| Belkin F5D6231-4 Wireless Cable/DSL Router |
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Model: F5D6231-4
Brand: Belkin
Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 49
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
LAN Ports - N/A
WAN Ports - N/A
RS-232 Port - N/A
Firewall - NAT |
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| Description: |
| Belkin wireless networking provides the perfect solution for the most advanced, cable-free installations. Belkin Wireless Cable/DSL Gateway Router (Router) uses the 802.11b wireless Ethernet standard to let you share a broadband Internet connection among your computers - without cables. The Router features an integrated 4-port 10/100BaseT Ethernet switch that allows you to connect wired computers for all the advantages of networking. It makes sharing files and peripherals, such as hard drives, printers, CD-ROMs, DVDs and more easier than ever. The Router offers advanced features for the highest level of flexibility. Using its firewall, the Router protects your network from outside intrusions by hackers. Its IPSec pass-through allows you to work from another location using Virtual Private Networking (VPN). DMZ hosting lets you play accelerated games over the Internet. |
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| User Reviews (49 total): |
Page 1 2 3 of Total 3 Pages
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BELKIN CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS THE WORST!, July 23, 2007
By M. Bersell (Orlando, Florida)
I have had this router for about a year. Whenever you call they always say it is an issue with the DSL service provider. No help at all. Does not work with my wireless laptop. Totally useless. I am throwing away as soon as I get my Linksys. Will never buy another Belkin product. When will these companies learn outsourcing customer support to other countries undermines their reliability.
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Stable, but featureless, July 24, 2006
By H. Samson (Chicago)
The router is quite stable, at least compared to my Linksys router. I have never had to reset the Belkin, but with its great stabability comes its own problems. There is no way to disable wireless internet access, and for someone who doesn't use the feature, its just another security risk. Along with this, the setup page is only usable through Internet Explorer. Being a windows user this is not a major drawback, but for any linux user this can be quite a problem. The setup pages are also somewhat complex, requiring multiple page navigations to reach a single option. However, despite these drawbacks, the router has excellent logging capabilites that are far better than my Linksys. Overall the F5D6231-4 is a decent router and I recommend it to any wireless windows customers.
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Terrible, July 18, 2006
By Pigboy (Edinburgh Scotland)
I'm on my third router. And after a year the range seems to have dropped and i need to switch on and off several tomes a day.
Garbage, support is terrible.
Avoid
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This thing is junk, save yourself the trouble, December 27, 2005
By Flippy Smith
I bought this because it was cheap and I just wanted to use it as an extra network switch, and possibly an access point later. First thing I wanted to do was change the IP address so it coincided with the rest of my network. By doing this the router gets confused and changes to a random IP. It still works with the settings you had in it before changing the IP but you can't connect to it to configure anything else. If you try to use the "Access Point Only" mode, that doesn't work either and the router stops working altogether. In both situations you have to reset it to factory defaults and start all over. Belkin has no fix for this problem, I called them. Their solution was unacceptable and here we are a couple years after I bought this thing and they still haven't fixed it. Buy Belkin cables, stay away from all their electronics with firmware and/or software, they don't support them very well.
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Just Toss It In The Junk Bin, October 2, 2005
By M. B. RENTZLER (Brooklyn, NY USA)
Does not work - no real software - a waste of your time. Good only for target practice. I wish we could give negative stars for a piece of dreck like this.
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Perfect. Never expected to have such performance., April 21, 2005
By Lord StrongHold (Halifax, Canada)
I got this router inspite of all the negative reviews. it is cheap so I won't lose much. It is true it is 802.11b series not 802.11g so it is theriotically less speed, but who said that 11mb/s is low speed? If ur DSL connection is less than 10MB so u won't have any problem!
It worked like charm, I just followed the instuctions and within 5 minutes I had both my wired and wireless devices working. MAC address filtering allowed me to restrict access to only my PCs and Laptops - I am in a big building so many others might get the signal if i dont block them.
It worked all over my 100 m2 flat from wall to wall, even in the balcony.
I bet u won't get cheaper wireless network with such features at that price!
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Yup, it sux, April 21, 2005
By Stomper (Florida)
You can get Belkin stuff real cheap (...), but is your time worth it? Do you really want to be (...) around with networking problems? You'll be spending lots of frustrating time with it. I have, and I'm a computer professional. Belkin has not figured out that good software is important, consequently it's a mess. Reduce your pain. Forget Belkin, and Netgear.
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poor signal and unstable connection. dont buy it!!!!!!!!!, February 23, 2005
By kl00
poor signal and unstable connection. dont buy it!!!!!!!!!
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Great wireless router, December 20, 2004
By M. Duggan Cooley (Gainesville, FL USA)
This wireless router is great. I've never had a problem with it and it has been working continuously for over 6 months. Great conncection, very easy setup.
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Go with Linksys or NetGear!, December 11, 2004
By KevPilot (Westside LA)
I've had this wireless router for about a year and I continue to be unhappy with it.
The Good News: The wired component is just fine. With Cat5, it has been utterly reliable.
The Bad News: The wireless range is terrible. We live in a typical post-WWII, 1200 SqFt house on LA's Westside. Aside from the 3rd bedroom/home office and living room, the signal is unreliable in all other rooms, even the backyard just outside the office's window. There has been no firmware upgrades from Belkin. Ever. The WEP security has been problematic. Even in the room I've never been able to connect up at 128.
I say buy another brand. I'm giving this one away and asking Santa for a better unit.
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One of the worst routers in the world, October 19, 2004
By Z. Li (IL)
poor signal and unstable connection. Don't bother to get one even it is free.
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Great router, August 17, 2004
By Corey Smith (University Heights, OH United States)
I love my router and feel I need to defend it. I got this thing, unpacked it, stuck it on my DSL modem and it runs...well. No resets, I get excellent signal strength all through my 3 floor brick house, MAC filtering works perfectly (doesn't block connections, but they are useless) and the encryption is as good as you can get from WEP. The PPoE works great and the DHCP assigns wireless IPs without fail.
I might suggest that some of the people who had problems might try to make sure the thing is sitting away from their computer case, as is instructed in the manual.
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it work and it is cheap, August 2, 2004
By M. Philip Chong (Jonesboro, GA United States)
I got this wireless router few days ago. (...) I was going to say to myself if it doesnt work, just throw it away.
First, I turn this router into an access point. I already have a router.
It work well with my D-Link DI-604.
I use IE to configure the router. I dont like to install software on computer if I can.
I notice the users here say the MAC filtering doest work. But the encryption work right? You know how hard to crack a code at 64 bit? At 128 bit, it is even harder. I only did 64 bit encryption. If you see the lights blinking when your computer is off, then you know someone is using it. MAC filtering doesnt work does not bother me for now.
Also the range is somewhat limited. I get around 50 to 70% signal strenght all the time. Even when I am 1 ft. away from the router, I still get 70%. (I heard with the Linksys, you can hack to boost the signal). I can walk around the house with it and few feet outside the house, the signal will be lost.
I have problems using the Belkin PCMCIA wireless card. I call tech support and they are routed to India and they are of no help either!
I only have surf on the web and transfer some files between my computer and the connection is there all the time.
Its cheap and it work, but I had trouble with the PCMCIA card. I will write a review for the card and how I correct it.
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It works, but has issues..., July 1, 2004
By jeremy001 (Culver City, CA United States)
I'm not normally one to write reviews, but I want to prevent others from buying this if it will not work for them. I have previously been a sysadmin, so I'm somewhat fluent with network compnents and configurations. As a wireless access point, its fine, good range, good speed, etc. As a NAT router, again it works just fine for browsing. However, it has serious issues maintaining connections, either through the wireless side or the wired side, with game servers. Simply put, games will continually "lose the connection" to the server, and drop you from the game. This happened no matter what configurations and/or firmware versions I tried. I ended up using my Linksys router as a router, with the Belkin as a wireless access point and hub. This also reduces it to a 3 port hub, since you need to use a standard port for the connection to the router.Long story short, it works for everything but games. If you never game, then its good for the money. Gamers look elsewhere. I would recommend Linksys.
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Advance Users Beware, May 20, 2004
By liu02bhs (Houston, TX United States)
Wireless router is a must have for laptop users. It provides a range of freedom unparallel to any wired set up. If you go to a university or work for a company that has wireless connection everywhere, you will truly appreciate the convenience of wireless internet. It has revolutionized internet as much as cell phone has revolutionized telecommunications.Belkin's 802.11b router is a good router to have if you are using it for only wireless internet and sharing connection. The installation is very easy for novice users. It's just a matter of following a bunch of diagrams in the manual to get everything started. If you run into problems, Belkin has an excellent 24/7 free tech support program. I got almost a no-wait response. However, the regular tech support's knowledge is very rudimentary, knowing less about networking than me. I think they just following a manual of FAQs. With that said, I have found some problems with the 802.11b router running more advanced features like De-Militarized Zone (DMZ). Because many programs such as file-sharing programs, video conferencing, etc. require non-standard ports, you'll need to either forward these ports or DMZ the computer. With the 802.11b, the DMZ feature does not work at all for me. I've talked to Belkin's high level tech support but to no avail. I have to manually forward all the ports that I need to be open, even port 80 for web server. On top of that, the router allows port forwarding for only 20 programs. If you need to forward more than that, you will do some manipulating. You can get around this by forwarding a series of ports, which only takes up one slot in the virtual server feature of the router. Say if one of your program runs on port 1024 and the other one runs on 1030 you can forward 1024-1030. The draw back with this is that it compromises the security of your network. I sometimes change the port of one program so it will run consecutive with a port of another program, so I wouldn't have a bunch of unnecessary ports opened. RATING:
One star off of ease of use and performance because of the the problems with advance features. Other wise 5 for ease of installation and cost/benefit. Average to 4.5, but since there's not 4.5 option, I would give it a 5. FINAL WORDS:
All in all, the 802.11b router has an unbeatable value (...)The Tech Support is great. But for more advanced functionalities, it becomes quite a nuance.
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A Router that leaves you feeling Routed, May 13, 2004
By Phillip Anglin (Nashville, TN)
Simply put, this wireless router did not work in my home office enviroment. I bought this model because of the super rebate that Belkin offered. Installation was easy. This particular model of router did not work with my DSL modem and caused temporary outages within my network. I spent over 4 hours with tech support from my DSL provider, Symantec and Belkin. After several tweaks, signal could not be connected consistantly between my DSL modem and my Dell Desktop. Also, my Dell Laptop could not receive the signal transmission from the router. I cannot recommend this Router and I took mine back the store for a refund. I replaced it with a D-Link Wireless Router and it has worked perfectly.
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Great Product, May 5, 2004
By G Donthi (CA United States)
Earlier had a DLink DI-614+ wireless router. The router and the wireless card worked great. However, the concurrent VPN connections were very very intermittent. I got fed up and finally gave up on this Dlink Router. Bought this new Belkin wireless router and the wireless card which had a great rebate going. As advertised, the installation was a breeze. Just followed the instructions and I was online both using the wired and wireless connections. They have very good installation procedure. I guess everyone could do it.. I didn't encounter the VPN problem that I encountered with DLINK DI-614+. I didn't do any setup with this Belkin Router, yet the multiple concurrent VPN connections went thru' without any hitch. This was great after spending too much time with the DLINK router. Great product for a Great Price.
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Excellent, April 12, 2004
By unknown
I just got this Belkin router yesterday (Model F5D6231-4) and I set it up this morning and it is working great.I do have firmware version v2.00.002. It took me less than 5 minutes to get the wired portion working. I have two desktop computers and a color laser printer all networked through this router via another hub. My Thinkpad comes with a mini-PCI wireless card and it detected the router with no problem. I enabled 128 bit WEP and it is picking up signal nicely. I have a two story house and the router is on the second floor. I have signal throughout the house ranging from 2 - 5 bars. I had no problem using the web in the paces where there is only 2 bars of signal through my 3Mb/256kb line provided by charter.net. (...)
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Functional, needs more security, April 10, 2004
By gephardt
Absolutely no problem setting up and using in built up area. No problem with interference from 2.4GHz phone or microwave operated near client's 802.11b card. Setup was a breeze, 5 min. as advertised, 15 min. total to setup and configure both router and a Netgear card. Security drawback: needs implemented blocking of unknown MAC addresses. Also, turning off broadcast of SSID does not work. This device might is OK if you are not worried about security. For example, in a single family dwelling surrounded by a lot of space (c. 200 feet radius). Not bad for the money.
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The only thing worse,,,, March 13, 2004
By prof (Alabama)
than this product is the technical support. I've been working for 7 hours now trying to get it set up and working. I write this reveiw as I try to get assistance yet again. TA has been rude and unconcerned. Their number one goal is getting me off the line. This really matters because the documentation is so awful
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