| Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router |
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Model: BEFW11S4
Brand: Linksys
Manufacturer: Linksys
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 1079
Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4, Windows NT 5, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000 Server, Windows
Operating system: None
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
Connects to a broadband modem, a 10/100 Ethernet backbone, or wireless network
Long wireless operating range supports 300 feet indoors and 1,500 feet outdoors
Provides roaming, best access-point selection, load balancing, and network traffic filtering
Configurable through your networked PC's Web browser
Can act as a DHCP server for your existing network |
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| Description: |
| The Linksys BEFW11S4 is your all-in-one networking device This wireless router features support for the 802.11b protocol, which lets you wirelessly access your network and the Internet from up to 800 feet (outside), or 300 feet (inside) away |
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| User Reviews (1079 total): |
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Short range and must clone MAC, August 1, 2002
By edlyu (Fremont, CA United States)
First, Linksys router's MAC addresses are blacklisted by AT&T Cable Broadband, thus you must clone the MAC address to get it working. That is not really an issue for some people but for others who expected plug-and-play would be frustrated without going through the tech support. This is not really Linksys' fault.
Second, the range for the wireless part is simply way too short. Despite what the box says, the range I was able to get is about 20 feet, which is not all that much. Depending on your card, you might be able to get it longer but the range is simply too short to be useful.
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Mac users beware--but don't be frightened, August 1, 2002
By tomfromboston
After getting dismal range with my Airport Base Station, I finally decided to go with a top-rated wireless cable/dsl router and settled on the Linksys noted above. From plugging it in to having my Macintosh find it, the entire process was an absolute breeze. It's browser-based administration is not platform dependent, so being on a Mac wasn't an issue. What was an issue was not finding any documentation whatsoever on connecting a Mac and setting up printers to work with the built in router. After extensive online searching, I found that Linksys doesn't support Appletalk and that was why I couldn't find my printers in the network control panel. I could print to them using IP printing--you have to know each printer's IP address--which the router gladly gave them, but that was just a little bit too much work for any user. From what I've read, Linksys has said they are going to come out with a firmware update that provides Appletalk support, but it's late in coming. As far as I'm concerned, they are missing a HUGE opportunity with Mac users, since many other wireless routers provide this networking protocol. Apple's base station is almost twice as expensive, has three less LAN ports, and provides a paltry 150 feet of range (if you're lucky!). The Linksys gives 500 feet indoor and 1500 feet outdoor, and it's dual antennas are adjustable to provide maximum connectivity and signal strength. I wish it came with a wall mount, though, and this missing item would have certainly sealed the deal with me as far as giving it five stars. But sadly, with its lack of Appletalk support, horrible lack of Mac support, and omission of any sort of wall mount, I'm detracting a star. But if you're not afraid to set up IP printing, I'd recommend it highly. If you need something more Mac-friendly, you might want to try Macsense or SMC. Just don't get the Apple Base station, because for the price, it's just not worth it.
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Fantastic... What a great product!, August 1, 2002
By galenw273 (Bear, DE United States)
Initially I hard wired the Linksys BEFW11S4 to 3 computers with no problems, not even a glitch. It only took me about 5 minutes to set up all 3 pc's. A week later I purchased wireless cards for 3 computes and a laptop. Again everything worked smoothly with no problems. As it turned out the company I'm employed with sent out a memo recommended this same product for employee home use with dsl or cable internet connections. I've already recommended this product to my friends.
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A fabulus product, July 31, 2002
By unknown
IT is one of the best investments (other than a sony TV and DVD player, perhaps) that I have made in the past 5 years! Every home with more than 1 PCs should have it. It is very easy to set up and works quite nicely. I put the router in my basement, and I can still receive reasonable signals in my living room, family room, and backyards. It won't transmit as far as 100 meters in this case, but worked for aroud 50~70 feet in my house.
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Easy as a breeze, July 30, 2002
By unknown
I just received my wireless router today. I was planning to spend the whole night setting it up. It only took me ten minutes to configure the whole thing (this includes the time I spent installing my wireless PC card). I am on the second floor of my house, with the router in the basement right now. This is a wonderful feeling. I recommend this product strongly. Just follow the installation instructions. That is all it takes.
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Simply The Best!, July 26, 2002
By TomSlatin.com (Schoharie, NY USA)
This device serves as a network hub, a router, and as a wireless access point capable of serving upwards of 250 different wireless users! It's easy to install, configure, and use. It's a must see for anyone who is serious about hooking up their own home or office computer network!
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Awesome Product, July 21, 2002
By Mike (Falls Church, VA United States)
I bought this router about 2 months ago. I hardwired two desktop pc's to 2 of the ports, and I use a laptop with a linksys wireless pcmcia card. For the people who are having problems setting this product up, they probably don't know what they're doing. The router's signals go straight up and out, so placement of the router is important. I live in a 3 story townhouse, so I placed the router down in the basement and it's been working fine. I ran cat5e cable to two of the rooms that have the desktops (up on the third floor).I set up one of the desktops as a domain server (windows 2000 advanced server) and the other systems with windows 2000. I did everything, implemented active directory, ftp, web server, certificate server (issued myself my own certificate for the web site to make it https), dhcp server. My client pc's are obtaining static ip address from my server, however you don't have to set your pc's up to use dhcp issued by the router. To give your pc's static ip's from your router, you can use any ip address, just disable dhcp on the router and hard code the ip configurating on the pc to use any address from 192.168.1.2 through 192.168.1.254. Also, if you're using a wireless device, use a WEP key, and also SSID, and change the default channel from 6 to another channel. With dhcp service stopped on the router, NOBODY will be able to connect up to your router using a wireless pc card other than yourself. I'm pretty confident that nobody (unless someone looks over my shoulder and sees my wep keys, channel, and ssid) can connect up to my router. For users who are having problems staying connected, have you ever thought that it's not the router, that it's probably your ISP or your cable/dsl modem? To ensure that it's not the router, plug your cable/dsl modem directly to your pc and don't use your router. If you stay connected for a few days, then it possibly could be the router. Also, I like the port forwarding feature. It allows me to run services from my server and just forward the appropiate port to that machine. This product has been outstanding! From someone that knows.
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This Router is JUNK!, July 21, 2002
By unknown
I previously owned the BEFSR41 Linksys Router and it was fried during a lightning storm. I should have learned my lesson. I wanted to go wireless so I bought the Linksys Wireless BEFW11S4. This thing is junk. First off, could not get it to connect with my Broadband connection. I use Sprint Broadband and it could not find the IP address. I tried everything and even got tech support on the phone and we ran through every test and he finally came to the conclusion, "The router is DOA". So, the next day I returned it and got another one. Guess what? Same problem. Called support again and ran through same tests. IT DOES NOT WORK. I returned that one and got the D-Link Air-Plus Wireless Router and it worked right when I connected it! ...
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Takes work to configure for DSL, July 19, 2002
By R. Brown (Carson, CA United States)
I purchased this router along with two WUSB11 wireless USB Adapters. This is a good product. Good speed and great signal strenght. If you are wondering why I gave the product four instead of five stars? Its because of Linksys' poor technical support and awful documentation. We have PAC Bell DSL using a SpeedStream 5360 DSL Modem. It literally took three evenings after work calling Linksys Customer support to get the router to connect to our DSL line. The first call was answered by a tech who did not have a clue and after 90 minutes of changing different options she advised me to download the firmware and reflash the Router. Having done that and still no luck, I called back the next evening after work and got a fellow who told me to connect to the Internet by bypassing the Router and then switch the cables to connect the DSL modem to the router. When I explained that I could not do that because the Linksys documentation instructs you to uninstall PAC Bell's PPPoE software - his only reply was try it and it will work.Of course this failed so I called back again the next night after work. The tech explained that they have had problems getting the Router to work with this SpeedStream Modem. He promised to email me a patch. After waiting an hour for an email that never appeared I called back and demanded to speak to a supervisor. He apologized and explained that the problem lies with the SpeedStream Modem. He pointed me to a forum in DLS Reports which contained a link to SpeedStream's site. There a found a firmware upgrade to the modem and after I installed the upgrade - the Router worked flawlessly. I am disappointed because it took FOUR calls to tech support before I was given the proper information. The WUSB11 cards are attached to my daughters PCs located in two separate bedrooms on the second floor of our house. They installed and connected to the router without a problem. So we now have a total of four PCs networked to our DSL line. Two upstairs and two in our downstairs office. The downstars PCs are connected via CAT5e cables to the Router. All connect at 1 megabit per second so I have no complaints. Just remember if you have a PAC Bell DSL SpeedStream 5360 Modem, you may need to upgrade the firmware to get your router to work properly.
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Works like a champ, July 19, 2002
By unknown
I am happy with the router. It's easy to install and maintain !!
The only point you have to be carefull about, it's with the range of operation.
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Great for home, July 18, 2002
By John Chapman (Blacksburg, VA United States)
This is a great unit for the all around solution to a wireless, hub, and firewall requirement. Great interface to the firewall. 5 minute setup...no kidding. I have not tried it with DSL but works fabulously with Cable modems. This is a must have. This unit even has a DMZ, IP forwarding, and even a DHCP server built in. This is a GREAT piece of equipment.
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Great Product! Works with PCs and Macs, July 18, 2002
By Aaron D Gitler (Philadelphia, PA United States)
I have two "wired" PC's and two "wireless" macintosh laptops (using Airport Card from Apple). I didn't want to spend the [money] to buy the Apple Airport Base Station so i bought the Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless Router...followed the CD instructions and had all my computers networked in less than 10 minutes with no problems!
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You can find better, July 18, 2002
By unknown
Set up was easy. Both my wireless card (also from Linksys) and the router were up an running in less than 15 minutes. In that regard, performance was extraordinary. After a year an half of use I have found I sometimes have to power the unit down to access the internet and frequently for its html based settings. Perhaps it is my home but I have never been able to roam more than about 50 feet from the router and an upgrade to Windows XP Pro on my laptap has dwindled that distance down to 20 or thirty feet. I have also found Linksys's email support to be poor and less than timely. The one call to tech support convinced me the hold time was not worth it. In general I have found Linksys products easy to set up in both my business and at home but after several years of using many of their products I am not convinced it is worth it. If ease of set up is your primary criterea I have found their products to be spectacular. Problems are not addressed well and while some products perform well this one has not for me. Price and ease of set up keeps them a contender but I will continue to buy elsewhere.
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No Service After Warranty Period, July 17, 2002
By William D. Grube (Wapakoneta, Ohio United States)
After One year of use, this router quit working. I spent hours trying to repair this item. I decided to purchase another one so my network would continue to work while I sent this one in for repair. After purchasing the new one (which works fine) I was informed from Linksys support that they do not offer a repair service for this product. I'm now a proud owner of a [$$$] paper weight.
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Security annoying; great if no WEP or continuous uptime, July 16, 2002
By cglohman (San Francisco, CA United States)
When I first got this router, I was very pleased by its ease of use. It simply worked out of box, with no configuration necessary. Transfer rates were very fast, making my DSL the bottleneck, and reception was clear throughout my 30' apartment in an urban area.Then I figured I'd better enable encryption. Using the router's simple web interface, I configured WEP keys for the router & my wireless card. It's got no 'Off' switch, so I just unplugged it when I was done online, for security reasons, and also since I've got a limited number of electrical outlets. Unfortunately this seems to reset the router's configuration to the factory defaults. So anytime I want to use the router securely, I've got to:
1) disable WEP on my wireless card
2) re-acquire a DHCP address
3) regenerate WEP keys with the router's web interface
4) enable WEP on my wireless card with generated key
5) re-acquire DHCP You may imagine this makes security prohibitively inconvenient. So I'd recommend it only if you are planning for continuous uptime or live in an area where you don't have to worry about others intercepting your wireless transmissions. Or maybe if you'd find it an enriching challenge to script the sequence above.
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Home Networking Bliss, July 15, 2002
By Ayman (San Francisco, CA USA)
There already is a wealth of techy reviews on this Router and Wireless Acces Port. I'm going to focus briefly on why I think this product is the best.1) The software onboard the router is easy to configure, simple to use and solid (*never* has it gone down). 2) The Wireless strength is pretty good (I use an ORiNOCO silver card with my laptop). I never lose signal in my apartment nor is it ever weak. 3) LinkSys provides great documentation not only for the router but for Firmware updates that you'll need to get from their site. Some reviews here have commented on how impossible they are to reach by phone, but I followed the manual step by step and had no problems. 4) The router provides security for wireless traffic as well as MAC authentication (you can key it only to accept your card) if you want your neighbors not to be able to tap in. 5) The software logs in to your ISP for you and holds the connection alive, so you don't have to install any dialer, login, or PPPoE (PoET) software which tends to crash my machines. Overall, this router is an excellent purchase at a great price.
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the best wireless router yet!, July 13, 2002
By unknown
we had tried to network our computers before; with a dial-up wired network, and a different wireless solution - no sucess.the dial up network didn't work, period. i could never get online, at all. we tried a different wireless router for our cable modem, i forget the name; it didn't transmit the signal well enough. we then tried yet another wireless router(an SMC, i think), and one less computer to link. it would work for maybe 10 to 30 minutes, then quit. we'd have to unplug and replug it 3 or 4 times a day- really agitating. then we got this linksys. after that, we never have had to do that. Plus, it gives a 30% better broadcasting signal, which gives a faster speed.this model will recognize even the slowest cable connection, and broadcast it unhindered. A must for wireless networking.
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Happy customer, July 12, 2002
By unknown
I initially had problems getting the unit running, but a friend told me about a software update, which I got at the Linksys website. After that everything worked fine. I had two computers hooked up through cables and two notebooks, no problems. It works so well that I am not aware of it anymore.
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stopped working little after a year, July 12, 2002
By Helen Lau (South Pasadena, CA United States)
Most of Linksys' competitors have warranties from 3-5 years whereas Linksys only offers 1-year warranty. My router simply decided to stop sending wireless signals a little over a year after I bought it. Very disappointed.
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Nice product. VERY BAD support., July 10, 2002
By manzil1970
I've been using the Linksys BEFW11S4 for about 8 months now. Overall, it's not a bad product. I find the range to be a bit limited -- I get thoroughput of about 2 Mbps throughout most of my house.The real problem I have with this product, though, is the support. About three weeks ago, the router simply stopped working. I called tech support and was on hold for about 45 minutes before I got through to someone. The technician then spent about 20 minutes on the phone with me confirming that the unit was actually dead (Hey, it's got no lights, I'm telling you IT'S DEAD). After that, he said he'd refer my case to someone who would contact me within 24-48 hours with an RMA number to get a replacement. I wait 3 days, and no one contacts me. I then start the whole process over. Second time around, I wait about 24 hours and then just went out and bought a new one. In retrospect, I should have bought one from a different company -- but it didn't occur to me at the time. It's now 2 weeks later, and I'm still waiting for their RMA department to contact me.
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