modicus's Full Review: Belkin (F5D8233-4) Wireless Router
When I purchased this router in Nov 2007, I was excited to be upgrading to N speeds, as I was replacing my venerable NetGear WGR614 802.11g router which had finally failed after years of solid service.
This review will focus simply on the long-term ownership experience of 12+ months of using the F5D8233-4, as other reviewers have covered the basics such as installation, general features and initial impressions.
At first blush, my experience was good: excellent speeds and no issues with my various PC's( 1 XP and 1 Vista )sharing the same network with my Xbox360. I was pleased with the wireless performance, though I did not try to max out the speeds in initial tests as I did not replace my older laptop until Sept 2008, with which I still reached 150mbps speeds on a regular basis. The newer laptop, with its built-in N adaptor, maxed out near 280mbps consistently at admittedly short ranges of 20-30 feet.
Problems began around July 2008, when I would come home to find the 'internet' light flashing amber on the router. At first I thought this was due to a cable service interruption or hiccup, so I took no notice. Until I began happening more and more often, sometimes 2-3 times daily over the course of the next six months. NOT HAVING A RESET / POWER BUTTON only aggravated this issue, for the router's plug is not the easiest to find in the dark to unplug, wait, and plug in again. My experience is the same as psr7's, whose review is also posted.
I was perplexed; the router had been protected by a UPS throughout, wasn't overheating and wasn't being used for anything close to heavy loads for a consumer-grade router. I contacted my ISP, Shaw cable, who ran tests on different days to confirm my connection was indeed, solid. I installed( and un-installed )OpenDNS to see if that- would cure the router's random ills; no effect. I tried disabling the wireless, using only 1 PC at a time, disconnecting the Xbox, and every other combination /cure I could think of week to week, to no avail. The flashing internet light still appeared at random, despite it all, even with NO hardware other than the cable modem connected!
I made the rounds of various support forums, as well as firing off emails to Belkin, whose end replies were summarized as 'it is working fine.' Similar to the response from Microsoft concerning an Xbox360 HDMI flaw, but that's a different story. I considered sending it in for replacement, as it carries a lifetime warranty, but unfortunately Belkin is located in the USA and their website proclaims that 'Canadian customers are responsible for custom charges including, but not limited to, brokerage, taxes, duties and other fees.' Thanks, but I've already paid enough, especially in wasted time and didn't want to add more financial insult to injury if Customs decided to get aboard.
Obviously the router wasn't fine, but by that point I'd had enough - constant lockups while downloading, surfing or playing online games had given me a bad taste for this particular bit of Belkin gear. So, this month I gave up and purchased a D-link... after many careful reviews first, again.
The F5D8233 had its chance, and is now boxed, awaiting some non-critical use I may come up with in the future... as I already have enough doorstops to go around.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 80.00 Driver Availability: Windows only
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