| Belkin F5L009 5-Port Wireless Network USB Hub |
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Model: F5L009
Brand: Belkin
Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 53
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: Ethernet, USB, Fast Ethernet
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| Features: |
Allows computers to share USB external hard drives, printers, scanners and media readers wirelessly
Easy 3-minute setup
Compatible with all wireless routers (router not included)
3-year Belkin warranty
Network Hub gives network computers wireless access to up to 15 USB devices |
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| Description: |
| Share multi-function printers, access media readers, digital cameras and scanners with everyone on your network. Share USB Hard Drives. Play music from an MP3 player connected to a USB dock using USB speakers. Access Web Cams: eliminates the USB cable to the laptop. |
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| User Reviews (53 total): |
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Exceed my expectations, August 15, 2008
By user
All in all, I'm pleased. It's not perfect, but it works much more smoothly than I expected.
I have it connected to:
Samsung 1430 printer
Iomega 33748 desktop hard drive
Canon BJC-2100
Dell 1600n multi-function printer/scanner/copier/fax (this is supposed to be a network MFP, but the network scanning is a joke)
So far I've only tested it with 2 computers at once, one XP, the other Vista.
Setup was pretty easy. There is no setup to do on the appliance at all; just plug it in to power, your network, and some USB devices. It gets an IP address from DHCP and detects what devices are connected to it. Every computer that wants to use it, though, has to have the "Hub Control Center" installed. It's a simple install that also installs whatever shim it is that convinces Windows you have equipment connected to a USB port when it's really on the network.
On the computer that uses the Windows built-in firewall, after the setup program ran, I was in business. I did have to manually set up a rule on one computer's BitDefender firewall to allow incoming traffic from the hub. The manual was pretty clear on what needed to be done, with step-by-step instructions for the most popular firewalls (although not for BitDefender).
I bought this thing in order to share the above devices, so I set the printers up to connect only when needed. That option is only for printers, and only seems to work for printing. The external hard drive I set to manually connect. I set the 1600n MFP to connect only when needed, which works for the printing function, but I have to manually connect to scan.
Compatibility with my hardware:
Samsung 1430
It works just fine with one problem: if I turn off the printer, then later turn it back on, the hub doesn't detect that it's back, and says the printer is "unavailable." If I unplug, then replug the USB cable, it comes right back up. Annoying, but not a big issue.
Canon BJC-2100
It works fine, connecting and disconnecting automatically. There is one very odd behavior. With some files, the print job completes, but for some reason the job remains in the queue. The most peculiar thing is that if you send other print jobs, they will go through, ignoring the leftover job ahead of them. So everything works fine, but if you open up the print queue, you see this long queue of phantom jobs, which sit there until deleted.
Dell 1600n
The print part works fine, but since the 1600n comes with a print server, it's not all that useful. It is very useful for scanning. I have to manually connect to the 1600n in order for the scan to work, but that only requires three clicks. And if you weren't going to share the 1600n scanner, you could just set your computer to stay connected all the time.
Iomega 33748
Again I have to connect manually when I want to use it, but I could choose to always be connected if I weren't sharing it. Otherwise it seems to work fine. I haven't really tested the speed, but it seems much quicker than USB 1.1
Sharing resources:
I haven't done much testing of this, but when I print simultaneously to the Samsung ML-1430, the hub handles the contention nicely, automatically connecting the first computer, and on the second computer showing that the device is connected to another computer, then disconnecting the first computer when that print job is done, and automatically connecting the second computer and completing the print job.
If one user is connected to the external HD, I can see that in the Hub Control Center, and can "Request Use" of the hardware. A little text message pops up on the connected computer, and then if the connected computer disconnects, the requesting computer can manually connect.
One of the weirdest things about it is that they tout its wireless ability (the box has the word "wireless" on it at least 11 times), but it has only a 10/100BaseTX port, so in order to get wireless access, you have to connect it to a wireless access point or router, not included (which is clear if you read the whole box).
The box also touts it as "the industry's 1st reliable print server" even though it isn't a print server. It does seem to be a reliable way to share printers, though, so it does the same job as a print server. The difference is that the print queues are maintained on the desktops and contend for the printer, instead of going into a central queue on the print server.
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Freezes Windows-based computers as well, can't share hard drives, not wireless...what more do you need to know?, July 30, 2008
By user (Alexandria, VA USA)
Belkin, I understand you tried to solve a big problem with this product. Problem is...well...it doesn't work! Why this product is still on the market is amazing to me, because I have yet to meet anyone who loves this, or read a completely positive review of the Belkin Networked USB Hub. It's not truly wireless (false advertising, IMHO), and freezes up your computer when you connect an external hard drive to it to use over a wireless network. That's right, Mac users, it's not just your systems. Us PC'ers are feeling the pain, too. Conclusion: please save your money, and wait it out for a product that can actually do what this product claims!
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Not suitable for NAS use, July 24, 2008
By user
I thought this device was going to be something along the lines of Linksys' NSLU2 storage link for providing network access to USB drives. Despite the blurb on the box, this device is not suitable for use in setting up a NAS (network attached storage(. There is Belkin software that is required to be installed on any computer that needs to access an attached USB drive. Unfortunately, that means that non-computer devices like media streamers, or even Linux computers, have no means of access.
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Locks up Mac OS, July 23, 2008
By user
The Belkin software locks up my MacBook Pro just about every time I try to use it. The Belkin application is always "busy" when the computer isn't locked up which makes it almost impossible to configure the settings for any devices that are attached. I bought this device to allow all of our computers to utilize time machine in the background with usb drives... when it works it is awesome but it makes my OS very unstable and just isn't worth it.
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Piece of garbage--external HD failures, July 21, 2008
By user
As several have already written, this is a great idea in concept, but awful in execution. I knew it wasn't "wireless" in the purest sense of the word when I bought it. But I was fine with that. I just wanted the ability to access my Maxtor external drive along with some other USB devices from my personal laptop and my work laptop. I knew I couldn't access the devices at the same time, but that was fine with me. Just didn't want to have to walk up to my home office and plug in to the external drive depending upon which computer I was working with. Thought, it would be great to just connect to my wireless network, and access the HD through the Belkin USB hub (which is connected via hardwire to the router). First day, it worked like a charm. After that, a total and complete nightmare. Every problem already written about in these reviews, I had. Drive not connected when it says it is, crashing, unable to close through task manager even, "hanging" the computer... only way to shut everything off was to shut down the computer. Just a nightmare. Since I can't give zero stars, it gets one--if only for a good idea. But save the $$$$. Truly a garbage product. I have a belkin wireless router that I absolutely love!!! It has been nothing but great... quite disappointing to find Belkin make such a crap product after the good experience with the wireless router. Hopefully someone else will take the concept and figure out a way to make it work effectively.
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Unusable with Mac OS X Leopard, July 20, 2008
By user (Boston, MA)
I wanted to use this to do Time Machine with Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.4) wirelessly via my laptop (Powerbook G4 1 GHz). It did this quite well, albeit more slowly than with a dedicated wired connection. Belkin does have Mac drivers. However, if you put the computer to sleep, all hell breaks loose. If the usb drive is mounted, it takes a couple minutes to go fully to sleep. If it is unmounted, the computer goes to sleep normally, but if you wake up and try to remount the drive, Finder freezes, and after a force quit and relaunch, Finder refuses to relaunch and you are left without a Finder, needing a full reboot. The same happens if you sleep the computer with the usb drive mounted. I have learned my lesson; don't bother with non-Apple products when using Macs.
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Not wireless, July 18, 2008
By user (Albany, NY USA)
This device is not wireless, i repeat! not! wireless.
It needs your wireless router next to your device and plug in 1 foot ethernet cable provided by belkin to each other. nothing is wireless about it
IT IS A NETWORK USB HUB
BELKIN SUCKS...
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Ok - needs some refinement, July 15, 2008
By user (Arizona)
This item works kind of. For low bandwidth stuff it seems to work real well. Mice, blue tooth stuff and everything is great. It doesn't seem to work very well with hard drives which is what I really wanted it to do. If you want a wireless hard drive, you should check out that time capsule from apple. This doest seem to work consistently. I would really like if this was a software issue - belkin makes some nice stuff and I hope they fix this so that it works better. The idea is a great! It is only one of two products i found that does this. I also have to report one more thing, i cant proove these ar related but external hard drives always work well connected directly to the machine but they seem to fail one day after using them with the belkin, windows finds errors, asks to format them and then they end up failing. Seems funny that they work until working with the belkin wireless. I might wait for the next generation model.
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It works, June 30, 2008
By user (Fremont, CA United States)
I purchased this Belkin wireless USB hub to work with my MacBook Air with XP. Since MacBook Air only has one USB which make bulky to connect USB hub next to MBA. With wireless USB connection, I can easily connect the external DVD driver, card reader, printer, and other USB devices away from my computer.
Only problem is the delay for the mouse and keyboard response. It is ok for me because I use Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
Like from my title of this review, it works. I almost want to purchase a second one.
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Wireless USB hub unique, and a definite winner!, June 29, 2008
By user (Ky, USA)
I did some research on this prior to purchase:it is the only wireless USB hub made now.It works very well,allowing me to only have 3 cords (power,ext.speakers,cooling tablet)plugged into my laptop,instead of 6!This makes my laptop more portable for not having a tangle of wires to unplug to go mobile!It works well with my simple Linksys wireless router(WRT54G),and provides seamless access to my external hard drive,a serious worry prior to purchase.Per online warnings,I have not plugged my webcam into it,doing that directly to the laptop when in use.Also,my WIFI-compatible printer has had no problems working with the hub,another worry prior to purchase.A fine product,highly recommended for wireless folk or those wanting such!
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Great Product - a must for home networking., June 24, 2008
By user (Chicago, IL)
If you have a home network, network printer, and network drive then this is the product for you. The only Down side is that usb drives perform a little slow. My Canon Multipass works great.
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Such a simple solution to adding peripherals!!, June 23, 2008
By user
I'm still a novice and installed this USB hub with no problems. It completed my wireless networking set up. Now, I enjoy using the printer, Labelwriter, External burner and External hard drive from all the computers in the house. I am so pleased with the ease of this high quality tool.
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Didn't work, June 17, 2008
By user (Seattle, Wa)
This was not as easy as plug N play. The instructions are not easy to read and do not contain any solutions for problems that might occur.
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NOT WIRELESS. Other than that, it's awesome (seriously)., June 15, 2008
By user (Seattle)
Let's get one thing out of the way right now. I have no clue why Belkin put the word "Wireless" all over this. Scrutinize the product's documentation [...], the diagrams on the outside of the box (I'll post an image when I get a chance), or pictures of the product itself, and you know there's no way this can be a wireless device.
But none of this came as a surprise to me because I did all of that research prior to purchasing.
---USE CASE---
There's a place in my house where all the portable electronics are stored. It's conveniently near the door. Most of these devices (like my PDA) should be synched frequently with a PC to retain their usefulness. Unfortunately, the laptop is not nearby, so synchronizing becomes a manual, deliberate task requiring me to fetch the device away from its storage location and fiddle with it.
Instead, what I'd rather do is have all those devices connect to a USB hub which can use my home network to plug them virtually into the laptop.
---THE GOOD---
My use case seems to be EXACTLY what the Belkin was built for, because it works PERFECTLY for it. I'm serious. This thing ROCKS for doing what I described above.
1. Once installed, the Belkin forwards USB traffic to and from your PC. Your PC genuinely believes that everything plugged into the Belkin is on a USB hub physically plugged into your PC. I have yet to find fault with this implementation, and I don't expect to because it's pretty easy to do-- I don't know why we don't see more devices like this.
2. The software the comes with the Belkin worked just fine on Vista. When I plugged my PDA into the hub, my laptop noticed. If my network drops, the Belkin doesn't seem to freak out about it, and it survives hibernates, suspends, fast-user-switching, and pulling the USB cable out of the device exactly the way you'd expect a directly-connected hub to behave.
3. The device claims to share intelligently between multiple machines. I haven't tried this (I have no need of it), but it looks straightforward from what the manual says.
I'd have given this device five stars, were it not for:
---THE BAD---
1. The inexplicable use of the word "wireless" all over the package, when the device clearly isn't. Again though, this didn't mean anything to me.
2. a flaw in the installation procedure. This was annoying, but takes about two minutes to fix, so I only docked them one star. Here are the details:
TECHNICAL OVERVIEW: When you plug the unit into an ethernet cable, it appears to choose a random IP address in the 10.x.x.x range. If your home network doesn't use this range (for example, most NAT DHCP servers support the 192.168.x.x range), then the router has just made itself unreachable. The setup applet can still locate it as part of the "configure your router" routine, but when you try to configure it, the connection will time out because the hub isn't in your home network's address range (your NAT will think the Belkin is somewhere outside your home when it's right friggin next to you).
If this makes no sense to you, just skip to the workaround.
WORKAROUND: do this (in WindowsXP or Vista):
A. start, run "cmd"
B. in CMD, type: "ipconfig"
you'll see a bunch of lines. Some of them will look like this:
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.5
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
if you don't see lines like this, you have a different problem. STOP. Call Belkin instead.
Otherwise:
C. type "route add 10.0.0.0 mask 255.0.0.0 192.168.0.5" but replace "192.168.0.5" with whatever you saw on the "IP Address" line for ipconfig above. This will tell your PC that the address range the Belkin is using is on your home network instead of out on the internet somewhere.
D. Run setup again and it'll probably work now. If it does, CONFIGURE THE BELKIN TO USE DHCP (or an address on your network).
3. the device could be a little smaller. But I can live with it as big as it is.
---LIMITATIONS/CAVEATS---
1. the device requires software support. The software that comes with it ROCKS, but not all operating systems are supported. Double-check unless you feel like writing the software yourself.
2. The device has limited bandwidth, so bulk+realtime devices (webcams and DVD burners, for instance) will swamp it and don't work.
I'm pretty sure that you'll have a sneaky suspicion that your device won't be compatible BEFORE you try it. If you get that feeling, make sure you try this out within the Return/Exchange window.
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It works for me, May 25, 2008
By user (Caracas, Venezuela)
This product is what i've looking for years. I have several print servers in my closet because no one worked well with my printers. Finally this product solves the problem with the bi-directional protocol you need with modern printers. It is like a USB port sharing throught the network, so the devices connect to your computer like there are connected to your USB local port. The sharing is not at the same time, you has to connect and disconnect your devices so other users can use them. It has two features that helps you sharing among other users: one feature is for printers, that connects and disconnets the printer on demand, so other users don't have to request it, and the second is for other device types, you can request the other user to disconnect the device if you need it.
This product is for home networks, or very small offices.
The only thing that prevented me to put 5 stars is the speed, of course it is not like the native USB port, because you use IP protocol and then a wireless adapter, that's far from 400 Kbps.
One last thing: the hub itself is not wireless, like it says at the box, and many other reviwers noted, but at least you can connect it to your Access Point independently of the Wireless technology. If you migrate from your old b or g to the new N, you don't loose your HUB.
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Convenient, May 15, 2008
By user (Wailuku, HI United States)
I run 6 computers, 5 are wired and 1 is a wireless notebook. I find it convenient to have an external USB hard drive and a 4 gb flash drive plugged into this hub. I've had no connection problems with any of my various model computers.
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Mac Users Beware!, May 12, 2008
By user (Odenton, MD USA)
I was searching for a network usb hub that I could use for my PC-Mac setup at home. When I saw that Belkin had provided Mac drivers for the F5L009, I jumped and purchsed the unit. That was in mid-April. It worked great on both systems until last week. On my Intel Mac, I now receive the message "SXUPTP Driver not installed. Please install the application again." Then, I click "OK" and the Belkin software shuts down.
Note that the PC software remains full capable.
I've done a full uninstall and reinstall almost a dozen times. I've removed third party software that might be in conflict. I've called and e-mailed Belkin technical support, but their only solution is to reinstall the drivers. The funny thing is, this SXUPTP.kext file gets placed exactly where it's supposed to go. The Belkin interface apparently can't find it.
I read below about Silex and its SX Virtual Link software, and how it makes the Belkin router work with Intel Macs. I suppose I could try it. But why should I have to go to third-party software to make this product work? It would be one thing if Mac drivers did not exist, but Belkin produces drivers for OS X 10.3, 10.4, and 10.5.
I've given up. I'm returning this unit, regretably. Once again, I say...if you own a Mac, invest in Apple products. They seem to have figured out the Mac-PC connection. PC products are still coming to grips with the whole dual compatability thing. I think I'll invest in an Airport Extreme router. I don't need a router; I just need a USB hub. But I'm pretty confident the Airport Extreme will be able to figure out the PC-Mac connection.
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Belkin F5L009, May 4, 2008
By user (Chas. SC)
The idea is great but this item needs work. There ar too many conflicts with software and enourmous setup issues on a peer to peer workgroup especially when you are working with two different operating systems. If this were a network the a actual hub or switch would work great.
To print you have to enter via the belkin hub software, select a device then select print. There is no "one step process". Accessibility fro hard drives and printers on same hub is very difficult if non -exixtent. The technology just needs to be developed more to work as a dirct device or PNP(plug-N- play. The idea is to be able to access you network HDD or printers as simply and easily as possible. Maybe in a few years this product will be revised with plug and play features.
My best assessment for a printer access is to do the windows shared printer and files, you are a lot better off in a peer to peer workgoup.
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Works as advertised, May 1, 2008
By user
I haven't tried using this hub for anything other than printers, but it works well for sharing multiple USB printers on a network. Each computer has to have the Belken software loaded and it's not quite as simple as having an actual print server, but it works with little effort. It did require a software upgrade when I switched to Vista though.
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Misleading product description, April 24, 2008
By user
This item is sold under the pretense that it is a wireless print server. It is neither wirless nor a printer server. It is a network USB hub that cannot share printers seamlessly but thorugh a clunky software request system. Do not recommend.
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