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Belkin F5D52304 Port Cable/DSL Gateway Router
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INSTALLATION Belkin has pages on their website that illustrate exactly how to set up the router and its software. Those step by step instructions are a step in the right direction for a large corporation accomodating novice home users... Or is it just another marketing plot to get into your pockets ? You be the judge ;). Either way, it's helpful to see this page especially if you have never set up a router before. And it will provide instructions for software and other configurations that you may need later on. For maximum performance, Belkin recommends using Belkin FastCAT5e or CAT6 Networking Cables (for the record, any non-Belking CAT5e or CAT6 cable should be able to accomlish the same). The setup was fast and easy. I did use Belkin CAT6 cables, plugged into my Network Card on my main box and into a port on the router. The router has 4 ports numbered 1 – 4; I chose port number 1 for my main computer. Then I did the same thing for my other PC, CAT6 into the NIC and into another port on the router, this time port number 2. Then I plugged a CAT6 into the router port marked WAN and into my cable modem. The Belkin router has a web browser interface, which I didn’t have to use for the initial setup, as I had instant connection to the Internet after reboot, no problems for either PC, Windows 98SE or Windows XP Pro. However, I thought that I would give the web browser interface a look. I just open my browser and type 192.168.2.1 Then click “GO”. A small window opened and asked for a user name, I typed “Admin” where it has a small picture of a head beside “User name” and clicked OK. This opened up a window that neatly listed all of my connection info, or status as they refer to it. After setting the router up, I noted that the lights on the Router’s face correctly showed the Power was on, the WAN Link status blinked in synchronicity with my Cable Modem, as did the Port Activity Status Lights show which ports was connected and info was passing through. To break it down into more detail, the WAN light is solid Green indicating there is an active connection and Flashing Green in sync with the modem when info is passing through. The Port Activity Status lights are color coded for the connection. Amber indicates a 100 Mbps (100Base-TX) link between the router and the computer connected to that port, while Green indicates a 10Mbps link (10Base-TX). They flash to show activity.
User Reviews/Comments:
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davisre - 2006-06-05 20:07
I just bought this router as a trial run before installing in my wife's small business. We were most interested in the greater range and hopefully immunity to drop outs while walking from room to room with her X41 tablet. It does seem to meet that goal, since the signal is much stronger than my previously installed router, a Netgear WGT624, throughout the house. However, I ran into one problem that you should know about. It does not seem to implement VPN correctly. I need to use (and had been using) the AT&T Network Client to tunnel into my firewalled intranet at work. I wasn't able to get the Belkin to work.
Right now as a temp solution, I am playing around with daisy-chaining the two together, with the Netgear attached to the Cable Modem, and the Belkin connected to it. The default IP for the Belkin being 192.168.2.0/255.255.255.0 and the default for the Netgear, 192.168.0.0/255/255/255/0 made that a no-brainer! And it nominally works, I can surf from the farthest reaches of the house on the Belkin, and for work switch to the Netgear. However, my daughter , who spends long hours on the internet, complains that it periodically drops connection. She is hardwired to port one on the Netgear. Maybe the backdoor traffic from the Belkin is tying things up. I have notes in to Belkin support to see if they can resolve the VPN problem, and maybe I will just go with a single router connection. By the way, I do have the latest version hardware and firmware. V2.
While it does work and will transmit signal, it does frequently drop connection to the Cable modem very regularly. We have 3 computers hooked to it, all hard wired with nothing else between like switches or hubs etc... and it just can t hold a connection. We have tried all kinds of settings and talked to Belkin also tryin to fix the problem, but neither were succesful. Definetly do not buy this product!! It will drive you crazy!!! We actually ended up buying a Netgear which worked great for a couple years and one of the ports blew on it so we actually had to go back to this thing and use it as a switch...which it works fine for that purpose!!! lol... hope this helps the people on the fence out there. \m/
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