[aaur4-view] Belkin N+ Wireless Gigabit Router w Storage F5D8235-4

[aaur4man]

[aaur4-view] stands for my own personal view on this product.
It may or may not be a biased review, up to readers' discretion only.

Belkin N+ Wireless Gigabit Router with Storage Port

http://catalog.belkin.com/images/product/F5D8235-4/FUL1_F5D8235-4.jpg

http://www.logmanenergy.co.uk/images/tick.jpg
- Rather powerful N range coverage
- Very easy to use/configure menu
- Gigabit ports
- Sexy download Speedometer that is quite accurate
- Slightly warm to the touch (in response to LocalGod's post)
- Lifetime Warranty



http://bviins.com/demo/_zone/img/wrong_cross.gif
- Pricey
- No Ethernet status LEDs
- Wireless Status LED buggy when used with certain Atheros USB adapter.

[aaur4man]

This is a short and simple review of the Belkin N+ Wireless Gigabit Router.

Menu
Accessing the menu of this black piece of N hardware is a breeze.
192.168.2.1 (er...why?) brings you almost instantly into their menu, with password blank as default.

BroadBand Config
Simple and easy to read, single-paged clear layout for all your settings.

http://i28.tinypic.com/a09ax3.jpg

DHCP
Extremely easy to view who's connected and who's not, plus takes just a click or two to lock the static ip.

http://i29.tinypic.com/2n0o2zd.jpg

Wireless
You can choose from the standard channels, and whether to broadcast in 20mhz or mixed 20/40mhz. The latter will have better signal coverage.

The standard encyption protocols, WEP - WPA - WPA2 are up to your choice.

http://i32.tinypic.com/2r2qdtv.jpg

http://i28.tinypic.com/693ipw.jpg

Guess Access / Multiple SSID is cool too. More for motels though.

http://i31.tinypic.com/2db5d2r.jpg

Access Restrictions
- Very nice schedule layout. Simple; you choose when to allow usage or when to disallow usage, and what type of traffic to limit.
Great for parental control. Best thing is, if your kid stays home on weekends you can let them game on the whole night without extra monitoring!

http://i29.tinypic.com/2psornm.jpg

QoS
- Already enabled under Wireless tab by default, in-built QoS is rather smooth. Doesnt give user unresponsive surfing experience, even on load.

Portforwarding
- Standard set of rules for router. Will not elaborate more as default settings are already looking good.

[aaur4man]

Usage and Performance
This is the most juicy part where potential buyers decide whether this N Router is worth the quids.

Bittorrent
Test torrents are legal Linux torrents with healthy peers running 3-5 simultaneously.
Test client via Lan with 1 wireless client.

Results: With a good unthrottled internet line, this router has no problems establishing multiple connection to peers, attaining max speed. Wireless client is also responsive and able to surf the net with no problems. Wireless Client BT is not tested, do not ask regarding that.

BT client is set to Global Max 1000, however surely not all is used. Daily usage however has no effect on speed or response time.

Pretty good for heavy downloaders.

Transfer Test

LAN-WLAN WPA2 AES

This is a rather good N speed already. While some reviews have it at 135mbps, real life usage arent able to attain that high a speed.
Tested with both Atheros and Ralink chipset. Results are similar.

http://i30.tinypic.com/25ioi2u.jpg

WLAN-LAN WPA2 AES

Competitive, yet not sounding great for 300mbps rating.

http://i29.tinypic.com/2vxj2i1.jpg


Wireless Coverage
F5D8235 caught my eye when reading off net reviews about its wireless coverage. True enough, it is my first long range signal beast, but fell shortly after. Technology never stops :)

Tested with both Ralink and Atheros USB Adapters, this is able to send off quite powerful signals. both adapters were able to stay connected 30m away on lower ground (based on transmit direction) with slight obstruction: partial wall, no trees. Placement of routers do matter. Both antennas were upright, so you can adjust according to the desired direction. This is just a generic test.

However, Ralink coverage falls slightly short of the Atheros counterpart. Atheros was able to complete a speedtest at 31st metre, while the other failed to do so. at 29m or so it was able to download, but still atheros had a higher bandwidth.

USB Adapters do matter. Dont try this with a G.

Numbers do not reflect the absolute range of the router. It is tested in a residential environment with plenty of other signals and construction.

[aaur4man]

Sad to say.............

Slow USB Port
While this is not reviewed, users have reported slow transfers from USB to clients. This makes it not an ideal all-in-one solution for Router and NAS.

No Wired Status LEDs
They actually sacrificed these for the Download Speedometer. Guess you cant have more for less. Not really less.

Lack of firmware support
Official firmware is rather old, and the latest are actually Betas and some do fix important issues.
While they work fine, 'Beta' just doesnt sound assuring for a regular consumer.


Conclusion
The Belkin N+ Gigabit Router is a good consideration if you need a basic file storage system and good wireless coverage. With its local lifetime warranty, all you need is a call to Belkin's hotline (sadly you will be directed to AU and its a PITA to communicate ) should you require a replacement. Still, it is priced a little too high , as its competitors offer slightly more for quite a bit less.


Hence, this personal review gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars, an above average router for basic home use and decent features.

[aaur4man]

Status: Full review ish Up.

[aaur4man]

reserved..............

[LocalGod]

i got a belkin n1 router. it overheat and hang easily. good luck

[liangtam]

:s11: :s11:

Moi thot u bought a water cow instead?

[aaur4man]

shhhhs

up next ;)

still tweaking, a little disappointed on the whole.

[liangtam]

shhhhs

up next ;)

still tweaking, a little disappointed on the whole.

Oops, secrets out =:p

Moi thinking of doing another review again - on dual-band louters :s34:

[aaur4man]

do lor

ur reading shd be more accurate than mine

mine is more for consumer viewing lol.

dir 655 gotch review?

[richneo]

do lor

ur reading shd be more accurate than mine

mine is more for consumer viewing lol.

dir 655 gotch review?
dir-655 selling for some time already

got a few review thread on it also

dun think liangtam will go start another one =p

[aaur4man]

finally ups.

[liangtam]

What is the WAN-LAN of this unit?

[aaur4man]

oops forget to do.

gb lan-lan oso forget.

but router sold le lol

[richneo]

router really that bad ar? sell so fast. or its really belkin previous scandal where they give people benefit for fake positive review =p

[aaur4man]

where? gotch money sibo? i ish wants leh.

ya u can check my sales thread. sold riaos ;)

i hooted a water cow ma. that one will give a more thorough walkthrough. both happy and sad.

in fact had a good chat with buyer discussing on wireless streaming and all. consumer-style.

missed a dir 655 sale, no chance to compare who's the real winner in the same range :(

[richneo]

where? gotch money sibo? i ish wants leh.

ya u can check my sales thread. sold riaos ;)

i hooted a water cow ma. that one will give a more thorough walkthrough. both happy and sad.

in fact had a good chat with buyer discussing on wireless streaming and all. consumer-style.

missed a dir 655 sale, no chance to compare who's the real winner in the same range :(
not really same range i feel

its only a 2t2r wireless N.. the wireless performance from your picture looks like its wireless performance is weak

and so many test you never do can still give personal 4 star out of 5? heheheh

[aaur4man]

er no la

i was referring buffalo to dir 655. not this to 655.

well some reviews got 135mbps for wireless throughput.

this is all i can get.

like i said this one not professional review ma.

eh the star put wrong copy from my other templete lol.

edited.

[richneo]

i applaud you for this review bro. thanks for the effort.

[liangtam]

:s11::s11:

192.168.2.1 as gateway IP?

Then why DHCP page shows 192.168.1.2 and 1.3 ??

[aaur4man]

cos i changed the gateway lol.

i cant stand 2.1 either.