Junk
Written: Sep 19 '03
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Pros: Excellent throughput
Responsive technical support
Excellent for hard-wired networks
Cons: Very unstable wireless connection
Constantly needs to be reset to maintain good performance
The Bottom Line: Unstable, almost useless for wireless networks.
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| jesda's Full Review: Linksys (BEFW11S4) 802.11b Wireless Access Point |
I purchased the Linksys router on the recommendation of the CompUSA employee who said it was better than the store brand wireless router. So I took home, for $80 minus rebates, the Linksys Wireless-B broadband router.
My wireless network is two 802.11b USB devices on two machines all on the same floor, no more than 40 meters from the hub. All of it is connected via SBC DSL.
I brought the Linksys home, plugged in the power, pluged the DSL into the router, and it worked fine for web browsing. Both of my machines picked it up instantly.
Unfortunately, my Internet radio streams kept stalling and large downloads would stop after a few megabytes. Anyone browsing the web wouldnt experience this problem, but for downloading music, movies, and software it is a serious issue. Isnt that what a broadband connections is for?
I struggled with the wireless settings for a bit, then installed a firmware update. The difference was astounding, the connection was solid, and it was quite fast. My downloads peaked at 490 kilobytes per second.
Unfortunately, after an hour or so, whether you were downloading tons of data or doing nothing, the connection would slow to a crawl. Downloads would drop to speeds worse than early 90s dialup, and web surfing was nearly useless due to latency and slow responses. You clicked on a link and waited five minutes for it to just begin retrieving the content. Interestingly, unplugging and reconnecting the router or resetting it through the web-based interface fixed the problem... for an hour or so until it slowed down again.
I tried all eleven wireless channels, since I presumed interference was the cause. I tried changing my preamble settings, changed beacon intervals, enabled and disabled DMZ vulnerability, tried using fixed IP addresses instead of DHCP routing, frequently did comparisons between the two machines (one uses an SMC USB card, the other uses a CompUSA USB card), moved the router to a higher surface, and more.
I called their support line a few times at 2-3AM CST and they responded immediately but were not helpful. They assumed interference was the cause since everything worked fine with an normal cat5 ethernet cable going directly from my main computer to the router. It turns out they were wrong. Read on.
I struggled with this router for twenty days, doing as much research as I could, reading about other Linksys wireless router owners and experimenting on my own. With over a decade of experience in desktop support, I could not for the life of me solve this one. The wireless connection was always solid, but the router simply slowed everything down to a crawl. The connection was flawless with a standard ethernet cable connection. The web-based interface was quick, but anything beyond that was horribly slow. For whatever reason, the router decided that after an hour, it would no longer move data at a reasonable speed to machines wirelessly connection. I already made certain that power saving modes didnt interfere by turning them off. Encryption and other potential bandwidth sponges were turned off. I didnt pay $80 for a router to have to reset it hourly -- I expect a stable broadband connection.
Finally, I called CompUSA and spoke to the manager, and made an exception to allow me to exchange the router past their 14 day period. A DLink 802.11b wireless router was on sale for $60 minus more rebate discounts, so I took it home last night, installed it, and its perfect. Throughput is equal to the Linksys and most importantly, the connection is ROCK solid. I saved $20 and got a better wireless router.
Lesson learned. Linksys returned.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 79.99
Driver Availability: Windows, Linux, and Mac
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Epinions.com ID:
jesda
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Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 1 member
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