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Belkin F5D6050 Wireless USB Network Adapter

Belkin F5D6050 Wireless USB Network Adapter

List Price: $59.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Macintosh Compatibility
Review: According to Macintouch, Belkin provides Mac OS X and 9 drivers. Can anyone tell me how well this works with a Mac? I'd buy one immediately for my old tangerine iMac (it's the only computer left out of my wireless network at home.).

I did see a comment that it didn't play well with an Airport Base Station... how about Linksys? Thanks, and if I decide to buy, I'll update this to reflect my experience.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Outperformer in our house
Review: After having had both the Belkin Router and the Linksys Router in the house (had to switch due to DSL provider) and having had both Belkin and Linksys PCMCIA and USB adapters I can summarize very quickly:

Maximum distance from the transmitter in our setup is about 90 feet, across two floors.

The PCMCIA adapters are really flaky at this distance. Rather than the 11Mbs, we often see it drop down to 5.5, 2, even 1. They are sensitive to angle and obstacles. The USB adapters can be placed up to 5 feet away such that they have a good "path" to the transmitter.

This Belkin USB outperformed all other three units as it always gave the strongest signal. Noticeable better performance doing anything on the network or over the DSL modem.

But - here's the caveat: DO NOT USE THE INCLUDED CD.

Using the included CD we had POOR performance, and didn't understand why we couldn't even achieve 100% signal strength in the same room as the transmitter!

Upgrading over the web fixed the problem, and we have had a very reliable connection since.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Does not work with XP
Review: After spending several weekends installing & re-installing this product on my XP Pro box, to use with its sister product (Belkin F5D6130 AP), I GAVE UP. Included CD was flakey -- so, got new driver from Belkin website. Installed & worked -- until I rebooted, then XP froze up. Had to disable an XP service (SSDP Discovery). After reboot, USB device is recognized, but offline, and cannot bring online. I have extensive experience with networking (20 years). Tech support was of no help. Could be an XP problem, but note: Belkin Driver is "unsigned". Avoid this product (for XP) until Belkin releases a better XP driver. Going forward, I will be looking for a wireless Ethernet bridge, possibly LinkSys WET11.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Works Great With TiVo
Review: Bought this item to go with my TiVo system and it works great. I plugged it in and my system recognized it immediately. It took less than 60 seconds to get my TiVo connected to my Belkin wireless system. The network connection allows me to program my system remotely online and avoid the need to provide a phone connection.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: WinXP + WEP == Choose ANY other product than this one.
Review: First, the drivers packaged with this unit DID NOT WORK. Had to go to belkin.com and download the latest drivers (not the simplest thing to do without a functioning network adapter, eh?). While those drivers sort-of work, they are still extremely flaky. Not signed/certified by microsoft.

I use WEP to secure my network... this device does not retain the WEP key/settings after a reboot. So, every single time you reboot, you have to re-enter the WEP key and manually start the driver utility.

Signal is very weak - if the signal is lost for too long then the system will eventually hang and reboot itself.

I've been a computer professional for the better part of 10 years now and I'm convinced that ANY product would be better than this Belkin POS. Avoid this product at any price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect little unit - small and simple
Review: I bought this because it's one of the few (only?) wi-fi adapters that will work my old Power Mac G3.

So far I'm very pleased. It's very small - almost as small as a pack of cigarettes. It's also USB-powered, so no power cord to worry about, although you can't plug it into a non-powered hub or a keyboard. Not a problem for me. The Mac OS X (10.2) driver utility is simple and works great. It seems to have good range; it gets full strength with my Microsoft router 50 feet away (through a couple walls). It can lie flat or wall-mount, which is nice.

Handy tip: if you happen to have an Ikea "Jerker" computer table, the wall-mount holes on this unit line up perfectly with the holes in the desk's vertical beams. It's a handy place to mount it, where it can be up high and not take up any desk space.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Defective product
Review: I bought two adapters from a third party site on Amazon. One of them was defective. I tried calling Belkin and after talking to 4 people the problem wasn't solved.

The last one asked me to download some software ferom belkin before they could replace it. I called them back when it didn't work, only to be told that, " They didn't have the power to order a replacement and I would have to wait for someone to call me back.

The WORST customer service I have ever come across. I will never buy a belkin product again.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Painful... unless your near the router.
Review: I dearly love the little box ^^

but it's only worth having if you can be next to the router itself. The drop off point is terrible, the main place i use my laptop is upstairs (and the router is downstairs) i've even tried hanging the box over the banister rail but no use - it still disconnects anywhere from 1 minute to about 30 minutes (if i'm lucky).

My advice is that this is good until you can afford to upgrade and your not actually going to be playing any online games or anything that requires the internet to be on constantly.

My family have the wireless cards installed into their computers and they have no problems no matter where they are in the house. My next move is going to see if i can have a card installed some how, but until that day i guess i'll stick with the little black box with a strange temperment.

It's actually good if your near the router itself, i just wish it was as good around the house.. i mean thats what a laptop's for right? moveability.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not recommended
Review: I didn't really care for this product. While it did work, the signal was VERY weak and dropped off entirely quite frequently. It received a great signal...as long as I had line-of-sight to my access point. Put even one wall in the way and the signal dropped to about 25%. Take it from a certified PC technician: spend a few extra bucks and get something with much more range.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This product is the worst networking device I have ever seen
Review: I have been working with networks since 1994 and have not seen a worse network card in my life. It was a pain in the rear to get working with windows 98 and had to actually install windows 98 SE. There was nothing on any website, or in the documentation that stated this. Finally tech support told us it didn't work. Then on a brand new pc with XP we can't get the thing running either.

It usually takes me 15 minutes to install a network card.

This company lied about their product and it should be recalled.


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