Belkin N1 Wireless Router Review
I recently bought a Belkin N1 Wireless Router
I live in a house with rather thick stone walls which doesn’t aid the transmitting of wireless signals, so I accept that fact that my wireless range may be less than other people’s may be. The D-Link Wireless ADSL Modem Router had a range of around 15m which I thought was quite good given it only cost me about £50 at the time.
So when it came to replacing it I was willing to spend a bit more money on something that would perhaps give me more range. I ended up spending £130 on the Belkin N1 Wireless Router - more than I’d wanted to spend, but I needed to get back online! I was initially rather impressed with it, the setting up was very simple and easily completed and the router itself has some easy to understand status light symbols on top of it. The standard wired networking aspect of this router works very well, I’ve got two PCs and an Xbox 360 hooked up to it and they all worked well together from the start without any problems.
However, once I got round to testing the wireless range of this new Belkin N1 Wireless Router, I was a little discouraged to see that it was no better than my previous D-Link Wireless ADSL Modem Router, if anything it was a slightly weaker signal. Obviously, the Belkin N1 standard is more about shifting more data at a higher speed than range, so good for those who do that - however I’m more interested in basic network and Internet access as far round the house as possible.
I would also have to mention that it does need to be regularly reset/restarted by pressing the button on the back of the router. I’m not sure why this is, whether it’s a fault that might get fixed in a new firmware release or perhaps it’s just one of those things when something is running 24/7, like my Sky+ box needs regularly restarting.
All in all I’d say the Belkin N1 Wireless Router is good product with a high build quality, it does come with a premium price compared to the alternatives on the market, but if you know what needs you have and approach the Belkin N1 Wireless Router
Have you had any experience with this wireless router? What do you think of it?
The product spec says 1400 ft with a star .
I’m guessing the star refers to having no objects within that 1400ft distance - I obviously need to move house to one with thinner walls or start knocking walls down in the existing one!
Thanks for the reivew. I need to get a new router soon so this will help me make a decision.
I think you are paying a little for the name and the way it looks? Does it come with active bandwidth control for things like playing games while downloading a file? I forgot the technical term
Is having that increase in performance really worth the weaker signal?
i bought an N1 and have nothing good to say regarding this modem. from day one. this unit has been unstable even after firmware update. having to restart this unit every second day was a pain.. anyway down graded to a G modem router which works like a dream..
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Zach - not for me at all no - I would rather have the slower signal (which is still more than fast enough to share a broadband connection) than a faster transfer rate (I rarely ever move files around the wireless network), but on that basis I couldn’t take it back for a refund or exchange. Other than that, it has been a decent buy.
Tony - I’ve not had any of those stability issues you’ve mentioned, the only times I’ve had to reset mine have been when my internet connection has gone down. Glad you got your issue sorted by going back to the G standard.
Overall, I think range and reliability will be the most important points I’ll be looking for in my next ADSL wireless router.
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I had to replace my old router after 4 years because we got a lap top so I had to get a wireless router so I choose the belkin n wireless router ….my problem is that My son and I would play games on pogo together I have an account and he has an account and since I’ve installed this new wireless router we can’t play online together …only one of us can get on pogo at a time and if he’s on pogo and gets off and then I get on pogo I have to restart my computer for me to be able to get into a game room and the same goes with him….is there a fix for this? I didn’t have this problem befor….Thanks for any help you can offer.
The connection speed and distant are good when it does work. However, it is unreliable and needs to be reset every day or so. I would go with something more reliably consistant.