Cisco-Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port 10/100 Switch
by Linksys
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Our Price: $78.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $9.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Cisco-Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port 10/100 Switch
Customer Review: Verdict is in- it works great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to give this little black and blue plastic box a chance to blow up, shoot sparks, melt, and otherwise fizzle and die on me. I bought it used off of someone, have never been any good with Windows networking, and was trying to link my XP machine with my wife's 98 SE machine- AKA my archnemesis. All I had was the box, the AC adapter, and a prayer. This thing had every reason not to work and I would not have been surprised if it never became more than a paperweight to me.But it didn't! The little box fired right up when I first plugged it in and easily brought the cable modem connection to both computers. Actually making the computers see each other on the network was harder than making the Linksys box do its job. I couldn't believe it! Days later this thing is still going strong! We both download large files at the same time, play online games against each other over the network and together on the Internet, and it has yet to skip a beat.
For some people things just don't work, but no product works for 100% of the customers all of the time. I'm one of those people who reads reviews and skips to all of the bad ones so I can fret about a purchase. I did that here and was nervous about the whole thing. But take it from me when I say this little beauty is incredibly easy to use and worked great with little effort from me, and unless you have some strange extenuating circumstances it should work great for you as well. Have fun, and don't forget to buy the extra network cable!
Customer Review: A great value
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had a network hub in my home for over a year, with a smattering of "project" computers -- a linux box, a windows 98 PC, a windows 95 laptop and a new PowerMac. I've had nothing but problems getting these very diverse machines to talk to one-another... until now.It was like magic. I plugged it in to my network hub, launched a web browser, and I was configured. It assigned IP addresses to everyone, and in the time it takes to reboot four computers, I was pinging, ftping and telnetting around my network without a problem. Now a once-unusable network of macintoshes, linuxes and windows pcs are talking to one-another over TCP/IP. It's a miracle!
What sold me on this was the built-in DHCP server. But what was nice when I took it home was the fact that the router has a little web server built-in for configuring the device and setting the many (and impressive) security options. This means there is no crazy platform-specific client software or drivers required -- all you need is a network card and a web browser to connect and configure yourself. Also, the manual is available, but all of the help I needed was right there within the administration UI of the device.
The story is not over yet -- I am now waiting for the Sprint people to come install my Cable access. More on that if I have troubles there, but for once in my life I am optimistic about a network installation.
I am very impressed. Thumbs up from me and my family of computers!
Customer Review: This router rocks! Easy to install and decent support!
Summary: 5 Stars
The instructions were simple and to the point. There's only four cables for a two computer network: 1)power supply which comes with the unit, 2)the WAN cable from your broadband modem, and 3)one ethernet cable from each computer to the router. I'm no networking engineer, but I would say that it does take some computer savvy to properly connect and configure the device. After about 20 minutes of reading the manual and connecting the router, I was ready to give it a try. No dice. So I called the support line. After about 10-15 minutes on hold, a support guy professionally walked me through several procedures and we were up and running. In this day and age of very poor support, I would give these people a solid rating. In less than one hour from opening the box, I had a functioning two-computer network at home, and that includes the time talking with tech support on a Sunday morning! I tested the ping rate before and after, and if anything, the connection rate is slightly faster now. One of the most important criteria I give a piece of equipment is the question, "If I had this to do over again, would I buy the same thing?" And the answer here is, "Yes"! Good luck. By the way, if you don't have them already, be sure and buy an ethernet cable for each of your computers to the router and one for your broadband modem to the router (In a two computer network, that would be 3 ethernet cables). Crossover or uplink cable is not necessary.Customer Review: Works and installs like all equipment SHOULD!
Summary: 5 Stars
Already had two computers running Windows 98SE via 10/100 network interface cards and a 4 port hub. When I had DSL installed, I could surf on one or the other computer, but not at the same time. Did not make much sense to have a broadband access and only use one computer. Now several members of the family can surf on the computers, simultaniously, at 1.5Mbps. Removed my old 10/100mbps 4 port hub and replaced it with the Linksys hub/router. Standard Windows 98 software and network interface cards in each computer is all that is required (use 10/100 cards to get the full effect of the broadband speeds). Attach the external DSL modem to the Lynksys router, and follow the straight forward instructions. Very simple! You even get to get rid of the pathetic Enternet300 software (PPoE) that comes with the DSL access as it is already built into the router! The DSL people do not like to tell you that your broadband can be shared . . . . . . One benifit that I did not count on was that a very effective firwall was part of the hardware. With the hardware firewall and Norton Internet 2000 on each of the computers, it is bullet proof! Internet based snoop-ware does not even show that there is a computer on this line! Very important when running an "always on" DSL connection (Norton has caught several cases of "Back Oriface" trying to get at my computers . . but no dice!) This is the way all hardware should install.Customer Review: simple
Summary: 5 Stars
i followed the quickstart guide and had it working within 15 minutes including running the cables.later, i connected a new linux box to it and chose dhcp on the box and it connected without a problem. (the first box is a win2k) but finally i've settled on a static setup so i can use the port forwarding features.
now i've got my house wired and we share printers and files between the computers, and i haven't noticed a single decrease in speed on our internet connection since i installed it. even when both computers are downloading large files.
and after a year, it's still going strong, and with the port forwarding fearure, i can login to my computer and access all my files from work or school. very handy.
occasionally our cable connection gets screwy and before the router was installed, we'd have to flip the cable modem off and on until it would finally connect again (sometimes the process took up to half an hour). now i just hit the DHCP RENEW button on the linksys router setup page, and i'm back online within a minute. again another very handy feature.
maybe i just got lucky, since so many other reviewers had troubles with their routers, but the one i got seems to be a pretty tough unit. my one year old has danced on it and knocked it onto the floor several times (those pretty lights on the front are just too tempting) and it's still going strong.
overall it's a great product and i can't find one bad thing to say about it.