Cisco-Linksys WRVS4400N Wireless-N Gigabit Security Router - VPN v2.0 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I should have known better. I'm a geek (I've owned more than 20 computers/servers in my >10 years as a software engineer and I've setup >10 wired/wireless networks for friends and family), so when I read all of the bad reviews on this product, I just figured it was people who couldn't figure out what they're doing. I was wrong, so wrong. The WRVS4400N is totally worthless - don't make the same mistake as I - BUY A DIFFERENT ROUTER.
The problem is that every 24 hours or 36 hours (on the exact second) this router stops sharing the internet connections to all computers on the network. It must them be unplugged or rebooted via the web interface and then the problem goes away. So far their tech support has been unable to resolve the problem they keep sending me new routers. After this last one, they told me there is nothing more they can do and it will have to be reported as an issue to their product development team. My internet connection is fine as evidenced by plugging in a laptop when the router fails and they have reported no compatibility issues with my cable modem. And furthermore other people are experiencing the exact same problem.
This router does offer a great set of features for the price, but be careful - they're implemented poorly. So you'll likely turn them off.
The IPS (special security features that this router offers) features are worthless - if you want to FTP anything, you'll need to turn them off. And even with them off, I still can't connect to several of the FTP servers that I routinely connect to, which I could with my last router - for example Google Base FTP servers and Yahoo's webhosting accounts.
The QoS (quality of service) features are extremely hard to configure and there is NO documentation on line, include with the product or in the help section of the administration tool, which explains how to actually configure it.
The range of the N wireless network isn't very impressive. It's only slightly better than the G router from Linksys that it replaced. Both routers were placed in the same spot in my basement.
I haven't tried the VPN connectivity yet, but you're only limited to 5 clients connecting, which is a limitation that's not published on this product description, nor easy to find on Linksys's site.
Now, I've been a long time buyer and recommender of Linksys products, but in the last two years their product quality has plummeted as evidenced by the ratings they get her on Amazon. They keep sending me these survey's every time I contact their tech support and I share these same complaints, but they don't get any better. If anything they're getting worse.
Linksys's phone technical support is horrible. This unit isn't serviced by the "home" area of Linksys's tech-support staff, you must go through the "business" area and their level 1 support staff aren't even trained, so you go right to their level 2 support, which you'd think would mean you'd get good support, but not from Linksys. They have no idea how to solve problems with this router. Several of the tech support people have given up and made excuses to get off the phone - my favorite was to reapply the same version of the router's firmware, waste an hour reconfiguring it, and then wait 24-36 hours to see if the problem came back; and sure enough it did.
Linksys's phone customer support is horrible. After my last tech support tech's manager determined that I have yet another defective router and I should get a new one, I was transferred to their customer service department so that they could process an RMA. It took them 43 minutes to process the RMA. The customer service person, who could barely speak english, said he had to read everyone of the case notes in order to process an RMA. Then it took 24 minutes to get transferred to his supervisor to complain about him.
So to reiterate my review: While this router looks like a great set of features for great price, you'll need to turn off much of those features to be able to FTP, and you'll need to reboot your router every 24-36 hours if you want it to router internet service to other computers on your network. And if you have to call tech support or customer support, you'll be in for some horrible experience. So don't make the same mistake as I did. Don't buy this router.

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The Cisco WRVS4400N Wireless-N Gigabit VPN Security Router, formerly part of the Linksys Business Series, is designed and built for small businesses. It combines wired and wireless network access with switching capabilities in a single affordable device to keep your employees safely connected to the resources they need to be productive. Strong security features include a proven firewall with intrusion prevention, VPN capabilities, and an optional service that scans email to help fight spam, viruses, and other threats. An integrated 4-port Gigabit Ethernet switch allows up to four devices to share high speed connectivity in the office.

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ZyXEL NBG-318S 200 Mbps Powerline HomePlug AV 802.11g Wireless Router Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)UPDATE 1/2011
Both replacement units have failed in their HomePlugAV modules, so I have no HomePlug connectivity. In fact, scanning for Homeplug devices from the managment UI causes both units to crash. Downgrade to one star.
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UPDATE 7/2010
My 2nd unit has failed as well; it began spontaneously rebooting and wouldn't stay working for more than a few minutes at a time. However, I got pretty good service from ZyXel: they replaced BOTH units under warranty. Still working 11/2010.
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UPDATE 5/2010 :
I reduced the rating to 2 stars after one of my two units quit working after about a year. The Powerline connectivity evaporated after about 9 months and the wifi connectivity started to get intermittent after a year or so. Now the unit will only boot sporadically.
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I bought this unit to set up a Homeplug network connection to a home entertainment system that's poorly located for Wifi access, and after some fiddling I'm getting very good performance out of it, nearly 40Mb/sec in real-world circumstances.
When I ordered this router for thirty-nine bucks, it was much cheaper and more capable than the ZyXEL PLA-401 200 Mbps Powerline HomePlug AV Wall-plug Adapter that it's intended to be used with- so I bought two NBG-318S's instead, and configured the 2nd one as an access point. That gave me the benefit of having a 4-port switch as well as a Wifi extender in the access point - why buy the PLA-401? (It's still listed a comparable price.)
Wireless strength was comparable with the D-Link WBR-3210 that it replaced. The router's in the basement and I still have decent signal quality two floors up in our wood-framed house. Plus having the 2nd router configured as a Wifi access point using Zyxel's "roaming" mode (Wifi clients are seamlessly handed off between the two radios as they migrate around the house) has effectively extended our Wifi coverage.
Be forewarned: it takes some arcane BPL voodoo to achieve maximum Homeplug network bandwidth across your A/C circuits, even if it is brand-new shiny code-compliant wiring like at our house. I spent an afternoon juggling the topology of outlets and power strips amongst my appliances while running iperf() between my client and server to monitor the network throughput. I don't think there's any way around the trial and error approach if you want to get good performance out of these things. By some simple, free (but time-consuming) rearrangements of the router, access point and appliance connections the bandwidth at my desired location went from 1Mb/S to 40Mb/S. Here are some tips:
* Homeplug AV performance can be good, but don't believe the 200Mb numbers the vendors throw around; I couldn't even get that bandwidth when the router and access point were plugged into the same outlet next to each other and connected to gigabit Ethernet clients.
* New adopters should be aware that the router and its access points can be on different circuits but pretty much need to be on the same 110V leg of your 220V house service to work. You'll have to check your circuit breaker panel to figure this out for sure.
* The Homeplug network's signal quality (and hence the achievable bandwidth) is extremely sensitive to noisy appliances plugged into the same circuit. For instance, at one point my bandwidth went from 25Mb to 8Mb when I plugged Apple's spiky Powerbook A/C adapter into the same outlet as the access point, and I still take a 5Mb/S hit if someone turns on the dimmable incandescents in our office. I may try putting ferrite chokes on the supply lines of some flourescent fixtures that are still on the common circuits.
* Having the access point plugged into an outlet wired closer to the breaker panel didn't necessarily help. I'm getting the best performance with the access point plugged into a different outlet than the home entertainment appliances, but further in wiring distance from the router - go figure.
* I thought that using surge-protected RF/EMI-filtered power strips on my appliances would help keep noise off the power lines carrying the network signal, but if the noise-filtering power strips were plugged in too close to the access point they actually seemed to filter out the network signal and my bandwidth dropped. Also, some power strip's LED indicators actually put more noisy spikes BACK INTO the line and made the throughput worse; after I quieted them down by clipping out the LEDs, the noise filtering seemed to have some positive effect.
* The Homeplug modems appear to use adaptive signal processing to operate in noisy home environments - the bandwidth can take a big hit when noisy appliances are initially introduced onto the circuit, but then you will see it slowly improve over 30 sec to a minute. (In my experience it was best to reboot the access point in the presence of the noisiest possible signals.) So let your bandwidth measurements settle down before making an evaluation of the benefits of a change to your topology.
* Find a software utility that will allow you to accurately measure data throughput on your network while you are making changes. You'll be chasing your tail if you try to use subjective evaluations of, for instance, how long it seems to take to load a web page. (You'll typically be looking for better LAN performance than your WAN's internet bandwidth anyway.) I used the the iperf utility (Google for it) available for MacOS, Windows and Unix-type systems.
I got good - if not super-prompt - feedback from a customer service technician in response to my prepurchase questions when sent through ZyXel's web site, but haven't heard back from my latest query by regular email. I'm also giving only 4 out of 5 stars because the latest manual available from ZyXel STILL doesn't mention features that are clearly available in the router's standard web-based configuration interface (their Windoze-based configuration "wizard" never functioned properly for me under Parallels) and it took me an hour to figure out how to enable simple WEP wireless security (hint: make sure WPS is turned OFF.)

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NETGEAR WNR2000 Wireless-N Router Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I picked up this router for two reasons: (1) I wanted to upgrade from my Wireless-G to Wireless-N (draft), to make file transfers faster between my computers; (2) I wanted to give whichever router I liked less to my parents, so I could have wifi there when I visit them. My existing router was a Linksys WRT54GS, which had good wireless-G speeds (I couldn't complain) and excellent uptime, stability, and reliability. It's main drawback is that the firmware doesn't have some features I want, such as the ability to set stable IP addresses to my PCs, and it can't be flashed to Tomato or DD-WRT. When I received the router, I decided to replace it, without using the Windows-based setup wizard (networking equipment shouldn't requires Windows), and set it up in the manner of an advanced router user.
First Impressions/Hardware Impressions
This router looks very nice. The lines are clean (there is no external antenna). The plastic is shiny. The lights on the front are stylish. The only thing I didn't like was that the manual said that the unit MUST be used in the vertical position, due to concerns about operating temperature (and probably the internal antenna, too). This is fine and all, but I liked the ability of the Linksys and other routers I've owned to be wall-mounted or positioned horizontally. The router is set up thoughtfully, and I like the on/off switch; I've never seen one on a router before, and I don't intend to use it, but it's nice to be able to turn off a piece of electronic equipment for a change! The packaging was spartan, sensible, and minimal, which I liked.
Initial Setup
The router comes with a CD with a Windows-based setup wizard. As a Mac and Linux user, this made me a bit nervous. Netgear seems to understand this, and helpfully point you toward the help files on the CD-ROM, which in turn point you toward "manual" setup instructions. The instructions were clear, concise, and had clear illustrations. They are minimal, however. They don't outline the capabilities of the router's firmware, which I was very curious about.
Firmware
As far as my Internet research told me, open-source, third-party firmware such as DD-WRT is not compatible with this router. I would love to run alternate firmware on my old Linksys router, but the version I have (version 5 of WRT54GS) doesn't support it. Fortunately for me, this router's firmware has a lot more functionality. Using the manual setup instructions, I found I could connect to the router using the address [...] instead of its IP address, which I thought was a nice touch. (Routers like this one have a web interface, which lets you adjust all available settings from one of your PCs.) The firmware presents you with a three-pane interface. The right-hand pane is context-sensitive help for each function. The contextual help is pretty useful, actually, for intermediate-to-advanced users. Most home users wouldn't look at it, I don't think. Anyway, the first time you connect to the router, it automatically checks for firmware update--a good feature. The best feature of this router, to an advanced user with a home network set up, is IP address reversation: You can force the router to give the same IP address to each of your computers, every time they connect. This is great for home servers, and is so easy to set up on this router, as compared to setting up static IPs on each computer. The router also has Quality of Service (QoS) features, which allow you to shape how much bandwidth is used for internet, voice, instant messaging, video games, and so on. Personally, I don't use this, but I would have loved it back when I was a VoIP customer. There are, of course, many features that I consider standard, such as DHCP and port forwarding. All in all, I was impressed with the stock firmware and don't feel a need to replace it.
Speed
Large (1 GB+) file transfers between my wired Linux server and my wireless-N MacBook are faster than with my old wireless-G router. I'm happy. I can't compare it to other wireless-N routers, though. As for Internet speed, it certainly seems snappy, though it could just be my imagination. I am not sure if it is any faster than my wireless-G router was; if anything, my cable modem is slower than this router can handle, so I didn't expect much change.
What I Didn't Test
I'm an advanced user, and don't mind setting up the wireless network and security myself, through the firmware. Therefore, I didn't test the WiFi Protected Setup feature. I didn't test the wireless range because I have a rather small apartment and it isn't an issue I'm concerned with. I didn't get Quality of Service because I tend to use the Internet for only one thing at a time. I've only had it for a short time, so I cannot comment on stability or robustness.
Remember To
If you buy this router, remember to set a new password for it, set up Wifi security, and change the SSID (the network name) so you can easily identify it!
Verdict
I really like this router's firmware features, and think that I will hold onto it, and pass my Wireless-G router on to my parents. I'm a little concerned about the stability issues that other reviewers mentioned, so I'm going to dock the router one star for now, and revise my review (if I'm allowed to) in several months or so.


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