Customer Reviews

Cisco-Linksys WRVS4400N Wireless-N Gigabit Security Router - VPN v2.0

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I should have known better. I'm a geek (I've owned more than 20 computers/servers in my >10 years as a software engineer and I've setup >10 wired/wireless networks for friends and family), so when I read all of the bad reviews on this product, I just figured it was people who couldn't figure out what they're doing. I was wrong, so wrong. The WRVS4400N is totally worthless - don't make the same mistake as I - BUY A DIFFERENT ROUTER.

The problem is that every 24 hours or 36 hours (on the exact second) this router stops sharing the internet connections to all computers on the network. It must them be unplugged or rebooted via the web interface and then the problem goes away. So far their tech support has been unable to resolve the problem they keep sending me new routers. After this last one, they told me there is nothing more they can do and it will have to be reported as an issue to their product development team. My internet connection is fine as evidenced by plugging in a laptop when the router fails and they have reported no compatibility issues with my cable modem. And furthermore other people are experiencing the exact same problem.

This router does offer a great set of features for the price, but be careful - they're implemented poorly. So you'll likely turn them off.

The IPS (special security features that this router offers) features are worthless - if you want to FTP anything, you'll need to turn them off. And even with them off, I still can't connect to several of the FTP servers that I routinely connect to, which I could with my last router - for example Google Base FTP servers and Yahoo's webhosting accounts.

The QoS (quality of service) features are extremely hard to configure and there is NO documentation on line, include with the product or in the help section of the administration tool, which explains how to actually configure it.

The range of the N wireless network isn't very impressive. It's only slightly better than the G router from Linksys that it replaced. Both routers were placed in the same spot in my basement.

I haven't tried the VPN connectivity yet, but you're only limited to 5 clients connecting, which is a limitation that's not published on this product description, nor easy to find on Linksys's site.

Now, I've been a long time buyer and recommender of Linksys products, but in the last two years their product quality has plummeted as evidenced by the ratings they get her on Amazon. They keep sending me these survey's every time I contact their tech support and I share these same complaints, but they don't get any better. If anything they're getting worse.

Linksys's phone technical support is horrible. This unit isn't serviced by the "home" area of Linksys's tech-support staff, you must go through the "business" area and their level 1 support staff aren't even trained, so you go right to their level 2 support, which you'd think would mean you'd get good support, but not from Linksys. They have no idea how to solve problems with this router. Several of the tech support people have given up and made excuses to get off the phone - my favorite was to reapply the same version of the router's firmware, waste an hour reconfiguring it, and then wait 24-36 hours to see if the problem came back; and sure enough it did.

Linksys's phone customer support is horrible. After my last tech support tech's manager determined that I have yet another defective router and I should get a new one, I was transferred to their customer service department so that they could process an RMA. It took them 43 minutes to process the RMA. The customer service person, who could barely speak english, said he had to read everyone of the case notes in order to process an RMA. Then it took 24 minutes to get transferred to his supervisor to complain about him.

So to reiterate my review: While this router looks like a great set of features for great price, you'll need to turn off much of those features to be able to FTP, and you'll need to reboot your router every 24-36 hours if you want it to router internet service to other computers on your network. And if you have to call tech support or customer support, you'll be in for some horrible experience. So don't make the same mistake as I did. Don't buy this router.

We have a small business network and purchased this router primarily for internet access. The router LOCKS UP several times per week and must be powered down/up to get it restored. Even that proceedure can take 2-3 attempts before you get it back up. This major problem makes the router unreliable and completely useless in our application. We spent MANY wasted hours trying to trouble shoot this problem and believe it may simply be a design flaw in the product. We will be relocating it to the dumpster and researching a higher quality product from a different manufacturer.

I have owned the WRVS4400N for about 2 years now and stumbled across all thes old outdated reviews, so I thought I would update them. It is true, when this router first came out, it had some issues, however a few firmware updates later and the issues are gone. This is an excellent router and I highly recommend it. The negative reviews featured on this page are outdated and no longer apply. If you find one of these at a reasonable price, buy it. The combination of features and available settings is exemplary and they all work flawlessly.

Initially this product seemed like the perfect mix for me.... Gigabit switch, Wireless N, and site-to-site VPN tunneling. Well, it turns out it's too good to be true. There are a lot of things wrong with this product.

The firmware that came on it was as buggy as ever, and in order to upgrade to the latest firmware cleanly, it involves multiple resets to factory settings (otherwise you might brick the thing).

I had issues holding my VPN connections (using it for site-to-site tunnels to Cisco PIX's at other locations) with the old firmware. I upgraded to the latest firmware, but then ordinary FTP would not transfer files anymore, in active OR passive mode (making FTP useless).

So I downgraded again, this time to firmware in between what came on it, and the newest. FTP returned, but the VPN tunnels would tend to drop and/or not negotiate from time to time, and Wi-Fi would drop out from time to time. Every once in a while Internet access would drop out completely, and the reboot process on this thing is woefully long (about 2 minutes, taking down the network) as compared to the consumer-grade Linksys routers that boot right away. The ongoing problems with this thing consumed my time, and I was less productive because of it.

I don't know if it's ongoing firmware woes, or just bad design, or trying to pack in too many functions in one device. Suffice to say, the thing's not reliable. I returned it and bought a Cisco ASA 5505 instead (if you use this for remote office purposes, this thing costs more, but it rocks).

True, I don't have a gigabit switch or wireless included in the package anymore, but I do have a rock-solid device that takes advantage of my 10 meg service, and I can always go out and buy the other devices separately if I really need them.

I have been a long time Linksys wireless router user from its very early days and have gone through model changes on a regular basis with them. I occasionally work from home and a stable router to sustain my VPN connection to work is essential. I also wanted a 802.11n router that gives me the speed I need for other home streaming needs. I also tend to fiddle with features and functionality of the routers occasional as I try to find the optimum setting for my needs. So I decided to replace a perfectly working Linksys 802.11g WRT54g router with an 802.11n one.

I searched the web and read the reviews on the Linksys 11n home routers, but two things turn me off about them. Their form factor which looked a little small and dense and second was the reviews about their heat problems (hot to the touch) which I think is the result of the form factor. So I decided to look elsewhere. Then I came across the Cisco's 802.11n router WRVS4400n. It seemed to have all that I wanted from feature, functionality and form factor point of view. Also, being a small business router rather than a home router, it promised a better quality. It was around $200 when I bought it, but I was willing to pay the extra $ to get what I wanted.

I have had the router for about 1.5 months now. What I did immediately after purchase was to try the firmware upgrade (which is what I normally do with every new gadget I get). I found out that the firmware is uptodate (version 2.0.0.8). Then I set it up. The set up was a breeze and I was amazed by the rich set of functionality it offered compared to the old Linksys routers (which were good in their own class). I started to use it immediately with couple of computers at home using the DLINK DWA-130 USB adaptors on my computers. I use WPA2-personal setting for security and encryption.

I am happy to report that I have had no problems with the router whatsoever. As you know, if the router connection drops even for a fraction of a second, the VPN immediately dies. But I have had VPN up and running for several weeks now without any unplanned drops. I am now in the process of playing with other features of the router (so far all settings have been pretty standard). I read the other posts here and all the bad ratings seem to be posts that are a few years old and the new posts appear to be positive. So I think the firmware has been the issue for the bad reviews all along.

The only draw back for me is the speed compared to what is advertised. I ran a TTCP test between two computers on my home network, one wired to the router the other one connected wirelessly, and I could only get about 20Mbps. As we know, the theoretical limit of the 11n standard is in the hundreds of Mbps. While 20Mbps is good for most streaming applications, I would have expected to get at least 50Mbps real speeds with 11n technology. My WAN speed (through Cable modem) is about 20Mbps down and 4Mbps up. So I am ok for any external apps but wanted a faster speed on my intra-home apps. I am also upgrading my ISP connection to 50Mbps down and 10Mbps up and wanted the home network to be at least as fast. I am not finished with my experiments so my result maybe preliminary. For example I have a cordless phone right next to the router and they are both running in the same frequency spectrum (2.4Ghz) which could be impacting this. I have already switched the router to a different channel than the channels my neighbors are using so there is not much interference issues there.

The other drawback is CISCO's support website; very confusing and poorly organized compared to Linksys' which is very nicely organized. So once you find the place for firmware downloads make sure you bookmark it so you don't have to spend another 20 minutes looking for it.

To finalize, I am generally very happy with this router. The jury is still out on its max wireless speed.

I purchased this wireless router for my business so I could VPN into my local network. I also purchased the corresponding N-PCMCIA card for my laptop while in the office.

After spending many hours with my IT guy, this thing doesn't work.

- The browser based setup utility is slow and hangs a lot.

- We never could really get the VPN to work (the QuickVPN software would lock up the entire router).

- The router would intermittently drop the wireless connection.

Wireless-N isn't fully baked yet. The little it did work, we found that the 12X speed is a bit of an exageration.

+ The only this thing is good for is an overpriced 4-port switch....

This one is certainly going back to Amazon.

I have a Belkin Pre-N network at my house and liked the specs on the new Linksys product (WMP300N PCI adapter and the WRVS4400n router and access point) for my office. Out of the box nothing worked. An upgrade to .13 firmware in the router at least got it working. Speeds are impressive, but as many others have noted, the system hangs up at random times driving users to distraction. I returned the product and reinstalled my Cat 6 cables.

Once Linksys gets the bugs out I'll try them again, but they released this product without enough testing, in my opinion. This is a classic example of buyer beware.

The wireless cuts out frequently and the VPN was difficult to configure. If you're set on this product, wait until the next firmware update--at least.

If you are looking for a basic router, it will probably work. However, if you are planning to take of the VPN functions beware. For reasons still uknown, this router doesn't work with our VoIP PBX. Linksys has confirmed the problem, but has yet to provide new firmware. Ended up having to swith it out with a WRV54G. It is old, but it gets the job done....

The key is to install the firmware update posted December 24, 2009 (updates it to 2.0.0.8. Mine shipped with 2.0.0.4, and wireless performance was awful. I was connecting with an Intel Pro 2200G card, and couldn't get more than 30 feet away or on the other side of a glass door before the signal completely dropped. Almost sent the router back (figured any Version 2.0 software would be fine), but flashed it, and now it absolutely lives up to its specs.

I manage roughly 60 L2L VPN tunnels talking to a Cisco ASA 5500 concentrator, and this 4400N works great in remote locations where I need simultaneous wired, wireless, and VPN.

I've also used this in a different setting to provide VPN client access. Linksys was slow to update client software for current OS's (Vista, Win7), but version released on Feb 24, 2010 now provides Windows 7 compatibility. It's not as robust as the real Cisco VPN client with its extensive firewall and security features, but it's OK if you can live with split tunneling. Note that the client installation does not automatically configure the Windows firewall, and the client won't work until you configure it in Control Panel. Easy enough to do.

FWIW, the GreenBow VPN client works very smoothly with this router and handles the Windows firewall configuration seamlessly. A bit pricey, but if you also need a Windows Mobile client, it's a nice option.

This product puts you into the Cisco Small Business tech support queue in South Carolina, which is head and shoulders above the consumer Linksys tech support. 24*7 coverage, and you immediately get to Tier 2 techs. The ones I've spoken with are CCNA certified, so it's a pretty high quality group.

Biggest advantage is single box for VPN and wireless. In addition, you can put it into a Repeater mode. I have a user with an office across the street from his home, and he's able to use a single internet connection via the repeater mode.

Overall, a great router once you do the firmware updates.