If you have ever thought about setting up a home network (LAN) to share your Cable or xDSL connection with more than one computer, the Linksys Router was made specifically for this purpose. I’ve wanted to setup a network at my home now for quite a while. I have had a RoadRunner connection on my computer for a couple of years now, while my wife suffered-by on a dial-up connection on her computer (which meant that I actually suffered too because… well, you know what I mean.) I had tried to set up a connection sharing network when Win98se first came out, but I had so much trouble that I just let it slide. (I didn’t realize initially that I had to have two NIC (Network Interface Cards) in the Server PC and one NIC in the client.) By the time I figured out what was wrong I had lost interest. But my wife is using her computer more and more these days, and the pressure was back on to do something about our Internet connection speed variance problem in our home.

Fortunately I have a neighbor who is also a computer geek, and he told me about a way that it could be done that was actually a piece of cake to install. I really didn’t believe him at first so I put it off for a while. Recently I was visiting this neighbor and saw how he had networked three PCs to his RoadRunner connection and easily added his notebook while I was sitting there. So I made the commitment.

I went home, logged on the Buy.com and ordered a BEFSR41 Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL router, and three days later darn near got instant broadband access to my wife’s computer. It really was much easier than I had ever expected.

I unpacked the router, plugged in the power cord, plugged in a connection from my cable modem to the router, from the router to my wife’s computer—all connections using Category 5 cable— and voilà, I had a broadband connection. Really! Only one NIC card was needed in each PC. I already had one in both PCs so it really was a snap (excuse the pun).

All you need to do is install a NIC card, which in Windows nowadays is literally just a snap. Once you do as I mentioned above there are only a couple of other things you need to do before you’re connected. Start Internet Explorer (sorry, I don’t know how to do it in Netscape), click on Tools, Internet Options, Connections and run the Setup Wizard. Choose to Setup your connection manually, connect through the LAN, automatic discovery of proxy server, setup a mail account or not if you already have one and click on finish. Then, on your desktop right click on the Network Neighborhood icon, click on the Identification tag and make sure the Workgroup name is the same on both computers. At that point you should be able to log on the Internet at broadband speed. I had had an MSN account on my wife’s PC in the past and had to disable MSN before it would connect properly. But that was it! My wife was happy, so I was happy. (…know what I mean?!)

Now, I used all the default settings, but the router comes with a web-based utility to set it up anyway you choose. It is a Hardware Based DHCP Server that allows you to share your Internet connection with up to 253 client PC's. You can share out your single Internet connection to that many systems.  It also acts as a hardware Firewall, providing the security and protection from Internet Hackers and Peeping Tom's (lurkers). And, to top it all off, it's the ONLY Router in its class which uses a 4-Port 10/100 Switch, instead of a standard non-switching HUB! (In English: It's both fast and compatible.) It also has a dedicated uplink port so you can easily add more switches or hubs. This will allow you to expand your network beyond the built-in 4 port limit. Obviously, this Router provides for enough potential connections to satisfy the most insatiable tech-addict or small business. If you are considering this Router for a small business, it is capable of handling a fat (business level) 1.5MBps pipe! (A business level T1 is only capable of 1.5Mbps. This router can handle a connection 8 TIMES faster than that.)

Some of the features are:

The Firewall is a Hardware-Based "Port Closer". A primary feature of this is that the Router will not respond to unsolicited requests from the Internet but there is not much control over this. It’s either on or off. I prefer a software firewall with options to allow me more control. But it wasn’t a problem. I just don’t use the hardware-based firewall.