The Best of the Wired and Wireless World!!!
Written: Nov 27 '01
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Pros: Choose between wireless or wired, simple for novice/adjustable settings for expert
Cons: Costlier than wired router, wireless performance not quite as fast as wired (which is inevitable)
The Bottom Line: This router provides the best of wires and wireless. I would imagine that this solution will meet most LAN needs, and allows one to choose wires or wireless.
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| Jason_Sickler's Full Review: Linksys (BEFW11S4) 802.11b Wireless Access Point |
Options for Sharing an ISP Connection
I moved into my current apartment with four other people at the beginning of the summer of 2001. My roommates and I all wanted internet access at cable modem speeds. We soon found that our options for doing this were:
- purchase additional IP addresses through the ISP, in our case RCN, for an extra cost of $10 per additional IP per month
- set up a local network and share our since cable modem connection
We all were to be living in our house for 12 months, so the additional IP option translated into an additional cost of $480 (12 months x 4 IP's x $10 per IP per month). We quickly decided to make a local area network (LAN). NOTE: Other options may exist, but these two are typically available.
I STRONGLY recommend trying the LAN option, or having someone do it for you. LAN's provide additional benefits (e.g. they naturally act as firewalls) in addition to cost savings. Regardless, you can think of the savings as pay for your efforts.
Learning About Local Area Networks
After selecting to do the local network, I took on the responsibility of learning about local network regarding out options, etc. This is not the venue to talk about these options, and I am no expert, so I will refer the interested reader to http://www.practicallynetworked.com/ for information on all manner of local networks. I found this site to be excellent for every step of the process, and I used it exclusively.
If you want to set up a LAN as simply as possible, a "router" is what you need. Routers will provide physical pathways to divide internet traffic to multiple machines, and will manage that traffic with internal software. The great advantage of the latter point is that you will not need dedicate a computer to the traffic management task, thus no matter which computer is on or off, it will not affect the connection of the other machines.
Wired or Wireless?
My roommates and I soon came to face the choice of a wireless or wired (traditional) router.
Before going further, take note that there are two primary wireless "standards" competing to be "the standard". The website, www.practicallynetworked.com, talks about this. Definitely go with the standard that is more prevalent for compatibility reasons.
A non-exhaustive list of advantages and disadvantages of a wired vs. wireless setup are as follows:
Wireless
More Expensive Router
Requires Wireless Ethernet Cards
Speed can be effected by signal strength
No Cabling Required
Mobility
Wired
Cheaper Router
Uses Typical Ethernet Cards
Distance/Signal strength not an issue.
Cabling Required
Must be "plugged in"
Two of us have laptops and were willing to pay the extra money for a wireless setup, while two did not want the extra cost and wished to go wired. The wired approach, while it meant a cheaper router and no new Ethernet cards, left us to deal with wiring the apartment (two floors), and the associated costs.
Why The Linksys Router?
This is where the Linksys Etherfast Wireless Access Point and Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch (BEFW11S4) came in. The feature that put this router above others was the wireless-wire duality. We satisfied our wired fans upstairs, saved them from buying a new wireless Ethernet card, and made the wireless fans happy with mobility and the lack of more cabling.
Another nice feature of all Linksys Routers is the configuration interface. It's intuitive and easy to access (html through any typical browser). Those that desire minimal configuration can have it running without much work or understanding of networks. Those that want to customize settings, or do things like forwarding ports to particular machines on your network, can also do that. Port Forwarding is particularly important if you are running a server, or want to use internet programs than need to use ports. Many program do! (A list of popular programs that require various ports are available on practicallynetworked.com.)
Fortunately, the guys living downstairs from us bought this router, so we were able to check it out up close before buying.
How It Performs
The Router has performed very well. Occasionally we have trouble connecting, but it is hard to tell for sure if that is due to our ISP, or our router. Updating the firmware in the router (the software that runs the router) reduced the problems significantly. I would recommend updating the firmware immediately.
The guys downstairs have a Macintosh on their otherwise all-Windows network, and from what I have heard it works fine.
The manual was very clear and outlined the necessary steps for setting up the router with a cable modem. I have not needed to call Linksys for technical assistance with this device.
The download speeds for the wireless connections vary. Without objects between the router and the computer's wireless card, speeds are excellent. Slowdowns will only show for the most bandwidth-intensive applications. For a realistic situation with intervening objects, such as my computer which is downstairs from the router, I usually don't notice a difference, and can often play computer games without significant lag.
A little note on intervening objects. Metal objects between the router and wireless card can block the signal significantly. Solid metal, or metal mesh with hole spacings on the order of centimeters or less will block signals in the wavelength range that wireless routers transmit. Some older houses (early part of the 20th century) have metal mesh with spacings on the order of this size embedded in the sheetrock of the walls, and may cause problems.
Conclusion
Setting up a LAN to share an internet connections is an excellent way of getting multiple internet connections. If you are going to set up a LAN, a router is the way to go to minimize hassle and get great performance. A wireless router has some distinct advantages and disadvantages, and the best choice depend on your situation. The Linksys Etherfast Wireless Access Point and Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch (BEFW11S4) is a great solution, because it allows the best of both worlds, can satisfy the novice user as well as the more advanced user.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
Driver Availability: Don't Know
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Epinions.com ID:
Jason_Sickler
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Location: Somerville, MA
Reviews written: 7
Trusted by: 2 members
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