Cisco Valet M10 Wireless Router

There are two ways to set up Cisco routers that are part of their E series and Valet series of wireless routers: 1) with the included Cisco Connect software that makes set up very easy, or 2) manually, thru the web browser interface. The manual method may be too difficult for people who are not very knowledgeable about setting up routers and wifi networks.

However, if your operating system is Windows XP, you cannot install the Cisco Connect software unless you are using Windows XP SP3 (i.e., with Microsoft's service pack 3 installed). The outside of the box states that Windows XP SP3 is a minimum system requirement, and Cisco tech support confirmed this.

Many Windows XP users do not have SP3 installed. I only have SP2, and I don't want to risk installing SP3 because it was widely reported that installing SP3 caused a lot of people serious trouble. I am not going to take that risk just so that I can use Cisco Connect Software. I don't know why Cisco made SP3 a requirement. I think it's the only software that I have come across that requires SP3.

So, if you don't have SP3 installed, don't buy one of these series of routers unless you are prepared to install it manually. Also, Cisco tech support told me that some of the features on some of the models can't be used if you don't install the Cisco Connect software. But they told me that all of the features of their new model E4200 can be set up and used from the manual web browser interface, without installing the Cisco Connect software.