Linksys EW5HUB Ethernet 5-port Workgroup Hub

Average customer rating: 4.0

5 star hub
LINKSYS HUB
Decent Reliability Proves Cost Effective
Great Hub!
This Hub gives a bottleneck performance.

Linksys EW5HUB Ethernet 5-port Workgroup Hub

Manufacturer: Linksys
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B00003006A

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Amazon.com Review

The Ethernet Workgroup five-port hub from Linksys doesn't have any characteristics that set it apart from similar products, but then this isn't a category known for its advanced features. When it comes to hubs, all you need are reliability, simple installation, and enough ports to accommodate the machines on your network. Whether this hub meets that last criterion is up to you, but it certainly lives up to its promises on the other two counts.

Inside the box you'll find the hub, an AC adapter, and a small instruction manual. Linksys didn't waste any space when they made the hub--it's a small unit that should fit anywhere. Our only complaint about the design is its curved top, which meant we couldn't stack other hubs on top of it to keep things neat.

This hub is as easy to install as any other we've worked with. We just plugged the Ethernet cables from our networked PCs into it, attached it to the AC adapter, and booted all the attached systems. The hub configured itself, our Windows 98 networking software immediately recognized it, and the network was active.

The hub has no on/off switch, and as long as it is plugged in, it's active. It runs silently, unlike other hubs we've tested that are equipped with noisy cooling fans. Status LEDs on the front of the unit blink to indicate the intensity of network traffic on active ports, and an extra LED blinks when network collisions are detected.

Up to five PCs can interface with the hub, although there are six ports on the back. The sixth port is reserved for an uplink, letting users easily add another hub as their network grows. You can mix and match hubs, whether you're attaching one to the Linksys product or using this hub as the uplink.

The hub performed comparably to other 10Base-T products we've tested, and while it's nowhere near as fast as a 100Base-T hub (for obvious reasons), speeds should be perfectly adequate for home or small-business networks or LAN gaming. The Ethernet five-port workgroup hub may not be the most exciting piece of hardware you'll ever buy, but it does its job reliably and offers good scalability via the uplink port. --T. Byrl Baker

Easy installation

Reliable performance

Uplink port

Small size </ul>

Curved top

No Fast Ethernet support </ul>

Amazon.com Product Description

The Linksys Ethernet Workgroup Hubs transform your PCs or Macs into high performance Ethernet workgroups. Share electronic mail, files, printers, and more at blazing 10 Mbps speeds. Installation is easy: just plug a twisted-pair cable into the hub and your computers, and go. Connecting more than five, eight, 10, or 20 computers together? No problem. Link up to 3 Workgroup Hubs with the built-in uplink port for fast and flexible expandability when you need it. Auto-partitioning technology separates faulty network lines from the rest of the network, protecting your data's integrity.

Product Description

Ready to run with the latest 32-bit network hardware and software, the Ethernet 5-Port Workgroup Hub transforms your fleet of PCs or Macintosh computers into a high performance workgroup. Imagine sharing files, printers, multimedia, and more at speeds of up to 10 million bits per second! Five 10BaseT ports make the installation easy: plug a twisted-pair cable between the hub and your computer and you're practically done! Built-in error detection automatically protects the integrity of your data. 13 "smart" LEDs instantly reveal your network's line status, data traffic levels, and link states, making troubleshooting easier than ever. And if you need to expand in the future, no problem--you can connect the 5-Port Hub to other hubs quickly with its built-in Uplink port. Ready to run right out of the box, the Ethernet 5-Port Workgroup Hub is the easiest and most powerful way to connect your PCs together!

Customer Reviews:

5 star hub.......2003-11-23

I am a Halo fan and count on this hub to link xboxs together. It works great, isnt very expensive, and is small and compact. 5 stars.

LINKSYS HUB.......2002-05-02

This devise was extremly easy to connect to my LAN, I was able to get all my PC's connected to the internet.I was able to share my Printer, Scanner and fax with out any trouble at all. I strongly reccomend this product.

Decent Reliability Proves Cost Effective.......2000-11-30

This is a pretty cheap hub. In terms of price that is. For the cost is delivers a nice bang. I don't really push it much, but my hub is connected to a 10base-T LAN for my campus ethernet and I've got three computers hooked up to it. It usually handles multiple connections well, but there's just a few times when the poor hub just can't take it and the collision light blinks mad crazy. Performance is decent for my setup however, but my setup is probably atypical. However, if it can manage to deliver 1 meg/s total very nicely to one computer, and about the same total when three computers on the hub are asking for data, on this really nice campus ethernet connection, it should have little trouble handling slower DSL and cable modem connections. Oh, and over the summer, the thing was relegated to distributing a 56k modem connection. As if anyone was wondering... it handled that without a problem. Setup is a cinch, but that goes for most hubs. Plug and play in the truest sense of the word... if you have DHCP set up properly, Windows shouldn't even realize there's a hub there. Linksys products in general are very reliable however, so I expect this hub to last me for well past the amount of time I'll need it to.

Great Hub!.......2000-11-24

I have had this hub for over a year now, and I've never experienced a single problem with it. It is very fast, no matter how much data you are transfering. I use the Uplink for my cable modem and experience wonderful speeds (faster than some think cable is supposed to be!). Buy this hub and you won't regret it!

This Hub gives a bottleneck performance........2000-08-12

After owning this hub for a few weeks I discovered the poor performance it really gives. I have came across more bottlenecks than I have ever anticipated. I called tech support for any type of solution but I was left on hold for over 2 hours. Having schedules to meet, I finally gave up on assistance. Not only is this product poor in performance, but also poor in service.

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