Phil said:
I am writing this letter to ALL Wireless Router manufacturers.
I have a Linksys Wireless Router Model:BEFW11S4. It is 7 years
(yes, count them, all of seven little years) old. I have visited
the Linksys website numerous times trying to set up the WEP/WPA
security on that wireless router (as all responsible wireless
router owners should!). I found that there are no links to any
wireless router setting websites that are congruent with the screen
shots from Linksys' own self help technical support site. I have
had to call Linksys several times to resolve this issue only to be
placed on hold for lengthy times (sometimes my call was dropped and
I had to start over .... how sad for such a large company to have
such poorly trained phone receptionists!), then be transferred
(see previous comment about the phone receptionists) to a supposed
supervisor, only to finally be transferred to someone who tells me
that the warranty has expired and wants me to pay $40.00 for the
technical support to do the right thing that I want and need to do.
First, the device works fine (as evidenced by this e-mail that you
have
just received)!
Second, why should I have to pay for doing the right thing?
Third, if I am going to be EXTORTED into buying a new wireless
router so that I can do the right thing and set up an encryption
key for a secure network, what on Gods' Green Earth makes anyone
think that I would CHOOSE to buy another Linksys product when ALL
that I have ever received from them is a functional wireless router
(yes, even after seven whole years) and the crappiest Customer
Service/Technical Support I have ever had the displeasure to
encounter!
I shall copy this letter and try to find as many Chat Rooms as
possible in order to spread the word of ALL that I have gone
through with the Chain of Command at the Linksys phone center, well
above and beyond what any reasonable person should expect to go
through, and still have NO RELIEF concerning my singular issue with
their product and its capabilities that I SHOULD be able to enjoy
as the owner of said product! What has happend to "The Customer Is
Always Right" Customer Service mantra (I can't say "In America"
because the call was handled in India)? Is the Customer, the ones
that makes the company what it is through the purchase of products,
so worthless to the company that they can just be treated with
abject contempt and scorn? Is the Customer to thus be trampled
underfoot? Are we paying to be so abused? I, for one (yes, one,
the beginning of all), shall NOT be treated in such manner, and
CERTAINLY shall NOT PAY to be treated as such! In this world of
expanding technologies, it shall be those with the
GREATEST Customer Appeal that shall continue to be found worthwile
in the publics' eyes (and pocketbooks) and shall grow to meet the
demands of a growing world - ESPECIALLY in the Electronics
Department!
It is now my strongest desire that the Linksys Corporation suffers
irreparable damage and goes out of business for their Crappy
Customer Service! I can only hope that I reach enough people around
the world to bring this desire true!
You likely would have gotten assistance from someone in this newsgroup...
.... if you had not been so impulsive to post the same thing seven times
within the same conversation.
I understand your frustation - but you should have kept the
manual/CD/documentation that came with said router. Or you could use a
search engine like Google and find a copy - or better yet - Linksys/Cisco's
web page.
Here's where I had to assume some things...
.... like you having *exactly* this:
BEFW11S4 ver.4
Not:
BEFW11S4 ver.1
or one of these:
BEFW11S4 ver.2
BEFW11S4 ver.2.1
BEFW11S4 ver.3
BEFW11S4 ver.3.2
I made this assumption because the only one of those that is capable of WPA
is BEFW11S4 ver.4 and only then if you have firmware v1.50 or greater.
Hopefully this is what you have (given the information you have - I assume
it to be true or your problem is that you do not know what you have - one or
the other) and hopefully you actually have firmware v1.52.02 - the latest
for that model - released on April 7,2005.
In any case - all the support information a fully functional router would
need should be found here:
http://snipurl.com/4gwur
Where you are told, "Please ensure you select the correct version as not all
downloads are compatible with your device." and you should select your
version and I went with my assumption: Version 4.0
Manual:
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...1193764332248&ssbinary=true&lid=7423778881B46
Page 17 in Chapter 3 of the given manual briefly (it is brief - I'll give
you that) discusses the WPA Pre-Shared Key and how you should enter a 8-32
characters key under the "Wireless Security" tab if you plan to use WPA
(don't use WEP - any responsible wireless router owner should know that.
*grin*)
So - here's the deal. If you have upgraded that router to the latest
firmware *and* you have followed the brief (yet all you need) instructions
to setup WPA and you have a wirless network card capable of connecting to a
802.11b (not g, etc) network with WPA security and verified it has the
latest drivers installed on whatever OS you are running... Then it is
possible that the router *is* fried. Sucks - but you had a nice run.
Personally - I stopped bying LinkSys products, well, about the time you
probably bought this router. I found them to be unreliable and some
actually overheated and fried. I went with NetGear and have not looked back
for the seven (yes, seven) years. I have not personally had to use the
customer support for LinkSys or NetGear, as it is one of those situations
where the devices are fairly simplistic and either work or don't - I would
say they are equivalent to the toasters in the arena of kitchen appliances.
;-) If they don't work - it hasn't been worth my time ($30-$150 depending
on the situation/need) to do much more than replace the dead or obsolete box
for one that will do what I want.
So - while I understand your frustration, I think you're going to have a
heart attack over a $40 router. Drop the attempt to get support for a *way*
obsolete cheapo product and get something modern. Splurge a little and know
that seven years from now you can look back at this and laugh as you repeat
the same scenario. Welcome to the wonderful world of technology - where 4
to 5 years is the expected realistic lifetime of most everything.
Drop the foil hat and back slowly out of the room... ;-P