Review on Cisco-Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B Cable/DSL Router: Stable and Fast Internet Connectivity by Mido Taylor

I needed wireless and I needed a wired home LAN and I wanted to share my cable modem internet connection with the above and I needed more flexibility. I chose Linksys after looking at the browser-based interface, which for the money is the easiest network setup interface I've ever used. And I'm glad I did! I've been an Apple user for a long time, but Apple Airport is so foolproof that it doesn't really offer the level of customization I needed. Linksys fully meets all requirements. Here are the features I particularly liked: MAC cloning. My cable company knows which computer I have connected to the internet because they track the MAC address of that machine's interface. If I switch machines I have to re-authorize them and if I switch them to anything other than an Apple or PC they won't serve the internet at all. This ruled out the airport. With MAC address cloning, Linksys fools my cable company into thinking my Apple is still directly connected to the cable modem - I never have to reauthorize it. NAT/Port Forwarding: I'm running some services on my device. This can be tricky to set up for router access, but it takes about a minute with Linksys. I didn't even have to read the instructions - it was just done. Wireless Security: You can easily disable SSID broadcast, enable 128-bit WEP encryption, and easily change the admin password. And you're better off doing all of those things if you don't want someone stealing your bandwidth. Remote Config: Leaving this enabled will leave you vulnerable to security issues, but you may want to enable it long enough to have a friend help set up your router. Makes work easier. DHCP/Static IP: By playing around with the settings, you can have DHCP and static IP addresses peacefully coexist on both wired and wireless LANs. MAC Access List: When enabled, only specific wireless devices with a specific MAC address can connect to your wireless network. An extra layer of security much appreciated in Manhattan's high population density and limited bandwidth. And after all that configuration, the machine acted like a firewall and started logging intrusion attempts — and my goodness, I never thought there were so many hackers out there. !Advice. If you have problems, manually reset your router using the physical reset button. I had to do this once before the router worked properly, but no problems since! I would buy Linksys again and recommend it!