Belkin F5D7330 802.11g Wireless Ethernet/Gaming Adapter

by Belkin

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 12 x 14 x 10 inches ; 1.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00020H1TG
• Item model number: F5D7330
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,610 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

The Belkin 802.11g Wireless Ethernet Adapter provides your Ethernet-equipped computer or network device such as a printer or gaming console with instant wireless networking capabilities. The Ethernet Adapter gives your Ethernet-supported network device wireless freedom to be placed practically anywhere in your home or small office.

It features breakthrough 802.11g technology that makes sharing a broadband Internet connection faster than ever. The Wireless Ethernet Adapter uses the wireless 802.11g 2.4GHz standard to offer you the widest working range. 802.11g provides you with networking speeds nearly five times faster than 802.11b and is backward-compatible with the 802.11b networking standard, allowing you to implement faster wireless technologies in combination with existing 802.11b Wi-Fi networks.

The Wireless Ethernet Adapter sets up on any Ethernet-equipped computer or Ethernet-equipped network device with the simplicity of Plug-and-Play technology. Simply plug one end of an Ethernet Cable into the Ethernet Adapter and connect the other end to any available Ethernet port and your PC or network device will have wireless capabilities.

Now you can transfer files around the home or office-enjoying freedom from cables along with all the advantages of a wired network.

Features:

• Adds 802.11g networking capability to your computer or network device
• Uses 802.11g technology, virtually 5x faster than 802.11b
• Works with gaming consoles such as Xbox, PlayStation 2 (requires the PS2 Network Adapter), or GameCube (requires the GameCube Broadband Adapter)
• Works with all Ethernet-equipped computers or network devices
• Offers backward-compatibility with all 802.11b 2.4GHz wireless devices
• Features wireless 64- and 128-bit WEP encryption
• Requires no drivers, setup, or configuration
• Comes with a Belkin Lifetime Warranty and free, 24-hour technical support

What's in the Box
802.11g Wireless Ethernet Adapter, power supply, user manual, QuickStart Guide, CD-ROM with additional software.

Product Description

The Belkin 802.11g Wireless Ethernet Adapter provides your Ethernet-equipped computer or network device such as a printer or gaming console with instant wireless networking capabilities. The Ethernet Adapter gives your Ethernet-supported network device wireless freedom to be placed practically anywhere in your home or small office. It features breakthrough 802.11g technology that makes sharing a broadband Internet connection faster than ever. The Wireless Ethernet Adapter uses the wireless 802.11g 2.4GHz standard to offer you the widest working range. 802.11g provides you with networking speeds nearly five times faster than 802.11b and is backward-compatible with the 802.11b networking standard, allowing you to implement faster wireless technologies in combination with existing 802.11b Wi-Fi networks.The Wireless Ethernet Adapter sets up on any Ethernet-equipped computer or Ethernet-equipped network device with the simplicity of Plug-and-Play technology. Simply plug one end of an Ethernet Cable into the Ethernet Adapter and connect the other end to any available Ethernet port and your PC or network device will have wireless capabilities.Now you can transfer files around the home or office-enjoying freedom from cables along with all the advantages of a wired network.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This unit DOES support WPA-PSK encryption, December 16, 2005

By 

J. Tollman (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Belkin F5D7330 802.11g Wireless Ethernet/Gaming Adapter (Personal Computers)

I'm writing this review because I have had a hard time getting this information so, hopefully, this will help some of you out.

I have a Belkin Pre-N Router and the F5D7330 ethernet adaptor. The adaptor is plugged into my Xbox.

Out of the box, the F5D7330 does not support WPA-PSK encryption, only 128bit or 64bit WEP. To enable WPA-PSK you need to download the firmware upgrade from here:

edit: OK, so Amazon remove links - the file is on the US Belkin site, in the support pages for the F5D7330.

The file you will download is a zip file, extract the firmware file relevent to your country (US or UK). Inside the zip file is a *second* zip file. This contains the new Setup.exe program that will enable you to change the encryption settings to WPA-PSK.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It works... but there are better options, August 10, 2008

By 

M. Raffa (Cherry Hill, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Belkin F5D7330 802.11g Wireless Ethernet/Gaming Adapter (Personal Computers)

I bought this product looking to get either my TV (Panasonic TH-50PZ850U, which has IPTV) or my Direct TV HD DVR connected back to my wireless network. While my original idea was to connect this device to an Ethernet switch unit and connect both units through the F5D7330. That didn't pan out as expected and isn't the reason why I rated this product with 2 stars, it didn't work as planned because an Ethernet switch box is NOT a managed switch or hub, that was just a moronic misstep by me, not the F5D7330.

So let's get back to the F5D7330, shall we?

The Good:
- The device is small, lightweight and its swivel antenna in the back of the unit makes it a nice addition for the space channagled media centers. If you have an unsecured network, with limited interference from other unsecured networks, this device will work right out of the box. Just connect it to the device with the provided Ethernet cable, press the autoconnect button and your wired Ethernet device should be up and running on your network.

- However, when you need to set the device up on a secure network (which you really should) or you have multiple networks available and need to select your and not your neighbors, then this is where the device really falls apart and earns its two stars.

The Bad:
- The setup for secure networks or selecting the correct network, to say the least is very frustrating. The manual is sparse and not well written, the "wizard tool" that Belkin provides is spotty, sometimes it works, sometimes it didn't. On most occasions, the wizard could never find the device, even after restoring the factory defaults and setting up the laptop correctly.

- Then there's the manual setup, which you really need to use in most cases. Unfortunately is one of the most vexing processes I've come across. You have to connect the device to a machine which isn't on the wireless network and you have to modify your TCIP/IP settings to get to setup page (which true of nearly any AP/Bridge device). Once at the setup page, you can select your network, enter an encryption key and make modifications, i.e., passwords, IP address, etc... The problem is that device setup page wouldn't load on several occasions and accessing the setup page after it's on your secure network was a chore too.

The Ugly:
- The biggest issue I had with this device was that the device would wander off my network from time to time. This wasn't due to a power cycle or a system reboot. I would setup the unit on my secure network (select my network, provide the access key, etc...), identify it on the DHCP server. After a while, I would remote back into the device setup page using the IP address I assigned or the DHCP server assigned (trust me I tried it both ways) and I couldn't get the setup page to open. I had to manually remote back into the unit and found the device on an unsecured nearby network.

- I spent so many hours just trying to keep this device stable and on my network. In summary, if you have an unsecured network with limited interference from other unsecured networks and you need "plug and play", then this device should work okay. If you need something more, pass this unit up.

During my search for a better device, I came across the newly introduced D-Link DAP-1522 Ap/Bridge Wireless N device (this replaced last year's DAP-1555). It was hard to find, most retailers we're out of stock, but found one with Beach Audio (through Amazon). It cost ~ $100 and was the right device to purchase. Out of the box, setup and connected to my secure network all under 20 minutes.

Even if you only need one Ethernet port, the DAP-1522 will future proof your setup for a while if you need to add additional wired Ethernet devices. Which we all want to anyway, right?

http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=1&pid=663

- Supports 4 wired Ethernet devices
- 4 port gigabit switch w/ jumbo frame support
- can be used as a bridge or AP. It can also be set "auto" detect.
- Supports new N wireless devices and legacy a/b/g devices
- can operate in 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz
- supports all current security standards
- Easy to read and follow documentation
- default IP address for the device is 192.168.0.50, so networks already on 192.168.0.xx, the device can be accessed within the existing network without requiring modification (if you use this network scheme).

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the best wireless bridge out there, May 20, 2005

By 

Niall O'Driscoll (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Belkin F5D7330 802.11g Wireless Ethernet/Gaming Adapter (Personal Computers)

I initially had reservations about adding Belkin to my Linksys-only wireless network because early implementations of wireless bridging were vendor-specific. Unfortunately, my Linksys WET11 performed so poorly that I had to explore other options. This device costs only slightly more than the WET11, and substantially less then the widely criticized WET54G. In fact the Belkin works so well that I wonder whether I should have used their stuff for the rest of my network.

For many users there should be almost no setup required. In fact, the documentation suggests that you just plug it in and it should work. If you're within range of several different access points, or you need to configure any security settings, the installation is only slightly more complicated.

Once it's set up it has much better range and througput than the WET11. I use it to do slideshows of 8-megapixel images over the network and it's noticeably faster and more reliable than my previous solution. Overall, the benefits of this device are:

- Easy to set up

- Has great range

- Gives high throughput

- Interoperates with other brands

- Has a small footprint

If it has any disadvantages I haven't found them yet.

Frankly, I'm delighted with this thing.