Thanks to everyone who has rated me this year. I will still be around to rate in December but just ...
Thanks to everyone who has rated me this year. I will still be around to rate in December but just fancy a month off writing. Would appreciate some rates on my older reviews also.
Member since:15.02.2007
Reviews:67
Members who trust:71
I did a lot of research into routers before jumping onto the wireless bandwagon and eventually plumped for the Belkin and I am more than happy with my purchase.
The Belkin was by far the cheapest router at the time (I paid £50 in 2005) compared to most other models which were on average £20 more expensive for what I could see, was the same functionality. The Belkin also offered free lifetime support which could turn out to be a lifesaver as I have become very dependant on the internet to carry out my day to day duties.
--Whats In the Box? --
There are no real surprises inside the box, you get the router itself, a mains power supply, an instruction book which is surprisingly good for an electrical product and a CD which contains all the necessary drivers and a more in-depth manual.
--Setting up the router--
Before you can connect to the router wirelessly, you need to have some form of wireless capability on your other device (desktop PC, laptop, PDA,
games console, etc) I would recommend you install any necessary components on these devices first.
When you have a device capable of receiving the wireless signal, you will need to configure the router. This is done via an ethernet link into one of the four wired network ports on the router. As the router and wireless card in your other device have no information about each other, this is a very important stage so make sure you have an ethernet (CAT 4) cable available otherwise you will not be able to proceed. Once you have made this connection, the router will self-configure with your Internet Provider. At this point, you could continue to use the internet with the wired access but, seeing as you have just bought a wireless router, there would be little point in this. Now would be the time to test out your wireless connection by unplugging the ethernet cable and seeing if your router is detected by the wireless device.
I found this stage very simply to complete, I would say that it took 5 minutes to set up with my NTL connection. As I had done my research I had the ethernet cable to hand so I had no nasty surprises. All the setup is carried out via a web form within the router and is very self explanitory.
---Security--
When I had established that the router and wireless device were talking to each other correctly, I wanted to apply some kind of security protocol as soon as possible. If I was to leave the router unsecured, it would mean that anyone in the surrounding area would be able to sit outside the house or in their back gardens and use my internet connection for free. Of course this bring all kinds of problems with it. suddenly, I would be responsible for the content they were browsing.
The Belkin router supports all the major encryption algorithms (WPA and WEP). When creating a security key, I made the mistake of attempting to do this wirelessly. Of course, as soon as I had changed the key on the router, my internet connection was disabled as the key on the router no longer matched the unsecure settings on my device. Luckily I was able to enter the passkey into the software on my device and get my connection back.
I chose the WEP encryption as at the time I had an old Windows 98 PC on my network that didnt support the newer WPA style. Again, I created the WEP code via the in build web browser. The Belkin router asked me for a phrase which it then converted to a series of hexdecimal numbers. There were 13 pairs of these number which was now my security key and would be needed to be entered into each device I wanted to connect to my router.
This stage was more complicated than it should have been as I was trying to enter the pass phrase into the device instead of the hex numbers that were generated. As I installed the router over Christmas, the Belkin support offices were closed so it probably took me a day or two to work this out as it wasnt clear in the manual.
--Usage--
The whole Belkin setup I have has served me very well. I have 2 PC's, a PDA and a PSP connected wirelessly to the router all at the same time as well as a network printer, connected by ethernet cable. All these devices connect perfectly to the router. It is very rare that I need to reset the router (once per month maximum) though I do switch it off overnight. I have found that I need to make sure my cable modem is switched on before the router else sometimes it has problems connecting to the internet. I have tested the range out on my PDA just for experimental purposes. I have no problem browsing the internet from the bottom of my garden and I have also taken the PDA 75 metres up the road and still been able to connect to the router.
I have also used the router for internal connections allowing me to access files on another of my PCs from the main one and vice versa.
-Helpdesk support-
I have had to phone the free Belkin support a couple of times, both when upgrading the firmware. The support technicians at the other end of the line have proved to be friendly and knowledgeable on both occasions and resulted in my getting up and running again in a short time. All support calls are followed up with an email questionnaire which is designed to allow Belkin to improve their service.
--The verdict--
I am more than happy with this product. It has served me well for 18 months now and has proved to be very reliable. It is easily configurable via its web interface should you need to make changes. The four wired ports are more than adequate for the general home user and probably for the same business user too. Although this was the cheapest router on the market at the time I bought mine, it is certainly not cheap in terms of performance. I would recommend this router to anyone who wants to get onto the wireless platform or if anyone is looking to swap their current router. You cannot go wrong with the Belkin router. They are so easy to use, I've even talked somebody who is not computer literate through setting one up over the phone. It probably took 25 minutes in total which goes to prove how easy they are to set up and configure. It is imperative that security is used and this is the area of setup where you are most likely to encounter problems. Take your time with this step and you shouldnt have too many problems.
Well done Belkin, a quality product!!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Share an internet connection and files without loads of cables! Disadvantages: Can be tricky to set up, not as fast as I thought it would be with networking
Advantages: Share an internet connection and files without loads of cables! Disadvantages: Can be tricky to set up, not as fast as I thought it would be with networking
May 21st, 2007
exceptional by (13%):
very helpful by (87%):
