Belkin Cable/DSL Gateway Router 4-port - router

...start my review about the Belkin 4 port router I believe it’s fairly important just to summarize the meaning of a router as many people wouldn’t have come across the term or device before.
A router is like a hub on a network but has much more facilities on it.
Note: A hub is a device in a network that that acts as a gateway between numbers of computers to connect them within a group so that they can communicate with each via packets, ...
.../> Internet Sharing:
The Belkin 4 Port Router I can honestly say has been one of the best investments I have made for my home network.
It’s an ideal network solution for businesses and personal usage if ‘one’ doesn’t want to waste time in configuring every computer or reading a manual from beginning to end.
The Belkin 4 port router is really good for sharing (distributing) an internet connection between a number of computers. ... more

**************************************************
Edit - I changed the title to this review - as the other title seemed to be too technical and scared of many readers - enjoy! ^_^
*****************************************

Introduction
----------------------
Before I actually start my review about the Belkin 4 port router I believe it’s fairly important just to summarize the meaning of a router as many people wouldn’t have come across the term or device before.
A router is like a hub on a network but has much more facilities on it.
Note: A hub is a device in a network that that acts as a gateway between numbers of computers to connect them within a group so that they can communicate with each via packets, etc. Though the router has ‘hub’ like features, the reason they are more effective and costly is because the router’s features allow a number of computers to connect to a network really quickly (Plug and play) with out the need of configuring each computer up and that the fact the router directs all the computers on the network is much more effective (router’s protocols are really advance, note: Protocols are a list of rules and information that a device must follow). A huge advantage of having a router over a hub is that it supports internet sharing and is much quicker.
Sorry that I had to briefly summarize what a router was, if I was to go in depth it would take me a very long time. =)

The Product/Features
--------------------

Internet Sharing:
The Belkin 4 Port Router I can honestly say has been one of the best investments I have made for my home network.
It’s an ideal network solution for businesses and personal usage if ‘one’ doesn’t want to waste time in configuring every computer or reading a manual from beginning to end.
The Belkin 4 port router is really good for sharing (distributing) an internet connection between a number of computers. As its plug and play you connect each computer’s network card into the back of the router (using RJ-45 type cables – they look like telephone cables but double the size), after that is accomplished the router would specify an internal ip address (numbers such as 192.168.200.1 to specify each computers identity) to each of those computers.
As the Belkin router’s protocol default settings are to allow any one with that ip address to share the internet connection it does.
As soon as each computer is connected to the router (Pc or Mac Network card to the LAN(Local Area Network) port in the router), the broadband modem (DSL or CABLE) must be connected to the WAN (wide area network) port which is also on the router (via a RJ-45 Type cable).
Recap: The router has just specified the computers the right to access the network facilities, it gets the desired settings via the modem which is contacting the isp (internet service provider) after its got the settings from the isp it acts as a gateway or server which then routes packets to computers which allows them to use the internet through NAT (network address translation) – Pretty complicated isn’t it?
That’s how easy it is to get internet sharing to work on every ones computer.

Data Share:
The router’s plug and play features are beautiful, its DHCP feature (the protocol which sends out the ip addresses to the computers connected on the network) is really good and time sufficient.
As soon as all the computers inherit their first couple of numbers of their ip addresses they’re in the same virtual group and therefore can see each other on the same network. For example say Computer-X inherits the ip address 192.168.200.2, Computer-Y inherits: 192.168.200.6 and Computer-Z inherits 192.168.200.8 and a corrupted packet gets to Computer –A which inherits a wrong ip address… say: 198.5.200.5. Computer X, Y or Z will not be able to see computer A but they’ll be able to see each other, Computer A will not be able to see anyone as its virtual address it totally different. Now as computer X,Y and Z can see each other they will be able to share files meaning computer X’s user will be able to see computer Y’s files and so on.
This is a great advantage, if both users have similar files (songs) they won’t need to get it and may play it off the other computer. Now “say!” computer Z is a main server. Computer X and Y may be able to put files on computer Z for backup purposes incase they need to format their computer or are attacked by a deadly virus.
So an advantage of a router is that it configures each computer to the same network and therefore you wouldn’t need to manually configure each computer to the same network.
Recap: Like the router shares the internet connection between many computers, in the same way it allows users to share files across the network and access other computer files.

Auto Sensing:
The Belkin 4 port router has an AI (artificial intelligent) system which detects if a computer that has been put on to the network (via the router) is either 10mb or 100mb, if the connection is 100mb the led on the router representing the computer connected will turn orange, if the connection is 10mb the orange led for the representing computer’s speed will turn green.
The LED’s on the router (the ones which represent the modem and the computers on the LAN) flicker showing the administrator how much activity is happening between everyone on the LAN and internet.
So if anything looks dodgy the administrator can always log on the modem’s setting browser to check up any connectivity’s that are happening.

UPLINK port:
The router allows you to upload other hubs or routers via the upload port.
This allows a user to increase the capacity of computers connecting to the network.

Built in switch:
The problem with ‘say’ a 100mb hub is that it shares 100mb between how many computers are on the network. For example you have 20 computers on a 100mb hub, each computer on the network only established a connection with the network at 5mb, which isn’t really that fast.
Now the router has an inbuilt switch, this gives all the computers 100mb connections, there is much more to a switch, but again a brief knowledge is more than enough.

Design:
The design of the router is for ‘saving space’ purposes, it looks really stylish and is easily fitted to other Belkin products via it’s docking station – it has grooves in the product so other Belkin products can fit in.

Weight:
The router is really light weighted - only 443 grams!!

Packaging
--------------
The packaging box the router comes in is really attractive; they’ve used two good colours on the boxing for effective use (blue and white with the router in the middle – with a lot of detail about the router)
The package includes
One 4-Port Cable/DSL Gateway Router – Stylish!

One Power Supply

One CD-Rom – SOHO network guide/software – for setting up the network without hassle.

One User Guide – Really GOOD! Though it doesn’t go through ½ the router’s features, that just shows how many inbuilt extra functions the router has.
Its compatible with many operating systems such as the Windows series (XP, 98, Me, etc), Mac operating systems, Linux and Apple Talk.

Note: The router was well packed so you wouldn’t need to be afraid of the quality once you opened it; it was covered in a plastic bag surrounded by a foamy material.

Warranty:
---------------
If you fill out a registration card, you WILL get the ‘Belkin lifetime warranty’ and ‘free technical’ support.

The Built In Browser
-------------------------------
The built in browser for the router is separated into different categories.
1. Status/2.Initial-Setup/3.Utilities/4.Help

!The status section indicates:
The Browser’s home page identifies the connection status between your modem and the ISP, it tells you the ip address established with the ISP, how many computers connected to the network, etc

! The Initial Setup page has the following options (just basic ones listed here):Firewall – You may enable or disable an inbuilt firewall which is used to deny unauthorized access from forbidden users.

• Security logs
• LAN client restrictions

NAT Support and DHCP – You may disable these features if you wanted the router to act only as a hub/switch. Otherwise you need to switch them on to share the internet connection.Connection Type – You have to state what connection type your ISP uses.

Remote Management

DMZ

A Link taking you back to the STATUS page.

! UTILITIES:
Allows you to upgrade firmware so even more features and systems (all kinds of new modems) are supported

You can reset the router from this menu or you may restore everything back to the factories original settings.

The final main link on this page is the SAVE CONFIGURATION link, this saves all your settings you’ve done for all the pages, therefore if you ever switch the router off the router won’t lose its settings.

The Price
---------------

The 4 port router lye’s in the price range of 40-50 pounds, which is definitely worth its value, most routers are really expensive. Why pay more when you can get a router which does the job that you need.
Note: The Belkin 4 port router is much better than other expensive routers and therefore is definitely an cost effective product.

Setting the product up:
--------------------------------

Though in various parts in the sections above I’ve stated really briefly on how to set up the product, I feel a good guide would give the reader a better idea of how the router works.

After receiving the product, unpack it and be dazzled by its looks, so small and stylish but yet so powerful
Power on the router with the power supply you are supplied; then connect all the computers to the router’s LAN ports (from the pc’s network card to LAN port).
Make sure the lights on the router lights up, this indicates the establishment of the pc and router (take note of the colour of the light, make sure if the network card supplier says its 100mb then the light turns orange otherwise it should turn green; if its 10mb).
Connect the broadband modem to the router the WAN light will light up.
Go to the routers browsing pages to set it up probably i.e. enable NAT support and DHCP server.
That’s all there is to it. It’s really easy once the user gets the hang of it.

Conclusion:

My overall feelings towards the product has been highly positive, the technology is of the router is still really good and therefore I won’t need to upgrade my router for many years coming (I’ve had it nearly for 1/2 years).
The router hasn’t gone down even once nor has it caused any problems as its straight forward to operate the system.
The navigation layout for the inbuilt browser is outstanding, it takes the user to his or hers desired location without the problem of going round in circles.
I really loved the fact that the router was really small and easily fitted (even with looks) with my 3com and Linksys product.
The overall price I paid for it (50 pounds), was probably the best investment I did for my network as I know it won’t be obsolete any day soon.
The features including the Ai system have made me really happy, I’m pretty sure you can’t find a similar product with the same price range, Belkin really are good at making consumers happy =)
Apart from the manual not going into enough detail with all the features of the product my overall opinion (same as what I stated at the beginning of my conclusion) is that the product is EXCELLENT and anybody with network problems should invest in one, it really is a cure for many network problems, such as unauthorized people getting access to user’s information.

Note: *Though I’ve used only pc’s as examples, the router also supports laptops/notebooks.
*Where I’ve stated you can share your files this also means you are able to share you printer and other devices =)

Well I Hope You Enjoyed My Review.

Thanks Bye… Bye.

Saiyan.

 

...less