buggman's Full Review: Linksys EtherFast® BEFSR41 Router
Linksys BEFSR41 v4.1 Router
I have had 3 of these routers over the last 5 years or so.
The first one lasted about 4 years until one day it slowed the connection speed of any computer connected to it down to less than that of dial-up, then finally stopped all internet access completely.
After more than 12 (YES TWELVE) hours of phone calls to tech support and online support in one day, it was determined that the router was dead.
Note: since this router was just a day out of warranty, their “free” tech support wasn’t free at all. After an hour of trying to understand the person on the other end of the phone (obviously from a foreign country) he told me that my router wasn’t covered for any warranty support and hung up on me. I immediately called back (understandably agitated) and spoke with a supervisor (this took about an hour to go through) who told me that if I wanted tech support for the router it would cost me $39.99 per instance (per call) & they would not guarantee they would be able to solve the problem.
So let’s review: I gave about $59 for the router, but it costs $40 to talk to someone to find out why their product died?
They finally told me that I could get “free” support online by using their live chat help feature. Odd, because since my router was dead I was unable to connect to the internet now.
I finally discovered that I could connect my PC directly to my cable modem (not recommended due to the lack of the router’s firewall capabilities) and I was able to access their “free” live help.
After 7 to 9 hours or so of multiple disconnects & restarting the process over & over again with someone new each time…(each time they assured me that all the steps I had taken were saved & forwarded to the next rep, yeah right!) After repeating the same steps to troubleshoot (which I had done before even calling them or contacting them) many times for each person who disconnected my chat session, and reboots…. They informed me that the router was dead & there was nothing they would do to help.
I had no choice but to buy a new router (quickly) and I could only find another BEFSR41 in stock.
This new router was dead out of the box. The LED power light would come on, but after many, many hours on the phone with Linksys (I had tech support on this one due to just buying it) it was determined that this brand new, right out of the box router was fried.
I returned the defective router for another one & got it setup and working on my own in about an hour. Many of the operations & configuration pages were different from the original router; this is why it took so long.
After I finally got this third router working, it’s been working pretty well for about 6 months now…. Until today.
This 4 port router/switch decided it would no longer work with Ethernet cables longer than 14’ long. This makes it pretty useless as I can no longer use the other computers connected to this router in other parts of the house.
To top it all off, now I have problems connecting 2 pc’s at the same desk directly to the router. Only after restarting both computers & resetting the router will both pc’s gain internet access. I haven’t tested to see how long this setup will allow access to the internet, but I’m guessing it won’t last all day.
This latest router is supposed to have a 3 year warranty, so I’ll see if Linksys stands behind this one & repairs or replaces it for me.
Looks like I’ll be getting another router ASAP to replace another bad Linksys product.
THE GOOD:
- All in all, the router worked pretty well…. That is, when it worked.
- Whenever my cable modem goes offline (usually due to ISP outage or “upgrades”), the router would find the modem & link up without resetting the router.
- It enables you to connect up to 4 computers (or a combination of computers & game consoles, for instance) to share your cable or DSL internet connection.
- It has a built in firewall that adds an extra level of protection from any of the computers it’s connected to.
- It’s about 8” long by 7”deep by about 2” tall.
- It’s stackable if you should need to connect more than one together (I had a 2 router setup for a while & it was a nightmare to configure, save yourself the headaches & get an Ethernet switch if you need to connect more than 4 devices to one of these routers).
In years past, Linksys switches were the same size & shape as the routers, but recently their switches are not much bigger than a couple packs of playing cards stacked together, making it impossible to stack on this router.
THE BAD:
I’m really disappointed to find out that I’ll likely have to replace this router every six months or so. Maybe I’ll find a good sale on these & stock up. It seems like Linksys made these to be disposable instead of reliable.
The lack of English speaking tech support isn’t a big surprise, but knowing that if your warranty expires (or is close to expiring, or if you happen to speak to someone less knowledgeable than you are) you’re pretty much on your own.
If you run out of warranty, you’ll have to spend as much money to talk to someone as it would cost if you just buy a new router, which really sucks.
Dealing with their online live chat help makes me feel like hitting myself in the head with a hammer because it feels so good when I stop.
They ask the same questions over & over, even though I have been able to verify what they have asked me to do has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the issue I contacted them about.
The most common resolution they have is to update the firmware to the router. I actually have newer firmware installed than what they recommend. When you update the firmware, of course you have to shut down the router, thus disconnecting from their live help chat once again. When this doesn’t work, guess what…. You get to start all over again with somebody else.
On the odd chance you do get to chat with someone who seems to know the proper steps to take, write down all the steps to troubleshoot & move as quickly as humanly possible. I’ve found that while I’m in the other room testing or troubleshooting something they’ve told me to do (and it takes longer than 4 minutes to complete) they will shut down the help chat session and you get to start all over again. It doesn’t matter if you tell them that you have to run down 50 steps to get to the other computer, perform the task & run back up 50 steps to get back to their chat, they’ll shut it down anyway. I guess this is how some of them have fun when they get bored. “Let’s get this guy half way fixed & close down his connection so he has to start over again”.
Linksys used to be the industry standard in wired network devices, but I’m looking elsewhere for my next router.
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