| BELKIN F5D7050 Wireless 802.11g USB Network Adapter |
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Model: F5D7050
Brand: Belkin
Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 121
Operating system: Windows XP Professional Edition
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11b
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| Features: |
Product Type - Adapter
Warranty - Lifetime
- Offers backward-compatibility with all 802.11b network devices
- Features wireless 64- and 128-bit WEP Encryption |
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| Description: |
| Belkin F5D7050 Wireless 802.11g USB Network Adapter - This is a USB network adapter that gives your desktop or notebook PC access to 802.11g & 802.11b wireless networks. What makes this adapter so special is it's size. It's roughly the size of a pack of gum, which makes it a perfect accessory for mobile PC users. Requires - Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, or XP Includes Belkin Lifetime Warranty and free 24 hour technical support! Color - Black |
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| User Reviews (121 total): |
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 of Total 6 Pages
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Great product, November 4, 2006
By user (Budapest, Hungary)
easy to install, works superbly with no hassle. Sometimes, windows start behaving stangly while trying to find the adaptor, and the wireless networks needs to be repaired. I do not think this is a product fault, but rather Window's
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Burned out., October 11, 2006
By user (New York, NY)
Had this for about four months before it totally quit on me. I've tried installing it on multiple PCs with both driver versions but Windows will no longer recognize the device even when it auto-detects it.
A week prior to this I had been running it on a Linux box where I had to reboot about once a day in order for it to work again.
Seeing as my router is Belkin, I thought I wouldn't have any problems. Big mistake; I'm going for a Netgear device this time around.
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Software does not work, September 29, 2006
By user (USA)
Do not buy this item - The software does not work and tech support will blame your router or somthing else just to get you off the phone. The lifetime warranty is worthless too.
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Saves you time by not connecting to the internet, September 29, 2006
By user (Lexington, KY)
The only good thing I can say about this product is that it is the perfect parental filter because your children will never be able to access the internet with it.
I bought this product because it was relatively cheap and I mistakenly somewhere connected in my brain Belkin with good products.
I took this thing home and spent a couple hours attempting to connecting it to a wireless network that I have had no trouble connecting any other wireless card to (several different brands). After finally get it connected, it would not stay connected for more than 15 minutes at a time without dropping and then not being able to find the network.
I took it back and bought a no-name wireless adapter off the internet that I have NEVER had connection issues with.
I have rarely found a product that was absolutely a complete waste of time and money, and had zero redeeming qualities. Buy anything other than this device. Every hateful thing that all of the reviews have stated are absolutely true.
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No WEP, September 29, 2006
By user (New Jersey)
I bought one of these so I could move the old computer up to my son's room. It's running Windows Me, but so what? Belkin says that's supported.
I can get it to work when broadcasting my SSID, I can get it to work when not broadcasting my SSID. What I can't get it to do is work with WEP, either 64 or 128 bit. Called up support, they said "Me has no diagnostics. You can return it to the store."
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Inconsistent, September 28, 2006
By user (UK)
Frequently disconnects for no apparent reason, even with a Belkin router. You then have to "repair" the connection to get it working again. The strength isn't that great either - usually "poor" to "good" from one room and 20 ft away.
I wouldn't bother with this kit - there's nothing worse than an weedy, intermittent 'Net connection.
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I hate it but I love it slightly more.., September 26, 2006
By user
The short of it: If you can't trouble-shoot your own equipment then forget this thing. It's plug and play on the surface but evil lurks somewhere, inside the unit or the drivers, not sure.
The Good:
-Performance is great.
-Keeps trying to connect to the neighbors network so the range is super (and their network is G only, not sure where their router is but at the minimum 30 feet through 2 walls, a wood fence and lots of foliage).
-Nice long cord (5 feet or so) and docking station so can be positioned sorta wherever.
-Simple to setup, follow the instructions and 'boom', connection!
-Cheap.
The Bad:
-You get what you pay for in this case.
-'Boom', connection! may require a little fiddling in Device Properties but that's standard so not really a 'bad'.
-Keeps trying to connect to the neighbors network wiping out the SSID in device settings (finally had enough and told them how to change and hide their SSID and things good now).
And the ugly:
-Using the boxed drivers V1.0.0.0, utility version V1.0.7.4, firmware V1.0.0.0. Had the thing for a month now and twice already the drivers, for no apparent reason, froze the system and on hard reboot WinXP would lock up to instant black screen while booting and would only boot in Safe Made with networking disabled and normal mode only if the actual USB connection was physically disconnected, not just the stick removed from the base. Fixing this requires booting into Safe Mode minus networking or normally with the plug unplugged and removing the drivers then rebooting and re-installing the drivers. Updating drivers could help the problem but finding them on their website is sorta a nightmare all its own for time limited people.
-The SSID wipe never happened until the the first freeze and won't go away.
-Prior to the first freeze, on a couple occasions the software would claim the device wasn't present unless I unplugged the stick from the base and plugged it back in.
-Device won't run without the shipped software after the first freeze. Can probably fix that but don't have the time.
Summary: There's flaws, it's cheap, works fantastic for the most part but when it don't work, at least in my case, nothing else works either. But compared to the card it replaced I still love it. But if you've ever called Tech Support to try and fix a problem then buy something else because this will be a pretty shrink-wrapped box of pounding migrane waiting to happen. Just my opinion.
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DO NOT BUY THIS ADAPTER!, September 16, 2006
By user (Paramus, NJ United States)
If you have a XP machine with SP2 do not buy this adapter. It's such a pain in the next to install, and whats even worse is that belkin doesn't provide support. I had to download RAlink drivers, install it, uninstall it, copy the files to another directory, modify the .inf file for the card, and reinstall it... If you have no idea what i'm talking about.. stay away from it.. i just threw my out and bought a Linksys adapter (owned by Cisco) which worked awesome.
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An exercise in futility, August 30, 2006
By user (Mauston, WI USA)
Go ahead and buy one of these. Then, you can sit there and try to connect to the wireless router for about three hours. Then, once it finally connects, you have approximately five minutes to get yourself online to write a bad review for it before it conks out on you. I have to constantly disconnect it from the computer and then reconnect it, disable and re-enable it with Device Manager, and a whole slew of other things just to get it to work for a few minutes. In addition, you will sometimes have to reinstall the drivers even if you replug it in to the exact same USB port. I've never had this problem with other wireless adapters. In short, avoid this adapter.
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Easy Setup, August 28, 2006
By user (Providence, RI United States)
This was my first experience setting up a wireless network or any network for that matter. I bought this adapter along with the Belkin Router from walmart. The instructions on the software was easy to follow, considering my router's user manual was missing. I've read the horror stories from other reviews, but I haven't experienced any problems with this adapter. I guess it is easier to use this adapter with a belkin router. It also might be because i am using this adapter on a desktop.
Also, the belkin wireless monitor software was a bit confusing, because i was unfamiliar with the terms. I found it easier to get on the network by enabling Windows Zero Configuration (WZC) on the software. The belkin tech support wasnt much of a help, i ended up figuring it out myself.
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Intermittent freezing and faulty driver installation, August 5, 2006
By user
This product was easy to install and supports very high speeds compared to my previous device. However, it causes intermittent freezing of my computer (requiring a reboot), especially when downloading information from two web sites at once. So ... I tried to install the latest driver. However, the Belkin web site provides drivers in an installer package (an EXE). I downloaded the installer and ran it. As one of the final steps, Windows has to install the driver for the device. But Windows couldn't find the driver, and I looked all over and couldn't find out where the installer put it. So I am back to square one.
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DON'T BUY TWO OF THEM!!!, July 30, 2006
By user
Okay, so I bought this product, and of course, I didn't check these reviews. Silly me.
First off, I don't really have any problem with the adapter. Don't use their software, just enable Windows Zero Config (XP).
Second off, my signal strength seems decent (2 of 5 bars) for the distance I am connecting from. Two walls and a driveway separate me from the router. (No, I am not stealing internet, it's my landlords router, he said it was okay.)
Third off, when I try to connect the second adapter to the second computer, they both go screwy. Connected at first, then disconnected, tried again, immediate disconnect, then that pretty little green LED light stops working all together.
Fourth off, don't even bother calling their tech support. I saw someone saying in a review that they don't speak English. They do, just poorly. Eventually, after trying to understand what this guy said, I just said, "Umm... Yeah... I'll try that... bye."
So, to sum up, don't buy it. Buy something else. You'll thank me later.
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Terrible, July 29, 2006
By user
I couldn't get a consistant link with my AP, which was in the other room. My other wireless USB non-Belkin products work just fine. When I did get connected I always had good signal strength but it would then just drop me!!
I also couldn't seem to set it up for Ad Hoc mode. Maybe it's possible but I gave up after spending way too long on it.
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skip the Belkin, you can do better.., July 25, 2006
By user (California, USA, Earth)
I bought at Best Buy for $39.99 but later exchanged for something else; this Belkin had some annoying quirks...:
-USB wouldn't recognized on bootup/restart sometimes, had to unplug/replug USB.
-sometimes would roam around and connect to neighbors' wireless networks!
-the Belkin Wireless Monitor Utility isn't very useful, doesn't allow you to specify a default network.
-Belkin support website only had a PDF manual, and 2 Belkin Monitor Utilities for download: version 4000, and regular? doesn't describe any further. No drivers or firmware available.
I'm running Windows XP Pro SP2, all updates.
I exchanged for a D-Link WUA-1340 ($39.99). Works, with none of the annoying quirks that the Belkin had.
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Complete Junk!, July 19, 2006
By user (Sedona, Arizona)
The software installs easily and the supplied utility is decent, but the unit has poor sensitivity compared to my wireless PC Card and most annoyingly it constantly disconnects and reconnects, sometimes several times a minute, even when the signal is fairly strong.
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Avoid at all costs, June 19, 2006
By user (Indianapolis)
I bought this adapter and returned it four days later. Initially it worked well (as it should have, since the access point was only on the other side of the wall). But the adapter would disconnect from the network at random, sometimes after a few hours, other times after a few minutes. Each time it disconnected, the only way to reconnect was to uninstall the software and hardware, and then reinstall them again. On the rare occasion the adapter did work, the software would forget its WEP settings after a reboot, and the key would have to be manually re-entered (so many times that I have it memorized now). This adapter failed so many times that I had to reinstall it everytime I sat down to use my computer.
Belkin's website support for this device is a joke. It lists three versions of the device, but doesn't tell you how to distinguish between the one you have and the other two. This leads to trying all three drivers, none of which will fix any of the problems with this horrible piece of hardware.
If my only options were using this adapter and running cable down my hallway, I'd be breaking out the wire crimpers. The D-Link WUA-1340, with which I replaced the Belkin, costs the same amount of cash and works much better so far.
Bottom line: Do not buy the Belkin F5D7050. It'll just leave you with spotty operation and quite a bit of wasted time.
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Oh Belkin, how I loathe thee, June 12, 2006
By user
Worked fine... for 4 hours. Then it just died. I knew Belkin (and D-link) were 2nd-class networking brands but still bought this in spite of myself. Hindsight is 20/20 I guess. Listen to everyone on here and buy something else -- if you don't have one problem mentioned you'll have another. Don't be surprised if your Belkin decides to spontaneously combust. Horrible product.
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Not worth it, May 22, 2006
By user (Ivory Tower, USA)
I guess that I'm another who has to add a negative review for this hardware device.
I went to download the drivers for this device (whose ID is clearly printed on the device itself) from the Belkin web page. Downloaded no problem. After installing the drivers in the default "Belkin usb" directory, I plugged in the wireless device, and told WinXP just where to look...the old "Belkin USB" directory.
Lo and behold, WinXP didn't find any appropriate drivers in this directory.
Remove, uninstall.
Redownload.
OK, let's read the README document. I've got the latest version of Adobe.
Whoops, Hmm, I guess the driver installation file has a bit of a problem with the documentation file, too.
I guess I'm just astounded at the problems that I'm reading about with this device, including what one reader said about the card not being compatible with Service Pack 2 (Is that real? Sounds too incredible)
My advice, steer away from this card. Caveat lector.
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Grumpy user, April 20, 2006
By user
Installed OK on XP but the signal to noise ratio is not good resulting in slow connections and drop outs. Had no trouble real trouble connecting to my WRT54GL rinning DD-WRT other than signal. Other g devices give much better SNRs. The software is also a bit flakey. Next time I will buy Linksys. I was in hurry as my NIC died on my PC so bought the first think I found in WalMart. This will be consigned to the junk box :-(
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Not as easy as it should be, but it can work, April 13, 2006
By user (PA)
I also had difficulties with the install. The Belkin website now lists a version 3 of the driver that finally worked for me, even though the device wasn't marked as version 3. If it still doesn't work, clear your registry of anything related to Belkin and try again.
It does reinstall the driver if you plug it in a different USB port, but it's mainly just a matter of hitting OK a few times, after you have the correct working driver.
The included USB extension cable makes it easy to place where you get an optimum signal.
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Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 of Total 6 Pages
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