Belkin F5D8230-4 Wireless 802.11x Pre-N Router

10 Review to this product

• 

  KeithH
  October 19th, 2010 on 10:19 am

  Rating

  I am very pleased with this router. Installation had a hickup, but it was my fault, I tried to install another device on the router during the quick setup which confused it. I was able to quickly resolve it after reading the manual. Yes, sometimes you have to read the manual…

  I have 2 notebooks with 102.11b adapters, and 2 desktops with 102.11g adapters on my network. I was looking for a WAP that would increase my signal strength, and was not looking for faster speed.

  Having had good success with previous Linksys routers, I bought the new WRT54GX2. I had a horrible time with the Linksys device. The setup was straight forward, but I experienced a 4X slower speed with the 102.11b adapters, and a 2X slower speed with the 102.11g adapers. I spent hours with Linksys support to no avail.

  So I decided to do some research and the reviews were overwhelmingly in favor of this Belkin router/wap. So I decided to try it. It actually works as advertised. I am seeing a better than 20% signal strength improvement with the b/g adapters. The speed has actually improved. And the signal strength is as good as the new Linksys. I have no problems with PPTP and VPN connections, even though I have read other reviews complaining of issues. I have actually never experienced any drop outs either. Playing internet games on a WAP is always a problem, and my son connects directly to the router because of these issues.

  The bottom line is it works. No more, no less.
• 

  Barankin
  October 19th, 2010 on 2:16 pm

  Rating

  Had I not seen so many negative reviews about this router recently, I would not write this review. But for some reason there are plenty of them posted on this site, so this is my $.02 worth.
  
  This is a great product from the small details such as instructions, packing, and design to the router itself.
  
  Before this, I had a CompUSA 802.11g router that died after three months of less than flawless service. Back then, I thought this was bad, but after my next one, a Linksys, went down during its first week, I recognized that three months is a quite decent life span for this wireless technology, though `wireless’ is not really an accurate description as my Dell notebook was not able to connect with either the CompUSA nor the Linksys router.
  
  The pre N router worked just fine from the start, and now that my notebook’s finally gone wireless, I’ve gone crazy from happiness.
  
• 

  Ronald Epstein
  October 19th, 2010 on 3:05 pm

  Rating

  In this review I am going to talk about my experiences with the Belkin F5D8230-4 Pre-N router and its companion, the Belkin F5D8010 Wireless Pre-N card.

  But first, let me talk about my experiences with routers in general.

  I have owned a half dozen routers throughout my home computing years. All of them have been Linksys brand simply because I always felt that they were the most reliable router company for the home consumer market. Up until recently, I have never had a single problem with a Linksys router.

  In January 2006 I bought the Linksys WRT54GX4 which was touted as their newest most powerful flagship router capable of broadcasting Internet at high speeds throughout a large home. This was important for me since I have a very large house with multiple levels and a deck outside — all places I would want to access the Internet from via my laptop.

  The Linksys WRT54GX4 actually worked rather well for the first three months UNTIL I purchased a duo-core IBM Thinkpad laptop and started experiencing all sorts of problems. After a week of research I discovered that the Intel 3945ABG network card that is installed on most Duo-Core laptops has a compatability problem with certain Linksys routers. So, if your laptop is having such problems connecting to a Linksys router — you now know the deal.

  I had to find a new router. It had to be powerful and it had to be easy to configure. Someone on one of the Internet forums I frequent suggested purchasing a Belkin Pre-N router. That person claimed that it did a great job broadcasting an Internet signal throughout his large home.

  I went to my local retailer and bought the Belkin F5D8230-4 Pre-N router.

  Now I must say at this point that the first one I bought was defective right out of the box. The wireless function would not work. Belkin customer support suggested I return it for another. Fortunately, the replacement worked perfectly! Please don’t let this experience deter your purchase decision as I feel the end result is worth the fact that sometimes these things happen.

  Let me also say that despite many negative comments I have read on the Internet, Belkin support was very obtainable over the phone, though the guy I spoke to didn’t seem very knowledgeable about the product as he had to refer to his manual to address the initial problems I was having before determining I had a defective unit.

  Right out of the box, I was sort of surprised at the look of the router. Unlike the clunky Linksys I was replacing, the Belkin looked more like an elaborate paperweight. The design was more sleek and low-key than what I had seen in previous routers.

  One of the most amazing aspects of this router outside of its performance is the ease of installation. For most people including myself, router installation and configuration is one of the most cumbersome tasks you don’t want to deal with. Well folks, I am here to tell you that Belkin has made the process an absolute no-brainer. You simply pop in the supplied CD and via a on-screen walk-through process, my router was working in under 5 minutes. This was far easier to install than any Linksys router I have previously used. Kudos to Belkin!

  So let’s talk about performance…

  The Belkin F5D8230-4 router performed just as I expected. It provided ample coverage throughout my home — no more or less than the Linksys router I had replaced. I was somewhat dissatisfied with the loss of signal in the farthest reaches of my home and on the outside deck, and I needed something that would boost signal strength. Enter the F5D8010 Wireless Pre-N card.

  Within days I ordered the Wireless Pre-N card hoping that it would increase overall coverage in my home as the manufacturer had promised. Upon arrival, I installed the software and then the card into the cardbus slot of my PC.

  Now this is important: many have recommended that you do not install the software that comes on the installation CD but rather download it off of Belkin’s website as it is more current. I took that advice to heart and had the software and card installed within minutes.

  Well, the Belkin F5D8010 Wireless Pre-N card did EXACTLY what it promised to do. My signal strength almost doubled. My WiFi strength meter went from 2 bars to 4 (out of 5). Surfing speed dramatically increased. It was almost as if my laptop was hardwired to the cable itself.

  I was now able to use my laptop in areas that I could not before. As expensive as this combination of router and card was (about $200), it was worth every penny to get this sort of coverage with absolutely no dropouts or disconnects.

  I would highly, highly recommend the combination of Belkin Pre-N router and PC card if you are looking for amazingly powerful coverage for a large living area.
• 

  Beverly Praiswater
  October 19th, 2010 on 9:15 pm

  Rating

  This router was so easy to install, it was scary! After years of living in “Linksys hell” with their “b” router, version 2, I decided to take a chance on a new, highly-rated router. Out of the box, I had the Belkin installed and working immediately in 10 minutes or less!! I’m just an average user, but I highly recommend this router to anyone who is thinking of switching to wireless networking in their home. Well worth the money to upgrade.
• 

  G. Dodds
  October 20th, 2010 on 2:33 pm

  Rating

  I have a whole mountain of wireless routers, access points, and so on. Always either disappointing or annoying – or both
  
  Now I have the claimed range and peformance. My Belkin does not drop the entire network to 802.11b speeds if a single 11b (like a print server or old laptop) is present.
  
  I highly recommend this item, I’ve tried the competition & this is better. Its great for extending the reach of your network and/or keeping your .11g speeds in a mixed wireless environment
• 

  S. Peach
  October 20th, 2010 on 5:25 pm

  Rating

  I decided to go wireless in my home, no small feat when you consider I have 1 desktop, 2 laptops, and 2 printers. I initially tried to go with Linksys, but had no joy. To solve my printer problem I needed a printer server with 2 USB connections, as far as I could find out, Linksys doesn’t even offer this. I had the one printer server which took me all evening to configure and still needed to be connected to my router, when it took a dump on me. I couldn’t reconfigure it to work on and of my comps, so I replaced it with the Belkin with 2 USB connections. It configured right away, with encription. So I replaced all my linksys router, network cards with the Belkin pre N. What a difference, easy to set up, easy to use, and everything works, fast and smooth, with no dropouts. I can even unplug my printer server from my router and everything is still encripted. One tip, make sure you re-boot after running the set-up, the software doesn’t always tell you to do it. Apart from that one thing, no problems.
• 

  Jack Z
  October 22nd, 2010 on 2:00 pm

  Rating

  I don’t know why others say they have problems, but this card worked right out of the box, with the included software with no problems at all.

  With the associated F5D8230-4 Pre-N router, it connects at 108 Mbps, which is faster than the ethernet cards in most computers. In other words, it’s faster than running a cable. I tested it with the laptop by copying a few files and timing them. I can’t tell the difference between using the Belkin wireless components with the laptop at the far end of the house, or bringing the laptop to the router and using a cable for the connection. The network performance monitor built-into XP shows the same speed.

  My other laptop connects to at its fastest speed, 11 Mbps, and when it does, it doesn’t slow down the first laptop connected at 108 Mbps, both laptops perform at their maximum.

  The signal strength is hard to measure because the little guages in XP may not be linear, but where I would get one or two bars before, I now get every bar lit most of the time. The signal strength seems better and I can use the laptops around to corners where they didn’t work before, and even on the back porch.

  I’m using WPA-PSK with a long password with no problem. I was previously using a Linksys with only WEP and it was cracked. Using a network monitor, I found someone could crack any password within a few hours and they were using my connection to download illegal music or video, I’m not sure which. With WPA there has been no outside access to this network even with the much stronger signal it has. So yes, WPA-PSK does indeed work, and the earlier review stating that it doesn’t is inaccurate if my components are typical. He must have had a defective one.

  My old Linksys router and WAP were versions 1, and they were nothing but headaches to upgrade and maintain. The software interface for the card and the html interface for the router make them very easy to manage. All in all, I’m extremely happy with this system.
• 

  Tyrod
  October 23rd, 2010 on 9:46 pm

  Rating

  I’m not quite sure the speed and range are as good as Belkin claims but it is still head and shoulders above the rest. If you’ve had difficulty with wireless range, in the past, give this one a shot. I have alot of experience with wireless home networking and I found this router/AP to solve alot of problems the other wireless systems would have. This MIMO stuff really works. Range with this router and a Netgear G PCCard was much better that the same card with the Netgear AP. The Belkin PCCard could connect with the Netgear AP at extended range as well. The Belkin router with the Belkin PCCard was phenominal in both range and speed. As for the fancy stuff like VPN and gaming, I can’t attest to because I don’t do that on my wireless system.
• 

  Ken Spiegeland
  October 24th, 2010 on 2:14 am

  Rating

  I first tried the Netgear RangeMax. I found no difference from my existing netgear wireless router. I returned the RangeMax and bought the Belkin PreN router and that did the trick. I installed it without a hitch. THE BELKIN PERFORMED AS ADVERTISED. The first thing I noticed was that the range and connection speed increased by two times. I was surprised by this since my wireless router is set up in my basement’s office which is constructed of metal studs. Great Product
• 

  groff5
  October 25th, 2010 on 3:33 am

  Rating

  I’ve set up a few wireless routers (the last being a linksys a couple years ago) and this Belkin Wireless Router was incredibly easy. Using the setup disk it essentially did it all for you, and it actually worked the first time! No putting in IP addresses, setting up PPOE vs whatever. It did it all. Amazing! Maybe Linksys is better now, but it was a pain 3 years ago. The Linksys finally quit after 3 years, but it had been a good unit overall. This Belkin without a booster gives about the same coverage as my Linksys B did with a booster. Don’t have the Belkin wireless cards (all 3 of my laptops have them built in; some are B, some are G), but they all work well and are plenty fast.