Customer Reviews

Belkin N Wireless Router (F5D8233-4)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

I have two PC's and one Mac in my house, and the instant I set up this router the PC's connected to it flawlessly and everything was great, but my MacBook had a similar problem as some other people complained about: it would lose connection frequently. After looking online, I only saw a bunch of people complaining about it and never telling anyone how to fix it. So, I installed the firmware update (you can find this at Belkin.com) and I haven't lost connection since!

If I had only PC's I would have given this router 5 stars due to how easy it is to set up, how strong the signal is, how easy it is to set up a password and etc, but I'm giving it 4 stars simply because I had to install updated firmware to get it to work properly with my Mac. In Belkin's defense though, it was very easy to update the firmware.

Short story: installed and configured the router, and discovered that I couldnt stay continuously connected for more than about 20 minutes. Firmware updates did not help. Different network cards, different client computers with different drivers did not help. Basically, its a lemon.

My old linksys router would kick me out about every 2 hours, which is why I was looking for a replacement router in the first place, so this was a giant leap -- just in the wrong direction.

Configuration was easy enough, but be aware that the idiots who built this thing designed it to show a banner page to anyone who can access your WAN IP that displays them the SSID in use, the MAC address of the router, the firmware version, etc., on the login page. Breathtakingly stupid.

For interest's sake, I have since returned this router to Amazon, and replaced it with a D-link DIR-655 (paired with a DWA-643 Express card) which performs flawlessly for me (even under Windows Vista!). The D-link box doesnt display an over-informative banner page, doesnt kick me off at all, and is *very* speedy. Claimed throughput is 300Mbps, and I've seen transfers get within a couple of Mbps of that over my home LAN. It's a much better piece of hardware, and not very much pricier.

My Linksys WRT54G is a few years old, and suddenly last week it began dropping our connections constantly. Each drop required a complete recycle of the modem and router to get it working again, and then it would only work for another 5-30 minutes before dropping again. Obviously out of warranty, not to mention this is the second Linksys we've owned that ended up dying the exact same way, I decided to try a new company.

The Belkin set-up was so easy I found myself searching the box to make sure there weren't more instructions I was missing. I was never able to get Linksys working without calls to tech support, which is always a real PITA. After 5 minutes with the Belkin simple one-page instruction and install disc, we were live and ready to go. 3 of our computers run XP, and one is running Vista and there have been no connection issues with any of them.

I installed the router this morning, and have not experienced a single connection drop during the day today. If it starts pulling that crap, I'll update the review with details.

I also am extremely happy with the speed and range! The Linksys was unable to reach the back rooms of our home, but the Belkin gives us strong signal in every room of the house. It's much faster, not to mention it was $20 cheaper than a Linksys Wireless N.

I purchased this router on sale at a retailer, and I was surprised to discover that you won't find many reviews on this product across the Internet, so here are my observations.

With it's black outer casing, this Belkin N Wireless Router is a sleeker-looking model of router. Not only does this product work for me, it looks nice enough for me to want to have on top of my work desk! It uses a simplistic system of lights that show you the status of any part of your network setup. It shines a nice blue hue when all is well, and flashes amber when there's trouble amiss. Troubleshooting is almost a no-brainer.

I got this installed into my network at home, and in less than 5 minutes I was up and running. I use a Macbook Pro, and the network cooperated with it nicely. One thing you want to do once you set it all up is to set a password for the router by going into the System Settings. Also, if you plan to use wireless (which is a basic purpose to have in the first place), then secure it by naming your wireless network and assigning it a password.

Your mileage may vary, but as for me, no "intermittent disconnections" or "flaky coverage" here, and my Mac's wireless can detect about an average of nine other wireless networks in my area... pretty high traffic, but the Belkin holds well against interference. Throughput is as good as the ground-up connection you're getting. Users who have superfast access like Verizon's FiOS will love the throughput as they go wireless on this router, combined with 802.11n. In fact, I still get four bars on my iPhone's wi-fi from the router as I sit in my car in the driveway!

Anyways, that's my experience. I give it five stars because of its sleek design, no-hassle installation, and it works very well for the price you pay.

If this router was any easier to set up, it would have unpacked itself and leapt out of its box! I practically had to pinch myself when it launched on a desktop PC before I thought it had been fully connected. That it works smoothly, securely (128 bit WEP) and effectively across Mac and PC desktops, Mac PowerBook, TiVo on wireless home network using DLink USB B adapters, Vonage VOIP router, and HP and Lexmark wireless printers speaks to its versatility. The user manual and browser-based set up provide helpful and interesting guidance to settings that allow getting the most out of the router if you are using VOIP (a chronic problem for me previously) and have lots of 802.11b traffic or interference in the area. This replaced a DI-624, and there is no comparison. I chose it over the competition based not only on Amazon users reviews but also on those on CNET and other tech-oriented web resources.

I am an advanced user in setting up networks, and was determined to get this device to work in my home. After securing the network with a non-broadcasting SSID, turning on WPA (and WEP also, in another attempt), the device would not keep a wireless connection with Apple computers on our network. (The connection was great while plugged into the port directly.) The router would connect to the computers, but not lease an appropriate IP address and therefore wouldn't connect to the Internet. After a couple hours of trouble shooting and reviewing the Belkin support web site, I resorted to calling tech support about the issue and they could not offer a working solution. This device may work (I haven't tested this) on PC networks, but did not work for our Macinotosh systems. I have switched to a Netgear device with no trouble.

What a piece of junk this thing is. If you own a Mac don't even waste your money. This router is the only one that has ever given me problems on a Mac and it will continually drop the signal regardless of the type of security protocol you have set up. If I could score this lower than 1 star then I would. After numerous calls to customer service their solution was to set my security to 64-bit WEP! Who wants that?. Great so I spent all this money for nothing. Unless you want to continually hit the reset button, then don't buy this router. A better use for it would be as a bookend.

Worked fine at first, although it took a while to set it up to get everything working, especially getting things to print from the wireless laptop to the hardwired printer. Then, with no warning, the router stops working and after 3 phone calls to Belkin and numerous attempts, they suggest I send it back for a replacement.

I have had this router for about 9 months. The only reason why I got it was it was available at Wal-Mart, and I was working nights at the time which made shopping difficult.

This router has a very low quality chipset, and the technical support is at best, unconcerned with your problems. I get the feeling that they hear this all the time. The 'upgrade firmware' feature does not work, and for some reason it is routing my local ping requests through my ISP's DNS server.

**Beware the original firmware that shipped with this router has a serious security flaw, and allowed a remote user to control my router even with remote admin disabled. This in conjunction with the 'upgrade firmware' feature not working may falsely lead you to believe you have the latest firmware, and are protected. Again, tech support could care less.

This router will lock up under heavy loads, causing you to reboot it. Wifi range is okay, but not anything special.

I bought this because my old wireless router was beginning to have problems. I specifically bought a Belkin because the product description specifies that it works on Macs as well as PCs. I have Macs in our home. It took about two minutes to set it up using my internet browser. Just click a few settings and we're in business. Range and speed is great throughout the house now.