Customer Reviews
Best of Linksys VPN Routers 
2008-01-18
Linksys has recently built a well deserved reputation for cutting corners and building inferior routers. Often features do not work as advertised or at all. That has been particularly true with Linksys VPN routers.
This router is the only Linksys VPN router I've found that lives up to its billing. I have a number of them installed at client locations to create site to site VPNs and they just work. Setup of the router is easy, as is setup of the site to site VPN.
If you need to connect two separate physical locations, this is the right router for the job.
Awesome plug 'n play router 2007-04-29
I was a little hesitant after reading all the negative reviews here, but knowing that most people are just plain lame when it comes to tech issues, [...]. I followed the instructions all the way up through plugging in the power adapter. At that point, I didn't have to do anything else, my network was now connected. As I turned on the rest of the pc's and laptop, they all connected to the internet immediately. My home wired network consists of 3 pc's and a laptop, all running XP. BTW, after installing this router (my previous router was a Netgear wireless router, that gave me intermittent connection problems), my measured download speed increased 33%, to 8096 kbps.
Perfect for SOHO remote access 2007-01-04
The Linksys BEFVP41 is perfect for remotely accessing a small home network with a static IP address. The connections are secure and the setup is extremely easy. Using tools such as the LinSys IPSec Tool, accessing one's home network is extremely easy. I recommend this product to any small- or even medium-sized office that wishes to connect multiple locations or support remote/roaming users.
terrible 
2006-11-20
This has to be one of the worst routers I've used. First, it gives me a ping reply only about 10% of the time and I have to hard reboot it to be able to log in and configure it. This results in me rebooting it about once every 2 days. Forwarded ports only work some of the time, and the only thing I have been able to reliably connect is internet to 3 computers. MY HTTP SERVER CANNOT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET EVEN THOUGH THE SERVER ITSELF CAN BE ACCESSED FROM THE WAN FREELY. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?????????
Terrible.
Works, but not reliably 
2006-10-14
In typical Linksys fashion, the firmware is the achilles heal...they just don't seem to be able to release a stable, reliable firmware for any of their devices and seem to just give up on ever fixing some of them. I've been using a V1 release of this unit for about 3 1/2 years now. As a router, it's been pretty solid (albeit a bit slow, especially with the 10mb/half-duplex WAN port) and I have to reset (power-cycle) it maybe 3-4 times a year. VPN setup is fairly straightforward (if you're using this as an endpoint with incoming tunnels and don't have a static IP, then you *must* use a dynamic DNS service), however this is where the unit stumbles. I have VPN's setup at client offices & home offices (about 15 tunnels total) and if I'm making a round-robin accessing different sites to do updates, etc, or I'm doing large data transfers over a tunnel, the VPN portion of the router will become unresponsive. Sometimes I can get it back by disconnecting & reconnecting the tunnel I was using when it froze, other times I have to power-cycle the router. Sometimes it will also fail to run the full process for creating a tunnel and I'll either have to keep hitting the connect button or power-cycle the unit. My other gripe is the 'dumbed down' VPN interface. Most clients & endpoints provide you with the capability to configure ID info for local & remote...this is glaringly absent on this unit and has caused me many a fit when trying to setup connections from higher end units like the Zyxel Zywall 50 that I'm in the process of replacing the Linksys with. I do have one client running one of these at their main office with a BEFSX41 tunneling to it full-time from a remote/occasional use office and they've been running on it for about 3 years using cable internet & dynamic DNS and they have to reset their unit every other month or so...I think they're finally get tired enough of it to ante up the cash for a better box.
Beware if you want to use this as a VPN server! 2006-08-01
The Linksys BEFVP41 Instant Broadband EtherFast Cable/DSL VPN Router supplies a complete solution for secure remote access to your network via the Internet. Cutting edge encryption and authentication provide complete privacy for the access and exchange of your most sensitive data. Supports URL Filtering, IP Filtering, and MAC Null, DESand 3DES Encryption Algorithms support filtering Supports MD5, SHA1, HMAC-MD5, and HMAC-SHA1 authentication protocols Includes - 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security 2003 (if not in the box, check www.linksys.com)
Dozens running daily, very reliable VPN for SOHO. 
2006-05-21
I do small business consulting, and have been using the BEFVP41 as an affordable VPN solution for dozens of clients that need the secure remote access provided by a VPN tunnel. With nearly 50 of these units installed and operating in the field, there have been only 4 failures (2 lightening, one power brick, one overheated in a hot room with its vents covered) in 4 years, I'm very impressed.
Not only is the BEFVP41 useful for clients to access their business servers and applications from home or while traveling, I set up VPN tunnels to my office to provide support using VNC, MS Remote Desktop Connection, or Apple's Remote Desktop. This allows me to support clients around the country without travel time or expense.
The BEFVP41 is simple to set up and operate, and at a comfortable price point that my small business owning clients can easily afford. While it isn't a replacement for higher cost more professional grade firewall routers, it is a very reasonable and available product for the small or home office.
I keep over 40 tunnels set up to clients that each have other tunnels set up to another location or for software client remote access. There are only rare problems, and then mostly because of provider issues. I've learned that whatever the network is comprised of, it is best to have all the components on an Uninterruptible Power Supply.
I hope Cisco/Linksys keeps producing these units for years to come, they are solid performers in my experience.
Steve J
Please, Don't buy this product, if you what to config VPN 2005-12-26
No support available for VPN config.
Wasted 60+ man hours configuring VPN, not working as of now.
Looks like this product was not tested or certified for VPN.
Poor functionality for VPN.
Sad, that i bought this equipment.
BEFVP41 V1.0 no longer updated by Linksys 2005-09-13
The latest firmware version available from Linksys for BEFVP41 V1.0 is dated 2003. Don't waste your money, and be sure to buy the more recent BEFVP41 V2.0 (latest firmware available dated jan 2005).
Note that V2.0 of the router only supports 50 IPSec sessions.
VPN incompatible with ADSL service! 
2005-03-02
What Linksys does not tell you on their website is that their box does not support PPPoA (protocol used by Qwest and many other DSL providers). Great as a firewall but absolutely useless for VPN. I spent more than 30 days trying to get it to work, and then could not return it--very frustrating!
