I don't know that I can recommend the Linksys model over the other two,
since I have only had experience with it, but my experience so far has been
a good one.  There may be some limitations in terms of the configurability
of the Linksys; but I believe it is fairly comparable to the Netgear; I
don't know about the MultiTech.  These limitations will primarily only come
into play if you need to run a program over the internet that requires
openning a lot of ports.  At this time you can only open a limited number of
ports one at a time, instead of a range of ports, with the Linksys.  However
they seem to be active in developing new firmware for this router and I
believe that the ability to open a range of ports will appear in a firmware
update.  As I said, this will only be of concern with certain kinds of
applications, such as NetMeeting, I believe.

I'm using this router at home with adsl, using a bridged service.  My
concern was whether some multiplayer games would have difficulty working
through this router.  So far only one game I've tried would not work with
this router (Superbike 2000).

Note that the Linksys incorporates a switch, instead of a hub, which may be
an advantage over other routers depending on the kind of traffic you have
going on your office network.

If I am remembering correctly from when I was looking for a router myself
the Umax model seemed to offer the greatest degree of control over
configuring its port settings.

If you haven't already checked out this site, www.timhiggins.com  offers a
fairly comprehensive set of reviews of different routers such as those you
mentioned.

I hope this is helpful.

John

----- Original Message -----
From: Jay Merritt <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 10:38 AM
Subject: Which DSL/Router


> I will be networking my small office of 4 machines in the near future. I
have
> DSL Ethernet modem service now.  I would like to use one of the following
> DSL/Router boxes, but can't decide which one to use. At this point my
choices
> are:
> 1) Linksys BEFSR41-Etherfast 4-Port.
> 2) Netgear RT314-4 Port Ethernet.
> 3) MultiTech Systems Routefinder RF500S -Ether 4-Port Ethernet.
> From reading the company literature for each model it appears as though
the
> MultiTech is the most sophisticated of the 3. They are all priced within
my
> budget.
> Does anyone have experience with these models or perhaps have another
option
> I should be looking at?
> Thanks in advance.
> Jay Merritt
>

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