One of a good lineup of Linksys products (Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch BEFSR41)

Member Name: SimonMackay

Product:	Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch BEFSR41
Date:	18/03/03 (453 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Ease of use, Future-proof design

Disadvantages: None at all

Since 2001, I had run BigPond Cable Internet and shared it into a computer network with 3-4 computers using Win98SE Internet Connection Sharing. It was terrible using ICS. I wouldn't be sure that, when I boot up my PC, ICS would work as it should or not. When it wouldn't work, it would dish out IP addresses, but wouldn't pass any traffic to the Internet. I often had to leave the computer up all the time and, if there was a power failure or a system crash while I was away, I would have to talk people through uninstalling and reinstalling ICS just to get it going.

So I had to bite the bullet and have us buy a Linksys 4-port router which was going at a very cheap price of AUD $169. Once it arrived, it didn't take long to set it up. The only thing I had to do was flash up some special firmware for BigPond Cable's strange login and authentication arrangement, supply my login parameters and set the IP address and DHCP pool from Linksys' defaults to what I wanted as a standard for any small network that I set up. This was all done using an easy-to-use Web-based interface that is used to control the router.

It certainly moves the data quickly to the Internet and has certainly taken a load off my mind regarding sharing my Internet connection, especially if there are people who aren't computer-literate.

This unit is future proof because it supports UPnP for applications such as MSN Messenger / Windows Messenger and any DirectX 9-based network games.

I would suggest to look towards implementing these routers in any small network like a home network

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