Customer Reviews

Belkin F5D7132 Wireless-G Universal Range Extender

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(75)
3 star:		(36)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(64)

 

 

I have shared the same experience as the most helpful reviews here: this is a pain to install when you want to configure this Extender to be secure (so strangers can't mooch off of your internet or worse). On the other hand, once you have it set up, it works like a charm.

It's possible, but prepare to burn an hour or three. I would like to add some instructional steps, which are a variation of the very helpful ones already present here on Amazon.

Dummies Guide on How to set up the Extender with security turned on:
1. Completely ignore the instruction sheet that comes with the product. At first, I tried following it stubbornly despite reading these Amazon reviews, and I found that it is an embarrassment. Shame on you Belkin, for giving us so much unnecessary grief.
2. Find a computer in your home to use for this setup. Any computer (that isn't Vista) will do.
3. If this computer happens to be plugged into your router (I'm not talking about not the Extender), unplug it from the router. If this computer happens to have a wireless connection, disable the wireless connection.
4. Plug in the power cord for the Extender into the wall, then connect an ethernet cord (looks like a fat telephone cord) into the back of the Extender, then stick the other end into your computer. The "LAN" light will now light up. Just in case you're concerned, you can ignore the red "search" light that may blink.
5. Install the "Belkin Range Extender Utility" onto this computer. The installation CD will place a program in your Start->Programs menu once you run the install.
6. Go to start->settings->network connections. At this point the only enabled network connection should be Local Area Network (or Local Connection... the name may differ slightly for you). If anything else is enabled, disable it. Right click Local Area Network and select Properties. You're now looking for a new window to pop up that lists a bunch of internet-sounding words like Network or QoS. Look for the item called Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Double click that.
7. Select manual IP, and enter 192.168.2.100
8. The subnet mask will get filled out automatically. Ignore the gateway. Hit OK, you're finished.
9. Start up the Belkin utility, and hit "refresh" if nothing shows up on the list of detected Extenders. If you're lucky, you will see the Extender show up, and you can now click "Web Management".
10. If no items show up on the Belkin Utility's list, or an item does show up but the "web management" icon is unclickable, then repeat steps 6-9 but enter the IP address 192.168.1.100 instead. Then the Extender should show up.
11. Finally, once you are able to click "Web Management", it will bring you to a webpage that is very much like a Router setup page. The details of what you need to do here can be found in instructional docs on the web elsewhere. The basic idea is that you want to copy pretty much everything over to be identical to what your router settings are. The only exception is possibly the SSID of the Belkin Extender. Depending on your preference, you may want to choose a different name for it just so you can confirm that its really working later on.
12. Save those settings (there's a systems tab at the bottom of the web management panel that allows you to save the settings into a file as a backup).
13. Unplug the Extender from the computer, unplug the power for the Extender, and move the extender to wherever you want. Plug the power back in.
14. Go back to steps 6-9. Remove the manual IP configuration for your Local Area Connection, and revert the panels back to the way they were (which is probably "automatically obtain ip address"). Hit OK. Enable all your network connections if you disabled them in step 6.
15. You should now be able to use your wireless connection to see the Extender under its fresh new SSID. Enjoy.

A version of the above for those that are network-saavy:
1. Disconnect all wireless from your computer, then connect your computer directly to the Extender as if it were a router. Power up the Extender.
2. Manually specify your computer's IP address to be 192.168.2.xxx with subnet mask 255.255.255.0. Yes, I know this step is weird. I'll explain the reason for it in step#4.
3. Install the Belkin Network utility. Its a simple executable. Start it up. It's purpose is to scan for the Extender, provided that your Extender is directly wired to your computer (which we did in step 1).
4. You should see your Extender show up in the utility. If the Extender does not show up or the "Web Management" button is greyed out, this is because your computer and the Belkin Extender are on different subnets. The Belkin Extender is usually shipped from the warehouse hardwired to the IP Address 192.168.2.254. What??? When you plug your computer into the Extender, you need to hardwire your computer to be on the same subnet so the stupid utility will work. Hence, since the factory setting for the Extender is 192.168.2.254, hardwiring your computer's IP to 192.168.2.100 will get the utility to connect to the Extender. However, if for some awful reason your Extender is hardwired to some other IP Address (which is configurable once you get to step#5), you need to change your computer's IP Address to have a value that matches the Extender's new subnet. In other words, if the Extender IP somehow changes to 192.168.5.254, you should change your computer IP address to 192.168.5.100
5. Once you click "Web Management" you can configure the Extender via a browser window. Replicate your router's settings here (they all need to match the original router's, with the exception of the Extender's SSID).
6. Hit Save, then unplug the Extender's power cord and ethernet, and then move it to wherever you would like. Power it up again.
7. Remove your computer's manual IP address. You're now officially done.

*As a note, I had occasional connection problems when I had my Belkin router & extender encryption set to WPA-PSK. I just switched my encryption to WEP and now it is fine. Not everyone has this problem.

Up this review, if you found it useful. I want to see other people spared from the excessive pain the rest of us have already experienced!

I read some of the other reviews on Amazon for this product before deciding to buy it. Despite the comments about setup difficulty, I was tempted by the low cost and allure of home-wide wi-fi instead of being relegated to the garage (where my Motorola router resides)or the adjacent den. I use 64-bit WEP, so I knew I was probably in for some sweat and swearing before I was done. I had to call Belkin tech support (get to the router techs) and spent a solid hour on the phone. Got some good info from them, but also some bad info. They apparently don't know how to set the security settings on this unit to match the security settings on your base router. I recommend disabling wi-fi security, using the one-touch connect button to teach the Extender your SSID, then cable-connecting your Extender directly into your PC (not through the router) and keying in your security keys. Once that is all done (it was tougher than it sounds) unplug the Extender (cable and power), put it in your desired location, and plug it back in. Hook your wireless router back up and the system should work. My biggest challenge was simply accessing the setup page on the WURE (Wireless Universal Range Extender). You must connect the WURE directly to your computer (not through your router as the downloaded manual indicates). With my regular router you can just type the URL in the browser and it pops up. Not so with the Extender. First manually configure your IP address (mine was 192.168.2.105, DNS populates automatically, and enter the default gateway as 192.168.2.254) After that, you can type the URL 192.168.2.254 into your browser, and you're in. When you are done with the WURE settings, you need to go back into network connections, TCPIP, and change your setting back to Obtain An IP Address Automatically. If your network is unprotected,the one touch configuration is all you need, but then everyone in your neighborhood is using your network. Works great throughout the house and our 3 laptops move seamlessly between the 2 signals.

Belkin Range Extender

I have seen so many negative reviews about this product. I really don't understand why. But one thing I figured out was that everyone who wrote a negative review was not able to set it up properly, or missed a clue or two somewhere in the setup.
This is the best extender I have seen so far. Moreover, it is the cheapest, Universal(it can be used with any router) and with life time guarantee..... What more you can ask. I am using this Extender in a radius of 300 - 400 feet. and I am getting all 5 bars or 100% connectivity.
I advise all those who had problem with setting up this router to take time and read the reviews as well as the manual. Let me tell you the cd is not of much help so get ready to set it manually.

Let me give you some easy steps.
A) If you don't have security set on your wireless router then setting up the belkin is a piece of cake.
But if you have security then follow the following steps and enjoy the excellent range and continuous connection.

1) remove the security setup of your wireless router (WR)
2) Connect Range extender (RE)using the auto button (press for 10 to 15 sec).
3) Connect the RE directly to your computer using the cable provided. open internet explorer and at address write 192.168.2.254 and hit enter
Now you are inside the RE.
4) Change the SSID name (I kept BRE ---- Must be different from your WR name). Type the name of your WR at PARENT AP SSID. Hit apply changes. Disconnect the power cable and reconnect after the router reboots.

5) Now set the security of RE the same way as you are about to set in WR.
I will advice wpa-psk. After clicking apply, unplug the current cable as well as internet cable.
6) Now set the security of your WR. Make sure you are doing the same in your WR. If needed unplug the current cable as well as internet cable.
7) Plug the WR and RE and let RE search the WR. You are good to go now. In your computer's view wireless connection. Choose BRE and Connect to the BRE (instead of WR) from the selection of wireless connections.

After using it for more than two weeks. There has been some problems with my LAN but I have faced no problem with RE.

If you think you can follow the above steps then ,, trust me you will not repent this purchase.


Note: It also converts your wireless connection to a wired connection, that means that you can connect your Vonage (or any other similar service) wirelessly.


Edited April 6th, 2008

Thank GOD I bought this great router. I am more than satisfied.

It took about 10 minutes to setup and I had a full strength signal in areas of my house that were poor at best. I have been using it for about 3 months now with no problems and always a strong signal. I never thought it would have been this easy and so inexpensive to improve my signal stregth. My Netgear wireless route provides very good signal strength for one end of the house, but there are areas at the far end that had a poor signal. There was no easy/cheap way to run a wire, so this was a perfect solution. I have just bought one for my in-laws and it works perfect at their house. I highly recommend it and you can not beat the price.

I just received this box today, and after about 2 hours, got it configured and working on my wireless network, in range extender mode. I bought it so my wife's new laptop could get a decent signal at the other end of the house from my office - where my new Netgear Wireless 4-port router is installed.

Here is how I finally got it working (Win XP):

1) Plugged the repeater into a port on my router using the cable provided
2) Using my hard-wired desktop and the Belkin utility I gave the repeater an IP address several integers above the four my router normally assigns via DHCP
3) Removed the WEP key from my laptop and from the router
4) Pushed the "search" button on the back of the repeater
5) At this point, the repeater connected automatically to the network and picked up the correct network SSID
6) Also at this point, my laptop displayed a message about an address conflict on the network. (And I figured out that it was caused by the repeater - one hard-wired connection to the router - AND a wireless connection to the router - both with the same IP address! I'll bet this is where most folks will have problems.)
7) I disconnected the cable between the router and the repeater, and moved over to my wireless laptop. It connected right away, using the IP address I had assigned to the repeater earlier as the browser URL.
8) I added a WEP key to the repeater. (And it immediately disconnected my laptop - so we know the network is secure!)
9) I entered the same WEP key on my laptop.
10) I went BACK to my desktop, connected to my router, and entered the same WEP key as the other two devices.
11) My laptop connected. Success!
12) I moved the repeater about 1/2 way to my wife's laptop, and it picked up the connection back to the router as soon as I plugged it in.
13) I went to my wife's laptop. Good signal strength. No network connection (wrong WEP)! I added the same WEP key to her system, and it took right off! (I should add, my wife's laptop is Win Vista. There is a disclaimer sheet in the repeater box, saying "The Windows Vista operating system is not supported by this device." I knew that was misleading, because it's the Belkin installation utility that isn't supported in Vista. If the Vista system can talk to your router, it will just as easily talk to this repeater.)
14) I ran a speedtest at Speakeasy, and the throughput was right at 6mbps with Bellsouth FastAccess Extreme DSL 6.0 - just like my hard-wired desktop - virtually no loss of bandwidth due to the extra hop.

I would give this device a 5-star rating - it performs exactly as advertised. But I don't think the installation is particularly straightforward, and for anyone without some networking background, I think it would be VERY difficult to figure out why it's not working when it should. The manual is like MOST manuals these days, that is, not a lot of help.

The KEY here is NO key (no WEP) on ANY device in the network to start out with.

I hope this helps somebody out there!

Update: After further review, I might drop my rating another notch to 3 stars. It has a very fragile browser interface. If you try to change the settings on the repeater (or even look at some of the settings), it locks up. This happens every time if you're using a computer that is hard-wired into your router. If you're using a wireless connection into your router (into your ROUTER - NOT into your repeater), then it's hit or miss. Rebooting the repeater (unplugging it for a few seconds) fixes the problem, but it is certainly annoying! The bottom line is: once you get the thing working, leave it alone, and it will work fine for the intended purpose.

This unit offers several nice features:
1) The antenna is connectorized, making it possible to replace the antenna. 2) The price is quite reasonable.
3) The RF performance is fine. My signal range has increased considerably.

However, there are some drawbacks:
1) The firmware has bugs. When logging in and changing a setting over the remote interface, the firmware locks up, making it impossible to use the remote interface further. A hard reset solves the problems, but then all settings are lost. Power cycling also solves the problem, and retains settings. However, this is extremely unsatisfactory.
2) The web interface is primitive, and requires special communication settings on your pc.

I've been trying to extend my neighbor's Linksys router (which I setup for them and which we both agreed to) for 2 weeks now. We're only 20 feet away but since they are older buildings the walls are thick. I got full bars in the bathroom but 0-20% connection in the kitchen, 20-40% in the bedroom, and 0-10% in the living room. Now I have 100% all around! I set the extender in the restoom and it broadcasts all around. Awesome, and at only $40!

I follwed reviewer Chovy's advice and I was all set. The only confusing part for me was step 11 because he just said in general fill in all the fields of your router. All you need to fill in is on the "basic" settings on the left hand corner. The only thing I did was click on "site survey" and connect to the router. Just make sure you turn all wireless security (WEP or WPA) off! You can turn WPA or WEP back on after you got the extender working. I am using WPA-TKIP with no issues.

As for Vista, just set the thing up using an XP machine. But once it's all set, you can connect wirelessly with a Vista device. I have an XP desktop wirelessly connected as well as a Lenovo X61s Vista connected. Works great!

I just purchased two of these because of their versatility. I am using them as access points, although I did try the different configurations just to see how well it worked. Basically, you can use it three ways...

1. Access point. Connect to it with a hardwired connection and configure it through the web interface. Use the quick installer to detect it a little easier.

2. Range extender. Use the button on the back if you don't have encryption on your network. If you have encryption, best way is to connect with a hardwired connection and put in the Encryption settings manually through the web interface. I suggest starting by setting the router's settings first. Allow it to reset. Then go back in and set the Parent Network. The site survey is the easiest way to do it. When it saves and restarts, DISCONNECT the wired connection. You should be set.

3. Bridge. For network A, make sure you have an Access Point. If not, configure one of these as an Access Point (as stated above). For network B, plug one of these into the wired network B and configure it according to the instructions for Range Extender (as stated above). However, don't disconnect it from Network B when you are done. The unit in Range Extender mode will link to the access point and allow all hardwired connections on Network B to access Network A.

Everything worked fine for me without a single hitch. Just know that the auto button will only work if you have no encryption.

I'm adding that I have unplugged and moved the two units I have numerous times as I was finding the ideal placement, and they never lost their config. If you are losing config when you lose power, you may have a defective unit and/or maybe there is a problem with your electrical wiring. Perhaps a surge protector or inexpensive UPS would help.

UPDATE: One thing I discovered with these is that they seem to remember which interface you connect to it with. In other words, if you start configuring it through a LAN connection and at some point switch to connecting to it wirelessly (or vice versa) from the same MAC address, you will have trouble connecting to it from the wireless side until the device's ARP table (I guess) clears. An example of where this could be an issue is like if you have more than one access point on your network, and you are using this as an AP, you may access the configuration screen from one part of your network, but if you then move into range of the AP and try to access the configuration again, you can't unless you reset the AP. I hope that's clear enough... Basically, if you can't connect, try resetting the AP. As long as you are not going into the configuration screen often, you probably won't have any issues. Otherwise, try to always access the configuration from a computer that is hard-wired to the network.

I have a wireless router hooked up to a cable internet connection and the primary computer is about fifty feet away from the router with several walls and a kitchen (lots of EM distortion) in the way. After installing the wireless range extender, the signal strength was boosted from 32% to 68%. This is actually faily impressive considering the low cost and the fact that this house was constructed with several materials that hurt radio signals such as tinted UV windows and large iron structures.

The installation was very simple but there are a couple of minor problems that I encountered that, if you follow these instructions which are actually not in the Belkin manual, you should be fine.

1. If you have any kind of encryption enabled on your router, the extender will be able to connect to the router but won't relay any signals. You'll need to connect your computer directly to the ethernet port on the wireless extender and access the configuration menu by typing in 192.168.2.254 in your browser. You'll also need to change your IP address to do this. Information on how to do this is found in the online Belkin product manual, NOT the quick setup guide that comes with the product. Once you're in the configuration menu, change the wireless extender's encryption protocol to match your router's and that should do it. Make sure to use the same 64bit sequence and key number. Now your extender will have the same SSID and encryption as your router and the network should be up and running.

2. The only other consideration is where to put the extender. There has to be enough signal strength coming from your router to the extender for it to boost and send out again. I found that placing the extender one third of the distance from the computer to the router so it was closer to the router worked very well. Anything further away and the extender's "searching" light keeps blinking and there is no connection.

In conclusion, if you're looking for a seamless way to double the signal strength on G and B wireless protocols without spending a ton of money, this is it. Most instances all you have to do is push a button and it matches your router's name and channel but if you have encryption, as stated above, there's about five minutes of more work to be done but well worth it.

I was prepared to spend all evening fooling with this thing after reading the reviews about how difficult the set up is. I bought it to use as an extender, not a WAP. I was very happy I had read to disable security on my router, because that could've been frustrating. It didn't mention that in the quick start manual.

I disabled security, then followed the quick start guide. It was easy. I plugged it in, pushed the easy connect button thing on the back for 10 seconds, and hoped it was ready to go but I wasn't very optimistic. I moved it to its home 2 rooms away, plugged it in, and couldn't tell if it was working. I downloaded the user manual (there was no hard copy included) and found that the address of the unit should be 192.168.2.254, so I navigated there through my browser, and there it was. Something in the instructions had recommended using the cable to connect the extender to the router to configure it. I never took the cable out of the box.

I set the security on it and reset it on the router and tested my wireless signal in distant areas of the house. The signal had improved greatly. It took me 15 minutes to do the whole thing and it worked as advertised. I'm very happy. I would've given it 5 stars, but the stupid power cord was short and made positioning the equipment in an aesthetically pleasing way difficult. Another foot would make all of the difference.

Still, it's great that my signal no longer drops out in the back of the house. As a matter of fact, my signal there is stronger than many other parts of the house now. It was well worth the inexpensive price.