Home Networking At Its Best (Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch BEFSR41)

Member Name: cswatt

Product:	Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch BEFSR41
Date:	29/06/01 (1257 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Simple to set up and maintain, Supports a rather large network (253 clients)

Disadvantages: Price is more than other available options

This in my opinion is the best and easiest way to set up a home network and share a high speed cable or DSL connection. This is even a great solution for small to medium sized business as well.

This router comes in 2 main versions, a single port version for using with just one computer, or combining with other hubs and switches, or a 4 port version which has a 4 port 10/100 switch built in.

This thing is very simple to set up.....to get going, you need not enter more than 3 lines of information in its very simple web-based configuration utility.

It can support up to 253 clients on the internal network, acting as a DHCP server assigning each computer an IP address and handing out internet to each one.

I myself have the single port version and have built a network of 7 computers in my home with this product. We even use this router at my place of work, administering to almost 20 computers.

The great thing about this router is that it comes with a built-in hardware firewall which uses NAT technology and TCP/IP port inspection leaving you impervious to all but the most ambitious of hackers.

Internet sharing software can often be mucky and troublesome, and adding more than one network card to a system can render it more unstable and slow to boot up. This router eliminates all need for that. Just one network card in each computer, and no sotware running in the background to slow things down.

I have found this to be a very reliable product as I have personally sold more than a dozen of these units, and the store I work for has sold literally hundreds and all but a very few have been extremely pleased with this router and its performance.

The only downside I have found is the price. The single port version sells for between 149 and 169 Canadian, and the four port sells for between 199 and 229 Canadian. I would still highly recommend this prodect to anyone serious about home networking.

Summary: