Belkin F5U301 CableFree 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub with Dongle

by Belkin

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2.5 x 6.8 x 9.5 inches ; 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000LP9RQC
• Item model number: F5U301
• Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,690 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 2, 2004

Product Description

From the manufacturer

Print, play music, scan, download photos, and burn CDs, from anywhere in the room--wirelessly

Belkin presents USB unleashed! This wireless USB 4-port hub lets you use your computer anywhere in your office, while maintaining its connection to all your peripherals. Since software is not required, you just connect your printer, hard drive, iPod or other USB device to the hub and your computer is connected to the wirelessly. You are no longer tethered to all your devices. CableFree USB gives you the freedom to work on your computer anywhere within 30 feet of the wireless hub.

Benefits

• Lets you burn CDs from up to 30 feet away
• Instantly connects all your existing devices to your computer--wirelessly
• Requires no software installation
• Reduces cable clutter, letting you reclaim valuable workspace area
• Delivers the same plug-and-play efficiency as wired USB

Product Description

Belkin Cable-Free USB Hub

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy it. Don't. Seriously. Don't., July 28, 2007

By 

Joshua Graessley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Belkin F5U301 CableFree 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub with Dongle (Personal Computers)

A wireless USB hub is very appealing. The implementation of this one makes it useless.

The software only runs on Windows XP. There are no Vista drivers. The hub does not work until you've logged in and even then, it takes a few seconds. Since you have to have log in before the hub will work, your mouse and keyboard can't be plugged in to the wireless hub. This also means that USB audio devices that must be plugged in at boot will not work. I don't understand why Windows requires USB audio devices to be plugged in at boot, but that's Microsoft's fault, not Belkins.

It gets better. Yesterday, we rebooted the machine and my brother logged in with his account. The wireless hub didn't work at all because the software wasn't installed for him. Why would the installer even bother installing this software for only one user? No problem, we installed the software on his account. Reboot. Everything seemed to work. Fast user switch to my account and the software freaks out because the software running on his account is using the device. The USB devices attached to that hub go offline.

To Summarize:

- No Vista support

- Can't use it for keyboard/mouse

- No support for multiple user accounts

- Fast user switching messes it up

However tempted you may be, don't buy this product until they address these issues. This product is not ready for prime time. On the plus side, it seems like all of these problems are just related to software. If Belkin decides to, they could probably fix all of these problems in software.

80 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Does not work with Mac OS X despite product description, April 12, 2007

By 

joshua bassett (new york, ny) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Belkin F5U301 CableFree 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub with Dongle (Personal Computers)

This product is widely described as being Mac and PC compatible - not only here on Amazon, but in Belkin's own product information, and even in MacWorld. And yet... it's not. Once you have the item in hand, there is no pretense of Mac compatability at all, and Belkin neither ships it with a Mac driver nor provides one for download. I don't know if someone at Belkin screwed up before this product was released, but it should not be described as Mac-compatible; this is misinformation.

71 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Do not buy this one, May 5, 2007

By 

Philip Fouad Braidi "Pipo" (Beirut, Lebanon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Belkin F5U301 CableFree 4-Port USB 2.0 Hub with Dongle (Personal Computers)

To be fair Belkin has always provided its costumers with grade A+products, unfortunately they failed to do so with this one. It does not have Vista support, loaded with Bugs, goes on & off whenever it feels like, and comes at a hefty price.The strange thing is that "Belkin Customer Care" acknowledges the problem and will offer you a cash back refund. The only question here is why is Amazon & Belkin still selling it when Belkin already labeled it as a defective product,and discontinued its production.

Do not buy this one, you will regret it !!!