Belkin N1 Vision Wireless Router (F5D8232-4)

List Price: $199.99 Discount Price: Too low to display

Features:

• Interactive Status Display shows your network's broadband speed, computer bandwidth usage, the status of connected network devices, and more.
• Plug-and-Play CD-less setup
• Easy Security Setup with support for Wi-Fi Protected Setup¿ and Multiple SSID
• 802.11n draft 2.0 compatible - 3x3 radio design provides excellent speeds and complete wireless coverage
• 4 Gigabit Ports

Accessories:

3-Year Extended Service Plan - Covers Electronic Items $0-$200 - Repair

Customer Reviews:

Horrible Customer Support [Posted on 2008-06-26]
Worked great with my laptop and setup was easy. But everytime the router was on, my Dell desktop would blue-screen. I don't know why the signal overloaded the PC, and I will never know because customer service was just awful. This was true for multiple calls (not just a lone bad CSR).

I don't wish to fault the customer service just because it's from India (which it is), like other negative reviews seem to give that vibe. But it is truly horrible.

They do (as others mentioned) instantly blame the non-Belkin devices and refer you to their CS support, even when it's not appropriate. I have a relatively low level of tech knowledge, and they kept trying to convince me of things even an idiot like me knew were absolutely false. They had no interest in solving problems, but only to make it someone else's problem, even if it meant giving conflicting statements during the same call. Never call Belkin CS, it will only make you angry.

I have experienced a lot of sub-par CS help over the years, but none as bad as Belkin's. As long as you never have problems, I'm sure it's a great device... but you could say that for most devices.

Great Product  [Posted on 2008-06-30]
I purchased this product as part of the project to finally make our house a "smart house". During this project I dealt with TV issues, Wireless printer issues, and even speaker issues. However this was pretty much the only thing where everything worked seamlessly and fluidly. I got home late plugged it in and 5 minutes later had a Wireless network up and running including security features. And the coverage...wow. We live in the country and I set this router up and I was able to pick up a signal on the end of our dock (about 600 feet away) that was decently strong and carried the speed well. It was great with setup to be able to do everything via the computer (not dealing with disks) and just being able to plug and play. The only problems that I had were 1 or 2 minor problems with the printer and the security encryption. The 1st time I had to toy around with it but after that I just made a backup of the settings and it happened again (after power failure) and just reset settings. Everything with this product has been a breeze and it comes highly recommended.

Belkin N1 Vision [Posted on 2008-07-02]
I have had this router for the past 6 months and below are my observations as compared to my previous DG834g router.

(after installing it, I upgraded to the latest firmware 1.00.15)

+ve
- it looks stylish
- the front display is useful for quick information
- the guest ssid is a great idea (but I can't get it to work)
- i use it with a G card and the range / signal has improved as compared with my old Netger DG834g.
- over all some good features.

-ve
- the odd stand makes it VERY difficult to attach / stick it to the wall (as routers are always recommended to be kept at the highest part)
- it does not e-mail security logs
- the front main login page displays ALL your router information (all ip information, ssid, serial #,etc), meaning if you turn on remote management, anyone with your ip address and WITHOUT the password can still see your router configuration?!?!?!
- you can't assign dhcp ip addresses based upon mac address, meaning you need to hard code the ip address on the computer if you want it to retain it.
- the download / upload display screen freezes atleast once a week and i need to reboot it to work again.
- Support provided for this product from India is as useful as a swimming pool without water. I have called them about 3 times and all they make me to is reset my router to factory settings, or install a new firmaware, neither has fixed any of my problems.

my verdict...it might be an idea to stick with Netgear.

Waiting for my first RMA... [Posted on 2008-07-08]
This is certainly a pretty piece of hardware and I liked the idea of having at-a-glance utilization data.

Unfortunately, the reality isn't nearly as pretty as the picture. Beyond the uncertain build quality (the buttons are worse than my 1982 Sinclair Spectrum), the wireless stack in this thing seems to be as unstable as a coffee-snorting spider monkey. When it is working, I will sometimes seem ping times as high as 55 _seconds_ (55,000 milliseconds!) between a wireless client and the router. Other times, with no apparent difference, ping times run in the <1 millisecond range, where I would expect them.

Ahhh...but that's when it's actually functioning. Every few hours under load, it seems to completely lock up so that I have to pull the power plug and reboot it. I've tried changing wireless channels and settings but I haven't found any combinations that actually work.

Belkin support offered several useless suggestions (obviously boilerplate text) before telling me to return the device for a replacement. I'm waiting for the replacement but I have no confidence that it will operate better than this one.

---------------

UPDATE

As expected, the replacement router is performing no better than the original. I'm currently on the phone with Belkin technical support (on hold, after being transferred twice).

Belkin N1 Wireless Router [Posted on 2008-07-10]
This is the first router I've had. I bought it to use with my new laptop, so the laptop could access the internet, receive email, "talk" to the printer, etc. It works like a charm, but it should because I had it professionally set up. It was unnecessary to download the new drivers for the N1, BTW, although I read that someone else said it wouldn't work for them until that was done. Everyone's system is likely to be somewhat different; therefore, different setups are sometimes needed.

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