Belkin Wireless N+ 802.11n Router (Black)

10 Review to this product

• 

  John
  October 27th, 2010 on 6:46 am

  Rating

  Surprisingly, there are not many highly rated wireless routers out there to pick from. It seems like the best ones only get about 3-star reviews. I am upgrading from a Linksys wireless-g router that is a few years old, and wanted to make sure whatever “n” router I purchased it would be worth the money, and shows an improvement in functionality.

  We’ll, this router delivers. I’ll try to briefly bullet the reasons why:

  * Set up was very easy using the provided CD/tutorial. Took about 20 minutes total.
  
  * After 4 days of use, no dropped signals or functionality issues at all.
  
  * Ability to hold a flash drive (plugs right into the back of the router) that can be accessed by other computers is very convenient. Now, when I use my work laptop at home I can access or transfer files to the house laptop easily.
  
  * LED screen on the router is easy to read and shows you what is or isn’t working.
  
  * I am now running internet speeds significantly faster on “n” versus “g”. You’ll see a big difference with this.
  
  * I am getting much stronger signals all over the house versus my Linksys router
  
  * Amazon’s price of $87 makes it worth the price.

  I highly recommend it to all.
  
• 

  alvernon
  October 27th, 2010 on 7:41 am

  Rating

  I went shopping for a new router when my network started to overwhelm my old Lynksys router that had been running nonstop for nearly five years. I needed something that would boost signal strength and would take advantage of the “n” cards in two of our laptops. Ours is a somewhat device-heavy household, connected to the router we have a HP MediaSmart home server, a networked laser printer, two desktop PCs, three laptops, three Tivos, a Nintendo Wii, and a Sony Playstation 3.

  Setup for the router was very easy. The pushbutton setup worked, though I just tried it for fun. For the actual setup I did not use the CD, I just connected to the router through the browser. I am no networking expert, but the explanations of each option are clear and detailed enough for someone with moderate experience like me.

  This router is getting anywhere from 3x to 5x the throughput of the old router, even from the ethernet ports. Signal strength at the remote parts of our one-story house has boosted from ~50% to ~80%. The streaming Netflix video on our Tivo has gone from unwatchable to HD signal (even though the Tivo is connected through a regular wireless “g” adapter). I would say this is worth every penny.
• 

  Matthew Price
  October 27th, 2010 on 9:11 pm

  Rating

  This was a fantastic upgrade to my home network. My previous router (a Linksys WRT54G) was unable to provide a sufficient signal to my wireless devices through several walls (the router is stationed in my office and the other devices are in the living room). After setting up the router, I now have a near perfect signal connection. I am now able to watch netflix movies on my 360 at the highest quality connection whereas before I was limited to SD or youtube type quality.
• 

  Scott Sutherland
  October 28th, 2010 on 1:17 am

  Rating

  I’ve had this router for about a week, and I primarily use it to get online with my MacBook Pro. Setup was a breeze, once I discovered how to connect to the unit for the configuration step. It wasn’t clear from the brief quick-start sheet that I should simply plug an Ethernet cable directly from my Mac to the router, but after that, it was simple. The configuration wizard software ran flawlessly on my Mac, and I was online in no time. The router is fast — much faster than the old wireless access point I was using. I have not yet tested the storage sharing capabilities.
• 

  Dan Church
  October 28th, 2010 on 5:44 am

  Rating

  The Belkin wireless N+ router is the third wireless router I have purchased over the last five years. I have a three story house and the router is located on the first floor. The earlier routers did not cover the entire house and I had to use a wireless repeater. More importantly, these earlier routers were always having to be reset, sometimes on a daily basis. This new Belkin router has taken care of both problems. It gives a substantially stronger signal and I do not need the repeater any longer. More importantly, is has been absolutely reliable. I have not had any problems since plugging it in a month ago. Set up was a breeze. I am one totally-happy camper!
• 

  Stephen Richardson
  October 28th, 2010 on 2:38 pm

  Rating

  I really don’t understand what people are complaining about.
  
  The setup was simple with the included disk. I setup the network in about an hour.
  
  I have a comcast voice/internet modem so I had to unplug and remove the battery to reboot the modem.
  
  the Belkin fired right up and worked like a champ. I have 2 iPhones, 3 laptops (2 XP & 1 Windows 7)and 2 XP desktops and a Wii.
  
  All are working great with WPA2 security. The guest wireless access is an added bonus. I also added a WD 1TB drive to the usb on the belkin without issue. I say to all naysayers “QYB” – This is a great little router!
• 

  AnonyMouse
  October 30th, 2010 on 4:15 am

  Rating

  After much research, I purchased this Belkin Wireless N+ to replace my failing Linksys WRT54G. I have 2 desktops, 2 laptops,2 pda phones, a PS3 and soon to be XBOX360 in my wireless network. A replacement router has to be flexible enough to handle my needs.

  After a month of operation I have had no issues. Connectivity to all my devices have been consistent if not better than what my previous router provided. The setup is easy fairly easy. The router is setup in one corner of an 1800sqft one story home and a pc on the opposite corner is now able to receive consistent connection with no drops. My son noted that his laptop is receiving better connection when surfing the net browsing through sites such as youtube. My pc’s are still using g band connectivity and will be upgraded as the need arises.

  UPDATE TO REVIEW 1-15-09 (I WOULD RETRACT THE 5 STARS IF POSSIBLE)

  Router was bought in Nov ’08. Sony PS3 and PDA phone was unable to connect. Currently have 4 pc’s (2 are hooked up wireless and 2 are hardwire connected) on the network and all of them are getting dropped from internet access randomly.

  Belkin product support could not troubleshoot issue and recommended replacement. However, Belkin Customer Support (if you can call it that)is hard to contact and does not follow through on your open ticket. They do not send email regarding any replacement status. Email to customer support does not exist on their website. At the time of this update, Belkin does not have stock to replace it this router and hasn’t had any for 2 weeks. They do not have an estimate of when they will receive any. This strikes me as odd. There is plenty to sell to vendors, but none available for warranty replacement cases. BUYER BEWARE. Luckily, I still have time to return this since it was an X-mas present.

  I previously owned a Linksys WRT54G for years before it died. I will find another Linksys product to replace it.
• 

  Jon Nelson
  November 1st, 2010 on 10:13 am

  Rating

  I have had a Belkin Pre N router for the last 3-4 years (I think). For the last 12 months it has been less than stable, needing to be reset multiple times per day, making downloads like product updates practically impossible to complete. My home has 3 floors, with a MacBook Pro, 1 wired HP Printer, 2 wired desktops, 1 wireless desktop, an IPhone, a Wii, a Tivo and a DS looking to connect to the internet via my Comcast cable.

  I looked at the reviews, and this Belkin N+ router looked very good. So, I ran out and purchased one yesterday.

  I followed the instructions and my equipment connected and found the wireless, pretty easy and quickly. I then decided to run the installation CD on my laptop to set up a new name and set a password. This process was a little problematic, but I think that was because I was trying to do it over a wireless connection. Within 45mins everything was set up and working. It did help to have had a Belkin in the past, so I was familiar with the process.

  So far so good. It’s working like a charm and I have had NO need to reset the device.

  So what do I like? Speed, reliability, stability, excellent coverage and the Guest feature.

  What do I not like? Nothing so far. Given other reviews, I fear contacting Belkin support, but have had no need to try. Nor have I tried the attached storage. If I do experience problems, I will try and update this review.
• 

  skierdave
  November 1st, 2010 on 5:08 pm

  Rating

  I have had the Belkin N+ router for approximately 3 weeks now and it seems to be a reliable performer. Though I don’t nearly push the maximum range of the device in my 2 bed apartment I have not had a single dropped connected connection or throughput issue on my Mac or my wife’s vista PC. This router can be had for about $80 as of June 2009 if you shop carefully and the inclusion of gigabit wired ports, draft N, and the ability to hook up an external USB hard drive or flash drive for network storage are unmatched at this price.

  As far as external form is concerned I find this router very attractive. It seems designed to only stand vertically. Note: There are lots of very bright blue lights on the front of this thing. I like it, but its not in my bedroom.

  As far as range and speed go I haven’t been able to do too much testing but using my wife’s draft N laptop and my older Mac hooked up to a gigabit port I was able to move files from one to the other at about 5 MB per second. My wife’s laptop said it was connected at 168 Mbps. Obviously lots of factors go into the speed I saw.

  The USB port on the router is a very handy feature. I simply plug a flash drive into it. Both the PC and Mac can access this drive. The Mac finds it automatically (leave password blank) while with the PC you simply go to map network drive and type \192.168.2.1nameofyourdrive Alternatively you can install included software to find the drive automatically. When the Mac writes to the drive small files with weird names often appear as well. The Windows machine does not see these files. Windows formatted hard drives will work, but Mac formatted ones will not. The read/write speed to the USB drive is a bit slow, maybe a little over 1 MB per second. This is fine for pictures, files, and most music, but if you want to store HD video remotely it could be a time killer. Note: you cannot hook up a printer to this USB port. You currently have to move up to much more expensive routers from Linksys or Apple (could be others too) to get that feature.

  Set up of this router with my cable modem was relatively easy, though I use the web browser interface, not the included software. (Simply hook up a computer and type 192.168.2.1 into a web browser.) Setup with DSL isn’t quite as basic according to the instructions but I didn’t mess with this. Some wireless settings are not explained in the popup help window. Sometimes the router must restart to do basic changes, which is a bit annoying if you fiddle with it a lot.
• 

  Tim
  November 3rd, 2010 on 4:30 am

  Rating

  I’ve been through Linksys G and N wireless setups and have always been relatively disappointed with their range and throughput. Even when using Linksys PCMCIA adapter cards, my speed tests were sub-par and sadly, customer service knew less about how to configure the router than I did.

  I purchased this Belkin after getting Linksys download speeds of about 4 MB down, and 1 MB upload speeds on a boosted-speed cable connection. After installing the Belkin (which was a snap), my first wireless speed test rendered 20 MB down and 10 MB up, which rivaled my wired speeds I was getting on my desktop machine.

  I’ve always had good luck with Linksys wired routers but their wireless products (and customer support) are abysmal. For anyone looking to run an easy, always-up wireless N network at home, this purchase is a no-brainer. Worth every penny spent – only sorry that I didn’t make this purchase a long time ago.