When my daughter Amy moved into her new home, she decided that it was probably a good time to replace her aging Linksys router with a new Wireless-N model. According to the specs, the Wireless-N protocol offers 300 Mbps data transfer speeds and a coverage area of up to 400 feet, both of which are vastly superior to her old Wireless-G unit.
Amy had never really been happy with the Linksys, so she asked me which model I recommended. As luck would have it, I had just read a glowing review of a Belkin Wireless-N router so I suggested that she give one of them a try. So off to Wal-Mart she went, and a short while later she returned home with a spiffy new Belkin F5D8233-4.
Unsure about trying to install the new router herself, she put it on a shelf and waited for Cheria and me to come down for a visit. When we arrived a few days later, I opened the box and pulled out the poster-sized, easy to read installation guide. To make a long story short, in just a few minutes the router was set up and configured for secure wireless Internet access. I have set up other routers before, but Amy’s Belkin is by far the fastest and easiest one I have ever installed.
Next came the most important test of all: how well the router performed. Amy’s notebook computer plugged into the router via an ethernet cable, so I wasn’t really all that surprised at the increased speed at which she was able to surf the web. To say the least, it was quite impressive.
When it came time to test the wireless network, I took my own notebook into another room, and after establishing a wireless connection I was equally impressed with the speed at which the text and images downloaded onto my screen. Even though my notebook is equipped with the older and slower Wireless-G technology, I still noticed a big improvement in the data transfer speed.
Since my PC would have needed a Wireless-N adapter to take full advantage of the new technology’s enhanced performance, I was unable to see just how fast the connection would have been had I had one installed. But based on the performance gain I enjoyed even while using the old adapter, I’m sure it would have been pretty amazing.
I must say that I was very impressed with Belkin’s implementation of the Wireless-N technology as well as the ease and speed with which I was able to set the unit up and get it configured. In a nutshell, I would highly recommend the Belkin to anyone who is in the market for a new wireless router.