Reviewed by: rwscid on 04-Nov-07 Rating:

Strengths:When it works, it works OK

Weaknesses:Getting it to work remains a mystery

Summary:I have two of these, on similar computers sitting almost next to each other. One gets a strong signal, the other does not (note: this has no impact on wireless throughput, which is high in both cases). The green LED light on the good one is always on, on the not so good one seldom on. What gives, Belkin?

But, when it starts to work, it seems to stay working for a long time. Until I change something, such as my monitor. The monitor? Yes, the monitor. It took about 6 hours after I installed a new monitor for the not so good Belkin antenna to start working correctly. My last, successful, step was to deinstall it and reinstall it.

The Belkin software, by the way, is a dictionary definition of el crappo.

But the little thing sure is cute, sitting there on top of my CPU. If it weren\'t for the emotional attachment I have developed, I would crush it under the heel of my jackboot and send the carcass back to Belkin. Grrr...

Reviewed by: ldillard05 on 28-Sep-07 Rating:

Strengths:Sometimes it works.

Weaknesses:Disconnects randomly, included software is terrible, weak signal strength, pretty much everything.

Summary:You get what you pay for. If I would have known how terrible this product was I would have opted for a more expensive one. I do plan on replacing it and promptly throwing it in the trash. Wouldn\'t sell this thing to my worst enemy. Do yourself a favor, don\'t buy it.

Reviewed by: alphawolf009 on 16-Jan-07 Rating:

Strengths:Adequate when it feels like working, but it does nothing particularly well. Best feature is the stand and cable allows flexibility in its placement.

Weaknesses:If you run Windoze XP there is about a 60-40 chance it will work. If you run 2K or older, Linux, UNIX, or Mac OS the odds get much worse.

Summary:This adapter is a crap shoot, I\'ve used this on a dozen or more different machines and sometimes they work other times they don\'t. The bottom line is this is a badly engineered, poorly manufactured POS, that when combined with Belkin\'s notoriously bad software and utterly helpless technical support, will suck up hours and hours of your life and when/if you do get it to work the performance is lackluster at best.
If it works, it installs easily and quickly, if not, you are much better off returning it and buying a quality product. I should also point out that Ms. Alphawolf and I have over 25 years experience as IT professionals and we have dedicated far too much time trying to get this to work consistently.

Reviewed by: yananova on 05-Jan-07 Rating:

Strengths:They re great when they work

Weaknesses:Connects when it wants then disconnects

Summary:Make sure you get the correct drivers for ur USB stick cos there are different versions and even if you don\'t seem to find the correct driver, search again its out there somewhere.

I had a pci version of the wireless 54G and that card kept on rebooting my pc randomly.

I won\'t buy Belkin anymore.

Reviewed by: N/A on 16-Nov-06 Rating:

Strengths:50% of time it works

Weaknesses:50% of time it doesn\'t work

Summary:connecting and disconnecting until you get mad. searching for available networks most of the time. it finds a network, it connects, but after some minutes it loose the connection and try again to find networks. and it doesn\'t find everytime.

Reviewed by: kevinmwolf on 09-Oct-06 Rating:

Strengths:Provided stand

Weaknesses:No support for WPA2, cannot maintain connections, fails to see active networks

Summary:Latest drivers released back in 2004. Does not support WPA2 encyption like most new adapters today. Continues to drop connections and even fails to list networks that are in range on a regular basis. Have had great luck with Belkin in the past (2 routers, 2 bluetooth products, a wireless card) and have had great luck. Like Belkin\'s matching \"G\" router (not the G+, or G MIMO lines), these products should be avoided.

Reviewed by: zacharyklein on 22-Sep-06 Rating:

Strengths:portable, relatively easy to use, convenient.

Weaknesses:overheats(?), connections drop, longetivity issues?

Summary:I purchased this from a store about 14-15months ago and found it to be easy to install (if you follow the simple instructions: plug it in, install the drivers, and go!)I\'m using WinXP+SP2, and have used it under Win2k as well.

I have noticed that it gets pretty hot, which might have contributed to connections being dropped and eventually failing on my system. As of today, when I boot up it detects the device, logs me into my wireless router, and works fine for a random interval of time. With no warning, the usb device uninstalls itself and the internet connection drops. It completely disappears from my hardware/device profiles and isn\'t recognized until it\'s unplugged and plugged back in. And then, there\'s no telling how long it\'ll work, which has been anywhere from 30seconds to 3hours... It\'s very frustrating, but the tech support people so far have seemed eager to assist me in rectifying the situation. I\'m actually talking to tech support now, and after 52minutes I\'m almost no farther than where I started because of hold times.

Reviewed by: thq044e on 17-Aug-06 Rating:

Strengths:I\'m still looking for some

Weaknesses:It doesn\'t like Windows xp and Windows xp doesn\'t like it

Summary:I\'ve tried it on xp Home Edition - 2 different computers, one more modern than the other but both from the last 3 years.
What has been written in countless reviews I\'ve read happens to us. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn\'t. Sometimes we need to re-boot, sometimes not. Sometimes it won\'t work whatever we do.
Reading the Media hype, it appears that Microsoft endorse this product; can\'t understand why (The Logo has not been verified; but that is the same for other USB connectors.)
My advice: Avoid this product, unless you want to spend loads of time trying to get connection, as part of your patience-learning process in the face of near impossibility.
My advice - if you want USB, buy one from Linksys (for quality) or a D-Link (for ease). (We have a D-link USB and a Linksys router. The problem with Linksys is the router and their server, not wireless cards, etc.)
John O

Reviewed by: scotlandaj on 07-Jul-06 Rating:

Strengths:none it\'s totaly crap

Weaknesses:not very fast,dies all the time,dousnt install well,dousnt achuly work

Summary:a useless piece of ribbish can\'t get it to work had it working fine for three days and even then it kept on dieing it could\'nt stay on for more than 50 seconds and the signal slowly got worse now it can,t get an ip on my network but my laptop(dell inpiron 510m 5 stars,10/10 brillant piece of kit)could now it can connect to the network were the dell gets 5 bars and it gets 1 but nothing works no internet no file transfers nothing
it gets no stars but unfortunitely I have to give it 1
ps NEVER BUY BELKIN NETWORKING KIT IT\'S CRAP

Reviewed by: navmys on 30-Apr-06 Rating:

Strengths:None.

Weaknesses:Stopped working within 6 months; Kept dropping connections;

Summary:When we first got it we had problems with the connection.
Thought it was the PC, so we tried the laptop and it was the same issue. We lived with it until it completely stopped working. Contacted Belkin and they did not even respond.

Reviewed by: tomcotom on 23-Apr-06 Rating:

Strengths:Easy to install

Weaknesses:400 feet line of sight = less then 50 feet with walls

Summary:Buyer beware, manufactures are using feet, line of sight? Do not buy any wireless under 1000 feet for home use. Compare price by this standard of feet. The USB is an easy product to install.

Reviewed by: computermaniac on 21-Jan-06 Rating:

Strengths:Works good if you can get it setup

Weaknesses:Hard to impossible to setup

Summary:It say\'s it will work on Win98 ME 2000 and XP but I tried to get it to work on 2 computers with Win98se no luck tried to get it to work on computer with Windows ME no luck 1 computer with xp ok the other computer with xp a laptop is working fine, maybe a problem with this unit not sure starting to get agravated.

Reviewed by: needmoreo2 on 07-Jan-06 Rating:

Strengths:Works fine with XP & 2000

Weaknesses:Doesn\'t work at all on Media Center XP

Summary:I\'ve used the 54G USB adapter for a few months. It is easy to install and use EXCEPT when on Media Center XP. Belkin has not released a driver for the Media Center and the XP driver doesn\'t work.

Reviewed by: purplecat on 09-Dec-05 Rating:

Strengths:54mbps connection and ease to setup on Win XP. Connections stays well. Backward compatible with USB 1.0 and 1.1.

Weaknesses:a little problem after rebooting first time. But 2nd and 3rd reboot it worked just fine. (just for testing)

Summary:This card is great and I am using it on the old Gateway Performace 600 (600mhz w/ 256mb ram running on Win XP Pro SP2). Although it have USB 1.1 ports, the instruction state that it will limit speed to 11 mpbs on USB 1.1. That\'s bull!! (It was at first when I had minor problem until I configured the Belkin USB network connection and Belkin router on WEP issue and it changed speed to 54mbps). I got 54mbps on USB 1.1 port!!? When I boot up to desktop, I plugged the Belkin USB adapter, the \"balloon\" window popped and saying that best to use USB 2.0 for faster connection. Nah I don\'t believe that. I try it on my new system and it work like a charm. Not much difference to old system.

Don\'t buy Belkin PCI wireless adapter. they\'re problemic!. (belkin F5D700 v3001). I had no problem setting up and use it. But it tend to cut off connection fequently. It had to do with the heat problem with the card. My friend had exact same problem.

The Belkin USB wireless stick really worth it! IT got a good strong connection!

Reviewed by: pinny on 13-Oct-05 Rating:

Strengths:has an extension usb cable which helps fit in very close usb sockets.maintains a very high transfer rate with no disruptions.

Weaknesses:none

Summary:i too have no idea why old tom wrote that review.
i would make sure the product was defected before i write a bad review.
i actualy have a netgear wg111 usb adapter, and it has been nothing but truble, it\'s bulky, doesn\'t fit among several close usb sockets, and the signal goes in and out all the time.
good luck to you shoppers
pinny