL modem):
1) Remove the WORTHLESS Enternet 300 Software 2) Disable any virus software and firewall software 3) If you're using the Zone Alarm Pro firewall software, just turning it off will not do. You'll need to configure it to keep it from loading at startup and reboot. 4) Hook up your computers, router, and modems as instructed (you won't need a crossover cable between the modem and the router) with everything turned off. 5) Startup your computers, linksys, and modem. 6) Configure your Linksys to do PPPoE via your browser. 7) Your done!
I would also suggest upgrading your firmware to 1.37. You can get the upgrade from the web and use TFTP to install it. (Remember, keep your software firewall/virus software off when doing this). All of this is explained from a .doc file that is zipped together in the firmware upgrade download (you'll need an unzipping software utility program, and MS word to do this. Personally, I think they should have the documentation in .html, and that the firmware upgrading should be done by a self-installing program so I do have one complaint)
Customer Review: Gamers Beware
Summary: 3 Stars
My family is a pack of hard core gamers. As most gamers (and networkers) know, gaming requires a solid connection with as much bandwidth as possible. While the LinkSys DSL/Cable router was completely plug-in and go for web browsing and "normal" web activities like e-mail, etc., it had a lot of problems with maintaining constant connections with game servers when there was more than one person connected at a time. The tech support people were clueless, and it took them more than 3 days to call me back. Their suggestions (opening up the ports) were not feasible (opening up 10 ports per workstation because of the built-in firewall) because of the limitations of the router -- a maximum of 10 holes in the firewall total, and not being able to specify "access" for the entire network instead of individual workstations -- and didn't work even when I did try it on a single workstation.If you need support, I'd suggest calling tech support after hours. I had better luck getting an engineer at 11pm than I did calling and leaving a message like you have to do during the day. Tech support never did solve the problems, it took 5 weeks and a couple dozen phone calls before I gave up. The NT work stations were doing "something" to maintain connections, moreso than the '98 and '95 machines, but they couldn't figure out what the difference was. I "solved" my own problem by making all of the '98 '95 gaming machines NT workstations and haven't had a dropped connection since. I hooked it up to a cable modem and 5 computers + a server.
Overall, below average tech support, excellent product (I have gaming friends with DSL who have had no connection drop problems), great price, and an almost "too easy" (aka, not enough features like configuring firewall holes for the entire network) web config interface. Also, they push themselves and name gamers specifically on their documentation and ads, but have a rather rinky-dink "solution" to the firewall/multiport needs of gamers. Putting my server outside of any firewall is never an option.