Added 1/31/2001:
NOTE: I highly recommend upgrading the firmware to fix some problems like the on described below with yahoo mail.
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The problem: Connecting more than one computer to your home or small office Cable or DSL network connection.

The 1999 solution: buggy windows routing software or a linux box with ipchains, on a computer with two NICs, and a hub.

The new millenium solution: Linksys Cable/DSL router.

For about the 1999 cost of a four port switch, Linksys puts together a four port switch (with an additional uplink port) with a dhcp server, NAT capabilities, and PPP over Ethernet (**please see notes below for explanation of these technologies), capabilities in a small, quiet package. Basically a niche product for a problem that can be solved with other software tools, this is a simpler and more elegant solution. It replaced a full time linux router/firewall for my home LAN, and I get the same functionality witout the noise or floor space.

It supports DHCP for up to 253 clients, has a fully integrated 4 port 10/100 switch (not a hub, but a switch! if you don't know the difference, a switch is basically a faster, more reliable version of a hub), and has a very good quick start guide that will get you up and running in minutes. The web based interface is good (It would be nice if they would put in a CLI, too, and it would be even cooler if you could ssh to it...), and secure enough -- you can only access it from behind the router.

A friend of mine put his ontop of the fan of his DSL modem and it overheated and shut down, but five minutes of cooling later it was fine. Also, it is important to upgrade to the latest firmware version (which you can easily download from www.linksys.com, and which is incredibly easy to install).

All in all, an excellent buy.

NOTE NOTE NOTE:: some users have complained that they cannot send and receive yahoo mail with this device!! You can still pop, ftp, etc...; it just seems to be a problem with the way yahoo mail works.

** dhcp: dynamic addressing: allows computers to have their IP addresses configured dynamically by a server, in this case the linksys box, so that your computer is both more portable (you don't have to reconfigure it on a visiting network) and so that less static IP addresses are in permanent use.

*** NAT network address translation, a basic firewalling technique that most home users will not have to worry about but might like to have to grow into.

**** PPP over Ethernet: a connection standard that PacificBell uses to dynamically connect your modem and assign an IP address to you.

Recommended: Yes