Linksys walks Internet, talks Internet
FOR TELECOMMUTERS WHO require high-speed Internet access, a router is a necessary component of the home-office toolkit. So why not spring for one that also allows the user to save a bundle in long-distance telephone charges?
The EtherFast Cable/DSL and Voice Router (model BEFN2PS4) from Linksys combines LAN-to-Internet access with Net2Phone VOIP (voice over IP) telephony capabilities that make placing Internet phone calls as easy as using a standard telephone.
The EtherFast's always-on IP dial tone means that you can place outgoing telephone calls without the inconvenience of booting a PC, loading software, or configuring special devices such as a sound card. There's just one hitch: You can only place calls using the Net2Phone service; you can't receive them.
Nevertheless, with the growing need for broadband Internet access, this Linksys offering makes a lot of sense for telecommuters and remote corporate offices. Thanks to its extensive configuration flexibility, solid security features, and top-notch VOIP capabilities, the EtherFast Cable/DSL and Voice Router earns a score of Very Good.
Our testing proved the EtherFast to be easy to install and administer. The router provides four RJ-45 ports for connecting PCs and a single RJ-11 port for plugging in a standard telephone. To configure the EtherFast to work with our existing network, we simply logged in to the router using a Web browser and entered the host name, IP address, and other necessary information provided by our ISP -- a process that took about five minutes. To make Internet phone calls, we also had to spend a few minutes performing a one-time setup of our Net2Phone account through the same browser interface.
Placing Internet phone calls through the router couldn't be simpler. We simply picked up the handset of the telephone connected to the router, dialed the desired phone number, and pressed the pound key. The voice quality of the Net2Phone service was surprisingly good -- somewhere between the tinny sound of a digital cell phone connection and the crispness of a standard telephone call. We experienced neither the delays nor the echoes commonly associated with Net2Phone's software-only solution using dial-up modem connections.
Overall, we were very pleased with the EtherFast Cable/DSL and Voice Router, especially when we considered that it sells for about half the cost of some four-port routers that lack the Net2Phone VOIP capability.
» posted by ITworld staff
InfoWorld
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