| Belkin N1 Wireless Router |
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Model: F5D8231-4
Brand: Belkin
Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 112
Operating system: Windows XP Professional Edition
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: |
Stream HD Video
Listen to digital music
Play online games
Transfer photos and home videos
Shop online and surf the web |
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| Description: |
| Based on the 802.11n draft, N1 Wireless enables multiple receivers and transmitters to send and receive data wirelessly.Intelligent MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) spatial multiplexing techniques build upon the widely deployed 802.11g standard by greatly increasing speed, range, and faster speeds of up to 300Mbps.Using this smart-antenna technology, N1 Wireless from Belkin delivers greater range and faster speeds, for a quick and efficient way to distribute video, music, photos, and files among the networked computers in your home. The built-in Network Status Display lets you see your connections working. Each icon represents a network component, so you can easily monitor for fast troubleshooting. |
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| User Reviews (112 total): |
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 of Total 6 Pages
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Great Router, as long as there is no interference, February 1, 2008
By user
I have found this unit to provide an always solid connection, it's range isn't as good as others, but it isn't bad. This unit however, does not work well in area of interference. When I first got the unit it would drop signal periodically, as soon as I bought a dect 6 phone to replace my 5.4g phone it was solid and fast.
Recently I moved into a condo from my house. Now I have 4 or 5 wireless neighbors interfering with my signal. The connection stays solid as a rock, but the through put has slowed to a crawl and is bursty. Even in the same room four feet from the device. I've tried many settings and frequencies, but even going to a lower used frequency group (1 in my environment) it doesn't help much.
Overall it's a great AP, but functions poorly in environments with any rf interference. If you have a high interference environment (apartments or condos), I would advise trying something else.
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umm this is the best!, January 30, 2008
By user
any person who downs this router must be insane. Ive gone through three different brands of router and the Belkin N1 is the best yet. its easy to use and very goood lookin!not to mention the most use full.
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just bought it. great product. much better than netgear!, January 30, 2008
By user
i bought this a week ago and its great. i had 3 netgear routers before this and 2 of them have failed on me. in addition this belkin router was easier to install, and has much better wifi range then the negear's i have had. definitely good product. the N1 vision might even be a better version than this one.
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Good and bad, December 28, 2007
By user (Volcano, Hawaii USA)
The good news is the signal range. The bad news is longevity. These units die quickly. Good thing the manufacturer guarantees them for life.
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Belkin N1, December 27, 2007
By user (Lagos. Nigeria)
Just got mine. extremely user friendly and easy to set up. having issues with it though. Freezes up intermittently. maybe it's my ISP or maybe not.
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The Best of the Best, December 23, 2007
By user (USA)
It is beyond my comprehension why this product has so many 1,2, and 3 star ratings. I wonder if Linksys employees have a bit of free time on their hands or something...
I've purchased 3 Linksys wireless routers... I've had nothing but problems with them... dropped connections (wireless AND wired ones were dropped... huh?), security setup issues, and even bad power adapters that just suddenly died! My buddy, who is a network administrator, suggested that I try a higher end Belkin wireless router, meaning this model.
The setup was super easy. I just put in my wireless network name, picked a security passcode, and saved the settings (I already had the security passcode put into my laptop) Ever since, the router has just worked perfectly. I never lost a connection or had issues.
I had flashbacks of my Linksys models one time. None of my wireless connections were working (wired or wireless ones). The "Internet" light on the Belkin router was flashing yellow. I tried the "Linksys Routine" as I called it, which is unplugging my modem, computer, and router, and restarting them all one by one. I had to do this AT LEAST weekly to get Linksys to work... sometimes daily. My internet connection still didn't work. AFter doing the restart routine again, the internet still wouldn't work.
I called my ISP, and they informed me my whole state's internet was down. Their problem should be fixed by the morning. So, the next morning, I fired up my computer and everything worked fine. The Flashing light on the unit had gone back to solid blue. The problem was NOT with the Belkin; the problem was with my whole ISP. The lights are great for showing where any problems are.... unlike the lights on the Linksys, which are virtually useless.
I suggest you try this unit if you are tired of other brands and their cheap pieces of junk...
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Fantastic Router, December 11, 2007
By user (Texas)
I ordered this router as it was a recommendation from the technical support staff at our ISP. I could not be happier. After 3 years fighting to get a Linksys router to work (and it only working sporadically), it is a pleasure to have this router. It practically installed itself and walked me through everything I needed to do to set it up and secure it. And since installation, it has been running like a top. No problems whatsoever. After Linksys, I feel elated to have chosen this product. Go get you one - you'll love it.
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6 hours with tech support - still doesn't work!, December 7, 2007
By user (Seattle, WA United States)
I bought this router because it promised great broadcast strength, quick setup and easy troubleshooting via its icon-based front panel. After six hours on the phone with tech support, and replacing the router once, it still doesn't work. Repeated calls sent me to customer support techs who wasted hours asking me to repeat the same processes with each call, despite my giving my case number each time. I'm still trying to set up the router with help from tech support, and who knows! - it may work someday. But unless it includes a time machine to return the hours I lost, I'm never buying another Belkin product.
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Great Purchase, December 4, 2007
By user (South Dakota)
I have owned this product for about 6 months now. Works great on my home network, with about 5-8 computers connecting to it. They connections remiain strong, and I have not had much if any problems with the connection dropping. I give it two thumbs up!
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Bad Product, bad tech support, December 1, 2007
By user (CA)
Used this for some months. Finally stopped after too much issues.
Biggest issues :
- After some days (usually more than 1 month or 2), will start giving duplicate IP addresses to various wired or wireless PC of your network. Problem has been acknowledged by the tech support and the only solution offered by the tech support is to stop using DHCP and assign ip addresses by hand...
- Devices connected through the wireless link won't be able to see the ones connected through the wired link. I don't know if this is security feature, but there's no way to disable it.
Minor issues :
- Most of the changes force a reboot of the router.
- Incomplete support of UPNP
This router is now sleeping in a closet as a backup in case of a failure of the new one...
May be adequate for people with simple configuration (single pc, etc...)
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Tech support worst then product!, November 14, 2007
By user (CA USA)
Of the three purchased all three have been defective. I am a computer consultant, and would NEVER have bought one of these, but the customer insisted. The second and third one were purchased to replace an origional defect. 1st one, turns off the wireless intermittently (2-3 times daily). 2nd one NEVER turned on at all! 3rd one turns on but internet cannot be made to work on it (it worked on the first one...)
However, worst then the product is the return policy and customer server: Get ready for this one friends. After about an hour with a tech, I am told what I already knew. The thing is defective. Instead of getting to returning the item, I am told that second level support will have to call me to return it. 3 (!!) days later I am contacted by second level support who has me run more tests than states the item is defect. They cannot however return it. Returns will call me in a day. 4 (!!!) days later returns calls, and after another half hour informs me that they cannot return the new "N" router but they will call me when they can. That was over 10 days ago. I am informed that when I do return it, I will have to pay shipping though it is brand new and DOA, but they have yet to call me back. That was 10 days ago.
Save yourself some trouble and look at the PC mag review this month that rates Belkins reliability as POOR, and their customer support as WHATS THAT?? Can I rate this zero stars?
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DO NOT BUY THIS ROUTER!, November 14, 2007
By user (Jacksonville, FL)
Once in a while products do come deffective, but you call their customer service number and most companies would take responsibility for their products, well, Belkin does not.
The router that i got cannot connect two wired or wireless devices at the same time. The tech support people do not know S... about their product.
Do yourself a favor, do not buy Belkin.
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Horrible wireless packet loss, November 12, 2007
By user
This router has horrible packet loss (approx 2%) and poor connectivity. Tested by pinging the router in a command box (ping 192.168.2.1 /n 200). Pings that should take less than 1 millisecond will spike to hundreds of milliseconds and lose data. With matching Belkin n1 wireless cards and sitting right next to the router I can only ever get 4 out of 5 bars, even though I get 5 bars from neighbors. Before upgrading the firmware this router had problems even establishing a wireless connection. Now with the firmware upgrade I can connect much more reliably, but with poor performance. Works fine if you're just browsing the internet or light use, but do not buy this router if you plan on gaming.
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DNS Cache Corruption, October 28, 2007
By user (CA United States)
I had this router for a while now (longer than I could return it for a refund). Very often I cannot connect to web sites that I frequently use. Eventually I did some research and found that this router has a fatal defect - its DNS cache will get corrupted over time. The latest firmware from Belkin does not fix it.
When I initially had problem accessing web sites, I naturally assumed that the web sites could be down or my ISP could have problems. One day when I tried to VPN into my office the VPN could not be connected. I tried to ping my office VPN server and the IP address returned was different from the actual IP. My VPN server was on xx.xx.xx.84 but the PING request indicated xx.xx.xx.4. I then used NSLOOKUP to check various DNS servers, and pin-pionted the error to the Belkin router's DNS cache.
The DHCP server in the Belkin router automatically sets the DNS server address to be those provided by my ISP plus the Belkin's own IP address 192.168.2.1. There is no way to get rid of it. If there is a way to only use my ISP's DNS server the problem could be worked around. Belkin does not provide this option.
The DNS cache corruption problem will cause a lot of mysterious connection problems. If you are not familar with TCP/IP networking technology there is no way to find out what goes wrong. Shame on Belkin to release a product with such a critical defect.
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Looks sleek; but keeps dropping the connection; support is mediocre too, October 25, 2007
By user (California, USA)
When it works, it is great. But for several months now, it keeps dropping the wireless signal more than a dozen times a day every day. On contacting support, they sent me a replacement. That kept dropping signals too. Belkin support asks you to disable firewall and enable broadcasting but that doesn't help either (why even have those features if we can't use it?).
I havd to admit though, the device looks cool and fashionable. Wish it hung on the wireless signal.
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Everything should be this easy, October 13, 2007
By user (Florida)
Great Product. Set up in minutes. Super fast. Great signal inside, have not tried outside yet. Would highly reccomend.
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What happened to Belkin!, October 1, 2007
By user (Burbank, CA USA)
I have seven or so older, dual antenna "F5D7231" models around our facility setup as WAP's (Wireless Access Points) and they have been working good for years with out even a reboot. So with that in mind I purchased the N1. But this model has been nothing but a nightmare of corrupt settings. I've set up many large networks (70+ users) and programmed and optimized gigabit ethernet LAN's for post production video and audio file transfers. But this unit defies reason, any attempt to customize menu settings creates a different problem. Many times the router would stop transmitting but still function wired. To get it going again I would have to reset to factory default and even then some other problem would arise, not assigning DHCP's, losing communication with the modem and more. The unit shipped with the latest firmware so no relief there. The F5D7230 isn't much better either.
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Amazing Router, August 29, 2007
By user (Florida)
I have been using this router for almost 4 months and I am very pleased with the performance. I am using it with Belkin Range Extender. The combination of the above two cannot be beaten.
But one should know the proper process of installation otherwise satisfaction will not be attained.
Benefits: Amazing wireless range, best connection, best features above all life time guarantee.
LORD, when I see a negative review I really wonder, what went wrong.
This is an amazing router and have not give me a single problem in last 1 month. I have checked its wireless range and it gave me 40% connection at a distance of 600feet- 800feet/ 200 yards-300yards (in an open area) and 40% or signals at a distance of around 300 feet (closed connection). Very easy to setup. Sorry, let me say they are selling it already set up for use.
But, I must say the cd which came with it is worthless except it can be used for the manual.
I advice everyone who is looking for a good router to go for it. I am sure you will not repent at all.
This router is pre set without security. But for security connect the router to your computer and open internet explorer. type 192.168.2.1 in address and hit enter.
You are now inside the router. Don't forget to put a password. Now go to security tab and choose the type of security you are looking for. I advice wpa-psk. Hit apply. and you have just set a secured wireless connection...
Apart from the problem I have faced with local area connection, this router has been a blessing.
You may wonder, why I am writing, It is because I got help from somebodies good review and therefore I decided to help others.
Range: If you have a range problem.... Go for
Belkin F5D7132 Wireless-G Universal Range Extender. This is the best extender I have seen so far. Moreover, it is the cheapest, Universal(it can be used with any router) and with life time guarantee..... What more you can ask. I am using this Extender to provide internet to my cousins four houses away from ours. It increases your wireless range by 200 - 300 feet. They are getting all 5 bars or 100% connectivity.
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Zero Stars! ( negative 5 stars?), August 23, 2007
By user
I got this Chinese made replacement as a "free upgrade" for my pre-N1 (not made in China). Their tech support wait is very, very, very long. This would not be so bad if it were required to get a replacement. There have been 4 (Yes, 4!) replacements so far! It is a replacement every couple of months! Each time I had to spend at least an hour on the phone. I had a huge wait then they run a few tests and say, "Yes, it's broken." and then transfer me to another person who wants me to pay yet again to ship their broken piece of ____ back to them. Then I can get another one that will last a couple of months. How long am without each time? At least 2 weeks. Add it up and it is totally worthwhile to get a better brand. The last time they promised a call back. I am still waiting. There is no way to just email them a complaint or by pass this tech "support." I hope Belkin goes out of business!
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Don't buy this router. Buy the regular N version., August 19, 2007
By user (PA United States)
I had my parents buy this router for their house, and it is simply horrible. It disconnects AIM, my work email and my VPN every 15minutes. The Linksys 802.11b I've had for years is better.
At my house I have the regular N version of this router (same black color, but with only 2 antennas), which I'm more than happy with. I'm definitely going to have my parents return this one and go with that.
If you only need this for email and web surfing, it will work, but for the money you can get another router that works for everything.
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