Belkin's N1 pre-N WiFi line

Not afraid of the big bad (somewhat uncertain) upgrade path? More 802.11n-draft wireless networking gear, coming through today, this time from Belkin. Say hello to their N1 line of gear based on Atheros XSPAN chipsets, which come in the form of a $99.99 PC card (sorry, no ExpressCard yet), $119.99 PCI card with antennae (F5D8001), USB adapter (F5D8051) later this year, and pleasantly affordable $149.99 router (F5D8231-4). Of course, we're making no claims whatsoever that you should run out and grab these if it's 300Mbps wireless you're after; but if you're ready to take the plunge these could be as good as any, and seem to stand an equal chance of actually being compliant with 802.11n when it's approved by the IEEE some time in 2015.

[hiroo @ May 1st 2006 9:30AM]

2015... you're not, you know, serious or anything, huh? Tell me it's more like 200...say, 7?

[Chris Barker @ May 1st 2006 11:12AM]

Any word on mini-pci cards for internal laptops? Seems to me the "N" thing won't really take off until you can just replace your existing "b/g" internal card in your exisiting laptop.

On a side note, I have been pretty surprised how upgradeable laptops have become. I just went through replacing my hardrive, upgrading my memory, and previously replace my "b" with a "g" mini pc card in my aging Dell 600m. I went with a 7200 rpm drive which made a huge difference. Doubling my memory from 750 mb to 1.5 gb was also a great speed boost. It's almost a new laptop!

[hackman_3vilGuy @ May 1st 2006 11:18AM]

I hope it was a joke

[Black Guy @ May 1st 2006 12:12PM]

No, it was not a j/k. 2015 is it.

[Joe Womble @ May 1st 2006 1:13PM]

Is this gear compatible with the current Belkin pre-N gear? I have the exisiting model of router and wireless card and love the range and the speed.

Joe

[moron @ May 1st 2006 4:11PM]

Are people actually still buying Belkin products? I would have thought their traffic hijacking shenanigans back in 2003 would have been enough to put them on permanent boycott:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/11/07/help_my_belkin_router/

Cheers

[Ken @ Jun 20th 2006 11:59PM]

DO NOT GET THIS!

I purchased the belkin pre-n router several months ago.
The (F5D8230-4) I also purchased their PCI adapter with the inserted PC NIC (F5D8000). When the router and the computer were VERY close together it worked quite niceley, however due to the antenna size with the PC/PCI card, Range was NON-EXISTENT!. I just purchased the new N1 card (F5D8001) And guess what? It will only connect at 54MBPS even if its 1ft away(yes I tested it at many ranges). Tech support has given me the run-around for a week now. BE WARNED. I would stick with Linksys, I set my gf up with their new N system and it ROCKS.

~KEN

[Ken @ Jun 21st 2006 12:01AM]

DO NOT GET THIS!

I purchased the belkin pre-n router several months ago.
The (F5D8230-4) I also purchased their PCI adapter with the inserted PC NIC (F5D8000). When the router and the computer were VERY close together it worked quite niceley, however due to the antenna size with the PC/PCI card, Range was NON-EXISTENT!. I just purchased the new N1 card (F5D8001) And guess what? It will only connect at 54MBPS even if its 1ft away(yes I tested it at many ranges). Tech support has given me the run-around for a week now. BE WARNED. I would stick with Linksys, I set my gf up with their new N system and it ROCKS.

~KEN

[Lou @ Jul 3rd 2006 3:31PM]

The comment to do not get this, incredible. I am just the oppsite. I have a belkin pre-n router, a notebook pre-n card. I have such great reception, 108MBPS everywhere in the house. I even went across the street with my laptop and inside my little sisters house, in side two different rooms in her house with the doors on both houses closed and still had 108MBPS on my laptop. I did see a small decrease in download speed from bandwithplace, but still it was at about 2.5 Mbps. I then bought my little sister a pre-n desktop card and she is drawing off my router, still at 108MBPS, download speed about 2.5 (varies often).

I am shocked your having such problems. I did have a problem with my computer and the pre-n at first, until I found a way to disable to power saving features of my computers network card. Its working perfectly now. I have never been so pleased as I am with my belkin pre-n. I am looking forward to the speed increase of the N1.

[Schoon @ Jul 13th 2006 2:29PM]

I bought the Belkin Pre-N router yesterday. It replaced an aging Linksys Router (BEFSR41) and Access Point (WAP54G). After installion (Which was a breeze) I am getting 18mbps upstairs in my bonus room which is 4 rooms over and upstairs where before I was only getting 1-2 mbps if I could connect at all. It is connecting with all my existing equipment, a Dell Axim X3i, a PSP, an Xbox, an Xbox 360 and a laptop using a linksys G PCMCIA card. I am very happy with it!

[Russell @ Feb 7th 2007 9:43PM]

Ken i'm sorry your having trouble the same thing happened to me until I installed the software that came with it the Win XP thing doesn't support 300 mbps yet.

I just got it yesterday set it up and im in love with it. Out house is pretty big and my laptop is working in my room and that pretty good considering the home phone doesn't even workin here and I am geting good speed.

I recommend buying this one.

[Earl Faneuf Jr @ Dec 30th 2006 1:48PM]

Belkin Wireless N Notebook Adapter (N1) is listed as being MAC compatible. IT IS NOT.

1. MAC OSX 10.3 - no drivers for MAC and they have told me by phone - no drivers planned

2. 300Mbs - numerous internet sources say 54Mbs MAX currently till next year after the new standard is ratified (2008). Then there is no guarantee the router will even work with the cards they are saying. So this device is not much better a deal than the pre-N they sold. In Fact with the Pre-N router and cards you could at least get 100Mbs speeds. This one will NOT do that (according to the internet) unless you switch off Mixed mode (allow only N cards) BUT the router itself does not allow this option anyway. Either you turn on mixed mode to allow G cards too or you switch off wireless and use it only as a router. The web interface has just those two options

[S h i B a L 22 @ Apr 25th 2007 7:01AM]

This is my spec's
N1 router & N1 PCI desktop card

I'm facing sound jerky/lag for example when i play a song no matter in cd format or mp3 format.. my music sound jerky when i'm accesing the net or even when i click the refresh status button from the belkin utility program.

i formatted a lot of times and even sent to comp technician to look into the matter but no fault founded. When i got it back and tested it again at home it shows the same prob. Any 1 could help me in this ?
I tried taking every pci card or any not relevant usb connection to the pc and just tested with the only build in sound card and pci belkin hardware + drivers. I even tried both belkin drivers 1 from the manufacturer cd and another one from belkin server.
I tried a lot of things but still no solution,i'm going to give up if ther's no solution fromn you guys..
I tried the pci card on my other pc and everything is working fine.
It feels like whenever i move the traffic of the belkin connection as in surfing net,refreshing the device from the belkin utility it goes jerky/laggy to the music/gaming.

it's like it's not compatible to my motherboard.i even tried with other sound card,a creative one and it does help a little bit but still there is a sound of it.

[Momentie @ Jun 9th 2007 7:41PM]

I had the same problem, I took the Atheros AR5008 driver from a Lenovo card available on the net, and updated my drivers using that version (2007 driver VS 2006 Belkin drivers). It seems to have fixed it for me, still using the same belkin utility and stuff also.

[Steve Davis @ Jun 13th 2007 4:32PM]

I have spent a great deal of time analysing video and sound issues which appear directly related to the Belkin N1 USB adapter being installed and connected to a network. There appears to be a a driver bug. This shows up if you close down pretty much every application that's running, then mnitor task manager for CPU performance. I have found that there is a 2 second CPU spike of around 15%. During this spike (which is due to a something called a deferred procedure call) any graphics intensive task will appear jerky and sound will 'break up'.

I have tested this on 2 different machines running Vista and found the same problem to occuron each. Remoing the USB device or disconnecting the network stops the problem from happening.

I have also replicated the problem on a machine running Windows XP. That said, there is a 'beta' set of drivers for XP which I subsequently tested which resolves the issue - so anyone with this device and Windows 2000 or XP - go get the new driver from the Belkin website now!

However - despite the fact that the problem symptoms are >identical< in Vista and XP, there is no sign as-of-yet of an updated version of Vista drivers. I am in communication with Belkin on this, but their support on this seems somewhat lacking thus far. I'll post again if I get any pdates on this though.

[Steve Davis @ Jun 21st 2007 4:23AM]

A recent windows updae includes an update for this device which resolves the issue for Vista. This is the manufacturer's 'May' update.

[Domenick Simpson @ Jun 25th 2007 8:34PM]

I have been emailing these guys at belkin for the last 6 months asking them when Vista 64bit drivers would be available. Support and service is terrible at Belkin.

It's odd that the new 32bit drivers install on 64bit vista, the previous ones did not. I am just really frustrated that it still has the jerking issues and renders gaming useless.

[Domenick Simpson @ Jun 25th 2007 8:29PM]

Hi Steve, I have the USB adaptor with the belkin n1 router also paired, I have the same issues as discussed using Vista 64bit. The sound jerks and graphics freeze when playing resource intensive games like battlefield etc. I installed the vista 32bit drivers after writing about 5 emails to belkin with the response "64 bit drivers are coming" but they still have not.

I have installed the lastest drivers for the usb adaptor in vista 32 drivers and still no success. Any ideas?

[Jukka @ Jul 4th 2007 6:41AM]

Hey,
I'm running Vista 32bit as well and have also contacted Belkin about the problem with the F5D8051 (twice now). So far they have just given me seemingly "standard" replies, recommending me to change the channel on the router, etc, which has not solved the problem. I have now asked them to give me an indication when new Vista drivers will come out that solve the issue. Otherwise I will return it (and the router) to the store - which is a shame as I'm very happy with the WLAN performance itself. I really hope that they can sort this out soon (weeks, not months), Vista has been out for a while now...

[Domenick Simpson @ Jul 8th 2007 5:48AM]

Hey Jukka

Do you know if the wireless desktop card has the same issue with the sound jerking? I have contacted belkin a few more times they tell me to disable WEP, my firewall all antivirus and everything inclusing enabling UPnp. Nothing works, even if it did like I would leave my network unprotected. They cant get it through their thick skulls that it is not the router it is the wireless USB adaptor! When I run everything through my laptop with a lan cable to the Pc I use the games all work fine. It is only the USB adaptor that causes the issues. Will they ever learn? I doubt it. What version are you running on your USB adaptor? Mine is ver 2000.

[Jukka @ Jul 9th 2007 12:55PM]

Hey Domenick,

I'm really getting sick and tired of Belkin support. It is obvious that the problem lies with the Vista (admittedly beta) drivers. I am also using the F5D8051 v2000 USB wireless adapter, and yes, I am also experiencing the sound stuttering issue. I recently upgraded my motherboard, CPU, RAM and power supply, so basically I am using a new computer, with a clean install Vista Home Premium. The first thing I installed were the beta drivers (dated 3/6/07), and surprise, surprise, the sound started to stutter. I have also tested other desktop speakers, and my mobo soundcard is different to what I was using before.

So, to make a long story short, I emailed Belkin once again (last week), explicitly mentioning that I was using the beta drivers (3/6/07) which I believed to be causing the problem. The reply to this email made me pretty mad (probably an understatement). They basically gave me very detailed step-by-step instructions on how to uninstall the current drivers and download/install the new drivers (dated 3/6/07). I'm speechless - I don't know how to reply to that politely, without being overly sarcastic.

So I can reassure you, the problem is not your firewall (I had NO firewall other than Windows Defender when I installed the drivers). The problem is not in your router settings, either - I have tried to connect onto another Wifi router (in my case the D-Link DI-524), still the same problem! Connecting the router via an Ethernet cable works fine for me as well.

[Domenick Simpson @ Jul 13th 2007 6:10AM]

Hey Jukka,

How funny are their responses! I think they have given up with me now as they have stopped responding, it took them about 8 messages to realise I am on 64 even though I have mentioned it every time. As I said, my connection is fine if I go through my laptop's wireless connection via a lan setup! Its the USB adaptor, my games used to stutter in XP also so rest assured it is NOT JUST VISTA, although I may have heard somewhere that the XP problem is fixed now.

Still no excuse however, it's pretty sad that they can put this product to market matched with the proper router and still have issues! I mean I always thought it was my P4 that was causing the games to stutter so I built my own quad core bleeding edge computer with 8800gtx top end card, it's not the hardware, I have tried it the same as you on serval different peices of hardware, its the USB adaptor / drivers for it. Keep in touch if you hear anything. I really wanna know if the same problem exists with the PCI card version!

-Domenick

[iPC @ Sep 15th 2007 12:40AM]

Hope you all figured out that you have to update the Marvell chipset driver via Microsoft to 1.0.5.5 dated 3/29/2007. Fixes the sound stutter.

[Domenick Simpson @ Sep 16th 2007 3:43AM]

Do you have vista 64bit and just install the vista 32bit version?
I have gievn up, I bought both the 8001 and the 8051 and neither of them worked well.
I had installed the Marvel update but the actual install process at the start wasn't working that well, I would get device crashes in vista because the driver wasnt specifically written for 64bit version. Oh well ;) Back to wired for me.

[jboom1963 @ Jul 31st 2007 8:28AM]

I have a Belkin Pre-n router and notebook card. Thay work great. I just installed a N1 card on my desktop. The signal fluctuates from very good to none. When I have my laptop in the same room as the desktop, the laptop is a constant very good to excellent signal. I have updated the firmware on the router and all computers in the network. I was wondering if upgrading to a N1 router would help? Thanks.

[gianscanu @ Aug 4th 2007 9:34AM]

Hi

I've a small network based on Belkin Pre-N products.
Now I was thinking to use the N1 USB adapter to connect an additional laptop.
However there is a key point I cannot get for sure, and it is speed.
In this situation which link speed would I get? Pre-N speed (108 MB/s) or G speed (54 Mb/s).
Is there anyone who can answer this: if I read the posts infact, I cannot get clear information about this.

Thank you in advance

Bye

[iPC @ Sep 15th 2007 12:40AM]

I set up a wi-fi hotspot for a private campground in the office-lodge, about 3000 square feet total. The N1 Vision floods the building and parking lot too. The Belkin N1 Adapter, F5D8051, runs at 260Mbps in close and pushes 'G' laptops full bore at 54Mbps even through trees and RVs two roads away. Webpages load almost instantly at either speed. Download speeds are likely limited by the 4Mbps DSL service and server. I've seen file downloads range from 100Mbps to 450Mbps with the N1 Adapter on this system.