Linksys BEFSR81 8port Cable/DSL Router and Tech Support both excellent

[BCinSC]

Owned the BEFSR41 without problem, sold here and picked up this one (I have a lot of machines) and it's even better. I understand early firmware was a little flaky, but they've sure fixed nicely. Called Tech Support the other day to inquire about VPN dropping, but only when more than one machine was turned on. He made two recommendations - forward port 500 to this internal address and disable Block WAN Request. The latter not necessarily required, but fine to do. I am humming along nicely now. They just called back to make sure verything was working the way I wanted it to. Now THAT is service! I think people who have had problems with Linksys these routers probably had specific configuration issues. As for problems with support, they may have been less lucky. As for me, I give praise all around and would definitely recommend and buy again.

 

[Eug]

My first Linky (BEFSR41) was semi-dead on arrival - it would work fine in DHCP mode but it would not allow me to change any of the firmware settings. With the second one I have to reset it every few days. Not a big deal, and part of it may be related to my DSL provider (PPPoE on Sympatico), but it's annoying nonetheless. But otherwise it works great and it's fast. I also agree that their tech support is good. They responded to my email within 2 days when I was having problems with my first one.

On the other hand, my Linksys combo Ethernet and HomePNA PCMCIA card, and my Linksys Ethernet Switch have both worked flawlessly straight out of the box. Personally, I think the Ethernet/HomePNA card is the best thing since sliced bread. Everyone laptop owner without CAT5 at home should have one of these. The HomePNA and Ethernet wires are interchangable with absolutely no settings to change. It's all invisible to Windows.

So I agree, Linksys is a good company, but I think they still need to work a bit on their router firmware.

 

[HeinekinMan2]

Question for you gurus on these devices; I'm using a s/w firewall currently for my cable connection. If I bought one of these h/w firewall/routers what all is involved in the configuration of it? Is everything done at the box? Does anything have to be configured or installed on any of my PC nodes? I'm sure network settings would have to be tweaked but I'm wondering if I can leave my s/w firewall in place and hook up and configure a h/w firewall/router for added security...

Heiny

 

[DFB]

I've been using the 4 port Router for about 5 months now and love it. It has some problems with advanced usage, I have yet to successfully run a stable Counter-Strike server), but on the whole it was well worth the money I paid for it.

Setup is a breeze if you go the DHCP route, just hook up the various cables and then everything can be setup via the web configuration on any PC that is plugged into the router.

 

[TheOverlord]

i love mine too...onyl have a one prort but its still great!

one quesiton...can you do both static and dynamic IP addresses with the router? as in it acts as a dhcp server but you still assign some computers their own IP?

 

[TheOverlord]

need to subscribe...

 

[ElCuCuy]

Another question for the gurus....is it still possible to use a router with a broadband connection that registers the NIC's hardware address?

 

[Eug]

<< can you do both static and dynamic IP addresses with the router? as in it acts as a dhcp server but you still assign some computers their own IP? >>


Yes.

 

[BCinSC]

I do both DHCP and Static. Just don't assign static address that might be used by DHCP. Mine defaults to 192.168.1.100 as starting address with a pool of 50. My static machines are in the double digits (like 192.168.1.40)

I ran an UT server no problem. CS should be able to.

 

[BCinSC]

Answer to ElCuCuy: Yes. It has aunique MAC address. If they need to manually enter, you can read it off main screen. If you already have a NIC registered and are permitted only one, you'll have to call them to purge it to register new.

 

[ElCuCuy]

BC, the NIC has already been registered, and so far, the connection only works on that NIC. Does that mean that they will have to purge the IP before I can clone it with the router?

 

[TheOverlord]

thanks

 

[DFB]

The CS server itself works, but it drops players within a few minutes. I'm glad to hear that this problem isn't effecting other games, but everyone I've talked to with a LinkSys trying to run a server has run into similar problems. Nothing seems to fix it, DMZ, static/dynamic ips/etc