| Belkin F5D8230-4 Wireless 802.11x Pre-N Router |
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Model: F5D8231-4
Brand: Belkin
Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 221
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n (draft), IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
LAN Ports - N/A
WAN Ports - N/A
Warranty - Lifetime Limited Warranty
LEDs - Yes |
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| Description: |
| Powered by Airgo Network's True MIMO technology, Belkin Pre-N products improve wireless reliability and performance, and enable users to work with high-bandwidth applications, such as audio and video streaming.Belkin utilizes True MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) from Airgo Networks in its Pre-N products. True MIMO is the first technology to address the issues of coverage, speed, and interference in larger homes and offices.True MIMO is a smart-antenna technique that uses multiple antennas to transmit and receive wireless signals. It reaches a step further than other smart-antenna technologies by transmitting multiple signals on each antenna. As a result, Belkin's Pre-N products with True MIMO technology create a robust wireless connection while providing a larger coverage area with the bandwidth and quality of service needed to run advanced applications, such as streaming video or Voice over IP (VoIP).True MIMO is one of the underlying technologies being considered for 802.11n, a standard in the works for the next generation of Wi-Fi technology. |
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| User Reviews (221 total): |
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Good and reliable., November 6, 2006
By Jol (Baldwin Park, CA)
This is a good router for the buck. It is easily installed and have very simple instructions to do so. The only thing I have a problem with is a chance to lose your signal. If there are a lot of routers in the area. I.E. An apartment or condominum building. I used the router to both my house and my apartment. I never lost the signal to my house, but I occasionaly lose my signal in my apartment. Especially during peak hours of use.
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A deficient firewall and firmware, November 5, 2006
By JoeCandle (USA)
This router makes it impossible to have meaningful conversations with voice messaging. Mangles voice etc. You have to disable firewall so voice works. No firmware has been issued to fix it.
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Great, November 5, 2006
By M. Langhoff (Chicago, IL)
My wife and I use this with our Mac laptops. We have a cable Internet connection. The router was recommended by a friend who also has a Mac. It was incredibly easy to set up - we were up and running within minutes. This is a testmanet to the user friendliness of the Belkin since I am severely technologically challenged. We leave the router in the kitchen on the main floor but most of our computer use is upstairs in my office or downstairs in the basement. In the 3 1/2 months since we bought the router we have only experienced a couple of brief moments when the signal wavered or got weak. I work at home and spend quite a lot of time online - I've had virtually no problems with weak signals and absolutely no tech problems at all. I can't say enough good things about this product.
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Home networking must, November 4, 2006
By Dashawk (Minnesota)
I bought this wireless router 3 months ago. I live in a 3 story town home in a densly popluated neighborhood. I get many strong network singals from neighbor's wireless networks and wanted a secure, reliable solution for a reasonable cost. I found the solution in the Belkin Pre-N Router. I have an Intel a/b/g integrated wireless in my personal laptop and a CiscoSystems PCMCIA a/b/g card in my work laptop. Both maintain solid connections and were easy to set up. I am very impressed with the wireless security and firewall. The router has been easy to set up and manage, no intrusions, great signal strength, range and speed.
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Belkin F5D8230-4 Wireless 802.11x Pre-N Router, November 4, 2006
By ArkBanker (Arkansas)
Great product. I have had this unit in place for my Mac and have not had a problem (not even a re-boot)in the 3 months I've had it in operation. Set up was a breeze and the interfaces worked flawlessly. I seem to have range over and above the product descriptions and have found no dead spots at all at home or outside.
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Not one problem in 3 months of continuous use, November 4, 2006
By G. MacManus (Dallas, TX)
This router has worked great for the past three months. The set up was a breeze. I have not had to make a single adjustment to that initial setup and it has not had one problem, not even a hiccup. Granted, I am working with Macs, so everything is easier, but I have used XP (on Macs, but still XP is XP) without a hitch as well. I have two computers regularly accessing the internet in the house (with a third occasionally chiming in) and this router feeds to every piece of the property, the coverage is great. The speed is great as well. I have not had one problem with this device yet and don't expect any to come. And at $90 it is a great router! If your experience differs from mine, you should probably consider changing operating systems rather than routers.
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Powerful and easy to set up!, November 3, 2006
By math grad (Dayton, OH)
I want to preface my review by saying that I am a computer programmer, but I am NOT very knowledgeable about networking. I have a wireless network in my home for personal and business use. For several years I used a Microsoft wireless router. It was easy to use and worked well. However, when we finished our basement this summer and moved my office (and the router) down there, I could no longer get a wireless signal upstairs.
After researching different brands of wireless routers, I finally decided on the Belkin F4D8230-4 Pre-N router, largely based on a review that I read on CDW.com from someone who has a 2-story home with a basement (a similar situation as mine). I also trusted the Belkin name, because I've used their power strips for years, and they have an excellent warranty.
My decision to purchase this product turned out to be a good one. I get EXCELLENT reception on the top floor of my house with this router (that's 3 floors away from where the router is). Setup was a breeze!
I highly recommend this router for its signal strength, reliability, and ease of setup!
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Belkin Pre-N - Great Deal, November 3, 2006
By M. Walsh (NJ, USA)
With the Pre-N now being less expensive than the newly released N models, it is a great deal. I did a lot of research before making my purchase and was all set to purchase the N model, but read many reviews stating that it had some problems, so I decided to backtrack to an earlier technology. It works just fine, very quickly, even on my older notebook. Works well even being situated in the same spot as my cable box, HDTV, Cable phone, etc. My only problem is that it will cut out from time to time, very infrequently, and when the computer asks me if I want sign on when I already am, I just say no and proceed as normal. The best part is that now, since it is an older technology, you can get the cards WITH it sometimes (at no extra charge), or at a considerable discount.
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High-quality, reasonably priced wireless router, October 30, 2006
By C. Conerly (Tupelo, MS)
Set-up of this router was very easy. I simply plugged everything in, and it worked. It just can't get any easier than that. I have a 2500 sq.ft., 3-level house and have been in all corners of it with a very good signal from this router. I highly recommend it.
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Increased Range, October 9, 2006
By DM
I just replaced a Linksys WRT54G Router with the Belkin. Bottom-line is I did indeed get more range, so much in fact that I enabled Mac Address Security on my home network (I never had to worry about this before since I never got range outside of my house).
I have the router located in the middle of my basement, I've always had trouble with my 2nd floor connections. Computers on the 2nd floor have always had trouble with low signal strength and sometimes the signal would drop. I was thinking of getting a range expander or to hook-up another router as a repeater.....glad I didn't do either of these. When I hooked up the Belkin my range was fantastic! I now can go out and use my laptop on my deck which I could never do before!
The hook-up was easy, I didn't use the disc, instead I just connected to the web address and performed the setup. The only problem that I had was with port forwarding which Belkin calls virtual....I have a Linksys G Camera which needs to be setup to port 1024 (this is how I had it setup with the Linksys router), with the Belkin the camera needed to be on port 1025 to work....anyway, very happy with this purchase. Also want to mention that I looked at the Pre-N Router and since it isn't the standard yet I didn't get it.
No problems with the Belkin, I have it hooked up now about 2 weeks. It was worth swapping out for the ranged gained!
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No complaints or issues, October 8, 2006
By Adam S. (New York, NY USA)
It works well and I've had no problems with it. My father has one too and is also happy with it. I can definitely recommend it.
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poor customer service, September 13, 2006
By D. Kiang (Brea, ca)
I'm without words on how bad customer service is with Belkin's products. The wait time on the phone is 20 minutes and the email takes days. Belkin is a company that produces sub standard equipment not to last. No quality, just bugs!
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No Improvement, September 12, 2006
By GEORGE R. FISHER (Boston MA United States)
The Wall Street Journal's Mossberg highly recommended this device as a way to improve the range and strength of an 801.11G wireless network.
I replaced a Linksys G wireless router with this device and I can see no difference whatsoever.
Not that it's bad ... it's not. It works just as well as the router I replaced, but that's not what I expected. There are just as many dead spots in the house and the strength in each of the rooms is no better.
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GREAT RANGE, September 11, 2006
By C. Musselman
Very Easy to install. I've been using this with an N1 card and it connects about 200 feet through two building and gets a "poor" signal, but I still connect at 54 MBPS.
(I do NOT recomment the N1 wireless desktop card)
People that stay at my Kentucky Lake fishing resort "King Creek Resort" say they get an Internet Signal 4 cottages away using their G wireless laptop cards. (200-300 ft)
In the past 3 weeks, I have only had to reset the router 1 time.
Overall it is FAST, has great range, an is very reliable.
The only possible downside is that the antenna's aren't removeable so it may be impossible to install an external antenna or a high gain antenna. (although with it's great range, you probably won't need one)
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Great router!, September 9, 2006
By reviewer07 (Port Richey, FL USA)
I chose this router over the newer draft-N, since all reviews I've read pointed out that both the range, and the speed are better with the Belkin's pre-N.
Installation was trouble-free, took a minute or two, additional minute for security settings and it was up and running nicely and smoothly.
Provides fantastic, never seen before range, when working with a Belkin Pre-N Notebook wireless adapter. Signal strength is very high (close to 100%) when used anywhere within our 3500 s.f. property, including pool deck outside. Works great when farther away in the backyard also). Other computers within our house, working on wireless-G USB adapters. receive a perfectly adequate, yet lower strength signal (some 60-75% connection quality).
We don't use a VOIP phone, but streaming video transmissions are working fast and without problems, while transmitted using this great Belkin wireless Pre-N Router.
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Great range - too bad the wired lan and internet doesn't work properly., September 8, 2006
By Waffle Lover (Washington, DC)
I read all the good reviews this router got and picked it for this reason so I don't have problem. So I was shocked to discover that it has these kinds of problems:
If you hook up a VOIP router to your internet first then set up DMZ to forward all ports to this router the router will not function and will not go on the internet.
If you hook up a VOIP router into one of the ports, the VOIP will work intermittently and so much lag and glichiness is heard on the connection that it is not usable.
Before I bought this I never knew what to search for, but if you do a search on other sites with reviews like CNET, etc you will find that many other people have this problem as well. I was stunned.
Belkin support told me that yes they do hear that many of them have this defect and they would replace it, however, I just returned it instead.
Now that I read the negative reviews more carefully I realize that althought the range is good, this router is what was dropping my connections to my network camera also!
Too unreliable for my use, so I can't recommend it to anyone. However, it is an otherwise ok product, as long as you don't have VOIP or need to maintain a streaming connection for any reasons. If you don't mind frustration and glitchyness on your network and/or have no wireless interference and will be well within range anyway and do not need network reliability, then this is for you.
If you are a range freak and want to get maximum range no matter what the cost, I read that it has better range than even the newer N1....
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barely a glitch, September 1, 2006
By Apple Girl in ATL (Atlanta, GA)
Okay, so the easy install setup didn't work for me right off the bat. But I was on the phone with Belkin for less than 5 minutes and it was up and running perfectly... and on a Macintosh! Yes, the rep knew how to deal with a Mac! WHOO HOO! He sent me to my web browser to connect to the router directly through the IP address, and from there it was smooth sailing. Looks cool on my desk, too :)
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Belkin F5D8230-4 Wireless 802.11x Pre-N Router
Belkin F5D8230-4 Wireless 802.11x Pre-N Router, August 26, 2006
By Alexander M. Spence (Seattle)
It works flawlessly. However, the security set up messed up my access to Safari and Internet Explorer so I disabled it. Then I set it up to accept only certain MAC addresses. This appears to be a good functional option. After that there was no problem accessing Safari or Explorer.
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not p2p friendly, August 26, 2006
By Y. K. Bien (Rockville, MD USA)
When a p2p software such as Bitcomet is running, the router becomes irresposive to other applications that require internet access such as IE or Firefox. From what I found on the net, this is due to the limited TCP/IP connections allowed by the router.
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Great Router, August 24, 2006
By J. Bacon (Florida)
Although friends has stories of how hard it was to set up other brands of routers, this one was a breeze with no problems and worked perfect the first time. After using it for about a month I am sold on the Belkin products. I use it with a Belkin laptop adapter.
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