The Linksys EtherFast Four-Port Cable/DSL Router offers small offices with a broadband Internet connection or an Ethernet backbone a simple and affordable solution to get all of their PCs interconnected and online. Priced at AU$550 estimated, the router supports up to 253 users with firewall protection.
The EtherFast tackles both network speed and connection sharing head-on with a built-in four-port 10/100Mbps switch. It speeds up data transfers by directing packets to their correct destination more efficiently than an unswitched hub could, and it dedicates bandwidth to each machine on the network. The device connects directly to the network with a separate WAN port, so you don't to need to attach it to a dedicated networked system.
We tested the EtherFast on a LAN consisting of three networked systems, all using 10/100Mbps network interface cards. The only difficulty we ran into during setup was figuring out how to assign the ISP-required name to the device. A call to the Linksys technical-support line provided us with the information we needed, and we were soon up and running.
Once the router was recognized by our ISP, the EtherFast acted as a DHCP server. The router is assigned its own unique IP address (so no IP addresses are needed for the networked systems), and all of our systems shared the cable connection with no noticeable loss in Internet access speed. We also tested the unit by simultaneously transferring two 8GB files across the LAN while one of the systems was also downloading an 8GB file from the Web. We experienced no performance degradation.
The Linksys EtherFast Four-Port Cable/DSL Router is an excellent choice when you need to share a broadband connection, require Internet security, and wish to eliminate LAN bottlenecks. That's a lot of functionality for a device that sells for AU$550.
Linksys EtherFast Four-Port Cable/DSL Router
Distributor: Celtic Netware
Ph: 03 9504 0658; Fax: 03 9563 9536
Price: ERP AU$550.
Rating: 4 Star
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