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

The key is to install the firmware update posted December 24, 2009 (updates it to 2.0.0.9. Mine shipped with 2.0.0.4, and wireless performance was awful. I was connecting with an Intel Pro 2200G card, and couldn't get more than 30 feet away or on the other side of a glass door before the signal completely dropped. Almost sent the router back (figured any Version 2.0 software would be fine), but flashed it, and now it absolutely lives up to its specs.

I manage roughly 60 L2L VPN tunnels talking to a Cisco ASA 5500 concentrator, and this 4400N works great in remote locations where I need simultaneous wired, wireless, and VPN.

I've also used this in a different setting to provide VPN client access. Linksys was slow to update client software for current OS's (Vista, Win7), but version released on Feb 24, 2010 now provides Windows 7 compatibility.

Biggest advantage is single box for VPN and wireless. In addition, you can put it into a Repeater mode. I have a user with an office across the street from his home, and he's able to use a single internet connection via the repeater mode.

Overall, a great router once you do the firmware updates.

I purchased this router after using a Linksys WRV54G for about 5 years. I was looking forward to upgrading to the gigabit switch of the WRVS4400n to replace the fast ethernet switch of my old WRV54G. It was a simply configuration, has plenty of security options, great speed (i'm not using 802.11n, only 802.11g so I can't comment on the speed of such a connection) and a strong signal strength throughout my home.

Unfortunately, the unit purchased through Amazon would drop my connectivity for a very brief moment about each 10 minutes. If downloading files or using any UDP related application, my connection would drop. TCP oriented applications had no problem, but this caused me to drop VPN connections to work and file downloads would fail nearly 100% of the time. I verified that the issue was with the router by performing the same operations when connected directly to my router with no drops at all. Upgraded & downgraded the router's firmware (starting with a factory settings each time) with no change in the issue. I contacted Cisco and was asked to change my MTU setting...which did absolutely nothing. They were willing to replace my unit and shipped it next day to me and included a fully paid return label at their expense. They said I would most likely get a refurbished unit, though I did receive a new one judging on the packaging. Also I received a WRVS4400n v2 like the one I originally purchased from Amazon.

Since the replacement, I am completely satisfied with this router and would not hesitate to recommend it. I also purchased a WAP4410n to boost the signal strength in my home, but haven't needed it honestly. I have the WRVS4400n in my basement and the WAP4410n on the first floor (colonial home about 2200 sq ft). After buying a Wifi scanning utility for my iPhone I determined my signal strength issues were really conflicting signals with neighbors networks. I was using the default channel 6 and had a bunch of others on 6 or overlapping channels in the area. Switching my router to channel 1 and the wap to channel 11 worked like a charm and I get fully signal strength anywhere in the house or yard now (1, 6 & 11 are the only 3 signals you should really be using as they don't conflict with each other).

I have not experienced the issue with this router that others have repeatedly reported both here and on the Cisco forums, that being the wireless signal dropping and having to reboot the router often (daily from what I've read) to resolve the issue. I did experience this issue with my old WRV54G approximately on a monthly basis. So far I've had the WRVS4400n up for about 3 weeks with no wireless drops at all. Also, in case you're wondering, I'm using the latest firmware - 2.0.0.8.

The product has great features, and is very easy to setup.

Problem is, the features don't actually work.

VPN - It has built in VPN, and you get a client to run on the remote PC to make it part of your network. It almost works, except the connection will "drop" several times a day. Absolutely useless if you need a reliable connection.

Wireless - The wireless is CRAP. It is unable to maintain a connection for more then an hour or so. You can watch the PC's disconnect from the network, search for a new, and then reconnect again in a few minutes. If you're using the PC at the time, then tough luck. Some laptops are unable to connect at all (although they're more then happy to connect to other networks).

Buggy - I'm running the latest software (Dec 09), and it's full of bugs. Apart from dropping the connections, the VPN not working, the DHCP server failing, there's a problem where you connect with "Limited Connectivity"... which means the only thing your PC can talk to is the router. Not very useful, and extremely frustrating.

Technical Support - What support? They can't get further then "Try power cycling it AGAIN". In the end they sent me a new one.. exactly the same.

Great unit - Does what is claims. Has a lot of features for a router in this price range.

This router is nightmare. Out of the box the wireless would not come up, the web interface was very unresponsive. I tried to make it work. I upgraded the firmware to the latest version available on Cisco's site to no avail. I reset the configuration by using the reset switch to no avail. Router would lock-up while I was attempting to configure the router. Wireless never came up.
I have set a large amount of networks with wireless APs and router and I have never had so much trouble with any device as I did with this "thing".
After trying for an hour to have this POS configured I gave up put it back in it's box and sent it back to amazon.
Bad product! Bad product Bad product! Stay away! You've been warned.

I was a happy user for about two weeks, wondering at all the negative reviews here. Then this morning to my utter amazement I discovered that I had been running an open wireless network for the last few days!

Let me repeat this. This piece of garbage on its own reverted my wireless connection to open _unencrypted_ (not even WEP), broadcast SSID! I hope you understand that this is much much much worse than simply locking up or even catching fire.

I also found that it seemingly at random loses other settings too.

So, to recap, when it works it works great, but it loses pieces of its configuration which causes parts of it to stop functioning or to revert to no security.

I bought this router for its vpn capabilities (or should I say lack thereof). After a week and trying multiple firmware revisions, configurations (including alternative vpn client software), and tens of hours troubleshooting I'm giving up. I wasn't ever able to connect via vpn. This router is a waste of money. I used to swear by Linksys products. The last two have been Cisco branded, expensive and nothing but trouble.

Trying to get the VPN to work with a MAC product is extrememly difficult. I work on commercial remote access VPN's at work. This client/setup is more difficult than the Cisco higher class ASA. If I had it to do over again I would have bought a cheap wireless router and a ASA 5505! Search for IP Securitas if you are thinking about using this for remote access on a MAC and make sure you test it out before you leave. I had to leave first and trying to get it to work remotely is impossible to say the least.

I normally don't like to have an all-in-one solution as hardware of this kind is more reliable separate, but I needed something light for my home/personal use.
This has it all, router, gigabit switch, wireless-N, VPN, multiple SSID, VLAN, IPv6, static IP mapping, IPS, what else would one need? I'm also using this as a site-to-site VPN with another router (WRV54G). Avoid the WRV54G.

If you want a rock solid solution, I recommend the RV series. I replaced a RV042 with this WRV4400N just because I wanted the extra features, but the RV042 is bulletproof where the WRV4400N can be taken to its knees if you throw allot at it and you know what you're doing.

If you are a SOHO or for personal use this should be a great solution. Although if you need something more system critical then I recommend something else. But for what this is and what I am using it for, I love it.

Out of the box, this router configures like other Cisco Linksys devices and does just what it advertises. I like the granularity of access and the VLAN capability for the children as well as the optional wired LAN and WiFi host isolation. The optional span port provides a way of monitoring all traffic in the house with a packet capture device.

To allow a Linksys N router and Cisco router to work together is a sad tale of woe. I spent over 16 hours of phone-in tech time with both companies to resolve the problem. In the end I sent back the Cisco router as it couldn't configure to work.

It's amazing all the negative feedback this router has gotten. It certainly made me a bit nervous before purchasing, but thought I'd give it a shot anyway since it's really the only router in it's price range to offer what it does.

I purchased the router back in June and had it up and running within minutes. I use for my small business in which I have approx. 10 devices running through the router at this time (wired & wireless). I have had absolutely no issues with the connections whatsoever. It's an extremely fast router (wired and wireless) and I love the VPN capabilities. The only reason I have rated it 4 stars out of 5 is that it took a bit of effort to get the VPN functionality up and working properly. However, after two calls to Cisco's support team, they had me up and running.

Again, it's very strange to see all the problems posted here on Amazon, but I am very happy with the purchase after three months. Maybe I just got lucky...

**UPDATE**
Shortly after I wrote this review, I started experiencing connection issues which caused me to start resetting the router more and more often (at least once every couple of days). It got to be a major pain. As of yesterday (11/6/09), I replaced it with a Netgear SRXN3205. We'll see how this one goes....

I bought this thinking that it would allow me to do a few things that my old G wireless router could not:

1) Add VPN capability. I realized that IPSEC software would be necessary, which is cool since I have several versions available courtesy of some of my clients.

2) Upgrade to wireless N. The thought was that I would do some streaming from my media server to media player and streaming to my netflix box wirelessly. Wireless G connections were both a bit slow for HD streaming and are less reliable than Wireless N.

3) Get gigabit capability for my internal network, which matters a lot for working with large files across the network.

Other than #3, none of these was accomplished right out of the box.

In addition there was a major problem with wireless connectivity. I found that if there were no hard-wired DHCP clients connected, it would not give a DHCP address to any wireless client. Since my hardwired boxes all use static IPs, that kind of sucked.

After doing some research on the various Linksys/Cisco sites, I found that there was a firmware upgrade. I upgraded to 1.1.13. This addressed the wireless issue as well as the issues in configuring the VPN.

Nonetheless there are still problems.

It has turned out not to be great for wireless streaming because in heavy use it seems to overheat and the wireless just shuts down. I was able to fix this problem somewhat by wall-mounting it vertically with the ventilation holes oriented up and down, but now that things have warmed up here, I'm having problems again. This box is just not sufficiently ventilated for heavy use. I've decided to just run a CAT6 cable and install a small switch near my home theater stack to handle streaming over wires.

However, even for more casual use, wireless is somewhat less than perfect. Internet (DNS) connections to the wireless connections seem to get dropped periodically. I've been unable to figure out why. I'm able to get to my internal network fairly consistently, but there seem to be issues with DNS dropping off. Disabling IPv6 (which I don't need) on the clients seems to help, but hasn't completely resolved the issue. My old Linksys G router never had any of these issues.

Finally, this router really seems to slow things down a lot compared to a direct connection. Some slowing is normal, but this is in the range of 4mbps, and in my experience far more than should be experienced by a "business class" device.

Finally, there's the problem with the manufacturer. This product was originally labeled "Linksys" then "Linksys by Cisco" and now "Cisco Small Business Series." While the desire to move this type of product to the Cisco brand name is understandable, it seems to have been executed poorly. Do a Google search for info and you'll still be directed to some resources on the Linksys site. Support on the Cisco site is confusing and apparently not well maintained. Nobody anywhere seems to be really experienced at dealing with these routers or able to answer questions.

In the end, this router fills a space that Cisco seems not to be able to handle: It is more capable than the consumer-level stuff that they sell under the Linksys brand, but is sold to be used by people who are mostly not serious IT professionals and capable of detailed troubleshooting. It's too complex for the Linksys people, but not complex enough to be the kind of money-maker that Cisco can usually charge an arm and a leg for supporting. So it's fallen between the cracks, with poorly done and poorly tested firmware, lots of known issues that never get resolved and resulting poor performance.

This router probably works for you if you don't need many of the advanced features or can deal with the wireless cutting out from time to time. But if that's the case you can save yourself a lot of money by just getting a consumer model from any of the major manufacturers, including Linksys. It does not work well if you need a really capable business-class device.

Netgear seem to be far more interested in the SMB market. They have their issues too and their competing product is more expensive, but if you need a bulletproof SMB product with decent online support and information, that seems to be the way to go at this time.

Puts out a very strong signal, as far as I know secure too. Kept me from paying At&t for another account. (they stink)

It's a little pricey for a home wireless router but it is the best I've ever own.

I have mostly used Linksys routers, they have all worked for me. I was reluctant to buy this one based on reviews, but I know someone who installs these for their small business customers and has never had a problem with them. It has never locked up or in any way quit functioning for me, I have up to seven computers attached to the router and through a switch, two of which VPN to corporate networks. I have not tried the wireless N yet, my three wireless laptops are all G, I have no issues with the wireless G. I did not run any setup, I simply plugged it in to my network, replacing my old router. The biggest problem I had was getting an IP from the net, but rebooting the router a few times fixed that and I've had no problems since. Cisco's website is dreadful, I have not been able to locate the firmware upgrade yet. I changed the default IP because I originally set up the network on a netgear several years ago. I did not like the netgear and am not likely to buy another one of their products. As someone else reminded me, be sure to release the IP on your old router before installing the new one.

I've used the WRVS4400Nv1 since last Fall. I just recently updated to Firmware 1.1.3 and IPS Signature 1.40. With the newest Firmware, v1 of this product enables you to take advantage of the TrendMicro ProtectLink hosted security solution. If you only have Internet email accounts, and you're looking for extra email scanning as a first layer of protection of scanning inbound email to Outlook, do NOT choose this optional add-on service as it will not be of any use to you. You need to have your own mail server to take advantage of this add-on. Since I'm a SOHO employee, I don't need to use the URL filtering either. What I do use is the Web reputation based monitoring solution to ensure I don't visit a site that is a known bad one.

I don't use the VPN tunnels, so I can't comment on that. I don't use the QoS either. The Firewall and IPS features have so far worked great. I only wish it had the GigE WAN port like the v2, however, I don't believe I'd see a difference as I don't send large files over the Internet (I only have AT&T Elite DSL package which maxes out at 6Mbps downstream if I'm extremely lucky).

Never have had any of the lock-up matters that people have complained about either. Have not had to reboot the device either, except only when doing firmware upgrades. Yes, it is slow to reboot, but it's not a deal breaker in my book (it's probably a 2 min window for the reboot to take place).

I wish it had the feature to indicate when both new firmware and IPS signatures were ready for downloading and installation, however, overall, I am extremely pleased with this solution.

It's a good first line of protection to be used in conjunction with your point security solutions on the desktop too.

I work for a large computer corporation with 3 initials, where Cisco products are used often and successfully. For a small business, I wanted to provide the same stability that large clients receive, so I replaced the clients Netgear router with this Cisco model. The netgear had worked flawlessly for the previous 6 years, but I wanted an upgrade.

The first Cisco WRVS4400N turned out to be bad and Cisco tech support pointed out that it was version 1.x, but said there were new features in 2.x and it might work better. The problem with the first router was that after the IP address was set, the router would no longer show up on the network for management. (It couldnot be opened in teh web browser) The only way to change anything was to reseet it to the factory defaults and reprogram the entire thing from scratch.

The client had to pay to have the router configured, debugged then decommissioned and the old router put back into service. But the hope was that Cisco would be an upgrade. The work to configure the router cost 5x the cost of the router, so buying a router that causes service incidents is costly.

The new router arrived and the client paid to have it configured. The config backup from the version 1 routere was incompatible, so it had to be done from scratch. After it was configured, it also vanished. Just like the first version.

I called Cisco tech support, and found them to be aware of the problems and they said that the router has known problems working with the default domain 192.168.1.1 as well as 192.168.0.1. They suggested using 192.168.4.1. However this had the same problem after it was configured, it could not be managed.

I retured the 2nd router and went out and bought a replacement Netgear, matching the one they had used for 6 years. It worked well out of the box, has all the right features, except that it's G instead of N. There is an N version, but it is more expensive. So we put in the G. and it has given us no trouble.

Save yourself the cost and hassle of using the Cisco product until you see a significant history of people giving it good reviews. Your network is the back bone of your computing. A problematic router will cost you, ever day of your life. Use what works, and don't be overly influenced by the name Cisco, since that name is based on their enterprise products. They obviously have a different team working on their small business products.

I still like the Cisco name, but I won't be buying or recommending any more of their WRVS4400N routers. How it works is what matters, not how good the name is.

If you want a reliable router for a small to medium sized busines, try this one. NETGEAR ProSafe 802.11g Wireless VPN Firewall 8 FVG318 - Wireless router + 8-port switch - EN, Fast EN, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11 Super G

If I only had one 4400N, I would assume that mine was a rare, trouble-free example however, I have 4 at various locations. None has been an on-going problem but, like every other WiFi router I have ever deployed(beginning with a first generation Airport) the 4400Ns have had initial issues when first placed but again - no more than any of the others and certainly not as bad as that 1st gen Airport - the only guarantee that applied to it was that it would fail from overheating within 30 days of warranty expiration.

After installing about 10 wireless networks, I started doing this: After verifying Firmware, changing channels etc - When a router starts misbehaving - I reset it to default and reconfigure it. Reconfiguration is quicker than troubleshooting. It will not take long if your documentation is complete. You do document your work right? Code gets corrupted - it shouldn't but, it does. (you can also save the config to a memory stick and reload it but, I find manual reconfiguration is more reliable).

WiFi network failures or flaky-ness is in my experience, usually due to interference - refrigerators,HVAC dishwashers and washing machines have motors which can cause instability. When experiencing problems with reception - finding a channel free from interference, or moving the router provides resolution -how simple is that?

Place the router above the area you're attempting to cover if possible. Adding a better antenna will also help if distance/walls are an issue. Office buildings have lots of metal which disperses the signal so, range is often an issue. My rule of thumb is that a plaster/drywall and wood wall =33% of range - Masonry or drywall/steel = 50% of range - more if it's a really thick wall.

Also when dealing with streaming and internet availability problems don't forget to tweak MTU (google DrTCP if you're not into CLI).

I've been in I.T. for almost 20 years. When I started, tech companies were directed by engineers, R&D was a priority and products were tested rigorously prior to market. Today, at the direction of marketing MBAs the Income Stream is almighty, ever more complex products are prematurely rushed to market turning us into a world of unpaid beta-testers. I guess if being a nerd is your life, being a beta tester bestows a certain amount of esteem. Care to discuss BlueTooth?

Background:
Software Engineer for Motorola, Inc.
Computer Engineer from Georgia Tech

Short Version:
I lose 4-6 Mb/s of download speed when hooked up through the WRVS4400-N Router instead of direct to my PC. Also, I had intermittent problems with my Wireless Computer connecting to the Wireless Router. I often had to reboot the Wireless Computer to resolve the issue and bring Internet back up. I fixed everything by replacing the Linksys WRVS4400-N Router (1 star) with a D-Link DIR-825 (5 stars), and it works great no issues what so ever!

Long Version:
I recently purchased the "Cisco Linksys WRVS4400N 4-Port Wireless-N Gigabit Security Router with VPN" against my better judgement. In the past, I have always heard of issues with Linksys, but when I went to MicroCenter, this time they pursuaded me to get a Linksys Wireless Router instead of a D-Link Router. They talked about how many less problems they had with Linksys, and so on.

Well, I figured I might as well give Linksys a chance as D-Link Tech Support has been going down hill for the last several years, so I walked out of the store with my Linksys Router. Now, I am big time D-Link fan as far as usability and reliability.

After plugging in the Linksys Router I noticed my internet was a tad bit slower then it seemed to be before I hooked it up, but I thought it might just be my imagination. I then setup Wireless-N Only Network. A Vista Ultimate Machine that had a Linksys Wireless-N Adapter, was able to connect to the network at first, but then after some time, the internet would just die. And the only way to reconnect the Vista Machine back to the Router was to reboot the Vista Machine (not even disconnecting and connecting would fix the problem).

After this I decided to do some speedtest (http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest) to see how my connection was doing, well right away I noticed I was losing at least 4Mbits per second of download speed. So I decided to disable the wireless on the router and pull all connections except the one wired PC (this PC was just formatted less then a week ago when I ran this test). I still had a 4 Mbit per second drop.

So by this point I called tech support for Linksys. They gave me the I do not know speech had me try a few things that did not work at all, and then decided to ship me out a new Linksys Wireless Router. Well, I hooked that one up and low and behold it had the same problems.

At this point, I just shipped everything back got my money back and went with the D-Link DIR-825 Wireless Router (which is what I wanted in the first place). BOTTOM LINE: I am never buying Linksys again!

Been using these routers in several installs and never had a problem. One of the few routers that can be used with wireless touchscreen in an automation system.

Cisco Linksys WRVS4400N 4-Port Wireless-N Gigabit Security Router with VPN As the owner of an IT services company we frequently download large files. The version 1.1 of this router that we purchased would download a partial file and then stop due to bad code controlling the MTU. After calling Cisco support, who admitted being able to recreate the issue, they had no fix and basicly ceased to respond to any further request for support. Beyond that the router would disconnect from the internet frequently which required power cycling to get the router working again. One tech finally took ownership and allowed an RMA to be generated. The product was replaced with an older version 1.0 refurbished product which was poorly packed and was received damaged. I have now ordered a new NetGear to replace this junk. I wouldn't recommend Linksys or Cisco small business products for anyone needing quality equipment.

I'm a networking professional, this router is nothing but trouble. I had to constantly reboot the router as it would stop providing wireless service to my network. I had to disable most of the security services just to get it to work for more than 24 hours.

Just a bad product, period.

I bought this router so I could set up IPv6. I also liked the VPN feature, so I bought it without looking at reviews. I figured I've used Linksys routers for at least 10 years and they are awesome.

I was totally wrong. This product is horrible. At random times it just stops servicing any of the ports. The lights all show good status, but it will not respond. I would have to go and uplug it and plug it back in. This was happening on average probably once an hour. The longest it ran was 12 hours one night. The more devices I plugged into it the worse it got. At the end, with a devcie on all 4 ports, it wouldn't last more than about 15 minutes before hanging.

I thought at first it was bad cables or that the IPv6 may be causing problems. So, I plugged it in with new short cables and had the same problem. I also turned off all the IPv6 stuff to see if it worked, same problem.

One other thing. This product is said to support IPv6. But it only suports it for your network. It can't talk out on the internet with IPv6. What's the point of that.

I hope this isn't the future of linksys. I used to love their products.

I even called my provider to help install this thing, but still It will not send signals to a computer that is onky 40 ft away. I wasted my money.

5 Reasons why not to buy this product
1. It squiels like a pig (high pitch sound) 2. Its slow 3. Tech support is in India 4. When you upgrade the OS it goes even slower. 5. THE WORST UP TIME I'VE EVER SEEN. I really wanted to use this for a cross product (mac,pc,ps3, and Wii) node to a fast internet connection... I didn't get that. Trust me please look else where. In the end if they don't give me a refund I'll have to say I'm going with D-Link :)

After having several Linksys routers I kind of trusted the brand, well I wasted my money on this one, it has nice features and that is why I found it attractive but simple things like enabling the firewall will block remote management, there may be a workaround but you don't want to buy this thing to spend hours of googling workarounds, so far that is what I have done, simply put don't waste your money. So far I have had no luck on getting the VPN going...will update when I get it running but it is not straight forward as you would expect.

Problems ive had includes the device randomly forgetting configuration. I also patched the device to the lastest firmware and the device started needing to be rebooted every two to three hours. I located the issues on their website from over 6 months ago and they where all known issues with the firmware that they recommend. When i voiced these concerns 'in a very constructive manner' on their forums they removed my comments from the forum. They sell this device as business class yet support it like a 30 dollar end user print server. This is the most dissapointing network device i have ever owned. Do not buy this device!

This router has major VPN issues. Check the Linksys forum for details.

Basic routing functions seem to work ok.

The GigE wired speed was the only benefit of this device. The VPN doesn't work - or at least didn't out of the box. After upgrading the firmware, you can get the VPN to work (kind of), but it breaks FTP access.

The wireless disconnected randomly then finally stopped working all together... did I mention that the first one I'd bought failed to boot up at all and I had to exchange it?

I finally got tired of fighting with it and re-installed my old 4 port router w/wi-fi.

Wait until they have a product that works before buying into this line.

This device was purchased for a small office with around 10 employees. It was an upgrade from a much older and less expensive Linksys G router.

This device however is riddled with problems. It routinley drops CPU's from the network, hardly works with any print servers, does not retiain settings, etc...

I'm not saying that it doesn't work at all...but you can expect to be resetting connections on a regular basis.

I have two of these devices, purchased in January of 2007.

While the specs on the box are impressive, the unit is only as good as the company that stands behind it.

These units have been plaqued with buggy firmware since day 1, and not a single version has performed nearly as reliably as it should. Some folks experience a loud whining noise from their units, vpn issues, problems with wireless, problems with it not allowing FTP transfers, firewall issues, etc. It has to be rebooted daily, just for basic functionality.

It is bug ridden, and the company is non responsive. In fact, if you call tech support they claim they are not aware of these issues. Their forum is full of claims supporting these known issues, yet it has been over 4 months since a new firmware was released.

I have been a Linksys/Cisco fan since the start, as someone in the IT field, but this product is truly a disappointment. Save yourself some hassle and get another brand.

Consumers who are stuck with one of these should be outraged, and considering some kind of class action compensation from the vendor.

ADDED MAY 19th: Here we are 7 months later, and Linksys has yet to acknowledge that there are problems. There has been NO fix. This is supposed to be a BUSINESS CLASS piece of equipment. In it's current form, it is unusable. It should be pulled by retailers until most of these serious issues are addressed, IMO. This is COMPLETELY unprofessional and unacceptable.

We purchased this router to provide internet access to our christian school. We know that this was designed for Home use, but our budget was small. However, in a small network of about 20 PC's and 20 wireless laptops, it works very well for basic internet access. This router is connected to a network with 3 GIG switches and 8 wireless access points. We have not had to re-set the router as indicated by the previous reviews. We do have the router connected to a UPS. Works very well in a low budget network. I recommend configuring the router with OPEN DNS as your DNS server to provide content filtering on your network. This service is very good and it is free.

The title pretty much says it all. Was a very promising product. Unfortunately, that's all it was... a promise.

My unit makes a high pitch noise that will drive anyone insane.

The wireless either won't grab an IP address or it will drop out shortly after.

If this product isn't recalled, then there is something wrong with the world.

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.

Initially this product seemed like the perfect mix for me.... Gigabit switch, Wireless N, and site-to-site VPN tunneling. Well, it turns out it's too good to be true. There are a lot of things wrong with this product.

The firmware that came on it was as buggy as ever, and in order to upgrade to the latest firmware cleanly, it involves multiple resets to factory settings (otherwise you might brick the thing).

I had issues holding my VPN connections (using it for site-to-site tunnels to Cisco PIX's at other locations) with the old firmware. I upgraded to the latest firmware, but then ordinary FTP would not transfer files anymore, in active OR passive mode (making FTP useless).

So I downgraded again, this time to firmware in between what came on it, and the newest. FTP returned, but the VPN tunnels would tend to drop and/or not negotiate from time to time, and Wi-Fi would drop out from time to time. Every once in a while Internet access would drop out completely, and the reboot process on this thing is woefully long (about 2 minutes, taking down the network) as compared to the consumer-grade Linksys routers that boot right away. The ongoing problems with this thing consumed my time, and I was less productive because of it.

I don't know if it's ongoing firmware woes, or just bad design, or trying to pack in too many functions in one device. Suffice to say, the thing's not reliable. I returned it and bought a Cisco ASA 5505 instead (if you use this for remote office purposes, this thing costs more, but it rocks).

True, I don't have a gigabit switch or wireless included in the package anymore, but I do have a rock-solid device that takes advantage of my 10 meg service, and I can always go out and buy the other devices separately if I really need them.

I went through a total of 5 of these routers trying to find just ONE that worked reliably. Every sigle one exhibited the same problems even when using the factory default settings.
Constant lockups requiring a power reset. Unreliably wireless and wired connectivity as well. This router was never ready to leave the development area, much less be sold.
Adding inslut to injury, Linksys trying to market this as business class. It does not even qualify for single user use at home. They work better as oversized plastic paperweights.

After over 80 manhours of work and over a dozen hours on the phone, Linksys showed themselves to be wholly incapable of resolving the problem. The only answer they had was "upgrade the Firmware" and "Go get another one from the store". In all aspects, their job appeared more to delay the buyer until after most stores 30 day return policy.

I finally packed everything up and returned the routers to the store for my money back. Luckily I was able to do so due to the extended return policy for the holidays. If I could only get my money back for the wasted time spent on these blocks of garbage.

Save yourself the trouble, avoid all the Linksys "business" class devices. They are a waste of money.

Drops wireless connection everyday. I have to reset it everyday. Wireless range is very poor. It is not worth the price. I am using the latest firmware 1.01.03 which is released on 10/25/2007. No improvement even after the firmware update.

The wireless cuts out frequently and the VPN was difficult to configure. If you're set on this product, wait until the next firmware update--at least.

This is a nifty router and pretty to look at, don't get me wrong. You plug it in, bring up the controlling web page, and soon it will be connected to the web and to both your wired and wireless machines. Problem is, I bought this router to tunnel into a Lucent IPSEC VPN gateway at work. I also tried to connect to a Netgear VPN router. In both cases, some of the options you need to make the connection work are missing. Put simply, use of this router to tunnel to an outside VPN gateway or router will probably not work unless you are going to connect to a Linksys (or perhaps a Cisco) solution. Linksys tech support, while good, can only demonstrate that the router functions with their own equipment (which they easily set up by remote management of my router). In conclusion, for VPN from the router to an outside VPN gateway or router, it appears that the WRVS4400N will only support Linksys at the other end of the tunnel.

I am very pleased with this product, I have a big house, over 3,000 sq, feet and the router I had before, made it hard to get good reception in some of the rooms up stairs, and downloads were really slow.
But this one works great!, I would recommend this router to anyone needing a good router, Linksys makes the best products.

Roy

I have multiple linksys routers and this one has two very powerful processors instead of one but its performance is terrible. I believe the firmware is full of bugs. The wireless draft.N is unstable as well as my connection to the internet. My connection speed was variable between 10mbs to 10kbs with no apparent reason and I was disconnecting almost every hour. I returned the router and put my old one back and everything is back to normal.

If you are looking for a basic router, it will probably work. However, if you are planning to take of the VPN functions beware. For reasons still uknown, this router doesn't work with our VoIP PBX. Linksys has confirmed the problem, but has yet to provide new firmware. Ended up having to swith it out with a WRV54G. It is old, but it gets the job done....

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REVIEW UPDATE
- Nov 13 2007 -

Linksys released on Oct.30 2007 a new firmware (ver 1.01.13).
I updated the router immediately, and after 15 days I could say that I noticed much more system stability.
Configuration interface has been deeply modified also to implement new functionalities (like IP address pre-assignation).

Many bugs has been fixed, some still exists.

Menues are still confusing sometimes and help text have to been improved.
Wish that these matter will be kept in consideration for next firmware release.

Wireless seems to be more stable even if performances are not 100% as expected.

This product has been greatly improved, but still Linksys
have to do some work to release a better firmware version.


=======================================================================


PREVIOUS REVIEW
- June 28 2007 -

After one week of testing in my home network in conjunctoin with LinkSys AM200 ADSL modem I would like to report this way:

Firmware version: 1.00.13

PROS: Good firewall performances, uptime, gigabit switch, nice looking, excellent phone technical support, tiny wall AC adapter.

CONS: Very poor and instable Wireless "G" performances, dramatic Wireless area reduction in comparison with my old D-LINK, impossible to preassign IP addresses, high-pitched continuous noise, limited MAC filtering (just 20 entries), heat, web interface hangs, front LEDs are useless if you don't watch them just in front, web interface sometime confusing or -at least- not clear.

This is sold as a "professional" WiFi router, so customers are expecting
adequate performances.
I wish that serious guys like Linksys will suddenly fix the major cons, WiFi "G" performances and IP pre-assign in particular.
Otherwise a much cheaper "home" product will work absolutely better at one third of the cost.

Pros:
Very pleased with this router. So far, can't take advantage of the gigabit connectivity since only one of my computers has the gigabit capabilities (a private file server). The increased bandwith helps my LAN tremendously since LAN file transfers will not max out the router's bandwidth on the WRVS4400N (where it would bog down the WRT54g and even affect internet speeds). Simple, straightforward setup that is exactly like any other linksys router.

Cons: You can hear a high-pitched hum pulsing in sync with high network activity. This is hardly noticeable for most people, but I am very particular about hardware noise.

Also, this router gets a bit hot when set horizontally on a table (haven't tested a vertical arrangement). The heat is not really a con, I was just a bit suprised because it was hotter than I thought it would be.

We have a small business network and purchased this router primarily for internet access. The router LOCKS UP several times per week and must be powered down/up to get it restored. Even that proceedure can take 2-3 attempts before you get it back up. This major problem makes the router unreliable and completely useless in our application. We spent MANY wasted hours trying to trouble shoot this problem and believe it may simply be a design flaw in the product. We will be relocating it to the dumpster and researching a higher quality product from a different manufacturer.

I have a Belkin Pre-N network at my house and liked the specs on the new Linksys product (WMP300N PCI adapter and the WRVS4400n router and access point) for my office. Out of the box nothing worked. An upgrade to .13 firmware in the router at least got it working. Speeds are impressive, but as many others have noted, the system hangs up at random times driving users to distraction. I returned the product and reinstalled my Cat 6 cables.

Once Linksys gets the bugs out I'll try them again, but they released this product without enough testing, in my opinion. This is a classic example of buyer beware.

I've check this ratings before buy it and was kind of scared cause have a lot bad ones, but in practice is great, just have to make the firmware upgrades and that's it... also check the IPS service it's kind of cool.

I usually never buy a router from linksys, 1st one was a pain to setup, 3 years ago. Now when you buy this its does everything for you. Only a few settings and presto! Filtering works perfectly. Didnt pass any viruses or content that i blocked. (ie word filtering works perfectly) Blocks attackers from killing the router, Logs all the attacks and there ip address. Technology great. Firewall and Mimo wireless with a gigbit ethernet. What more can you ask for?? Upgrade firmware and signatures when purchasing it. When installing dont forget to release the ip from the old router and on the linksys dhcp renew. Many ppl forget about this. Other people say its bad, it probably they dont know what they are doing or just got a bad router from the site. Defiently worth the money. Got 1 for the business and one for home. This is a must have product.

I bought this router for a small business network as an upgrade mainly for the gigabit switch and added security features. It is very simple, a workgroup p2p consisting of 8 computers. When I set everything up it worked fine for about an hour when it started dropping the wireless connection. After a while I decided to disable the n-draft connection. This made no difference. It would either drop the Internet connection or drop the connection period. I upgraded the firmware as well. The browser interface is slow and would even hang sometimes. Whats even more disturbing is that even the wired clients could not always access the network and even when they could, there was lag. This is using a gigabit connection. After working with it for a week I came to the conclusion that it is defective and returned it. Like the other person here mentioned, it is noisy...it emits a near ultrasonic like noise which can be really annoying if you're near it for even a short time. As soon as I hooked up my old router (Gigabyte B49G), my network was rock solid again.