Home > Consumer Reviews > Linksys by Cisco BEFSR41EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 10/100 4-Port Switch

When I built my second PC, my only option to access the internet and my printers was to configure one PC as a proxy server, which meant running one PC 24/7 (or having the hassle of running upstairs to turn on the proxy machine every time my wife wanted to use the internet). Not any more.

The Linksys BEFSR41 sits between your Cable or DSL modem and your PCs and allows access to the internet for up to 4 PCs via its built in 4 port 10/100 switch. I have a 3 port print server plugged into one of the ports on mine, so I can now print to either printer from either PC as well as accessing the internet.

The web based user interface is very easy to use; from opening the box to up and runinng takes about 10 - 15 minutes. The unit allows MAC address spoofing, which means you can get started without having to wait until your ISP changes your registered address. Firmware upgrades are very easy; the latest firmware also allows integrated use with anti-virus and firewall software.

This router is also one of the most secure available. It's full use of NAT (Network Address Translation) which separates your LAN and WAN IP addresses makes external hacking into your PCs nigh on impossible.

I wanted to share my 1 Mb broadband between my PC and Playstation 2 and possibly other PCs in the future or connect my friends up to the net for gaming when they bring their PCs round. This router is ideal for those purposes.

The router arrived promptly on the Amazon super saver delivery. I opened the box and connected it to my cable modem and PC. I was online in about 5 minutes through my router. It even worked through my Zone Alarm firewall with no problems. The router was easy for me to manually set up and has a vast array of configuration pages you can access through your web browser.

If you are new to networking the CDROM disc in the box is superb! It guides you through the whole set up process and configures the router for you!

Next was the Playstation, this was just a matter of running a long straight wired Ethernet cable across my room to the Playstation. This was a cable I already had for this purpose. You do get an Ethernet cable in the box albeit a short one about 1 metre long. I used the provided cable to connect my PC to the router.

Once I hooked up the Playstation it was able to be online at the same time as my PC. For me this was great and means no fiddling around with cables when I want to use my Playstation online. It is a far better solution that Windows Internet Connection Sharing as this was tricky to configure for the Playstation and allowing access for it through my firewall.

Also, being on blueyonder the MAC Address clone feature of the router is VERY useful. This allows the router to emulate the MAC address of your PCs Network Interface Card, meaning you don’t have to inform your ISP of the routers MAC address.

All in all I’m amazed how versatile, useful and advanced this router is. I would not hesitate to recommend it to advanced users or people new to networking.

After reading some of the reviews here I took the plunge and bought the linksys befs41 to connect 2 PCs to my NTL broadband. I connected up all the cables switched on, and tried the the internet before doing anything els. All was up and running on both PCs. I haven't even taken the setup CD out its sleeve. I can recomnend this one.

After weeks of trying in vain to share a cable modem with Windoze Connection Sharing and other, equally hopeless, software solutions, this was well worth ... [the price]... and has the added advantage of not putting extra strain on the resources of one machine that software sharing could.

The fastest and easiest piece of hardware I have ever installed in 9 years of tech support, bar none. I put the router setup disk in the pc with the cable modem attached (must be by network card, not USB) and ran the wizard. It read the configuration and asked for both pc and cable modem to be disconnected and plugged into the router. Setup continued, set the router up, then finished, and all I had to do after that was connect the other pcs one by one and run the disk on them. 3 machines set up fine this way, so we put it to the test by linking a standard 8-way hub to the next port and connecting three more machines.

Even through the hub the setup wizard ran once on each machine and voila! All 3 were online, first time, no hassle.

One of these is now happily sharing 6 machines at work, making secure, centralised email and browsing much easier for us and adding a hardwired component to the security software; another runs 2 at home. The machines range from a 2.5 P4 to a 500 Laptop to an old P100, most being between and 1 and 2GHz. We have yet to find anything that hasn't worked with it.

For a no aggravation network with secure internet access for the home or small office, this is how it should be. It does exactly what it says, sets up a fast, permanent internet connection that will work on any pc you connect to your network, even across hubs and, for me at least, first time. This is what real technical support is all about. Outstanding.

This is the first router I have ever bought, its excellent. Easy to use and setup, works great with my NTL Cable setup. Enables me to share connection with my XP machine and my wifes iMac. The case is stylish and very solid build. Its a few quid more than the Netgear(RP114) router, but it is so much better. Well worth it.