Linksys WRVS4400N

The WRVS4400N is squarely aimed at businesses and manages to tick a surprising number of boxes for its price. Not only does it offer VPN and VLAN support, but it also has four Gigabit Ethernet ports at the rear. Needless to say, there's no integrated ADSL modem - the Gigabit Ethernet WAN port is precisely what we'd expect.

The LEDs on the front allow you to easily see the speed at which each port is operating, and an IPS indicator shows the status of the intrusion-prevention system. The system includes IP sweep detection, application anomaly detection and P2P and IM control to provide protection from malicious software. You can also block websites by URL or keyword, and prevent certain IP addresses accessing the net.

The management interface isn't the prettiest, but it's intuitively arranged and simple to navigate. Don't expect any wizards - all settings have to be made manually. There are more options than you're likely to need, too, such as seven security modes to choose from.

There's also QoS, but it's a shame that - in the current firmware - you can't enter separate upstream and downstream bandwidths. This means the router can only prioritise traffic based on one general speed setting. WMM support provides QoS over wireless connections, and there are also DDNS settings and IPv6 support.

Performance, however, was average. Coverage proved good enough for a reliable connection at 25m, but throughput remained around 3Mb/sec with both Centrino Wi-Fi and the WPC4400N PC Card.

Overall, the Linksys is overkill for home users, but it's cost-effective for small businesses.

Author: Jim Martin