Customer Reviews

Belkin F5L009 5-Port Network USB Hub

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

The posts that are complaining about sharing devices, connection issues, etc. need to understand that the problem is with the USB protocol and not the device. USB devices are not designed, or even able, to run on multiple devices at once. Have you ever plugged an external drive into two computer at the same time? Why would this be any different? If you need to access a hard drive from multiple computers at the same time, get a NAS drive. The device also is not designed to power external drives, like the usb powered western digital drives noted in a review. I actually have gotten one to work with no problem, but after talking to a few Belkin guys they don't really know what will or won't work with the device. Any drive that has its own power supply should work with no problems.
Also, you can share between computer easily. If you have to do something with a different computer, you can either request the devices (sort of like IMing) or just click on the disconnect button. Simple, like ejecting a device.
If you understand what this, its awesome and works like a charm. I've gotten all sorts of cool stuff, from midi devices, DVD Burners, Printers, Scanners,cameras,etc. to work with it. The only reason I'm giving it a 4 star is because I accidently plugged in the wrong power cable (12v not the 5v) and blew out the power supply. It should have a buffer, but Belkin replaced it for the cost of shipping, so I can't be to upset about. I actually found myself missing it within a few days of messing with wires!
Also, MAC drivers ( doesn't work with Leopard yet) are available here:
http://www.belkin.com/support/article/?lid=en&pid=F5L009&aid=8547&scid=0
Works great on my Powerbook G4!

While apparently not very good for sharing hard drives, as I've read here, I've had excellent performance as a print server.
After wrestling with an actual Print Server from another company for 6 or 7 hours, only to find out my printer isn't compatible, I was desperate to avoid a repeat. Lots of research led me to question most of the other print server choices and their compatibility with my Samsung ML-1450 Laser Printer.
The Belkin Network USB Hub box said "Industry's 1st reliable print server". The Best Buy computer guy said that it was so new he hadn't heard any feedback about it. I decided to take the plunge and I'm so happy I did. It's a little more expensive than other print servers, but what's a Saturday of frustration worth to you?
The "secret" of this thing that separates it from the others is that you don't need to mess with a bunch of IP addresses. It comes with a small resident program that you install on each computer that convinces it that the printer is actually plugged in directly. As a matter of fact your XP will pop up with the Discovered New Printer message, even while wireless through the router.
All you do is plug the Hub into your wireless or wired router, then into your USB printer. You then install the Control Center (takes just a couple of seconds). When you run the program you can already see the printer there on the list. Since a printer can only be "Connected" to one computer at a time, you simply direct the computer, through the Control Center, to connect, print, then disconnect when finished. The last step is to go to your printer icon through the Control Panel and through Properties, and click on the "Virtual USB Printer Port" in the Ports section. That's it! It was so easy. The Control Center automatically told the XP firewall that it needed access. There are also very detailed, easy to follow instructions (pictures) on how to set other common firewalls made by the big companies.
It's also great that since it connects directly through my existing wireless DSL router, I don't even have to program it for WEP or WPA-PSK codes. The computers do all the "talking" and they're already coded.
I don't think you'll regret getting this for a Print Server. I guess you can connect lots of other things through it... Worst comes to worst, it'll take only a fraction of the time to find out it doesn't work for you than other brands! How's that for an endorsement!

I'm giving this item 5 stars since, honestly, it's one of a few if not the only one of its kind and works farely well. Also, the reason I want to give it 5 stars is because I want to balance of otherwise low ratings that stem from the poor description of the item and not from the products actual performance and how much easier it has made my life. I have a USB ext HDD, two printers, USB card reader and scanner connected to it. It's connected to my wireless router on one of the ethernet ports and I share all of these devices easily between my desktop and two laptops.

The software does take some time to setup, since you have to install it on every single PC that will be sharing the devices. Which also includes installation of the specific device software/drivers on each PC. However, once installed, peformance has been flawless and I have able to use all devices on all PCs with little trouble. I've been waiting for a device like this for some time and Belkin has done an extremely good job of delivering it.

As far as peripherals go, I wouldn't trust any other brand. Regarding the description... I actually bought the item in a store, so once you see the box, it's obvious how it interacts with your home devices and what is required to make it work.

Don't dog the product on it's description which I agree, is misleading, but it is a good product.

I bought this as a network hub for our small office's color printer. Set-up was very fast and I didn't run into any problems.

Yes, for about 30 seconds I thought that you had to request use to connect to the printer. However, when I looked again, there is an option to "automatically connect and disconnect only when printing". Select the device in your hub control center, click on preferences, click on the connection tab, and change your connection setting to automatically connect/disconnect only when printing. It isn't hard to find this option. I say this as musician, not an IT person!

The only reason I'm giving this device 4 instead of 5 stars is that it seems to be unclear whether or not they will be releasing Mac OSX drivers. I've heard yes and no, so its still unclear.

Otherwise, this is a device that works seamlessly with our network.

Let's get one thing out of the way right now. I have no clue why Belkin put the word "Wireless" all over this. Scrutinize the product's documentation [...], the diagrams on the outside of the box (I'll post an image when I get a chance), or pictures of the product itself, and you know there's no way this can be a wireless device.

But none of this came as a surprise to me because I did all of that research prior to purchasing.

---USE CASE---

There's a place in my house where all the portable electronics are stored. It's conveniently near the door. Most of these devices (like my PDA) should be synched frequently with a PC to retain their usefulness. Unfortunately, the laptop is not nearby, so synchronizing becomes a manual, deliberate task requiring me to fetch the device away from its storage location and fiddle with it.

Instead, what I'd rather do is have all those devices connect to a USB hub which can use my home network to plug them virtually into the laptop.

---THE GOOD---

My use case seems to be EXACTLY what the Belkin was built for, because it works PERFECTLY for it. I'm serious. This thing ROCKS for doing what I described above.

1. Once installed, the Belkin forwards USB traffic to and from your PC. Your PC genuinely believes that everything plugged into the Belkin is on a USB hub physically plugged into your PC. I have yet to find fault with this implementation, and I don't expect to because it's pretty easy to do-- I don't know why we don't see more devices like this.

2. The software the comes with the Belkin worked just fine on Vista. When I plugged my PDA into the hub, my laptop noticed. If my network drops, the Belkin doesn't seem to freak out about it, and it survives hibernates, suspends, fast-user-switching, and pulling the USB cable out of the device exactly the way you'd expect a directly-connected hub to behave.

3. The device claims to share intelligently between multiple machines. I haven't tried this (I have no need of it), but it looks straightforward from what the manual says.

I'd have given this device five stars, were it not for:

---THE BAD---

1. The inexplicable use of the word "wireless" all over the package, when the device clearly isn't. Again though, this didn't mean anything to me.

2. a flaw in the installation procedure. This was annoying, but takes about two minutes to fix, so I only docked them one star. Here are the details:

TECHNICAL OVERVIEW: When you plug the unit into an ethernet cable, it appears to choose a random IP address in the 10.x.x.x range. If your home network doesn't use this range (for example, most NAT DHCP servers support the 192.168.x.x range), then the router has just made itself unreachable. The setup applet can still locate it as part of the "configure your router" routine, but when you try to configure it, the connection will time out because the hub isn't in your home network's address range (your NAT will think the Belkin is somewhere outside your home when it's right friggin next to you).

If this makes no sense to you, just skip to the workaround.

WORKAROUND: do this (in WindowsXP or Vista):

A. start, run "cmd"
B. in CMD, type: "ipconfig"
you'll see a bunch of lines. Some of them will look like this:

IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.5
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

if you don't see lines like this, you have a different problem. STOP. Call Belkin instead.

Otherwise:

C. type "route add 10.0.0.0 mask 255.0.0.0 192.168.0.5" but replace "192.168.0.5" with whatever you saw on the "IP Address" line for ipconfig above. This will tell your PC that the address range the Belkin is using is on your home network instead of out on the internet somewhere.

D. Run setup again and it'll probably work now. If it does, CONFIGURE THE BELKIN TO USE DHCP (or an address on your network).

3. the device could be a little smaller. But I can live with it as big as it is.

---LIMITATIONS/CAVEATS---

1. the device requires software support. The software that comes with it ROCKS, but not all operating systems are supported. Double-check unless you feel like writing the software yourself.

2. The device has limited bandwidth, so bulk+realtime devices (webcams and DVD burners, for instance) will swamp it and don't work.

I'm pretty sure that you'll have a sneaky suspicion that your device won't be compatible BEFORE you try it. If you get that feeling, make sure you try this out within the Return/Exchange window.

When I read about this product back in May my first reaction was, "Finally!" I've been looking for a suitable device to replace my Wife's laptop as the "network sharing hub." Unfortunately, the Belkin 5-Port Wireless Network USB Hub is not the answer to my prayers.

"Wireless"

Belkin makes many claims that this device doesn't truly live up to. Just so you are clear, this IS NOT a wireless device. You have to plug the USB hub into a wireless router in order for the "Wireless" functionality to be present. Granted, Belkin discloses this limitation in the fine print but I still find it incredulous to even label this a wireless device when it clearly is not.

"Device Sharing"

Belkin's idea of "Device Sharing" is absurd. Only one computer can be connected to a given device at a time. This limitation includes Printers AND Hard Drives. Forgive me for saying so but that IS NOT device sharing. I can forgive Belkin for forcing this limitation on Hard Drives but not for Printers. User's won't want to deal with the added step of REQUESTING access to the printer before sending a print job. How the Belkin engineers/product managers overlooked this fact is mind boggling.

"Drive Compatibility"

I've also found the Belkin Hub's compatibility with USB powered drives to be hit and miss. For example, my Western Digital 60GB Passport external drive is detected by the Belkin management software, however, the instant I try to access the Passport drive the Belkin device chokes on a fur ball and claims the Passport is "requesting too much power." Sorry, but I'm just not buying that. USB Flash Drives, on the other hand, seem to work for the most part.

"Data Transfer"

Transfering Data is also hit or miss. I wouldn't recommend transferring large files to a Belkin managed drive if you are connected wirelessly. Not only are you subject to signal strength conditions but I have found that any communication failures WILL disconnect ALL of the Belkin managed devices. Transferring data between two Belkin managed drives seems to work reasonably well however, with transfer speeds only a bit slower than what a PC is capable of.

"Setup"

Setup of the Belkin device is probably the only aspect that I am able to positively comment on (hence the 1 star rating). Assuming you have a home network up and running, setup is simply a matter of connecting the Belkin Hub to the network and installing the Belkin Control Center software on a PC. After that, any devices you connect to the Belkin Hub will automatically connect to your PC just like a standard USB device does. Of course, this assumes that another user on your network doesn't already have control. Also, there is a caveat with regards to Printers. According to the manual, you must have the printer drivers installed on your PC before the printer will work via the Belkin hub. I'm not sure what would happen otherwise.

"Conclusion"

Belkin may be able to turn things around by providing functionality improvements via the software update feature that comes included in the Control Center application. However, I don't have much faith in such a possibility since Belkin doesn't have a track record of providing such updates. One can only hope that the open source community will be able to come up with a suitable firmware/software alternative. As such, I can't bring myself to recommend this Belkin device to anyone unless it was 1/3 the price and you didn't plan on sharing any of the devices on your network.

Sorry Belkin. I really wanted to like this product.

I really wanted to like this product. I really wanted it to work. At the end, however, you should save your time, money, and (most of all) patience and do not buy this product. I was at first intrigued, because its capabilities sounded great on paper and it looked very nice (reminds me of something Apple would design). I purchased it to share an HP 7310 All-In-One Printer and a Maxtor external hard drive. It did a decent job with the printer, an awful job with the hard drive, and made my computer extremely unstable in the process. Technical support was a nightmare. I ended up returning it after trying to get it to work for one week straight. More details below.

PROS:

1. Looks nice.

2. Works well with certain devices such as a USB mouse or a printer. However, the purpose of a network hub would render connecting a USB mouse pointless, because, for example, it does not make sense to share a mouse or access the mouse through your network while you are on your laptop in the other room. In addition, not the best method to share the printer, because only one computer/laptop can access a device on the hub at once.

CONS:

1. Items that show up in the hub's control center cannot be accessed. For example, your external hard drive will show up in the control center's console with a "connected" status, but you cannot access the hard drive (e.g., through Windows Explorer, My Computer, etc.). At first I thought this was a firewall problem, but it was not. It is a Belkin problem.

2. Connectivity of devices connected to the hub are extremely unstable. Sometimes they are connected, other times they are not for no explainable reason.

3. The hub's instability creates instability on machines accessing the hub. For example, when you click on the Start button for Windows, the button will freeze in the pressed position, but the Start menu will not appear. Another example is that various programs, such as your web browser (e.g., Firefox or Internet Explorer), will freeze requiring you to attempt to end task via Windows Task Manager. Notice the key word "attempt," because many times the Windows Task Manager will not appear via control + alt + delete, and you are required to press your computer's off button to reboot your system.

4. On the very rare occasion that an external hard drive can be accessed, it is not very stable and loads extremely slow. For the hard drive to autoplay and its icon to appear in My Computer or Windows Explorer, you will have to wait many minutes.

5. Worst technical support I have ever dealt with and I have dealt with many. You are pretty much on your own. First of all, Belkin's technical support business hours are Monday through Friday 6am to 5pm. With those times, you would think it is based in the United States, correct? You would also hope that this is evidence that you will not have to deal with a technical support team that is outsourced to, for example, India. Well, you would be wrong on both counts. Not only does it seem that Belkin has outsourced their technical support, but the money they save by doing so does not even give you the convenience of 24/7 customer service or anything close, which Belkin's competitors offer. Once you get a hold of technical support, you will be placed on hold for many minutes (more than Belkin's competitors) and will be greeted by a technician with an Indian accent so thick that you have no idea what he is saying (even worse than other outsourced technicians I have dealt with). The fact that the quality of the line you are on is poor, with echoes and crackles, makes it even more difficult to decipher what the technician is saying. The technicians are there to only read general troubleshooting steps from their computer screens. They do not listen to what you have to say, and as a result, they are inefficient, ineffective, and frustrating. They do not care to resolve your problem. For example:

You: Okay, I connected my hard drive to the network hub via USB connection. Now. . . I am at the Network hub's control center, and . . . although it found the hard drive, it says that the hard drive is not connected. I also cannot access my hard drive.

Technical Support: Ok. So does the control center say that the device is connected?

You: No. I just told you that it said it was disconnected.

Technical Support: What?

You: The control center says that the hard drive is not connected.

Technical Support: Okay. So, go to the control center, and do you see the hard drive listed?

You: Yes.

Technical Support: Does it say that it is connected?

You: No. . . *ready to pull your hair out*

6. Direct quote from a supervisor from Belkin's technical support: "The hub does not work with flash drives or external hard drives."

7. Too expensive given its real-world capabilities and poor support.

8. Does not look nearly as nice in person that it does on its box or in pictures.

9. Only one computer/laptop can access a device on the hub at one time. Thus, two computers cannot use a printer, or hard drive, or whatever at the same time.

10. None of the drivers, firmware, etc. fixed any of the problems.

11. The control center is fairly annoying as it always pops up. It would be nicer if the product (1) worked; and (2) worked in the background.

12. If you are accessing the network hub via wireless connection, make sure that your network does not receive interference from your cordless phones or microwave, etc. Otherwise, your computer will freeze if your connection gets interrupted. I would imagine there is a chance that files may be corrupted in the process if you were accessing files on your external hard drive.

13. The "wireless network USB hub" is misleading, because the network hub is not wireless. You have to connect it to a wireless router via ethernet cable to access it wirelessly. By that definition, anything is "wireless" as long as it goes through a wireless router.

I was searching for a network usb hub that I could use for my PC-Mac setup at home. When I saw that Belkin had provided Mac drivers for the F5L009, I jumped and purchsed the unit. That was in mid-April. It worked great on both systems until last week. On my Intel Mac, I now receive the message "SXUPTP Driver not installed. Please install the application again." Then, I click "OK" and the Belkin software shuts down.

Note that the PC software remains full capable.

I've done a full uninstall and reinstall almost a dozen times. I've removed third party software that might be in conflict. I've called and e-mailed Belkin technical support, but their only solution is to reinstall the drivers. The funny thing is, this SXUPTP.kext file gets placed exactly where it's supposed to go. The Belkin interface apparently can't find it.

I read below about Silex and its SX Virtual Link software, and how it makes the Belkin router work with Intel Macs. I suppose I could try it. But why should I have to go to third-party software to make this product work? It would be one thing if Mac drivers did not exist, but Belkin produces drivers for OS X 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5.

I've given up. I'm returning this unit, regretably. Once again, I say...if you own a Mac, invest in Apple products. They seem to have figured out the Mac-PC connection. PC products are still coming to grips with the whole dual compatability thing. I think I'll invest in an Airport Extreme router. I don't need a router; I just need a USB hub. But I'm pretty confident the Airport Extreme will be able to figure out the PC-Mac connection.

I have to say that I thought this product was just what I needed. I connected my HP scanner, Canon printer, and 2 Maxtor One Touch II hard drives to it. The scanner and printer work beautifully. The hard drives, not so beautifully. Both hard drives are recognized and Windows can read and write to them. The issue that I have been experiencing is that after transferring some data (could be as little as 20 megs or as much as 20 gigs) the drive will simply stop responding. When this happens Windows Explorer freezes up waiting on the hard drive. The only way to get it to recover is to end task the Connect.exe application or reboot the system. This product is far from ready for the market and I would definitely consider it a lemon. After trying it on 2 different laptops and exchanging what I thought was a bad unit I have given up on trying to make this work. Tech support was totally useless in resolving this issue. After updating the driver and disabling Windows Firewall I still see the same issue. I would not recommend purchasing this for anything other than sharing a printer or scanner and maybe a low-usage USB drive. If you want to actually transfer data to a USB drive, this product is not for you.

Amazon needs to correct how they have named this product on this site. ON THE BOX it says "Network USB Hub", which is what it is. It just happens to be most popular for use on wireless home networks. Amazon's given name for the item is clearly misleading- and it gives others the impression that this is a wireless device. It's not fair to the mislead purchasers and it's not fair to the manufacturer.

I'm giving this a 5 because there are too many reviews on here by people who bought this device, not knowing what it is for. I bought it because I like to be a couch potato with my laptop and not get tangled up in attached wires.

It works great and does exactly what it is supposed to. I can use all my USB devices (Hard Drives, Printer, Scanner, Speakers) from my laptop on my home network, with no wires attached to the laptop. The USB devices are plugged into this Belkin box which is wired to my wireless router. I connect to them wirelessly from my laptop on the 802.11b/g home network. I hope that helps explain it better.

As far as device sharing is concerned, I've had no issues with sharing control over the various devices with other computers on the network. The utility (which must be installed on each computer using the hub)is straightforward.