| Belkin F5D8230-4 Wireless 802.11x Pre-N Router |
 enlarge
|
Model: F5D8230-4
Brand: Belkin
Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 216
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n (draft), IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
|
|
|
| |
| Features: |
Pre-N speeds and coverage mean 4x greater coverage than standard 802.11g and 4x greater speed than standard 802.11g
Wirelessly share a broadband cable or DSL Internet connection
Built-in 4-port 10/100 Ethernet switch
High resistance to wireless interference--the router will sense potential interference and shift to the clearest available channel
Note: Pre-N routing speeds require an optional Belkin Pre-N wireless networking adapter |
| |
| Description: |
| Belkin Wireless 802.11x Pre-N Router - This wireless network router features Belkin's Pre-N networking technology. Pre-N offers you amazing advantages in speed, coverage, & performance when compared to other wireless 802.11x networks. Some of the benefits include up to 800% greater coverage and up to 600% greater speed than 802.11g! If a standard 802.11g or 802.11b networking product is introduced into the Pre-N network, the Pre-N router will not drop to the lowest networking speed. When used with 802.11g & 802.11b devices, the Pre-N router improves their wireless coverage by up to 20%! Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) Support Web Content & Parental Control Filter (6 months free) - provides over 50 fully configurable filters Pop-Up Blocker (6 months free) - provides pop-up, adware, & spyware blocking |
| |
| User Reviews (216 total): |
|
dont waste your time, December 10, 2007
By Wanna be Critic (Boston, MA)
I gave this thing 2 years to work, and it failed miserably. Firstly, if it gets hot, it crashes, and requires you to reboot it. This happened more or less every 3 to 4 days. Secondly, when I tryed to configure it in access mode only, it would crash, and become completely non-responsive requiring a hard reset of the router. Thirdly, it had this "handy" feature to automatically download and apply firmware updates - attempting to apply this feature also caused the router to crash, and required a hard reset of the router.
I think it is accurate to say that I have spent hundreds of hours over the course of the last two years attempting to make this piece of junk work. It doesnt!
In any case I threw this thing out yesterday, and I couldnt be happier. I replaced it with a Bountiful wifi router, and so far so good. Couldnt be happier.
Hope this helps!
|
not happy, November 11, 2007
By Steven M. Rhodes
item worked great for a week, then it didn't work. asked for a refund, they said i'd have to ship the item back first then they would send a new one. considering it took about a week and a half to get the item in the first place, i did not feel like going 3 weeks without internet. very unhappy. would not do business with again. but when it did work it was pretty fast
|
Not worth a much, November 9, 2007
By Landmark Thief (With Carmen San Diego)
I bought this item about a year ago to replace the old wireless G router I had (slow slow slow!). There weren't too many N routers out yet but I wanted something that wouldn't be totally obsolete and would provide a better signal. The Belkin's range is decent, but the quality is only okay.
Most importantly is the frequency of WIRELESS CRASHES. This think would drop out a couple times a week and I would need to power cycle it to get wireless back up, but the last few months saw an escalation. First it was every night, then twice a day, recently I couldn't use the damn thing for more than a half hour without it taking a dump.
This is an unreliable POS. As many have noted before me about crashes, they are a serious flaw. Skip this product.
|
Great Router, Better than Linksys, September 27, 2007
By Pictures (Irvine, CA)
I previously owned a Linksys router (I beliver it was a WMP54G). I had nothing but problems with that router. It kept disconnecting me from the internet, I would have to reset it or troubleshoot it. The Linksys finally gave out after two years of use. I purchased this router to replace the Linksys and have never looked back. I will always buy Belkin from now on. Not only has it lasted over two years but I have never been disconnected from the internet. The signal is also stronger than the linksys. I believe that this router even has lifetime warranty so no regrets.
|
Works OK, but Parental Control was axed without warning..., September 4, 2007
By RickVB (Novi, MI USA)
I guess I'm one of only two people who actually used the parental support feature of this router, since this is only the second review to cite this problem.
I bought this router about 2 1/2 years ago, and immediately found the router-based parental control feature one of the best features offered. This worked great for over a year, but then suddenly by mistyping a URL I find that the parental control is gone! After calls to Belkin, a web search and a call to Blue Coat (former supplier of the web-based portion of the Belkin parental control), I find that it was indeed discontinued several months before, with absolutely no warning (the HAD my email address for the account registration).
As was mentioned in the other review, their replacement for it is Zone Alarm, which is PC based, and not nearly as useful or flexible as the original product. Nowhere on the Belkin website is there a mention of the discontinuance of the original feature, nor an apology for the inconvenience.
I find this lack of regard for the customer completely unacceptable, and will NEVER buy a Belkin product again. I feel this corporate malfeasance overrides any other positive features it may have, which were not much in any case given the price.
|
Wireless router, August 14, 2007
By Roger D. Goff (Louisville KY)
Works really well, I don't know if the actual N router would be any faster because I have yet to try it, but this pre N works great
|
Nice, July 31, 2007
By M. Miller (VA)
Easy setup,and has been working flawlessly since I bought it. Am very pleased with this purchase
|
An oldie but goodie!, July 30, 2007
By Old Schooler (Bridgeport, CT)
This is an excellent product and the second one I've purchased. A technician friend of mine recommended it and said it is better than the newer routers whose technology has not been perfected. He was right! It has excellent range and signal strength. So far it has been maintenence free!
|
Great product but do not rely on them for tech support, July 29, 2007
By dan323 (St. Catharines, Ontario Canada)
This is my second Belkin Pre-n router. Product was fantastic on the first one and support was too. So I bought a another one and I couldn't get it working. I called them and they blamed it on the ISP (same ISP that the first Router was set up on fine). I spent hours on the phone with no resolve. I finally came to the conclusion that there must be something wrong with the router and I pushed really hard to request to have it replaced. They agreed. I was told Belkin would call me back in 24 hours to set up a replacement router. I called back after 72hrs because they didn't call me and they told me that they will call me back in 12hrs. Now its already a week since that first 24hrs and they have not called me back.
I will never buy a Belkin product again. The switch to Pakistan for Tech Support definitely short changed their customers. They've impatient, don't speak English well, rude and have not followed up with the promise to replace the router. Its been a nightmare.
Belkin F5D8230-4 Wireless 802.11x Pre-N RouterBelkin F5D8230-4 Wireless 802.11x Pre-N Router2.4 GHz Wireless Pre-N Router + 4-Port Switch for PC and Mac /- 1 Each
|
Great router!!!, July 25, 2007
By nd96 (Princeton, TX United States)
I have owned this router for about 2 years now. I have never had a single problem with it. It has great range - more than 1000ft line of sight - all the way down to my front gate. I leave it plugged in upside down my home attic, with the 3 antennas exposed on the back porch. It gets well above 130 degrees in the attic during the summer months. I have never had to reboot or mess with the settings on the unit since I first installed it. I would highly recommend it!
|
|
|
hopeless, July 22, 2007
By Jonah (Washington, DC)
First off, there is no cards slot for the iMac. My bad for not checking, but the product was touted as compatable with Apples.
But for my PC, this and the Belkin Pre-N notebook cards I got, would not set up, ever. I'm not a computer guy, but I'm no dummy and I could not set this thing up. Technical support was worse than unhelpful. They knew less than I did and deflected reponsibility at every turn.
|
I liked it until . . ., July 21, 2007
By pcjohnd (San Rafael, CA)
This router performed well, pushing our wireless reach to corners of the house our Internet signal could not otherwise reach. However, after about a year of good service, things began to go awry. First the wired side of the router became erratic, then failed completely, a tragedy for the wired connections that included our network attached storage backup device and a laser printer. Then the wireless side started behaving erratically.
We've ordered the "final" Belkin N product, and are living on an ancient D-Link G wireless access pointand an even older Netgear wired router. Ah well, the vicissituedes of solid state technology when it goes less than solid . . .
|
Spotty connection, July 10, 2007
By dawitt (new york, ny)
This router refuses to work regularly. Works great when it does but then, for no reason at all, my wireless will conk out and refuse to reconnect. It's not a range problem because I'll have a full signal when it does work. I thought it was just my computer (a Powerbook G4) but my roommates have the same problem. It happens abruptly, even when we're two fee away from the router.
My computer tech friend couldn't figure it out, neither could the guys at Apple.
It was hard to say what was really wrong with it because it works fine about 60 percent of the time. And then (this seems to happen on days when we really need the internet) we can't connect to our network.
I can't rely on this product so I'm looking elsewhere.
|
What a piece of junk!, June 27, 2007
By Howard W. (Santa Clarita, CA)
I had this router for almost a year. I would have to reboot it every day (or two) as it would stop connecting to the laptops we have. Belkin Tech support said there was nothing wrong and I should just reset to factory specs and try again. The other common thing they said was to change channels. Throughout the past year, I did these many times but still lost connectivity many times.
Then in the past two weeks, the router would barely connect. It would connect for 10 minutes, and then it would drop all connections including the LAN connections. Sometimes it would go up and down every few seconds, making any internet work impossible. Belkin said it was my ISP. My ISP said it was my router. It got worse and we barely stayed connected.
BTW - did you know that there is a class action suit against Belkin for this router and some of their other products?
Finally, after two weeks for this I ordered the Linksys WRT150N and connected it. We have had not a problem since then.
Update: Now that I have had the Linksys WRT150N for a while, there is something else I noticed. The Linksys router connects with all my laptops instantly. The Belkin, even when it worked, always took 10-20 seconds to connect. This to me is more proof that the Belkin router is a piece of junk.
Don't buy this router, you will be sorry.
|
General ly working 802.11G/B router, May 8, 2007
By Rick B (Sacramento, CA USA)
This is a great overall wirless router. But, however the Pre-N concept is still a debate as the Pre-N capabilities have still yet to be approved into the IEEE standard. I can use this as a general wireless router, but I could not get the unit to work out of the box for extended long range use. The long range use of this unit is standard at best, nothing to get excited about. The Linksys models work just as well. Maybe when the Pre-N standard is approved more support/performance will be available, but I am not sure.
|
I give up on Customer support and am trashing mine, April 28, 2007
By Dave in Phoenix (Phoenix AZ)
Worked fine awhile. Now can't even load its own config IP page.
Over the last two weeks I've gone through the usual routines with three level 1 techs who each tried to send me to level 2 realizing normal fixes weren't working.
Twice I was connected to Level 2 only to be placed on hold while they read the ticket and then get disconnected. Twice waiting for call backs within 1 hour and another escalated to a supervisor who would call in 30 minutes and as I write this its been over an hour.
I just don't have all the hours it takes to try to get this thing to work again! I have already wasted so darn many hours on it when I have so many other things to do. Part of problem maybe I have a static IP but it worked briefly.
Tried to get them to send me a replacement but seems they first have to get me to a level 2 tech which seems impossible.
UPDATE:
About 2 hours later a Level 2 person did call me back. Suggested needed to switch to dymanic of the LAN vs static and call cox to get their MAC address and showed me where to put it. Well, it was on the modem but also called cox where gal was VERY helpful, trying to test things. Concluded no response from router even with MAC address used.
Recall Belkin and got a nice lady without the usual Indian accent (sounded more British). She had me restore the router to the original settings (after 3 other tech's had me make various changes) reboot and set up basic settings. To my amazement it worked - for about 20 minutes.
Then down again and nothing I do will get it connected again via the LAN. I did get my TVO's updated via wireless before that went down again too.
I am probably switching to a Linksys getting locally tomorrow after more research of various reports. Belkin is just to unreliable.
|
Stay away from this one!, April 17, 2007
By Goldmember
This router is about the worst I have owned. Will not hold the signal. Went to belkins website and downloaded the new firmware were it also had a bulletin that said if you experience frequent dropped signals you are supposed to change the channel. Did that, still drops signal. Called Belkin and they had me switch everything back to factory settings. When I said your website says that this is the problem I was told "You not need to worry sir" Ya great. Well its going out to the garage now to see if my hammer will fix it. Wish I had that $100+ back.
|
Great product!!, April 13, 2007
By Ken (NW, Florida)
Another reviewer stated "so easy, it's scary." Exactly! I had both the router and the pre-n notebook card both installed in 15 minutes. The software wizard was incredibly easy, and did all the settings. The router with the card (not included) increased my download speed by 10 times and gave me a greater range and strength of signal. I had been using the basic linksys and not only does this blow that away performance wise, the linksys was much harder to setup.
I highly recommend this product!!!
|
Problematic, March 6, 2007
By T. Hollar (Brooklyn, NY)
This router gave us trouble from the start. We're a small office with generally 3-5 networked computers (some Mac, some Windoze) running at a time on a business-class cable connection. We ran this router for four months, then removed it from service. The throughput was fair, but certainly not what we expected given the reviews. The most significant issue was that it dropped packets like crazy, and outages were frequent. It was not uncommon that our wireless network was down 30% of any given day, even while our wired connections were running fine.
|
Possible Problem for VoIP Users, March 4, 2007
By xflyboy (Southeast USA)
So far, this router has worked flawlessly, and the installation CD is very easy to use - just note that you should start up the CD before connecting ANY cables. The setup program tells you when to connect to the WAN port, one of the LAN ports, and, finally, to plug in the power cord/adapter.
Cautionary Note: Users of VoIP phone services should be aware of one possible problem. I signed up for a Vonage account but could not get my phones to work properly using this router and a Linksys phone adapter. I kept getting choppy audio not matter what I did. This problem could be unique to my situation, but I suggest hooking everything up and checking it out within the return period. [Actually, a search of reviews mentioning "VoIP" reveals that several people have had the same problem with this router and VoIP service.]
I purchased this router when it was on a super special deal, but I did not attempt to use it until about 3 months later. Then, I discovered that there was problem. Fortunately, I still had my old router, so I tried it and found out that the phones worked perfectly with the old router. Thus, I knew that the problem was with the Belkin Pre-N wireless. I ended up chaining the Belkin (Router B) to my old router (Router A). I tried it the other way around, but got the choppy audio again.
This required disabling DHCP on the Belkin while you have a connection to it (on 192.168.2.1) and changing the IP Address of the Belkin to one that is within the specified range on Router A, which will function as the DHCP server. To access these settings on the Belkin, just click on the top left menu item, "LAN Settings." Once you make these changes, you must, of course, use the new IP address info to access your Belkin for any future changes.
Then, I connected one of the LAN ports on Router A to a LAN port (not the WAN port) on the Belkin, Router B. Now, my phone is working and I can connect a computer to an open LAN port on either device. Note, however, that the Belkin is now acting only as a switch, so this is not really an idea situation. I have not yet tested the wireless function with this setup, but I see no reason why it would not work -- just be sure to test everything that you intend to use immediately after purchasing your products.
|
|
|
| Copyright 2001-2007 WiFiReview.com |
|
