hubs

First of all, the current picture of a black hub is mistaken - the box looks like the other current linksys routers / hubs with the bright blue and black plastic box design.

That having been said, this hub worked perfectly out of the box. It is used to network among machines running Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Linux, using a variety of ethernet cards (3Com, Linksys, NetGear). It has been used several weeks now without a problem. Setup took minutes!

Besides this item, I have bought and used several Linksys products before, including several 4-port hubs, a 4-port router, PC network cards and a laptop card. All of these have worked flawlessly with the other network equipment I have used. In some cases they replaced an item that cost 3-6 times more yet did not work as well!

I noticed some other users have had issues with this product, so here are a few pointers about networking that might help:

1) Hubs allow computers to talk to connect to each other on a local network. All a hub does is allow a computer which is set up to be on the network to talk to another computer.

2) To create a local network that can talk to the internet, you either need to buy an IP address for every machine and use a hub, or use a router to allow multiple computers on the internal network to look to anyone on the internet as having a single IP address. (Don't forget the cable/DSL connection & modem.)

3) The maximum speed that the hub supports may be 100 Mbps, but the speed is limited by the speed of the ethernet card as well! Some ethernet cards are only rated for 10Mbps - so that is the maximum connection speed you'll get using them.

I have linksys 4-port router and 8-port hub at home. Both has the capacity for 100MB ethernet. But when I transfer files from two computer locally, the maximum speed I can have is 10MBit although the 100MB LED indicators are on for both computers. I tried to call Linksys many many time, but never got through. I really hate their customer service. It seems they never want to provider technical support to customers. I strongly recommend not to buy any network products from Linksys.

Linksys is an extremely unreliable company that does not want your business. I would never recommend a purchase of any product from Linksys. I purchased a Linksys Etherfast 8 port 100 Base-TX Hub Model No: FEHUB08W that recognized both my computers, but not my SURFboard cable modem. So, I think to myself, "This has to be a compatibility problem." I began by checking the Linksys web site. I could not find any indication that there might be compatibility issues with this hub. It was then, at about 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on February 6, that I decided to call the technical support number. I called the technical support number - which by the way is not a 1-800 number - and got the message that things were busy, "please hold." I patiently waited on hold for several minutes when another message informed me that technical assistance is very busy. They would return my call later. I was given the option to leave a message, or to remain on the line and speak with an operator. I decided to remain on the line and talk with the operator. The phone rang for the operator several times and then went to the message system. I was determined to speak with someone in person, so I hung up my phone and called back. The phone rang. I again got the message that the technical support people were busy. After several minutes I was again presented with the option to leave a message or speak with the operator. I again selected to speak with an operator. When the operator answered the phone he did not say, "hello." The line was simply open, so I spoke to see if anyone was there. He stumbled several times, placed me on hold and then finally came back to get my information. Interestingly, he called up my record from the previous fall (I was impressed), called me by name and I gave him the details of my new problem. He assured me that someone would return my call. I asked how long the return call would take, figuring that I could give him my work number for a call-back the following day, but he assured me that it normally only took a couple of hours. And so, I confirmed with him by saying, "Someone will call me back this evening?" He replied, "Yes." I kept the phone line open all evening, but I did not receive a return phone call. At about 9:30 p.m. that evening (February 6) I decided that I would also send an email in hopes that it would prove more efficient. At least I could more completely explain my predicament. I also included on that email my home phone, work phone and email address. The return phone call from the Linksys technical support finally arrived the following day, Wednesday, February 7 at 3:22 p.m. Eastern Time. The message said, "Linksys technical support returning a call for Bill regarding the hub. If you're still having a problem give us a call back. As a reminder always verify that you're getting a link light on the hub and that you're using the category 5 straight through cable. If you're still having problems give us a call back. Thank you." Well that seemed pretty straightforward. I was using a category 5 straight through cable and my problem was that I could not get a light at the uplink port on the hub. I decided that I should call back, so at about 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, February 7 I made another long distance telephone call to Linksys technical support. Yes, you guessed it. I waited again patiently only to discover that all the technicians were busy. An operator came on the line and offered to take my message. I explained to this young lady that I had called the previous night. She was unable to find my information, so she took the information again. I asked her how long it would take for a return phone call. She responded that I should receive a call in about an hour. I chuckled, but took her at her word. At 11:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, February 7, I decided that I was not going to receive any assistance from Linksys technical support. I decided instead that I would go online and purchase an Asanté 10T Hub/8 of my own. I had borrowed an Asanté hub. It worked like a charm. It might be older technology. It might be a slower hub technology, but it's hard to beat success, right? I did receive a return call from Linksys technical support finally. They called me back this morning Friday, February 9 at 11:15 a.m. Unfortunately, I was at work and so I discovered the following message on my answering machine when I returned home this evening. "Hi this message is for Bill. Bill this is Linksys tech support Call us back at 1-800-326-7114 reference number 0103-0337 and when calling us back please have the model number of the Linksys product ready." Well, finally a 1-800 number to call and actually, I'd already supplied the company's technical support personnel with model number of my Linksys hub three times now. My new Asanté 10T Hub/8 arrived and it works fantastic, so I packed up my Linksys hub accompanied by a long letter detailing my experiences and I mailed it to the company president, Mr. Victor Tsao, on February 10, 2001. Guess what? I have never received a response from him either. Linksys is an unreliable company and it does not want your business, so I would never recommend that you purchase anything from Linksys.