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Just bought a Belkin router - IT SUCKS!

BeSweeet

BeSweeet

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 2, 2009
1,566
1,269
San Antonio, TX
My WRT54G v4.0 (with DD-WRT) finally died today, so I went to Costco and bought the Belkin "Play" wireless router (info here: http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=509868).

Anyway, it sucks! It takes at least 5 seconds before it connects to a webpage (Chrome just says "Resolving Host"). It's like this through wireless-N and ethernet! This is horrible! My WRT54G was fast as hell.

When plugged in directly to the cable modem, every webpage that I go to loads within a second or two.

I bought a Belkin router a few months ago to maybe get an upgrade, but I took it back because it was also slow.

Not sure if it's a dud or what, but I'm never getting a Belkin wireless router again.

UPDATE: While writing this post, the damn thing just reset itself! What a hunk of junk. No wonder everyone left negative reviews on this thing.
 
That was $80-$100 router right? Sad to see what a piece of trash it is...

Hope you find one that works! I've been in that situation with some bad linksys routers. I think it was the v5 wrt54gs, it kept dropping signal every hour... Terrible!
 
why not get an airport extreme or express? My family was using a reroxored (refurb) netgear that i got on woot. It lasted over a year and for 40 bucks i was happy. What killed it was a wireless 10GB transfer of files. But no problems since we got the airport. It even works well with my win 7 box, which is nice. Not so nice with XP thou. still works.
 
Dsr1205 said:
why not get an airport extreme or express? My family was using a reroxored (refurb) netgear that i got on woot. It lasted over a year and for 40 bucks i was happy. What killed it was a wireless 10GB transfer of files. But no problems since we got the airport. It even works well with my win 7 box, which is nice. Not so nice with XP thou. still works.
Click to expand...
Those routers are so overpriced and unless one needs the USB port, they really provide no benefit over the competition. Personal antecdote indeed, but I've had more software issues on my Airport Extreme (pre-gigabit) than I can count. And it was replaced twice under warranty.

As mentioned above, D-Link or linksys. I ran a linksys router from 2002 to 2008 without a single issue. I went that route when upgrading to 802.11n as well, still no problems.
 
aethelbert said:
Those routers are so overpriced and unless one needs the USB port, they really provide no benefit over the competition. Personal antecdote indeed, but I've had more software issues on my Airport Extreme (pre-gigabit) than I can count. And it was replaced twice under warranty.

As mentioned above, D-Link or linksys. I ran a linksys router from 2002 to 2008 without a single issue. I went that route when upgrading to 802.11n as well, still no problems.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they are pretty pricey. My WRT54G was, what, $40 at the time, and it lasted me this long.

I read these reviews on my iPhone while at Costco, and saw that one person supposedly fixed these problems with a firmware upgrade, but that didn't do anything for me: http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-Wirele...=dp_db_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

I immediately updated the firmware when I started to set it up.
 
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I would buy a Linksys(sp?) they are good **** IMO. Iv had microsoft, d-link netgear, SMC. but my best experience was with a Linksys borrowed from a friend. So many options! i was like a kid in a candyshop, or a nerd looking at a highly customizable router. You can even go the Linksys Valet route which is apparently idiot proof.
 
Heh. I've had nothing but great luck with Belkin. My current router is four years old and is still going strong without issue.

On the flip-side, prior to going Belkin I had horrible luck with both Linksys and D-Link.

Perhaps I've just gotten lucky with my Belkins over the years.
 
I used a different Belkin product with similar results.
When I lived in the US, I bought a Belkin Ipod Adaptor for my car that was supposed to plug into the lighter hole.
I used it for about 2 weeks and had nothing but issues.
It was the most expensive one in the store, like $80.00.
First of all, it drained all my battery power.
Then, it still had to connect to radio stations, which is hit or miss.
Finally, I pulled it out one day and a piece got lodged into the lighter hole leaving both the lighter hole and the piece of crap adaptor to never work again.
I would never buy anything Belkin again!!
I completely feel your pain.
Negative reviews for all Belkins..... :mad:
 
I bought a Netgear WNR3500L from CompUSA for $90. So far, I like it. It looks really nice, but gets a lot of fingerprints (not that I'm gonna touch the thing anymore).

I'm sort of confused though. I should be getting over 200Mbps via wireless-N when my laptop is next to the thing, but I get a locked-on 145Mbps. In the settings for the router, it was originally set to "Up to 145Mbps", but I changed it to "Up to 300Mbps", but I'm still getting 145Mbps. Maybe a restart of the router will fix it.
 
I've had nothing but crap performance ( with connectivity and reliability with Apple products always but ALWAYS being the short link in the chain ) from every mainstream manufacturer. Dlink, Belkin, Netgear. Finally - I put down some proper cash for a Draytek... and it worked beautifully.
 
BeSweeet said:
I bought a Netgear WNR3500L from CompUSA for $90. So far, I like it. It looks really nice, but gets a lot of fingerprints (not that I'm gonna touch the thing anymore).

I'm sort of confused though. I should be getting over 200Mbps via wireless-N when my laptop is next to the thing, but I get a locked-on 145Mbps. In the settings for the router, it was originally set to "Up to 145Mbps", but I changed it to "Up to 300Mbps", but I'm still getting 145Mbps. Maybe a restart of the router will fix it.
Click to expand...
Same issues for me - would love to figure that out.
 
I would have to second the vote for an Airport Extreme. I've had plenty of mediocre experiences with the likes of Linksys, Netgear, Belkin and more. I've had an AE for just over 2 years now and it is superb. Hasn't let me down once so far. Yes it is a little pricey, but the comparable Linksys routers at the time were similarly prices, maybe 10% cheaper. The benefit is the excellent integration with the mac configuration software. It just works, as usual.
 
Belkin - ARGGHHHH

Instructions for Belkin Support or Warranty Claim. Following these steps will save you hours of discomfort and frustration

A. Take Device into driveway
B. Get a baseball bat or similar device.
C. Bash Belkin product into splinters while screaming and yelling obscenities.
D. Smile and get on with your life.

This will happen after hours of dealing with Belkin. Save the time and skip the torture.
 
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