Home > Consumer Reviews > Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router

I am not sure what all the others had problems with but my Linksys worked great out of the box. Setting it up I had an issue that was easily fixed by calling tech support,(only 5 min wait and worth it, the technician was very good). My laptop which will be connecting wirelessly was not connecting no matter what I tried. It turns out that you can't run wireless cards and ethernet cards (mine was built in} at the same time because the machine will always default to the ethernet card. Which is exactly what was happening. We removed the driver for the ethernet card and it began to work great right away. Everything else about the setup was fairly simple and went very smooth the directions were easy to understand. I especially liked the quick installation sheet which is what I used to setup with.

I highly recommend this product and would buy it again if I had to do it all over. The distance of the wireless machine is really dependent on terrain. But for my two story house it was great. The only weak spot being downstairs in the opposite direction of the linksys base as far as I could go. However it still worked and was quite able to handle downloads even at the weakest point. You just can't go wrong till they come out with a new beakthrough in technology. But even then the prices will be to high in the beginning. For instance the new 802.11a is several hundred dollars more expensive then this machine. And for what you get I just don't need it.

This is a winner. The newest version of the product is BEF11S4 VER 2. Many of the reviews done in this section were about the
BEF11S4 its the same model number but lacking the ver.2 after the BEF11S4.

The newest version has fixed most of the bugs of the previous version. Good Luck!!! A very satisfied consumer

I have read nothing but negative reviews about this product. Has anyone ever seen so much negativity on one product??? It's insane. Despite all this, I decided to put Amazon.com's 30-day return policy to the test and order this anyway. I also ordered the Linksys WPC11 Instant Wireless Network PC Card. I have two computers I networked, a Compaq Presario 600Mhz Intel Celeron Laptop and a Compaq Presario PIII 700Mhz desktop. Only one wireless card was purchased for the laptop; the desktop was plugged in directly to the hub using a CAT5 cable. That's it. So, I spent exactly $350.00 and the price has even seemed to go down more (I may complain about this and try to get a rebate, but that's not the point I want to make here). So, I open it up expecting any of the numerous terrible things so many of the so-called "I've been networking computers for years and this is the worst piece of hardware ever prodcued, folks" experts have to say about it. I was pleasently surprised. It works. The router works very well, which so many people said was a terrible, worthless piece of junk and even the card which was supposed to be fatally flawed works well. It does not drop off after walking 10 feet away, it does not die after the first 5 minutes, it has not crashed either of my computers. Not even once. I've got a cable connection, not DSL. The laptop uses Windows ME and the desktop uses Windows 98. The internet connection was relatively easy. Work slowly. Read the instructions very carefully. I spent about 45 minutes making absolutely certain I had every piece of information ready for the installation. It's all spelled out in the instruction manual so I won't bother going into too much detail here. Just hit START, hit RUN and type "winipcfg". This shows you all of the information you will need to know. Hit "More Information" to make sure you see everything. Also, make sure you install the card first. The biggest problem I had with that is that the drivers aren't in the folder they're supposed to be in on the CD for the card. Just search through the directories of the disk. They're easy to find. The internet connection was easy. Getting the computers to network was more difficult. Luckily, after hours of trying, I realized Windows Millenium has a homenetworking Wizard built in. Once you get the hardware setup and installed correctly, the Home Networking Wizard does the rest. It guides you through the process, then insert a floppy disk to install the networking wizard on your Windows 95 and 98 platform computers. I spent about 4 hours doing all this, but it's only because I am a very careful and meticulous worker. I want to make sure I understand everything thoroughly before I do anything. I recommend this philosophy when installing any kind of network. The Most important thing I can tell you I save for last: the range. This is why I haven't given the product 5 stars. It really is false advertising! It won't go as far as they say it does. The claims are outrageous. However, the range is still acceptable for my needs. I am 75 feet away from the access point as I type this. There are 3 walls and a ceiling in the way. The internet works very well at this distance. I get downloads as fast as I do on my desktop (up to about 100KB/sec which is very fast for the internet). Remember, 1MB/sec is as low as it is supposed to get. Don't let the number 1 fool you! This is still VERY fast. The cable internet cannot handle this speed. We have a T1 at work that doesn't even go that fast. If you are copying a LOT of big files between the two computers then you may run into some problems. A gigabyte will take 16 minutes. Is anyone really trying to copy that much??? Most people aren't, but I can see how some people might. Don't let the fact that the card registers "No Connection" fool you. At great distances the card will register no connection but that's not true. It says no connection right now at 75 feet. I probably can't go more than 75 feet. I went outside with one wall between myself and the access point. I got up to an impressive 250 feet! but, the advertised 400ft? Forget it. No way! In conclusion, the internet works great. It's fast and works all over this house and all over the yard (2 acres). It will suit most peoples' needs as long as you don't live in a house with metal walls (this is a 100% wood structure). The networking works, but not if you want to copy gigantic files on a regular basis at great distances (close distances will work, however, very fast). video games will probably be a little choppy as the distance increases. I can share my desktop's printer. That works great, but the desktop has to be on. Get a print server for 90 bucks to avoid this problem. I am keeping an eye on this thing and plan to use it excessively while the return policy is still valid. I will update my progress with the unit with a followup review, as I have only had it now for 3 days.

After reading many of the setup nightmares, I decided to prolong setting up the wireless network for a week and enjoy the speed of my new cable modem for a week (i.e running a patch cable directly into the PC's network card.

Before I got setup with cable, my cable ISP needed to know the MAC address of my modem. Little did I know at that time, but when they activate your cable account, the MAC address of the cable modem detects the MAC address of the next unit downstream (i.e. my network card). We were up and running in no time!

A week later a decided to install and configure the wireless portion (router and USB adapter). Following the guidelines in the manual and in these reviews I:

1. Downloaded the latest drivers and firmware for the respective units.

2. Loaded the software.

3. Hooked up the hardware.

4. Updated the drivers and firmware

5. Connected to 192.168.1.1 and verified Setup and DHCP settings but could not connect to the Internet...Frustration set in.

6. I called Linksys. Average waiting time stated was 20 minutes. I waited 1 hour before getting a tech support rep. I explained the conversion from network card over to the USB adapter and router. We checked a few settings and found that I was connecting to the router but not the cable modem. This is what I already knew BEFORE I called them. Linksys Tech Support had definitly left a bad taste in my mouth.

7. I called my ISP and explained the conversion I was doing. They cleared the cache on their end that originally was using the MAC address of my network card and then reconfigured their system to find the MAC address of my cable modem again which in turn found the MAC address of the ROUTER.

8. Lastly, I reset the router back to it's default settings (button in the back of the router), rebooted my machine, and was wirelessly LIVE! What a relief.

Hope new Users of these products find this information helpful.

The reason I like this product is ease of setup, and the fact that it has some wired ports. Some wireless routers have no place to plug in a CAT 5 cable, so even if your main computer is only a foot away, you will have to buy a wireless network card which adds to the cost of your system. My main desktop computer is plugged directly into the Linksys, and my notebook operates wireless. The manual is pretty good, and after making sure that your computers are set to DHCP (not hard to do) the Linksys will work as a rounter and gateway to the Internet by just plugging everything into the right holes. If you use Linksys wireless network cards and adaptors as well, the entire operation is pretty painless. Orinoco PCMCIA cards have a bit more range, but you have to jump through few more hoops to get things right.

Some tips: 1. Don't expect miracles when it comes to distance. A lot of factors come into play, including what your home/office is constructed off, and interference from other devices in your home/office. Try to get the unit up high for best coverage. 2. While the rounter does act as a firewall, if a hacker does get to it, and knows the default password (hardly anyone ever changes the default password) they could get through. So, change the password. 3. Change the SSID address. When used as a wireless router, this "should" keep your neighbors from using your router as a gateway to the Net, or getting into your computers when files are being shared. I took my notebook to my neighbor's home and was able to get into my files and surf the Net with no problems. 4. If you are sharing files and folder, use passwords. While I don't want to make anyone paranoid, these are simple changes that should help with security. 5. Linksys support is okay, and it is 24/7, but you have to get the right person. If things don't work out call back. You'll never get the same person twice.

If this is your first adventure into networking or wireless networking, Linksys makes the process pretty painless.

The best value wireless network hub/router for SOHO. Most buyers will have little problem getting it set up and working. A few buyers will have significant software conflicts or radio frequency reception problems and may want to return the unit.

A few suggestions:

1) This is not only a wireless router but also a four port hub. All desktops that can be easily wired to the hub should use a cable instead of a wireless connection (less expensive and faster). If you need more than four wired connections you can easily "uplink" this unit to an inexpensive 8 - 24 port linksys hub.

2) Consider purchasing the USB wireless network adapter for desktop computers. The USB unit can be repositioned for best reception.

3) Download the latest software/firmware from linksys.com before you begin installation. The CD that comes with the product will almost certainly be outdated.

4) If you do not currently have a home network, remember that this device not only provides internet sharing but also full network access. (Your wireless laptop in your bedroom can print on the printer in your home office and access files on your child's PC). You probably will want to understand a little about windows security before turning on file and print sharing on individual PCs.

5) "Out of the box" this product has wireless encryption turned off. This default allows anyone within range of the unit to access your internet connection and possibly your home network. While this setup is the easiest way to initially set up the unit, most people will want to turn on 64 bit encryption (You provide a key to each remote connection). 128 bit encryption is now also available but slows down connection speed.

This device has many of features and great functionality for the price. Relatively inexperienced computers users will probably get it working without too much pain, while more technical users will find enough tweaks to keep them happy.