Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router

EtherFast Wireless Access Point + Cable/DSL Router w/ 4-Port Switch

In the past, people creating a home network had to choose between string ing cheap Ethernet cable all over the house or spending tons of cash on a slow, unreliable wireless system. Products like the BEFW11S4 wireless four-port cable/ DSL router from Linksys have changed all that. This unit works as an Internet ga teway, traditional four-port Ethernet hub, and wireless Ethernet hub; is easy to install; and is relatively inexpensive. With the Linksys cable modem and wireless Ethernet adapter we tested with the unit, everything worked like a charm with next to no configuration hassles.

The BEFW11S4 is chunkier than a standard Ethernet switched hub, but is so versatile that a little extra bulk is acceptable. Basic installation involves little more than plugging in the power cord and connecting the Ethernet output from your cable or DSL modem to an input port on the back of the device. Four Ethernet ports on the back accept connections from computers with standard network interface cards, while two antennas on the back handle the unit's wireless capabilities. The standard ports operate at up to 100 Mbps, while the 802.11b technology allows for wireless transmissions at up to 11 Mbps. That's not the blazing-fast performance you'd get from more expensive 802.11a or 802.11g wireless products, butis more than enough to handle Internet connection sharing, LAN gaming, and normal file transfer duties.

This product's forte is Internet connection sharing, as it serves as a single point of contact for every computer attached to a home network. All your ISP sees is one IP address sending and receiving Internet traffic, even though several computers on the other side of the BEFW11S4 might be accessing the Internet at the same time. The other nice thing about this setup, as opposed to standard Internet connection-sharing software, is that no particular PC must be turned on before the others on the network can access the Internet. As long as the BEFW11S4 is running, any PC can get on the Web.

Although the device is surprisingly easy to set up, a Web-based interface is available that lets advanced users access security settings, permissions, and a variety of other options. It is easy to use and can be accessed by any PC on the network without having to install special software. The unit itself provides plenty of feedback, as it is equipped with several LEDs that indicate the status of each standard connection, along with the wireless signal. There also is an uplink port on the back that lets users add more hubs, switches, or other devices as their network grows.

The router performed as expected in tests, providing fast 100 Mbps speeds to two basement computers using the standard Ethernet ports and a steady 11 Mbps signal to a third PC located upstairs and about 40 feet laterally from the base transmitter. The strength of the wireless signal is entirely dependent on the conditions in which the device is used, but most home users shouldn't have a problem reaching any one room of their house from any other room.

Perhaps the only drawback to the BEFW11S4 is that if installation doesn't go as smoothly as it did for us, configuring the device could be difficult for novice users. It's designed to be a plug-and-play unit, but there are hundreds of seriously advanced settings lurking under that friendly façade that can really mess things up if they are not configured properly. The good news is that most users likely won't have any problems, and once the BEFW11S4 is set up it works so smoothly and seamlessly that you'll forget it's there after a while. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

Easy installation, seamless operation
Makes it very easy to share an Internet connection
Powerful configuration options for those who want to get their hands dirty

Cons:

Wireless Ethernet adapters to connect to a PC must be purchased separately
802.11b transmission speeds are pokey compared to more modern standards

For more information on the differences between an Access Point and a Router wit h Access Point, see the following table:

access point vs. router

See a comparison diagram of the different wireless technologies.

Wireless networks are rapidly becoming more popular and coming down in price. Since they don't require cables, you can use the devices anywhere in an office or home, even out on the patio. There's no need to roll out an Ethernet network cable to each room of a house; you can network anywhere -- without wires. Outside of the home, wireless networking is available in hotspots at coffee shops, businesses, airports -- great when you're on the road and need to get some work done. For convenience, wireless networking is the answer.

What Wireless Standard is Right for Me?
Now that you've decided to create a wireless network, the next step is to figure out which wireless standard to use.

Basically, a standard is a set of specifications for a device. All devices that follow a specific standard share operating characteristics, such as the radio frequency used and maximum data transfer speed.

For wireless networking, there are three standards to choose from at this time:

802.11b

802.11a

802.11g

To learn about the differences between the standards and select the right one for your network, click here for an easy-to-understand chart.

The EtherFast wireless access point and cable/DSL router features a router, a 4-port 10/100 switch, NAT firewall, and an IEEE 802.11b wireless access point (11 Mbps). This all-in-one device allows wireless PCs and wired Ethernet PCs to access a single broadband Internet connection for sharing IP addresses, files, printers, and other network resources while conserving desktop space. The built-in 4-port switch enables wireless and wired notebook and desktop PCs to share high-speed Internet access.

Configurable as a DHCP server for your existing network, this router acts as the only externally recognized Internet gateway on your LAN and serves as an Internet NAT firewall against unwanted outside intruders. It can also be configured to filter internal users' access to the Internet. The 4-port switch dramatically increases the speed of multimedia and gaming connections.

This device comes with a one-year warranty and free 24/7 technical support.

Note: All Linksys routers now include a special edition of Norton Internet Security! Claim your free CD-ROM by calling (800) 814-0180, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pacific, seven days a week.

1 No problems...
I have been using it with DSL connection for the last 3 years. never had a glitch.

2 Don't buy Linksys!
I've had nothing but problems since getting this router, which recently came to a head in a 7-hour tech call. During this 7-hour tech call, they had me install a new version of the firmware, which resulted in the router not working at all. Linksys offered to ship me a new one, but I needed it immediately for my work. They told me I would have to pay for rush shipping EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE THE ONES THAT "BROKE" IT!! Their customer service was horrible, so I called the corporate office and found out that there was actually another level of tech support that they never even sent me to. The corporate technician was able to help me by suggesting that I simply get a different type of router (too much interference from my neighbors' wireless systems). Although they had indeed rendered my system useless, they likely would not have been able to fix the original problem. Why couldn't the original tech have just given me this information and saved me the 7 hours out of my workday? I went out and bought a Netgear router that evening, and so far, it's worked excellently. I understand Linksys is supposed to be of superior quality, but if anything goes wrong, don't expect any sort of quality tech support.

3 Worked for six months
Easy setup, great at first. Then it started dropping connections and acting flaky. The problem was not my DSL provider (SBC), because a direct connection to my PC always works perfectly.

Then, about three weeks after the warranty expired, it stopped transmitting any wireless signal.

Thanks, LinkSys!

4 defective
Everyone I know with a wireless-b. We've gone through the necessary channels to resolve the issues, determined that the router is defective and had endless frustration with the Linksys customer service department.

5 Good router overall, with flaws
I've had this router now for little less than a year. I've had some major issues with it.

I use this router to share the one IP that I get through my university to 7 computers (I know, a lot for one guy). According to tech support, this router isn't designed for T1 speeds. It was only meant for cable/DSL and there will lock-up every once in a while. This doesn't make any sense to me but I'm sure they are right. Every couple of months, the unit will stop working without rebooting. I've already sent it back twice (spending about $15 on return shipping).

I'm not sure if this behavior would change in an non-university environment. I've asked them if I could upgrade to another unit. They said no.

Other than that, this unit is poorly designed. You only have 10 spaces in which you can forward ports. I wanted at least 20.

It seems if you go with Linksys Wireless-G routers, you can install third-party firmware which will extend this. I'd recommend getting it, or going with anouter manufacturer.

6 Fails after months of use
I have noticed this router typically begins to fail after 6 months of use. By fail, I mean it starts dropping connections and has trouble reconnecting to the WAN.

A router should not have to be reset (or unplugged) every day. IT should just be plugged in and work constantly.

My router started getting flaky after a year, but my mother has gone through two of these in one year.

I think its time Linksys get to addressing their customer's concerns.

7 Frustrating waste of time and money.
Purchased from Gateway along with the notebook PC so you would think they'd be a good match. Think again. Nothing but problems. Installation and documentation so-so for the wireless network novice - doesn't explain why things are done, coupled with Windows XP settings ends up being very hit and miss, not intuitive. Post-installation, usually unable to get wireless link with our home network although less trouble getting PC to link with undesired wireless networks. Went through at least three calls to Linksys support, which I will admit was quick enough, but nobody had a solution. Finally they bought off by telling me to upgrade the wireless PC card's driver. Problem was I couldn't completely download the driver file (40mb) on the Intertnet while plugged into the router from either PC on network, even when wired. Circumvented the router and voila - downloaded the file fine. So the router impedes throughput and also some slow down even with wired connections. Installed the drivers - made no difference, as I suspected. I give up.

8 [Firmware] BEFW11S4 - Filed BBB complaint - Linksys sucks
[Firmware] BEFW11S4 - Filed BBB complaint - Linksys sucks

I'm done, put a fork in me. I have been running the BEFW11S4 sucessfully for months on firmware version 1.47.x which I downloaded from dslreports.com. I have started to use MSN Messenger to stay in touch with my the family and it is flaky at best because this old firmware does not contain the fixes I need. I contacted support today and was told, I have tried everything, sorry. Well #$%$#$ Linksys. I will never buy another LINKSYS product as long as I live. I filed a complaint on the better business bureaus website, and I encourage everyone to do the same. �www.bbb.org Let your complaints be heard. I am also considering a class action lawsuit against Linksys, anyone interested? Here is my message from their helpdesk:
Enriquez, Clarenz: i think you already tried everything to make it work. Enriquez, Clarenz: i'm really sorry about that.

9 Don't bother with this router
Not all that easy to set up. Once I got it setup properly, it still dropped connections often on the wireless link, even though my Linksys wireless card showed a strong and high quality signal. After about six months, the router started crashing or locking up about once per day. I have to power it down and reboot it. Would not recommend this router to anyone.

10 Hit or Miss
I got this router (v. 4) free with Verizon DSL. In the first few days of owning it have had multiple problems with dropped connections, just like many others have had.

The problem seems to come down to two things: buggy WEP and buggy DHCP. My tenant has a D-link wireless card and WEP was crappy for him, though it worked fine for me (Orinoco Mini PCI). DHCP has been problematic for both of us. It'll work fine for a day or so and then inexplicably crap out--I finally added an alternate manual config and am thinking about just switching to static IPs. It may coincide with the DSL modem dropping the PPPoE connection and getting a new IP, but I'm not sure. Various resets fix it, but it's annoying to have to do it almost daily.

I have done a bit of research on the net trying to fix these problems, and so far haven't turned up much--except *hundreds* of similar complaints. The troubleshooting section in the manual is skimpy ("Is your router plugged in and powered on?" - Duh!), as is Linksys's online knowledgebase.

Bottom line: spend your money elsewhere. You might get a non-lemon, but is it worth the gamble?

11 The worst money can buy....
I have this linksys router and it really crashes once a weak... So, I thought: "let's get the latest firmware from the web". On the European Linksys download site I found the upgrade (I live in Portugal-Europe). Now it takes about 6 hours to crash, much quicker. And now I can only access to it in the next day... maybe about 6 to 10 hours crashed, anyone can send me the old European firmware. Notice that even if I reset the router it doesn't give me access to the setup... because it doesn't give an IP to the computer... With the manual IP configured on the PC and the DCHP server off I still can't access, even to the setup, until next day...
In either case, if I don't reset, in the next day it works perfectly for about the same time.
I've read the forums around the web and I really think Linksys should worry... I got so demoralized that I'm considering seriously throwing it in the garbage and buying a new one, away from CISCO systems. All I could read is that their support is rubbish and that owners with the same problem on this equipment have spent their time and money on the phone for many hours and never got the problem solved. Shall I do the same... maybe I get lucky... maybe not...

What I want to declare is: purchase something else... if you're not damned already.

12 This router is complete garbage!
I have owned this router for two months and it has crashed at least twice per week. Each time I have to reset the entire system and start from scratch. Linksys support has failed to identify or correct the problem after months of trying, yet they won't send me a different router. This is the second time I have written this review because it crashed in the middle of the first one!!! Read all of the reviews; I'm not the only one! Buy something else!

13 Great Router - Easy Install
I have no idea why others are slamming the BEFW11S4, I have 2 desktops and an X-Box running through mine and everythng works great. Soon going to add a Gamecube to the network. I brought it home and hooked everything up and it was running fine out of the box. Sure there were some settings I had to change in the configuration, BIG DEAL. It took 2 minutes out of my life to set it up. This router is running flawlessly. This was definately a good buy.

14 Decent But Buggy Router
This is the 2nd Linksys router my family has used over the years. This router does work well out of the box and supports wireless, which works pretty much out of the box as well. However, I have to take 2 stars off for lack of stability, ESPECIALLY with recent firmware upgrades. With the last 2 upgrades, this router has been prone to locking up randomly at least 2-3 times a week. I have yet to find a solution presented by Linksys for the lock-ups.

15 Worst computer add on that I have ever bought. JUNK!!!!!!!!!
This is the worst product for the computer routers that you can buy. This router crashes on you all the time. When you call for technical support the people that you are talking to you cant understand because they are from India and also they do not know how to help you anyway because they are idiots. You can never talk to a supervicior or someone from in the United States. I called once and the person asked me for my address, home phone, and social security number. Why is the social needed? I did not give them that and when I said that they could not have that they would not help more they just said that they do not have follow the US laws becuase they are not in the US. I finally got someone in the US after thretening with the BBB. The router that I have is a replacement already and it is just CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope that this review is helpful and that you will make the wise decision. (don't buy it!!!!!!!!)

16 Not bad, if you happen to get one that works!
I've now owned two of these, and neither worked properly. The first worked great, as long as you were within 20 feet and direct line-of-sight to the device. To Linksys' credit, their tech support line worked well with me to diagnose that the device was bad and issue a merchandise credit. The second one I owned worked fine for about a month before the wireless capability stopped working altogether. I suppose I could work Linksys again and get another merchandise credit (and cross my fingers it will work), but I think I'll just buy a NetGear device instead.

17 complete junk
i get disconnected at least 3 or 4 times a day using these linksys wireless routers. They are junk. Do your research and buy something like netgear or dlink.

Stay away from these linksys routers. At best, each time i get disconnected i have to restart my pc and the router and wait 10 minutes to get back online again. if you're doing something important, forget it!

18 Easy, small and fast
i got this router with a USB adapter from the same brand...
it took me more to open the box than to configure the router with my cable internet and the USB adapter...
i have the computer in the basement and the router is located in the third floor....and the Signal Strengh s excellent...
its a really good product...easy set-up interfase (WEB)...a lot of characteristics....
but i recommend you to download the lastest Firware...i'll work better!

19 Does the job -- sometimes
I have had this router for over a year and it still seems to do the job. It wasn't too hard to configure or install. However, occasionally, I would have wireless connectivity issues. I couldn't diagnose whether it was an issue with the laptops(s) or the router. Either way, one laptop is still unable to connect with this router.

Otherwise, it has plenty of options to configure it depending on your Internet setup.

I would give it 3 stars due to its unreliability.

20 Mixed Views
One one side, I used swear by Linksys, as they are easy to use and configure, even if one doesn't understand routing terminology. On the other side, now that I am starting to understand this stuff, I am finding many bugs that are frustrating.

I had the box actually crash a few times. It crashed a few times when configuring using the port forwarding feature, where one would map an incoming port like http or port 80 to one computer inside the house. The box wouldn't take the port, and eventaully crashed. I had to reset the device, erasing the setup.

Another problem I found, is that you are forced to use Linksys's limited DHCP. Let's say you crafty enough to setup a DHCP on your LAN with something like Linux or Windows Server. This DHCP will not work for wireless, only the LAN. :'( This makes wireless limited, especially when adding a little security by controlling who gets what IP address.

For wireless, I couldn't find ways to secure this other than through the limited and crackable WEP feature, which doesn't work BTW for some Wi-Fi cards. There's also no filtering in of particular laptops within your home (using permitted MAC addresses). Maybe future versions will fix this...

Now shifting gears to the stuff I do like. It has a simple web interface, which is intuitive and easy to use. The password sent over the wire is insecure in clear-text, but should be safe for non-wireless users. It has some logging features that can help in discerning if the network is being attacked (usually quite often not surprisingly), and for advanced features it supports filters (good for filtering out ports used by potential worms/viruses for doing damage on the Internet), port forwarding with a limit of 10 forwards (good for most basic of needs), static/dynamic routing features, MAC address cloning, and DMZ.

On a last note, I really like the industrial design of the case, esepcially for stacking other Linksys products like switches on top of it.

Overall this box is great for home users with basic needs, and for this would give it 4 stars. It would lose a star because the wireless doesn't offer enough in a way of security, so a big negative there. Though, for advanced users, there are a lot of unecessary limitations, bugs, and crashes (DHCP, only 10 port forwarding entries, security, etc.), this would be a 2 stars. Thus, this averages in the middle.

21 hard to use
I could not set up a secure wireless network with this router. It is hard to use.

22 disposable router
I bought this model for my home network. It completely died and I can't get any decent service from Linksys.com. When I call them on the phone, all you get is some unintelligible operator with a heavy foreign accent who was obviously given that job to keep decent folk with legitimate complaints at bay. Unless you are into disposable routers, stay away from all things Linksys! Otherwise, I have a used one that I would like to sell.

23 Linksys router and card are not up to its reputation
I bought this router and a Linksys wireless card 1-1/2 years ago. The router crapped out at the end of its 1-year warranty and they sent me a replacement. It lasted 6 months and crapped out, but since my total warranty period was 1-year, I have to buy a new router. The wireless card lasted until a month ago and I replaced it with a Belkin card with a "lifetime" warranty. Linksys Tech support was exported to India and they try but the language problem is there. I will not buy Linksys products again.

24 Why you should buy Wireless-B instead of Wireless-G
This is a great product and a greal value. I heartily recommend it in lieu of the various Wireless-G offerings for anyone not trying to play high-end games between wirelessly-networked computers in their home. Why? Simple: cable modems typically have a maximum speed of 3 Mb/sec. DSL is similar, but usually lower (1.5Mb/sec). A Wireless-B router is 11 Mb/sec and is therefore capable of sustained transfer speeds much greater than your connection to the internet anyway. Wireless-G is even faster at 54Mb/sec. However, ANYTHING OVER THE SPEED OF YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION IS WASTED. Again, the exception is when you have multiple computers in your house which need to attach to EACH OTHER at high speeds. The extra money you spend on Wireless-G is wasted. Oh, and a Wireless-G laptop WILL work with a Wireless-B router. Do yourself a favor: save some money and get this product!

Oh, I'm a computer systems specialist at a major university in NC, so I do have some idea what I'm saying!

25 Install SP2 - helps alot!
Initially I didn't like that this router much, even though it was easy to set-up. With basic operation it worked fairly well, as long as I didn't add WEP encryption. However, when WEP was enabled this router continually dropped out and needed to be reconnected, continually. This made even web surfing frustrating and downloading almost impossible.

However, once I installed the XP Service Pack 2 - this router works like a dream. WEP is enabled and the router never drops out anywhere in my house. Reception is 2-3 bars at it's worse.

I'm very happy and impressed now - it just took 3 months to get there! At times I thought this thing was a piece of junk, it's definately not!

26 Router is good. Linksys support is awful.
When I bought this router, I used Linksys' support # to configure it. I am on a Mac & was able to call Linksys' support, get through easily, talk to someone in the US who was familiar w/ OSX and connect via my DSL modem without a hitch. I recently upgraded to the WRT54 & tried calling because I couldn't access my router's settings via IE. To my dismay, the person on the other end was not a native English speaker & I had a very difficult time understanding him (I had to ask him to repeat every instruction at least twice). I was uncomfortable sending out my details (phone#, service provider & IP address) to him because of this. As it turns out, he was in India. He also said he knew nothing about OSX & that I should call Apple to find out how to configure my Linksys router. Well that's helpful. While the new router is considerably cheaper than Apple's base station, I am considering sending it back & paying the difference for Apple's base station because I am so annoyed that Linksys has outsourced its technical support to India, even though my BEFW11S4 has worked fine (as long as i don't have to change settings).

27 READ THIS IF YOUR Ver.4 ROUTER STOPPED WORKING!
After I upgraded the firmware and loaded Windows XP Service Pack 2 this trusty router which had served me well for over a year (maybe almost 2 years?...can't remember) suddenly started dropping its connection to the internet. SOUND FAMILIAR? After tearing my hair out, talking to Linksys tech support 5 times and scanning the internet for solutions I finally thought why not try an earlier firmware revision (as except every few days or so, it would lose connection and then I'd have to unplug and replug in the power supply but lately it was happening after 15 minutes). So that's what I did. I just happened to have firmware revision 1.5.10 still saved on my computer. So I reinstalled that and voila! I've been up now for over 2 hours. We'll see if it works. Anyway, seems to be a problem with the firmware revision as far as I can tell.

28 For the Price, you can't beat this router
The set-up is simple, the controls are intuitive. You can buy routers with greater features, speed, etc, but for the price conscious person who needs a simple home network this is a great choice.

29 For the Price, you can't beat this router
The set-up is simple, the controls are intuitive. You can buy routers with greater features, speed, etc, but for the price conscious person who needs a simple home network this is a great choice.

30 An unfortunate product
Clearly, there is something flaky with the hardware in this thing if so many of us have to reset it all the time. I upgraded the firmware to the latest and it made no difference. If you buy one, it seems to be a crapshoot whether it will work or not.

31 Works like a charm
Got this router along with my laptop. My laptop came with an internal wireless card so all i had to do was to install the router. It took me some time to install it but once it was done it works like a charm. I use it for wireless access on my laptop and 4 other room mates connect to it with lan cables. We keep it on 24-7 and not once have we gotten dropped or needed to reboot or restart our machines. I have never used any other wireless router before so can't really compare but I would definately suggest getting this one.

Just a peice of advice - Linksys helplines are HORRIBLE... they kept me on hold for over an hour and they kept tellin me to refer to their knowledge database or somethin online on their website.. so forget calling them and try to install it yourself..its not that hard

32 Works fine for me!
I dunno what other people's bad experience with this router, but it works just fine with me. I connected my dsl modem to this baby then run the setup CD, and it was all done! Connection is rock solid with no drop whatsoever. Been using this router with three of my apartment mates and a friend who ocassionally come to share our internet connection wirelessly with his laptop.

33 Great product, easy install!
Great deal for a good router. First I just plugged it all in and everything just worked from the start, no problem. Then I went into the web setup and everything is pretty simple. It just works on its own - all you gotta do is change the setup password.

Wireless works great, too, although I mostly use it through wires. I networked two computers without many problems and I'm very satisfied.

Just a word of advice - set up MAC filtering and don't broadcast the SSID for wireless if you don't want your neighbors stealing your connection. Many people tend to overlook the setup utility once they plug it in and everything works, and then they wonder why their connection is acting up.

34 It does what I need it to do - and well.
I have cable modem Internet access through Insight Digital. I chose this means to connect because I needed a fast connection and I wanted the ability to network two PCs from this single connection. Originally, based on the advice of someone at Best Buy, I bought a Netgear switch. The switch was able to get both PCs running but every so often it would "lose" one machine and then I had to reboot - a total pain to say the least.

Finally I ordered this router from Amazon. Unfortunately, I followed all of the directions right out of the box and couldn't get it to work properly. I called Linksys support and the tech guy couldn't get it to work either so he said ship it back to Amazon. Here is where the difficulties began. I was moving that week and the box containing the dead router got buried and I didn't find it until weeks later. Amazon won't take back electronics after 30 days so I was in the hands of the Linksys warranty department. To their credit, they cross shipped my replacement router to me as the dead one was shipping back to them. The new unit installed perfectly and my wireless home network is up and running smoothly.

I really like the features of this router. The wireless range is great - my two networked PC's are on two different floors of my house and the signal strength is excellent. The router came with some serious security and management software and a highly configurable firewall. Overall, now that I have a unit that works, I am highly pleased with this purchase for its price and its ability to do what I want it to do!

35 Warning- Stay Away from LinkSys
I have experienced little more than frustration since I purchased my Linksys router. It constantly goes down and has to be reset. I have talked to others who have had the same problem, so I don't think that mine is just a lemon. It is very annoying to have to reset your router 2 or 3 times per session at the computer... I have lost more time to this router than I care to think about!

36 If the router doesn't work, you are out of luck
I bought a Linksys router in October 2003, and still have not gotten it to work wirelessly. The box did not include the installation CD, and I was told by Linksys that I could BUY one if I wanted. I have emailed, faxed, wrote, and of course called, with no help. I have asked for an RMA, and was told "I think that has something to do with returning the product". Linksys tech support is terrible. Buy at your own risk.

37 Crashes often and DON'T UPGRADE FIRMWARE
I have always been a very happy Linksys customer ... until I bought this unit. It seems that Linksys quality control is going downhill now that they are part of a big and established company.

My router crashed at least once a day (which killed my VPN to my office), and required a power cycle to get working again. Not only would the internet connection die, but I could no longer access the router using 192.168.1.1. This was with the latest firmware at the time (1.50.10). I think that the router especially has problems with PPPoE connections.

A week ago, I noticed that the new firmware was available, and I was hopeful that it would fix the crashing problem. I upgraded the firmware to 1.50.14, and after about 45seconds or so, the Linksys software said that the upgrade completed successfully. At this point, my router locked up and quit responding. After all the warnings about not power-cycling the router or computer during the upgrade, I was paranoid about doing so. I waited for 10 minutes to be absolutely sure that the upload had finished. At this point, I power cycled the router, and all that happens is the power light flickers on and off, and the router is now an expensive paperweight.

I will never buy a Linksys product again!!! I have heard that the version 4 of this router (the current version) doesn't work very well, but I was shocked when the firmware upload made the unit completely useless!!!

38 An abysmal product
I have had this Linksys router for about a year, and it has been a living nightmare! It constantly drops the signal and has to be reset, and it stopped working altogether one day. After two hours on the phone with Linksys tech support, I was able to get the Ethernet ports working again - but not the wireless. I've commiserated with many others who've had nothing but trouble with their Linksys wireless products.

Now I have a new D-Link wireless router, and it works great. It took me less than a half hour to set up and get running with all three of my laptops (including using WEP security), and the signal from the D-Link router is much stronger throughout my house than the Linksys ever was. I couldn't be happier now that I've ditched the Linksys!

39 Range better than Netgear, by 25%
Had some trouble getting online until I realized someone else in our apt. building was sitting on the same channel. Quick channel switch and everything went smoothly. Works fine with Macs and PCs.

The range is much better than the (slightly) cheaper Netgear solution. Solid product.

Only rant? Always could use a bit more range! ;)

40 Frequent disconnects. Bad quality control.
Do not buy this router. The quality is a hit or miss. And there have been quite a few misses now that cannot be ignored anymore. I just wished I read about this first.

The router may suddenly fail to work and requires a reboot by unplugging it. This isn't ideal when you have it stuck in a location that is hard to reach. Running the latest .14 release of the firmware (6/2004) and still has the problem. For some it may occur once a month and for some every 30 mins. Please do not even consider this.

If you are skeptical about these comments check out the forums in dslreports.com and search for 'post your BEFW11S4 issues'

41 Easy Setup Worked Great --for 3 months...
I'm a big fan of Linksys, I have used many of their routers for my customers, so when it was time for me to switch to wireless I naturally bought the BEFW11S4. Installation was simple and setting up security is a snap. The unit performed admirably for 3 months and then I started having problems. The unit would need to be reset occasionally. I could live with that, but now it happens once or twice daily. Very annoying. Also the DHCP server has stopped functioning altogether. I'm able to get along by setting up static ips for my pcs and resetting the unit constantly. I have version 4 of the device. I'll stick with Linksys for their wired routers, but time to try someone else for wireless.

42 Installation isn't bad, but wireless signal over 50ft is
Ok, I've gotten to be quite familiar with the wireless LinkSys products and their misleading descriptions. I have written reviews already for the Linksys WPC11 Wireless-B Notebook Adapter and the Linksys WUSB11 Wireless-B USB Network Adapter and could have saved some time by just going to the source of the problem: The Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router.

Installation of the router is the easiest part, I don't know what the big fuss is. If this is the first time you've ever tried to add any "after-market computer parts" to your PC, then it may be a new experience, but not difficult. It's as simple as plugging everything in and downloading the Set-up on the included CD. It's not that hard people, c'mon, just read the directions it comes with.

Now that I've tried to destroy that myth, here's a true problem with this product: Poor Wireless Range of Adaptors from the Router. I've used this product for about 5 months or so and was a bit disappointed with the signal strength of my computer connected to the adapter after the first hour of using it each time. When you first plug in the adapter to the network, its signal strength is described as "excellent". Not too long after, it drops to "good" to "poor" in a matter of 20 minutes. After that such time, the signal would constantly cease to work, but then to kick back up to the "poor" signal strength every few minutes.

I would have to make the prediction that my router and adapter are no further than 100 ft apart and one floor difference in my house. The product details on this site describe it to having 300ft range indoors. I would expect that the signal strength would not fade to minimal or none after viewing that description, but after short usage or minimal intereference (i.e. a person walking by the adapter[s]) the signal should not (but does) lose most if not all its signal strength.

However, a month ago I decided to try using the LinkSys Wireless-B Signal Booster (WSB24) in the attempt to boost my signal to the my PC adapter and laptop adaptor. It was an extremely easy "piggy-back" set up to my Wireless Router, and wouldn't you know it, the adapter has been working like a charm ever since. The average signal strength is now mostly "very good", every now and then rising to "excellent" or falling to "good".

I give this product 3 stars because the adapters work great 50 ft or less from the router to the adapter(s), but it's irritating and aggravating that I have to spend more money and more time to improve this product's performance ($50 for a booster!) to improve it's range to 100ft. Unfortunately, I don't think Amazon sells this product anymore. I got mine at Circuit City.

43 I'm on my 3rd one in 18 months! BLAH!
I bought this in Nov 02. Never have I been able to set it up myself. I can generally follow directions, so I think if I need this much help, it's the product. Any time I lose power or the DSL goes out, this wireless router quits working and I have to call Linksys tech support. It's ridiculous. They've already sent me two new ones and they all do the same thing. This is a terribly unrobust product. I am in the process of getting a refund from Linksys and I recommend that you try it, too. DON'T BUY THIS PRODUCT! There are a lot of negative reviews here. Give another company a chance.

44 Drops connections after an hour or so
I have a version 3 that has worked fine for many months, and wanted to get another one for traveling. I bought a version 4, thinking "newer is better" but found that after being connected for about an hour, the thing would lock up. To get it to work for another hour, I had to unplug it and plug it in again. Then it would work for another hour or so. I took it back, and got another one, but had exactly the same problem. I took that one back also, and lo and behold, there was one of the earlier models on the shelf (actually version 3.2), so I bought that one. It has worked flawlessly for the last year or so.

I would recommend staying away from version 4, unless they have resolved this problem 100%.

45 Easy, Easy, Easy
Right out of the box, set it up, and both the wired and wireless worked with no problems. Its been great to have the wireless capability for my laptop. I highly reccommend this product. Works great with Centrino.

46 here's a thought
Why pay when you can get it free from Verizon DSL?

47 Happy with results
I had purchased this router after review many others. While it is not as fast as others (using B rather than G), It has performed flawlessly over the past couple of days. I have it attached to my desktop through the ethernet port and conect my laptop through the wireless. I did not use the included CD Rom to install, the web interface was complete with all the information you need to set-up. One think to remember (those of you that happen to use Qwest DSL) is to change the DHCP for your network as the Linsys defaults to the same IP address as Qwest DSL (Arescom 800). I have yet to "play" with all the features that are on the router, but was happy enough to get connected within a half-hour.

48 Our Workhorse Router! Home and Work!
We got both the B and the B+G protocol versions of this router. The B outperformed the G which was newer but not nearly as stable, so we installed one at home and one at the office. We have not had one single problem. The thing has worked perfectly from day 1. I love the four ports hub that's included so we put it near a printer, T1 router, and one computer that are all wired in and all the wireless clients could not be happier - so easy to get on the network. Security is great too, not only is the WEP, but we also use the MAC table to restrict access to only those hardware addresses we know will be using our wireless router in advance. There's just no access to this wireless device unless we know about it first! We turned the SSID broadcast off too so we don't show up on anybody wardriving around the area either. There is so much flexibility in configuring this little guy - we got to make a perfect set up for our needs that gives us great performance and peace of mind security! Can you tell I used to work in marketing? Anyway, it's such a good little device, I had to write a review.

49 Version 4 is terrible
The version 4 of this router is nightmarish.
The router works for a couple of hours and then needs to be reset.
Very often it loses its routing tables.

I have an older version 2 also and it works fine.
It would be best to keep away from the latest version.

50 Should have went with my first impression
The best thing I can say about Linksys is their personal support team. They were very helpful when it came to replacing my router which was defective fresh out of the box.... except for the part where I had to pay for the shipping. A year later I wanted to do some advanced stuff like port forwarding and and connecting to my computer remotely. Boy was it a pain to get port forwarding working! In fact I never got it to work so I thought I might need a firmware upgrade. Well this is a huge problem with Linksys! Somehow I got linked to the BEFW11S4 v2/3 firmware upgrade page and did not notice. In my own erroneous fashion I went ahead and installed the wrong firmware, and what is worse is the software has no versioning checking! So I erroneously fried my router. This wrong version even made it such that you cannot set back to factory settings! So I am putting that all behind me and buying a netgear. Be careful when dealing with linksys, I hope you don't get burnt doing firmware upgrades.

51 Really like this!!!
Well I purchased this Router for my son's new laptop. It was very simple to install. I had ABSOLUTELY no problems doing so. The signal is exceptional too! My son can take his laptop to the next door neighbors house and still have a decent enough signal to go online. I think this is a great product and I have no regrets!!!!!

52 Works fine with Apple computers
This router is serving a cable connection at my uncle's house and has been for at least 1 year. The one Apple computer in his house (Powerbook G4 400) is the only computer that works consistently with it. The XP box his son has is constantly bringing down the whole system because the thing is a security seive.

Anyway, sometimes this router spontaneously reverts to a slower connection speed, but this can be easily fixed from the Mac using the admin web page.

THIS ROUTER WORKS FINE WITH APPLE COMPUTERS. People who say otherwise don't know what they are talking about.

53 Don't Buy Version 4
Linksys wants you to think all of the glowing BEFW11S4 reviews are talking about the same hardware. Unfortunately the quality in the current iteration of this router (Version 4) makes me worried about Linksys's future. Several years ago I bought version 2 of this router and was very happy with it. I also had a friend with version 1 that had worked well for him. So when I needed another one for myself I figured Linksys would be a good bet. I could not have been more wrong. Version 4 (If there is only one row of lights on the front it's after version 2) is the worst network hardware I have ever used. Out of the box it is obvious that this is not the same hardware as the previous versions and it becomes much more apparent when you actually try to use the thing. I never saw the router work for more than 30 minutes without hanging and forcing me to physically un-plug and plug in the router to get it to respond. From reading about other people's experiences it seems that this is a hardware defect or a firmware defect that has not been fixed in multiple releases over the last year. In fact new firmwares have actually introduced new problems so this router is just not worth the trouble. If you know you are getting a version 3 or earlier go for it, otherwise don't waste your time or your money.

54 It answered my problem
I bought this for my laptop and my playstation 2. So I could game online with the plastation (using a ethernet wire) and access the internet from my laptop wirelessly. Setting it up was "fairly" easy: I just followed the instructions and a couple of minutes later (I had to turn off the firewall so the program could work) the thing worked! I now play online with my PS2 and go to my laptop for any game hints I might need ^_^ So far I've had the thing for a couple of weeks and i haven't noticed any real problems except for a small visible lag when I download something on my laptop. It solved my problem, hopefully it'll solve yours too

55 A reliable, feature-packed, bargain router.
As a networking expert, I'm very pleased with this product. It's faster than my broadband connection, easy to use, feature rich, and I don't lose my signal anywhere in my apartment... for $40. I made two weekend technical support calls. I was connected within 5 minutes and they were reasonably knowledgeable.

Most home users should buy "Wireless-B". Wireless-B is 11Mbps, Wireless-G is 54Mbps. Both are much faster than your 1Mbps broadband connection. For Internet use, there's no difference. Wireless-B is half the price.

Make sure to enable the security features. WEP encryption is the most important - it prevents neighbors from borrowing your connection or watching what you browse on the web. Disabling SSID broadcasts and setting a unique SSID are also good steps.

56 Time for a dismissal
Alright, this is in response to the morons who say this router is incompatible with Apple computers. I've used this router with an Apple Airport card on a 2001 iBook for (obviously) the last three years and I've never had a problem. It's as plug-n-play as anything can get and has worked without a hitch for years. The only thing that I can think of is that some of you morons think that this is a hub and will facilitate an AppleTalk Network. Goodluck with that but it won't get you anywhere because YOU ARE USING THE WRONG HARDWARE! THIS IS A ROUTER--which doles connectivity to several computers--AND NOT A HUB--which allows computers to "speak" to each other. If you're looking to simply get your Apple, Windows PC or Linux box online (which worked for me on Red Hat Personal 9.0, Slackware 9.0 AND Mandrake Community 10.0), then you've found your hardware. If you're looking to network, get a network running, get a hub/router combo. For the Mac lover, have fun with your overpriced Airport Station... sucker.

57 NOT COMPATIBLE WITH MAC
Linksys tech support has 2 differing views - depending on which incomprehensible far-eastern (india, etc) personnel you happen to talk to. position 1) Linksys doesn't support mac, position 2) Linksys does support mac but we can't get this router to work for you.

I am fed up with companies that pretend to support platforms but can't get their gear to work even after 2 days (linksys) and 3 day (netgear) of all-day long tech support.

I am sure these babies are just "plug and play" for the PC users out there, bu they are a nightmare for us mac users. I will not buy another linksys product - mainly because they outsource their tech support to illiterate morons. There are plenty of illiterate morons here in the US that can at least speak english when we need tech support.

Someone please make a mac compatible wireless solution!!!!

58 Ok, but bad price/performance ratio
It works (with a bit of effort). The main problem I ran into was that the text boxes in the config webpage are a few pixles too small, making the trailing 'B' in my encryption key look like an 'E', and the DHCP didn't work until I had it plugged in for a few days (although DHCP rarely works without a hitch when you have a computer that thinks it should be the DHCP server). Frankly, there are better routers (from D-link for example) that do the job better for the money.
On the bright side, it does have a decent range, and once you actualy get it working, it works pretty well with all other hardware.

59 Awesome Product/Easy Install
Great Product. I got it through Verizon DSL (for free) and it's been awesome. Set up was a breeze, connection is fast and no problems with reception. I get full signal through walls (though only about 30 feet from router) and it's just been troublefree.

I would get this product again (though I'd prefer to get a 802.11.g).

60 Linksys SUCKS
I'm very much pissed off with this crap product LinkSys wireless-B router.
Gives me hell every week. Gets disconnected and it's very slow.
You sould call overseas for customer service and they answer you in an hour.
They can't speak English well and it gives you more stress.
I'm gonna through away this bull**** and buy another product.

61 The Best Wireless Home Router
This is simply the best cable or DSL router for any home user. It is very simple and easy to setup and install and works consistently well, I've been running mine for 2 years with virtually no downtime. I have setup about a dozen of these devices for other people and never ahd a problem using them with either a very basic setup or more complicated network configurations. The router can work in nearly any situation with its 4 ethernet ports to support wired computers in the same room as well as wireless capabilities to support computers all throughout the house. The router works well as a backbone to support your entire network, regardless of how many computers you have. The average user will be impressed with its ease of setup while an advanced user will appreciate all the custom settings that can be tweaked to work with any configuration. In the end, you will never find a better router than this Linksys and it is simply the better than any other brand of router on the market today.

62 MAJOR DISCOVERY THAT FIXES AD-HOC DISCONNECTIONS
Wow... this is an easy fix that most people would love to know. I have been a wireless user almost from day one and at all times LINKSYS has been my best choice.
I have been reading articles and problems all along and up until last month, I never had any problems. But funny enough, like the most user I started to have the same disconnection problem all of a sudden for no reason at all. I had this machine for almost a year now.
I have tried everything that was "said and heard", asked linksys support 4-5 times on the same day for over a week but no luck.

It would just drop connection and would pick it up after 3-4 hours or sometimes longer or shorter. Power on and off, all types of current or previous firmware upgrades would not fix the thing. But NOW it is working just fine for over 3 weeks no problems. I have around my house 7 different wireless devices working (all neighbors) most of the time. I thought it was one of them that was causing the problem but not so.

FIX :
1. make sure you backup your configuration to your PC (must learn that)
2. while power is ON press and hold reset switch at the back for almost 90 seconds
3. while pressing and holding disconnect the power with your third hand (!) and keep holding for another 30 sec
4. while pressing and holding reconnect the power back again and keep reset switch pressed at all times
5. wait another 60 or 90 seconds while power is on and reset button pressed
6. no you can let go the reset switch
7. connect to your BEFW11S4 using 192.168.1.1 and your password is again back to the original "admin"
8. once you are connected, restore from your backup (step 1)
9. never experience disconnection problems again (I hope)

Note: This is technical food:_ After programming the EPROM that is on the mainboard, linksys manufacturers must do a hard reset on the device. That will clear the stack buffer and some registers. But it looks like they don't do that and even you switch off the thing, stacks don't get initialized and cause stack overflow (DHCP is most likely). Machine will still pump packets out but packets are all messed up you can not connect. Well, if you don't have the problem, you or someone must have pressed reset more than 60 secs at some stage. It doesn't matter what firmware you use, HARD RESET is a must after programming the EPROM.

63 Good product, bad tech support
I am a network admin and have worked with routers before. It took a long time to set it up but once I did it worked very well. The range is great. I live in an all concrete house and my laptop upstairs has no problem getting the router downstairs and the signal is strong.

I am having a connection problem of being able to browse from the desktop to the laptop. I explained in my question to tech support that firewall settings are fine, etc.

The answer I got was, "You must disable your firewall to get it to work". I am not that ignorant. Never disable your firewall.

If you know a lot about routers and such it is a good piece of equipment. If you don't, my experience with tech support at Linksys makes me believe the unexperienced should stay away from this router.

64 Excellent -- if you can live with Wireless B
This is an excellent product which does everthing it claims to do. It serves as an ethernet router, internet/network hub, and wireless base station. In addition, Linksys free techinical support is the best I've ever received from a technology company. They quickly resolved the few difficulties I had setting it up.

However, anyone with a broadband connection will be disappointed with wireless "B". It's simply too slow. (Note: Wireless "B" is the most prevalent standard for public 'hotspots', so if you're satisfied with that, this would work fine for your home.) I've now upgraded to the Linksys Wireless "G" model and am much happier with my speed.

65 Frustrating
I've had problems with the BEFW11S4 from the day I unpacked it from the box.

Initially, the problems were intermittent wireless drops (as you most undoubtedly have read on various Linksys forums). Hours of frustrating calls to customer service, 2 replacements, and several firmware upgrades later, I gave up and decided to use only the wired switch. Admittedly, this portion has always worked well and continues to work well.

Just last month, I decided to buy a brand new NIC and attempt a wireless resurrection. I reset the router, upgraded the firmware, performed a clean upgrade of all operating systems, and did a little resurrection dance around the unit. Miraculously, it worked. I was able to configure the router with no problems and my laptop connected beautifully. I even enabled encryption with absolutely no problems. Signal strength was great and there were no intermittent drops. 15 minutes to set up and 4 hours of perfect operating bliss (until ordered to bed by the wife). The very next day, wireless was once again gone... completely this time. I did not touch the config on the router or the laptop. I merely opened my laptop up and, wah lah, nothing. I had my company's IT manager, several computer geek friends, and a networking instructor try the config... only to become more frustrated than myself.

I refuse to deal with Linksys customer service again so I guess I've just inherited an expensive blue door stop. Needless to day, I would highly discourage anyone from buying this particular model, regardless of your computer/networking knowledge.

66 Died 1 Month After Warranty
Exactly 22 days after 1 year warranty it died. Of course Linksys made no exception. Technical support is hit or miss, but mostly miss. Good experience with their adapters, however,...so far.

67 Bad experience
I purchased this because it seemed well-reviewed in networking a PC to an iBook. We had problems with it -- we had reset it all the time and Linksys didn't provide any help there. Since it was mostly a minor annoyance, we put up with it. Then after about 5 months, the router just died. It appeared to be working (all the lights were on and a connection the modem was being made) but was not sending out a signal. I upgraded the firmware, tried different cables, moving it to another location, everything, and nothing worked. I called Linksys and was told there was going to be a 45 minute (or longer) wait to talk to someone and to email instead. I did so, and after 3 days of not receiving a response, I went and purchased a D-Link router instead, which we have had no problems with.

I understand that this is just my experience, but I am disappointed in the lack of support which Linksys provided and the lifespan of this router. I'm sure plenty of people have had no problems with them, but I wish I had done a bit more research before I purchased mine.

68 Flawless
I use this setup with a wireless card and 2 usb units. I have been using this system for 2 years and the only problems I have had have been traced to my cable modem. Yes the signal strength does vary but it doesn't affect your internet browsing...
and who wants to run wires through your house or office anyway

69 Good at first, but shows weakness over long haul...
When I got the router it was easy to setup and use. I bought a wireless card for my roomate and I connected directly to the unit with a cable. Everything was fine for the first week or so, or perhaps we just didn't notice. After that, the signal strength fluctuated wildly. Her indicator would go from 100% to 0% and back again everyday, all day. She was only 9 feet from the wireless antenna, with "almost" direct line of sight.

We finally had enough and after two months we bought her a long wire to connect driectly to the unit. Service was again splotchy. We know it isn't the Cable company because sometimes she has the internet and mine is down, and sometimes vice versa. The router frequently drops connections, and if you use AIM or any instant messenger this becomes rapidly annoying to you (having to see the reconnect box 3 times an hour) and to all your friends (having to watch ur name sign on/off at the same rate).

I upgraded the firmware, but that did not help. In doing so I came across many, many reviews that stated the same problem. Buying this is taking a gamble it seems - some people never have a problem with it, others (like myself) are nearly driven mad by the constant dropout of webpages. Customer Support is useless.

All in all, it's a sham. It works out of the box, but won't serve you well over time. I highly recommend looking elsewhere for your router. (I haven't tried NetGear, so I won't recommend them instead, but they are another option). I hope this review has helped you.

70 Drops all connections every 30 minutes
Purchased this device Dec 2003. This device was easy to set up however consistently after 30 minutes it will drop all connections. It requires that you power the device down, then power it back up every 30 minutes for it to work. During that 30 minutes it works just great never drops connections, great connectivity.

I have gone through multiple iterations with Linksys support. They were all focusing on reducing the speed at which the connection worked on. To no avail.

Tech support is useless. They are aware that this is a problem in a huge portion of the items that they ship, but have no solution to it.

I have a standard Linksys cable router as well and it has worked flawlessly for 3 years. I am very dissapointed in this product.

When I search on the web for other people with this problem it looks like there are thousands in the same boat.

71 Steadily went dead ... awful experience.
Re: Linksys BEFW11S4, // POOR customer service:

This product worked fine for about 11 months.
After that it would drop the connections (cat5 & WAN)
with increasing consistancy. We had to perform the "reset trick"
(hold reset button for 60 sec. [30 sec doesn't work] and
disconnect the power cord) more and more often.
Now the unit won't connect at all. Updating to the newer
firmware is of no use as the router won't connect.

This seems to be the norm. Look to "DSL Reports.com"

and you'll see that humdreds of others have had very similar problems.

From the posts over there, sometimes updating firmware works but
often doesn't.
When it gets to the point of this one your only recourse
is to replace it. And if it's over one year old forget
any sympathy from Linksys.

Did I mention the EXTREMELY poor customer service at Linksys?
Not even worth the trouble. The person on the phone
always had a VERY hard time speaking/understanding English
and they would keep repeating the same old stuff and ignore what
you say as if they are just reading from a book.
This all too common an experience it seems. :(

Only reason we gave it two stars is because it did work
fine for a while. How do they perfectly design these to
go bad just after the warranty has expired.
Absolutely uncanny!! :(

72 Good little router for the price
I've had this router for nearly a year now and it's given me no problems from the start. It was pretty easy to set up and the signals are pretty good from the computer downstairs. It isn't as fast as 802.11g but it gets the job done if your just looking for simple router for internet access and simple networking. The 4 Ethernet ports on the back are also a plus for those looking to create a wireless/wired hybrid network. I highly recommend this as it'll do the job for most people.

73 OK for surfing, but wireless signal is perpetually weak
I purchased this over a year ago and have had the same problems from day-one. Setup takes some time and I spent several hours with Linksys tech support to get it working properly. Even after fine-tuning it, the wireless signal was faint at best. Today, I am having the same problems in a new and much smaller apartment. I would avoid this router.

74 Terrible.
I have struggled with this router for several months, and the same issues that I had from the beginning are still present today, even with upgraded firmware. I find this fine for general web-surfing, but it is basically impossible to use any messaging service or to make any sizable downloads. In other words, using this piece of equipment has crippled my internet capabilities. Avoid buying this product, and save yourself the headache.

75 Decent product for a decent Price
at the time i ordered this Linksys Router, Wireless-G was a bit out of the price range for a scavenging college student. i figured that my file server and normal-use PC were rigth next to each other and thats what i mainly use so i could hardwire them. My laptop with a D-Link card is used at home for only special occasions so the bandwidth difference wouldnt be noticed. I would consider myself a computer geek, and everything setup fine. port forwarding setup was painless, and i now run a FTP server as well as forwarding for VNC, gnutella, and i used to have my own mail-server running. Its been almost a year now and this unit has been working fine with no problems. i did have a problem with my internet service provider (SBC DSL), but the service issue was corrected by them free of charge. recent firmware have changed the web-based setup screen and added a few good options. the unit is fast, takes up very little space, was relatively cheap and my laptop works anywhere at top speed in my modest apartment (with WEP and some other stuff running of course). a good product from Linksys. BTW, I have the BEFW11S4 v4.

76 Does the job
I bought this router a few weeks ago when I purchased my new G4 iBook, on the recommendation of a co-worker. I was originally planning to buy an Airport station, but its additional features (such as a built-in modem) are really of no use to me. So I decided to save the $100+ and go with the Linksys. I also went for b over g since the speed of my connection is limited by my DSL line, and I'm not going to be doing a lot of filesharing among my computers, so there didn't seem to be much sense to spend the extra money.

I've had the router set up for a couple of weeks now and everything is working like a dream. I have an iMac and a PC connected to it with ethernet cables, and then I have my iBook with an Airport Extreme card. Setup was fairly easy -- it's done through your internet browser (I did not install any of the included software). My iBook immediately recognized the network when I fired it up, and reception appears to be fine throughout my 2-story house.

A word of caution: the router runs on a 2.4Ghz frequency, so there is interference with cordless phones that run on the same frequency. I've given the product four stars because a day or two ago none of the computers were recognizing the internet connection, but plugging and unplugging the ethernet cable out of the back of the router seemed to fix that problem, oddly enough. It's not a huge inconveniece, but I hope it doesn't happen often.

I'm also thinking about purchasing a wireless USB adapter (the Linksys WUSB12) for my TiVo to add to the fun -- no more slow phone downloading of program info!

77 THIS BASE WOKS WITH APPLE PANTHER: HERE IS THE PROCEDURE!
When I started using this linksys product (I got it for free, from earthlink rebate) it worked fine with the macs, however to get it to work properly (because there is a glitch in the mac system beleive it or not) you must do the following procedure:
When using it with WAP Encryption:

First, you must set up the WAP passcode, and in doing this you must have one computer hooked up wired to set everything up. After doing so, type in "http://192.168.1.1/" in a new browser and set everything up, including your WAP settings.
Then get to System Preferences, and click on network, and then on the airport tab.
Select to join a specific network, and select linksys and the wap code (put the letters in lowercase).
After doing this click apply AND THEN switch back for it to connect to a network automatically. DO NOT CLICK APPLY.
DO THIS EXACTLY: Close the window and when it asks you to apply the settings then apply it and you'll have a connection.

yes there is a glitch with the system, but this work-around has been proven successful to me everytime.
Also the linksys base has a problem time to time, about once every two weeks or more, it just stops working (although the lights are still going on the base) and there is no signal. To get your signal back, redo the following procedure exactly and it will come back.
I don't recommend the base, because of tis tendency to get off once every two weeks, however it is a cheap wireless solution. To have a flawless connection though, you should stick with apple airport normal or extreme. You're gauranteed a connection and apple makes their products with care.
I hope this is successful to everyone who uses this base with their panther mac!

78 Frustrated and Disappointed
I preface this review by noting that both my wife and I are fairly fluent with PCs and troubleshooting - so we are experienced. We decided to share our DSL line, and the IT guys at work suggested that Linsys had a good reputation, so we ordered their wireless router and a USB wireless adapter.

First, the router. It never installed correctly and did not find the internet signal. Both of us spent 3 hours trying to get it to work with no luck - AND we updated the firmware. The Linksys tech help line was unavailable, and then had a 45-minute wait. The technical help on their website had dead links, and their FAQs did not help. I finally decided the router hardware was defective and returned the unit. We then bought the Microsoft wireless rrouter and it installed without a hitch.

Now the Linksys wireless adapter... It also would not install on my wife's PC and when she tried to uninstall the software, it did not clean out the registry and caused the system to crash. After 4 more hours she managed to get it booting again, but still with a contaminated registry that was looking for files that had been cleared. I hate software that does not really uninstall itself and clean up its registry entries.

Needless to say, neither of us can recommend this product, despite a good reputation for Linksys in the past. Apparently, they are having lots of problems. A friend who works at a big retailer return warehouse indicated that a large percentage of their return problems were from Linksys.

79 Think twice if you intend to use it with Apple products
I have used this product for almost a year and I have spent way too many hours trying to make the firmware work with my Apple systems. The latest upgrade (2-04) won't even allow you to save essential settings using a browser on Mac OS system 10.3.x. If you don't mind trying to find a pc or a software fix to simply change essential settings, then it might keep working long enough to make it worth an investment under $50. Otherwise, if you have Macs find a Mac-friendly solution.

80 Very Disappointed With This
I just placed this unit in my network setup, simply because I have a Linksys cable modem and I wanted the units to be stackable with each other. It replaced a Netgear MR814v1, which worked flawlessly for over a year.

After a frustrating weekend, I was not able to get my Linksys unit functioning at all for a consistent period. The wireless status kept flickering between available/not available. Checked the firmware version, it's up to date. Messed around with the all the settings, nothing worked. Ran a [ping -t] test for about 5 minutes to the gateway, 94% Loss!!!! And when it did get through the TTL was always over 150. On the Netgear MR814v2 TTL was a consistent 64.

I've had many other Linksys products and have never had any trouble with them, I'm hoping that this is just an anomaly.

But anyways, I went to store and purchased the Netgear MR814v2. After 10 hours of use, not one unavailable message popped up. Unfortunately, this is a Linksys product I cannot recommend.

81 Communication Roulette
I was one of the unlucky v4 owners. I had the router facing the wall to make it easier to pull the power and reset it, which I was doing constantly (3 hours of uptime was the best I could get). I always had to do a reset to start the day. It wouldn't even work as a wired, pass-through router. Finally, I searched the web and found out that I had LOTS of company. I replaced it with the equivalent Netgear router, which after a week has never required to be reset. I run Windows XP Pro and ZoneAlarm firewall, so don't believe those excuses, either. Amazon should really allow negative stars - 1 is WAY too generous.

82 great solution for a great price
i really enjoy this router, once i got it working. it took a little bit of tweeking. it took about an hour of playing with settings and the such to get this working with my equipment, but i expected that. however, now, for the price, this works wonders in my home.

83 Wireless? How about Signal-less!
I bought a BEFW11S4 in late Dec 2001, and a couple of weeks ago, the wireless functionality ceased to function. Another customer only got 17 months of use - I guess I was lucky with 24 months! However, a 2-year life span is unacceptable for a piece of networking gear. Except for this unfortunate situation, I would have rated the router 5 stars. In fact, I liked it so much (while it worked) that I plan to replace it with the "new" Linksys wireless-g router, which hopefully will last quite a bit longer.

84 Dead after 17 months
This unit died after 17 months of use. If not, I would give it a 5 stars.

I bought it (BEFW11S4 V2) in 08/2002 from Amazon. Every thing worked fine, easy installed. No problems at all before dead. Worked well with both Netgear and SMC wireless cards. The signals are better than the D-Link 614+ I just bought. But if you want to have a unit lasted longer than 2 years, Beware.

85 Works exactly as expected
I started with a computer (a laptop) connected to a cable modem and a printer connected to the computer. Lots of wires and no mobility.

I installed the router to the cable modem, installed the wireless adapter in the computer and connected the wireless print server to the printer.

I now have a completely wireless apartment. The technology worked exactly as I expected and the result is a great improvement in the way I use my technology. The total installation time couldn't have been an hour. No options, not much software: everything just worked and I got exactly what I wanted.

I highly recommend the whole setup. I wouldn't ever go back to the old wired way of doing things. Ever.

P.S. "B" speed is perfectly adequate; "G" is faster, but since it's also faster than the cable modem, there doesn't seem to be much point for a small home network. The printer works just fine at "B" speeds, as does the computer. Why pay more, particularly when the standard isn't yet fully approved?

86 Don't pick this one if you need constant connection.
OF COURSE IT WORKS! BUT, how well? Especially if you're using msn messenger alot, it kept signing me in and out too many times. Then after a long while search of the problem (I even changed ISPs to try and figure out), I found the cluprit, it's the router, I should've known better. This product is a rip off, even its Compact USB Adapter does the same crap, Airlink+ is MUCH MUCH BETER, so I went for Netgear and sell that crappy router somewhere else. Go for Netgear, cheaper, more reliable, and more stable. Linksys is way way over-rated. Sorry, but we're all just customers, they should conform, not entirely us.

87 Easy, Effective and Moderately Priced
I really like this router. The directions are easy to follow and I had no trouble setting up a wireless network among my three home PCs, two of which are laptops. The signal is strong enough to travel through thick plaster walls and down a long hallway, and the Linksys comes with a built-in firewall to protect my network from unauthorized access. Overall, a nifty device at a good price.

88 So far, so good...
I just purchased this Linksys BEFW11S4 wireless router after dealing with a failing D-Link wireless access point for three days.

Setup instuctions were clear and concise. I used the web-based setup interface, and had everything up and running in less than 15 minutes. My knowledge of wireless networks is limited, but I was able to tweak the more advanced settings after reading the user guide from Linksys' website. I definitely recommend enabling "Block Anonymous Internet Requests" on the Security page of the setup interface.

Also, users should test the security of their setup using Gibson Research Corp.'s excellent website at www.grc.com .

If you're looking for a wireless router from a major manufacturer that will work right out of the box, this one should be at the top of your list.

89 BEFW11S4 Range
I got two of those routers one in a California home and one in France (wooden and brick houses respectively, no concrete)
I use them exclusively indoor and in both cases the maximum range is about 30 feet!!! Beyond that there is no signal.
I then added a Linksys booster to the one in France, with no change whatsoever in range.
I emailed twice to customer service at Linksys without getting an answer nor an aknowledgement not to mention an explanation.
I do not know of the other brands of wireless routers but this one is poor range wise.

90 Smooth as Silk!!!!
This product almost installed itself! Out of the box, a couple of simple connections, power it up, and voila! Clear, concise instructions, great on-line support for firmware upgrades.... I'm impressed. Thanks also to Amazon for the rapid shipping.

91 What Happened?!?
I have had V.2 of this product for nearly a year, if not longer; setup was relatively easy and it had worked fabulously, in conjunction with the Linksys Notebook Card.

A few weeks ago, however, the connection to the notebook card died. I thought to myself that it was the notebook card and I needed a new system anyway so I purchased a desktop with an internal (MSoft) wireless adapter. I thought I was being smart; oh how wrong I was! Now the internal adapter senses the network, but the signal strength is so low that it cannot sign on for more than a few seconds, if at all.

After repeated calls to the terribly unhelpful "technical support" (who seemed convinced that the problem was everything BUT the router - very suspicious - and who sent me firmware that refuses to install) and a sore neck from long hold times (at least 45mins. at 12AM-3AM EST!) I am convinced that this router is a lost cause. Engineered obsolescense is understandable, but a year or less is ridiculous. I'm going to purchase a new, g-level model, but it won't be Linksys.

92 Good for a short sprint but not for the long run
I bought this Wireless router after doing quite a bit of research and getting good reviews from co-workers (even network guys) on it. I have owned it for almost 2.5 years now.

I will break this down step by step:

Installation:
Couldn't be easier. Had the whole thing setup with my Cable Modem and my desktop in less than 30 mins and was surfing the net. in an additional 30 mins or so had my wireless laptop going and didn't have a single problem. Switching from an Orinoco or a Cisco wireless card on the laptop was easy and no problems there either.

Initial Usage:
It had problems. It would keep stopping and requiring a reset or a full power down/power up. I updated the firmware (keep on top of firmware updates) and this problem went away. Updating the firmware is very very easy.

Performance:
I will review only the wireless part this. For internet browsing and basic stuff, it performs great. No complaints here. It was a little slow on some of the more heavier network utilizing applications but its wireless you can't expect the speed of a Lan line.

Range:
I didn't have problems with ranges in my townhouse. It worked everywhere without any degradation. When I moved to a two story colonial, I started to see some range problems. It would work fine on the floor where the router was. On the ground floor however it would move from excellent/good to fair frequently. Sometimes just turning the laptop a certain way would do miracles. I never had a complete dropoff though. Never did try the basement :-)

Features:
I couldn't have asked for a more easy to configure and more featured router for my usage. Supported all the protocols (IPSEC/PPOE) for me to VPN to work. Had nice control over ports and traffic. The control of DHCP and static IP addresses was nice too. Didn't use much of the other features.

Now with all that said here comes the BAD part:

about a month ago, the wireless part stopped working. I was surprised at first. I checked the router. Lan activity Lights were on but not the wlan activity lights. I hit the reset button no go. Checked my desktop.. the lan connection was fine. Did a full power down and power up. Still nothing. Checked the website for firmware updates (in case I missed one that fixes something).. nope I had the latest firmware. This was on a friday so I just let it be. Saturday.. still no luck. After going nutz on Sat, I finally emailed Customer Support on Sunday. They responded fairly quickly (within hours) and after a couple and back and forth emails.. the response: "This can happen if you are under warranty we can replace it" Well the warranty is a bleak 1 year and I had had this router for 2 years...soo.. bottom line.. I am getting a new router and probably not going with Linksys again. A response of "This can happen" is not acceptable to me.

93 Just Returned It Today
This was my first wireless networking experience, using this router and a Linksys USB Wireless Adapter. At first, it worked great out of the box and I was even amazed at how simple it was to install, but then the next day the router kept dropping the connection to one of my PCs. Had to uninstall/reinstall everything and it still wouldn't work. Then all of a sudden it work work again, then stop a few hours later. It got to the point where I had had enough with the same inconsistency and unreliability that you'll read in some of these other reviews.

At this point, I just don't think that any other company (Netgear or D-link, etc...) would be any more reliable. I don't think that WiFi is reliable, period. The product reviews by CNET, PCWORLD, PCMAG are never accurate for networking products because they are not tested over the long term (ie, 1-6-months, year) when they usually break or stop functioning. No one should have to buy new networking routers/adapters every 3-6 months or even a year, not at this price. Hardware like this should last at least 3-5 years, but it just isn't the case with so many of these WiFi networking products. Seems like people go through these things like they go through toner cartridges. This should not be!

94 Update the Firmware
I spent hours struggling with the router trying to get it to work. Finally I went to the Linksys website and discovered that I did not have the latest firmware. I updated the firmware and it now works great. I am still waiting for a response to my email from Linksys technical support regarding this problem. A prompt response could have saved me hours of frustration.

95 The Wrong Way to Go
I would never buy another Linksys product again in my life. They have the worst costmer service and the 2 people i talked to had no idea what they where doing so they just hung up on me. Linksys is a company that will some day fail because of its bad service

96 Customer service? What's that?
I've had my linksys for a year now and have been relatively happy with it until recently. In the last month I can barely walk 15 feet away from my router without losing my signal. I called linksys for customer support only to spend an hour on hold, thirty minutes with a technician and to get disconnected by the technician. Following being disconnected by a technician I spent an additional four hours on hold trying to get in touch with linksys. I finally reached a human (Sheila) to find that linksys has 200 calls in the que at any time. Sheila spent fifteen minutes with me on the phone, did not fix my problem but still tried to get me off the phone claiming calls taking as long as mine is why customers have to wait so long. Sheila wanted to give me a list of MTU numbers to try on my own. I insisted on getting my technical issues resolved before hanging up the phone. Fifteen more minutes on the phone, and they may or may not be resolved. I should have an email waiting for me with updates that may fix my problems. The technician seemed more concerned with getting me off the phone than helping me fix my problem. If they are not fixed I will not call linksys back. I will not purchase another linksys system. I will seek out a new wireless router. As a busy mother of two I do not have four hours to give to linksys as a penalty for owning their product.

97 A simple, elegant & inexpensive wireless web setup
Overall I am very satisfied with the Linksys BEFW11S4. It operates exactly as expected. I did have to call the support line on two occassions to correct two separate problems but they were easily corrected.

The first problem prevented me from installing the Linksys software on my computer because it kept telling me I was already connected to the BEFW11S4. The support line helped me resolve the problem without much fanfare. Be forewarned, however, like the Amazon review states, there are a lot technical aspects to setup if your setup doesn't go without a hitch. That being said, support was very helpful and the most professional technical support line I've encountered.

After I got the BEFW11S4 up and running, I noticed it connected to the internet slowly, much slower than my hard wired DSL. Internet Explorer also stalled on virtually every link. My DSL "only" runs at 1.5mbs max so the 802.11b standard is more than sufficient and I knew the DSL wasn't the problem. After a week of hoping the problem would miraculously disappear, I called support. A short phone call later, the problem was fixed.

Enough about problems. The BEFW11S4 operates seemlessly. My connection is excellent and is as if I were still hard wired to the internet. I only have to broadcast across a small room, but I suspect it would work fine for greater distances as well. My only concern is picking up a neighbor's broadcast. But I have no problem as of yet even in a moderately dense Manhattan neighborhood.

Setup is very easy. It involves only connecting your modem to the BEFW11S4 and plugging an AC adaptor into the unit. On installation you do have to hard wire the BEFW11S4 to your computer, however.

In summary, this product works great! If you can take advantage of the $$ rebate from Linksys the cost is only $$$. With the WUSB11 receiver and another $$$ Linksys rebate, my total cost was $$$ to be free of phone cords running across the room. See my review on the WUSB11 for an evaluation of the receiver.

98 Time Bomb
I bought this router around March 2003. No problems with installation and I have been very happy with the speed, running three machines on it.

In late December, I noticed that my connection speed was down significantly. After working through my cable internet provider's technical support, they pointed me to the router. I called LinkSys and was told I needed to update the firmware. Hours of frustration later, the thing is 'dead in the water'.

I undertsand that the this is a common problem over time. Now I am looking at what to replace this with. Be aware that you may buying a time bomb - may work for a while then die.

99 SWEET IS THE LIFE
Well what can i say it works great.

The only problem i had was setting up my wireless laptop. The laptop not the router. I couldn't have the wireless bridged like it was when i bought the laptop the sec i unbridged it it worked.

THIS IS GREAT

100 If you RTFM you'll be fine!
Initial setup was a bit nasty. I had two P.C.s that I wanted to network. Both could go online but not talk to each other. I disabled ZONEAlarm on the main P.C. and then it was flawless. I also have my TiVo on the network with the Lynksis usb network adaptor and all the equipment are chating away with each other quite nicely! The other P.C. states that connection is excellent but I lose about 45 percent of throughput from my cable modem but that still is over 900mps. The TiVo streams the mp3s and photos relatively well but ocaisanly hiccups especially on the music but this is a minor irritant. The cost benefit equation on this product is outstanding if you take the time to read the manual.