Linksys BEFSR41 Router

Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port 10/100 Switch (Model BEFSR41)

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Date:	2000-03-01 12:16
Author:	Brent
Category:	Broadband Routers
Manufacturer:	Linksys
Product/Model:	BEFSR41
Price:	$102.00
Online price:	$59.95 at Buy.com

De Conclusion - Listen Up Ya'll!
(Brent and Vorpal are both from Texas - they are legally allowed to use the word "ya'll")

- Final Thoughts -

Vorpal: Buy it! You won't regret it. Stop thinking about it and do it. It's made my life and home network a lot simpler. I'd also like to point out something really cool. The Linksys Router improved on this - but it wasn't really the thing that made it happen. Both my wife and I can play Quake3 or Unreal Tournament on-line at the same time and on the same shared IP with ping rates as low as 35 each (that the best I've seen so far)! Everyone probably knows that playing games online is a major pain in the butt when you only have a lowly phone modem. With this Router and my DSL service, two people in my house can play serious games like UT/Q3 at the same time and in TOTAL style! It's so fun for my wife and I to meet up in the same game and put 'smack-down' on people (and each other) together! I haven't even tried running 3 PC's on an Internet Q3 game yet ...I wonder if that will work nicely?

Brent: Buy it! I basically bought this thing for it's DHCP Server and hardware firewall. I was previously sharing 3 pc's on @home by purchasing two more IP's from @home. They only allow you to have 3 accounts so I was maxed out. I really wanted my 4th PC to be able to be on the Web too though, so I needed a cheap way to share one IP, and guess what! This Router was just the thing I needed! Currently I share 4 PC's on this thing and it's so friggin sweet. I disabled the two other accounts I had with @home which saves me $10 a month on that fee, so this Router will actually pay itself off down the road! And now I can share with up to 253 PC's so I got plenty of room to add more. The added bonus of a hardware Firewall is VERY sweet as well, now I know I'm very protected. Also the built in switch is just plain sweetness.

DON'T Buy it if: You really care about running game servers. There is very little information on this at the current time, and many people are having problems. Also, if you have a dynamic IP (like me: Vorpal :), you will have NO CONTROL over your DHCP IP. There is no option on the Router's interface for either renewing or releasing your dynamic IP. You can't even see when your lease expires! You will be at risk of loosing your IP's frequently. Just wait awhile and see what kind of future support comes down the pipe. LINKSYS: We really need to be able to refresh our dynamic IP's and see the status of our current lease!

-Good vs. Bad-

The Good:

The Bad:

Price
Extremely Easy to setup - even for the most novice user
Noise Free (unlike some other products with built in fans)
Port Forwarding
DMZ Hosting
HTTP based Admin Control
It's a 'switch', not just a HUB!
Transfer rates and latency are at least as good (possibly better) as any software Proxy-Server solution
It's small so you could put it almost anywhere
It doesn't get hot so you can stick it in a closet or enclosed space if you need to without worrying about it.
It has a lot of cool lights. Combined with your Broadband Modem it looks really cool! :)

Only DMZ support for one computer
Only 10 fields for IP forwarding
Problems running special applications like ICQ file transfers, and game servers.
No control of the Firewall
Only 4 ports (which is only relative to the individual users needs)
Some problems with running Game Servers
No control over WAN DHCP (no release/renew control)
No control over the Routers LAN DHCP server feature for specifying lease length.
No Firewall logging (you can see who has been trying to attack you etc.)

Rating
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Web Based Support:
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User Reviews/Comments:

rate: avg:

by anonymous - 2006-04-13 16:56

I have had this router for about 6 years now, and can say I have had no problems with it. It is usually on 24/7/365, unless a storm is coming through and then I unhook everything. when I moved into my new house, a lightening strike killed my cable modem (cable company had not grounded the line yet - kudos to comcast, they replaced the modem at no cost to me), but the router is still going strong. I highly recommend this router.