Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys BEFSR11 Cable/dsl Router with 1-PORT

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

This lil' linky does wonders for it's price. I got it up and going in about 15 minutes. First I connected my cable modem [provided by roadrunner] directly to the WAN port and out from the LAN port I connected my already existing HUB with both my computers already connected, and in about 2 - 3 steps and one restart both my computers were prtected by a firewall. It couldn't get any easier. I was prepared by downloading the latest version of the firmware before i even got it in the mail and before anything i upgraded and everything worked perfect.

I recommend this product for anyone with a Cable/DSL connection and more than one computer. That includes beginners and advanced users. A definate plus to anyones home office.

It takes more time to reconfigure applications like napster, webcam32, and ICQ than it does to setup the router. And don't forget a 3' CAT 5, because it doesn't come with the product.

This is without a doubt one of the best purchases I have ever made. I mean it. This device is everything it is advertised to be and more.

I had a ADSL line installed into my home in August. Since that time I have attempted to get multi-computer access to the Internet via a multitude of methods. I have attempted to setup a proxy server. This method works but was difficult to setup and never seemed to work with all Internet based services. I also spent 2 months trying to get a Cisco 675 router to work with ZERO success. My frustration level continued to grow and I ordered the Linksys BEFSR11 out of desperation.

The Linksys unit worked right out of the box, almost literally. It took me only an hour from unboxing to having multiple PC's on the Internet. The majority of the time was spent researching my DSL providers PPOE settings. I have the modem running to the router and then running with a regular category 5 cable to a dumb hub and then each PC is connected to the hub. The router assigns valid Internet IP's to each PC and all my interne applications work great. Napster, ICQ, Newsgroups, and IRC all work wonderfully. Another great side affect of going to the router is that my overall access speed is about twenty percent faster then it was connecting directly from the computer to the modem.

This is a wonderful device and I have recommended it to all my friends and family who are know entering the broadband world via cable or DSL. Thanks Linksys!

If you are looking to connect your existing (or new) home- or small business network to the Internet, this router is your best choice.

Within an hour, my small home/business network was connected to the Internet through this router and a cable modem. That includes a few minutes looking for a misplaced patch cord and available outlet.

Because my ISP will think only one computer is connected to the Internet, I save additional monthly charges. This should pay for the router within a few months!

Before I purchased this item, I read other reviews and made sure I was prepared for any of the possible noted problems. However, none really occured in my situation. As for the manual, I received the full manual available from www.linksys.com, so they may have listened to our requests.

If you're not too keen on networking, beware of the following:

This router does not come with a cable to connect it to your Hub or Switch. You'll need to purchase it seperately. These cables are called 'Patch Cords' (details: RJ45 connector, CAT 5).

Some ISPs have set your browser to connect using a proxy. Be sure to temporarily disable the proxy settings when configuring your router. In MS Internet Explorer 5+, select the "Tools" menu, click "Internet Options", click the "Connections" tab and click "Lan Settings" - deselect the checkbox for "Use Proxy" to disable the proxy and vice versa to re-enable it.

I found that it's easier to set your LAN configuration to "automatically assign IP address/DNS server" before you start installing this router - however, this depends on your network configuration.

Lastly, before I started installing my router, I made sure I had the latest Firmware update from www.linksys.com. Once the router was installed and responded to the browser (for configuration), I updated my router's firmware before configuring it any further. This saved me the hassle of configuring, updating and re-configuring.

After all my research on this router versus Netgear, I chose the Linksys due to price and assuming it might be more compatible with my existing 10/100 5 port Linksys hub and cards.

After hooking it up to my Com21 cable modem, it interfaced wonderfully with my system. No problems using it with Comcast@Home service. If you follow the instructions, it installs flawlessly. Of course I didn't follow them, being in network support, and I had to fiddle a bit. Nonetheless, I imagine anyone with little to no experience can have this up and running in no time. Top it all off with free shipping, and it was a no-brainer.

Being a geek, I would have liked a command line interface like that in the NetGear for tweaking; but the advanced features GUI in the Linksys is probably enough for home use. DHCP client and server work great. I've backed up the router firewall with ZoneAlarmPro on individual PCs. I have noticed far fewer hacker intrusions, but ZoneAlarm has still found an occasional one trying to get through.

If you want a quick and easy NAT solution this is it. Had the thing up and going in about 3 minutes. Connected it to the cable modem and my hub and away I went. The hardest part was releasing my previous IP address. I've tried all kinds of sofware solutions as well as Linux and this is it. Not quite as fun to set up as a Linux box but a heck of a lot quicker.

Wow. That is all I can say. Right from the box, I plugged in the cables, put in the power connector, re-set my TCP/IP settings to default, with IP address given, and I was set! I just re-booted my computer, opened up IE and did some basic tweaking, and I was set! Instantly, my whole pre-existing network was connected to the internet. The stacking designed helped me minimize my space usage, with a bridge, two hubs, a switch and a print server, I just plugged a straight-through cat 5 cable to one of the free ports, rebooted my network, and was set! (All I had to do was click one button, because LinkSys also makes nifty network cards with WOL capabilities!!! ;-) ) And all my systems, (MAC, PC, UNIX, LINUX, Win2000, and Win98) booted perfectly. With the easy to configure DHCP server, you just tell the router how many computers you have connected or will have connected, and it does the rest! I highly recommend this product to any novice or pro, since it is so easy to use and configure. Just have some sort of network card, plug in (if you don't have a hub or switch already installed, then I recommend you buy one!) or, if you are going to use 1 computer, just plug it in. This is a truely amazing device because of the price, and the expandibility. You can make a computer on your network be a server (DMZ). It just is a great deal for the price. GO Linksys!

I have used this product for about 2 months and have been very happy with it. I use it to share a cable modem internet connection among several computers in my home office. The Linksys was very easy to set up, and can easily be configured to host a web site or ftp site on one of the computers inside the firewall. I was especially happy that I didn't need a static IP address from my ISP; the Linksys works equally well if you have a static or dynamic IP.

It may be lacking high-end features that more expensive firewalls have, but for $100 you will get a very functional product that provides basic security for a small business or home office.

This little box is a marvel. I've had a DSL line in my home for about a year, and up until now the way I was splitting the feed through my home network was by running an old computer and Linux. Unfortunately, since I'm a Linux newbie, I was not comfortable with the security issues of my home network, because I was not sure whether the network was properly configured for maximum safety.

The Linksys router resolved these issues for me. For starters, installation is really simple. Take the box, hook up the DSL or Cable modem feed into the WAN input, and connect the router to your own hub/router via the LAN output. That's it. After that, fire up one of the computers in the local network, run a web browser, and tweak the router to your own preferences. This little box replaced an old computer, saves electricity, and improves security. At the highest level of security, it puts all the ports in "stealth" mode - i.e. outside probes to your IP address will return no results, leading the person launching the probe to think that there is nothing at your IP address (sounds kind of confusing but its really simple). To see if your broadband connection to the net is safe, go to www.grc.com, where they will actually probe your IP and show what they can find out.

Although the Linksys box by itself is not a total and absolute protection to your home network, at least you can rest assured that nobody is going to put a worm in your computer and use it to launch Denial of Service attacks or other nasty things. That's because these boxes run proprietary code (operating system) that most hackers don't use. Why bother to learn Linksys OS, even if it might be a version of Linux, if most computers connected to the net use Windows? Just remember to read the manual and configure the system properly.

If you have broadband access, this router is definitely highly recommended. The only reason I can't give it 5 stars is because my access speed seems to have decreased a tad bit. Using a computer running Linux as my IP router, I was achieving higher speeds in the LAN computers than by using the Linksys router. I'm sure that has to do with processing speeds, etc. Nevertheless, the speed difference seems to be minimal. BTW, I have yet to play any internet games through the router, but I have not heard anything to lead me to believe that the router would interfere with gameplay over the net.

I have a small home network (8 PCs) and needed an economical internet sharing solution. I had been using an NT machine running Wingate and ZoneAlarm. However, running a separate box as a router/firewall was tying up the machine and Wingate has a few quirks. I decided to try the Linksys and haven't regretted it. I had the product installed and working in 15 minutes. I have a separate DHCP server and didn't have any problems. Reportedly, the unit corrupts large downloads, but the latest version of the firmware seems to have fixed the problem. I downloaded several large PowerPoint files with no problem. All in all, a great little box.

I just got the 1 port Linksys router to share a Verizon Online DSL connection between multiple PCs. Setup couldn't have been simpler; just connect modem-router-hub, and you're done. The Linksys does all DHCP setup and supports PPPoE.

The web based interface, without a doubt, makes the product. Just navigate to http://192.168.1.1 in your browser, and you can view status, PPPoE settings, DCHP tables, and even do more advanced stuff like prevent certain PCs from accessing the WAN, redirect ports, and set up routing tables. This makes it easy to set up a web or FTP server, for example, on your network that's accessible from outside.

Overall, its a great product with super features for the price. I highly recommended it.