Linksys Befsr41 4 port router

[ballymoss]

Attempting to connect 2nd PC to Main PC with crossover cable and above router to share broadband connection (Cable modem), if I purchase a 2nd hand 4 port router will it have previous settings saved within (IP address ETC) and if so are they easy to clear ?

[Paul K]

Factory reset will clear all old settings, you need a straight through ethernet cable though not a cross over.
How to factory reset the router.

Hold the reset button on the unit for 30 seconds or more and the router will be restored to factory defaults. This also means that your configuration will be set to factory defaults also, so if your router is configured for your ISP you may loose your connection until you set the unit up again. The default password for the router is admin in lower case letters

Then try this:
Power off the cable modem,
power of router
power off PCs
connect all together (sacm to WAN port on router)
power up SACM (modem)
let the lights settle
power up router
let lights settle
power up pcs
If that doesn't work then your may need to clone your currently connected PCs MAC address into the router but that isn't difficult to do.

hi

couple of things

you should only need one router to share connection between 2 pc's

you should connect using straight through cables, not crossover

- however, if you do get a 'used' router, there will be a 'reset' button, which will restore the factory defaults.

<edit> oh look that is what he said ^^^

[ballymoss]

So am I right in thinking that I can just plug the router into the power supply and do a 'Factory reset' before going near my PC ? I thought that a home network with two PCs required a crossover cable or did you mean the straight through ethernet just between the cable modem and the router ?

[Paul K]

PC to PC is cross over but connecting the PCs to the router or to the SACM requires straight through ethernet cables.
Reset the router before attaching it to the SACM and PCs

[mmm]

Originally Posted by ballymoss

Attempting to connect 2nd PC to Main PC with crossover cable and above router to share broadband connection (Cable modem), if I purchase a 2nd hand 4 port router will it have previous settings saved within (IP address ETC) and if so are they easy to clear ?

Watch out the early BEFSR41 V1 and V2's will be very cheap second hand at the moment

a) coz they are old (>4 years)

and

b) They can't handle ntl/telewest 10Mbps throughput!

For similar reasons you'll also be able to get older wireless-B routers cheap as users find that the old wireless standard can't handle more than 3Mbps of actual throughput.

[ballymoss]

Would this be ok (able to handle 10 Mbps throughput) ?




A Cable Broadband Router with four 10/100 switched LAN ports
Ideal Solution for Home or Office

Features

• Supports universal plug'n play for easy configuration.
• Supports IPSec and PPTP pass through.
• Administer and Upgrade the router remotely over the Internet.
• Configure the router as the DHCP server on your network (up to 254 hosts).
• Advanced security management function for port filtering, MAC address filtering and DMZ hosts.
• Automatically detects straight-through or cross-over CAT5 cable
• Model number BEFSR41

With the EtherFast Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch at the heart of your home network, you donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t need to be a networking genius to share printers, files, and your high-speed Internet connection. Specifications

• Network address translation (NAT)
• 1 x 10/100Base-T RJ45 WAN port for cable modem connection
• 4 x 10/100Base-T auto MDI-MDIX RJ45 switched LAN ports
• NAT based firewall
• Integrated DHCP server
• Virtual private network (VPN) pass-through
• UPnP enabled
• DMZ hosting and port forwarding
• Web-based and remote configuration

What's Included?

• Linksys BEFSR41 4-Port Cable Router
• External power adapter
• 1 x 1.5m CAT5 straight Ethernet cable
• Printed installation guide
• Resource CD with user guide

[jem16]

If you are buying a new Linksys BEFSR41 then it will be fine for 10mbps as the new ones are v3. Just don't buy an older one - v1 or v2.

When you get it, turn your cable modem and PC off. Connect the cable modem to the router's wan port with the ethernet cable provided. Then connect each PC to the router with an ethernet cable. You used to always have to use a straight-through cable for this but a lot of routers now have auto-detect for the cable used. You do not connect PC tp PC - this is for sharing a connection using ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) built into Windows and meant that one PC had to be on for the other to share its connection. The router does a better job and means each PC works independently.

When you've finished connecting it all together, turn on the cable modem and wait for the lights to go steady. Then turn on the router - you should get a lit LED on the wan port of the router. Then turn on each PC and check their internet connection. If they are running XP it should be straightforward.

[ballymoss]

How can I tell if its V1 /2 /or 3 ?

Originally Posted by jem16

If you are buying a new Linksys BEFSR41 then it will be fine for 10mbps as the new ones are v3. Just don't buy an older one - v1 or v2.

When you get it, turn your cable modem and PC off. Connect the cable modem to the router's wan port with the ethernet cable provided. Then connect each PC to the router with an ethernet cable. You used to always have to use a straight-through cable for this but a lot of routers now have auto-detect for the cable used. You do not connect PC tp PC - this is for sharing a connection using ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) built into Windows and meant that one PC had to be on for the other to share its connection. The router does a better job and means each PC works independently.

When you've finished connecting it all together, turn on the cable modem and wait for the lights to go steady. Then turn on the router - you should get a lit LED on the wan port of the router. Then turn on each PC and check their internet connection. If they are running XP it should be straightforward.

[jem16]

Originally Posted by ballymoss

How can I tell if its V1 /2 /or 3 ?

If you're buying new it will definitely be a v3 as they've been out for about a year now. Cosmetically they look different. The v3 routers have a single row of LEDs. V2 routers had 3 rows of LEDs. I believe the badging also changed with the newer ones having "Cisco Systems" - the older ones had something different although I can't remember what.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by ballymoss

Attempting to connect 2nd PC to Main PC with crossover cable and above router to share broadband connection (Cable modem), if I purchase a 2nd hand 4 port router will it have previous settings saved within (IP address ETC) and if so are they easy to clear ?

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...ad.php?t=31794