Spiking Our Interest

The Linksys SRX router comes in a silvery upright box with a confusing nest of antennae on top. We had no idea how to orient them properly, but didn't find any major speed differences after repositioning them a few times. The location of the router itself is more important -- put it high in the room, away from other electronic equipment and away from obstructions like brick walls and bookcases. It comes with both wall-mount screws and a handy swing-out stand for tabletop use.

Lights...Action

The Linksys' indicator lights are on the right side of the unit -- easy to see if wall-mounted, obscured if placed between other objects on a desk. You can also use it horizontally, with the lights then showing across the top. They flash extremely brightly, however, so don't put this in your line of sight in office or bedroom. From left to right, the light set includes four LEDs for the Ethernet ports, WAN and WLAN status indicators, a DMZ LED that glows when DMZ is enabled, and a power light. The DMZ indicator is unique to the SRX and an excellent security feature that lets you know when your network is unprotected.

Plugged In, Turned On

The back of the unit has a WAN port for your cable/DSL modem, and the usual four Ethernet ports, which are both auto-crossover and auto-uplink, so you won't have to worry about cabling. The reset button is on the bottom of the box, away from the other ports.