| Belkin F5D7000 Wireless Desktop Network Card |
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Model: F5D7000
Brand: Belkin
Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 35
Form factor: Plug-in card
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Device Type - Network Card
Form Factor - N/A
Interface Type - PCI
Cabling Type - N/A |
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| Description: |
| Belkin F5D7000 802.11g Wireless Desktop Network Card - This networking card gives your desktop PC the freedom of wireless networking. In a wireless network, your desktop will be able to wirelessly access other computers, peripherals, and the Internet! Supports Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, & XP Includes an external antenna that connects to the PCI card |
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| User Reviews (35 total): |
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Card works great! Software stinks!, July 3, 2008
By user (Franklin, Tn United States)
Just installed this little jewel in my Dell PC. Installation was a snap. Followed the set-up instructions and everthing installed smoothly. I had the card configured and running in no time. Started out using the Wireless managment software that came with it, that is, until it started loosing connection and refusing to reconnect with an indication that there were no wireless links available. This in spite of the fact I was getting 5 full bars indicated for the designated connector. In frustration, I switched to Windows wireless managment configuration and everything is working rock solid. The software provided with the card also would not reconnect from Stand-by, which was mildly annoying in itself.
This is on an XP-Pro, SP3 OS.
I would give the product 5 stars, but the software took away 2 stars for failing to connect in the presence of a strong signal.
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Belkin Wireless works great, December 15, 2007
By user (Cincinnati, OH United States)
This wireless card works real fine, the only drawback is that it is set to always connect at start-up, and it does not offer an option to connect only when requested or initiated.
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Avoid this product, August 28, 2007
By user
I've had this product for several months and it has given me a lot of trouble. I'm finally going to uninstall it and throw it in the trash and go get a different brand of wireless card.
- Signal strength varied from good to low to disconnected even when my laptop sitting 2 feet away had excellent signal strength
- Technical support is lousy. Nice guys, but completely unable to do anything but connect you to the returns department.
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Extremely Unreliable, June 28, 2007
By user
I've had this card for about 6 months now and have had nothing but trouble. The card installed fine, drivers work, but the quality of my connection is terrible. I should actually say the reliability is terrible. I get 5 bars quality from the windows wireless configuration tool, but the connection disconnects randomly. Some days are better than others, where I remain connected to my BELKIN router and I just get ping timeouts every few minutes. This makes it very hard to play most games like normal people. I am always at a disadvantage. I've tried using the Belkin tool to connect, while disabling the windows configurator with no success. My laptop with a Broadcom adapter gets flawless wireless access with the router as well as another desktop on my network that uses a netgear adapter. The bottom line is, if you use your computer for anything other than checking your email, get a card that actually works.
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Worked the first time, April 4, 2007
By user (Vandenberg AFB, CA USA)
Being new to wireless technology, I was unsure of what brand to go with. I read lots of reviews, both positive and negative and ended up settling on the Belkin wireless G router and card. Both worked flawlessly the first time with my Mac (hardwired to the router), PC (wireless), and even the PS3 (wireless). Needless to say I am satisfied with my purchase and the price is hard to beat.Belkin Wireless G Router DSL/ Cable gateway
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Remember the look is a black aerial and it works like any other, March 2, 2007
By user (overthemoonreview@hotmail.com)
You could in theory spend twice the price of this for another WNC that does exactly the same thing and works exactly the same way. Why? ... because they are built by the same labor forces and the same material and the same production methods. The days of `brand name equals higher quality' has long since been terminated. Just look at the market since 2000. It has all changed. As long as you go with the top companies and distributors you are going to be getting stuff that is practically the same especially when it comes to hardware like this. If you want a router with a `look' or a modem with a look then obviously that plays a big part in what you want. However when it comes to WNC's you are talking about a black aerial sticking out of the back of the PC. There isn't much of a look there. In fact you can't tell the difference until you see the software that controls it. In this case the software is the same stuff everywhere. Detect wireless internet connections and connect to them. It's the same stuff and this works fine and dandy without error. Great. Cheap. Works. What more could you want for a black aerial sticking out of your PC?
It works with all wireless routers I have detected with it. It is cheaper and does the same thing as all the rest. Get it.
Note: This is version 6 or above. The version 4 models and above have WPA2 security. Be aware that older models in the shop might not have WPA2 and only WPA so check the specs before you buy. This version was WPA2.
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Works with Linux Ubuntu 6.10, Atheros Chipset, February 26, 2007
By user (CA USA)
This card worked out of the box on my Linux, Ubuntu 6.10 based system. This Belkin card--at least the version I have-- is based on the Atheros chip set.
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Better luck next time., January 5, 2007
By user (Providence)
Despite what the Belkin folk told me over the phone, this does not work on a mac.
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Danger, Will Robinson!! Avoid Avoid!, November 21, 2006
By user (Madison, WI)
This card was completely useless for me. I tried to install it in a Dell PC with a Pentium II running Me. Granted, it's an older setup, but Belkin says it will work. Not for me. The software/drivers wouldn't even load properly. I called Belkin, they said don't use the CD, download the new version from their website. Ooookay. Well, it installed, but it would not recognize the card or connect to the internet. My PC could never find the hardware either. Believe me, I tried every setting I could think of, un- and re-installed the software, everything. Zilch. The phone guy, though nice enough, was no help. So I scrapped it, went and bought the Linksys equivalent. It went right in, the drivers got it running and I get strong, reliable wireless internet while completely across the house from our router. Heed the words of myself and the others and don't buy this. Spend the extra couple dollars for a Linksys.
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Far Below One Star, I'd go into Negative Stars..., September 8, 2006
By user
Having given Belkin about 4 hours of my life, I thought I'd spend the next 5 mins encouraging others NOT TO BUY this crummy wireless card. Here are some details: I have Win XP on a 1.7Ghz intel computer I built in 2002, slightly older system but it's been updated regularly, anti-virus, not on a work/school network etc. I've had ZERO problems with this system and I know it like the back of my hand.
Enter Belkin Wireless PC Network Card. We get a wireless router and I decide to go wireless after years of cable lines.
The drivers for this card are horrible. They tell you to first install the drivers etc from the CD-Rom, then insert the PCI card, then run the Belkin Utility Set Up. OK, Done. For about 1 week, I had rather poor internet, not too bad, but running slow -- I know, that comes with wireless sometimes.
However, one day out of the blue and totally randomly it says it cannot find my IP address? As an indication of how backwards this product it, the SUPPORT IS AN INTERNET LINK. In the utilities, it says BELKIN SUPPORT and it's a LINK to their WEBSITE. How backwards is that?
Beyond that I've uninstalled and re-installed the drivers and they won't fully install. When you download the XP drivers from the Belkin Website (I borrowed a friends laptop, which is how I am writing this hot statement of protest), they ask you to INSTALL THE PCI CARD first before continuing with driver installation.
I've turned on and off my computer a million times, inserted and re-inserted the cards, downloaded drivers to my thumb drive and saved to my desktop incase it was my CD-ROM just not reading the CD correctly.
My last steps:
1. Uninstall (if I can, last I tried, the drivers won't uninstall all the way either, they freeze half way through)
2. box it up and send back
3. buy a different card (link sys or netgear)
4. WRITE THIS REVIEW WARNING
Can I just say "YARRRRG!"
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Decent card for your budget, May 21, 2006
By user
Installing the card is a bit tricky. You have to install the driver first, then insert the card into the PCI slot. For some reason, the first PCI slot didn't work on my computer. I had to uninstall it and try another PCI slot, and the card was recognized by Windows. However, the monitor port on my computer is right above the antenna jack, so the antenna can't assume the upright position that is required for this card to work! Imagine that! After much agony, I decided to buy a flexible external antenna and replace the tiny antenna that comes with the card. It finally worked. Now I think about it, I may need a third-party external antenna anyway, because the AP is really very far from my computer. After all, this card works like it should and is really inexpensive, despite all the hassels I had to go through.
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Terrible Piece of Equipment, April 13, 2006
By user (Naples, FL United States)
After constant dropouts for the past 6 months and no help from the "Belkin Bozo's"(support). I received a long delayed canned e-mail answer to my problem which didn't help a bit. I finally got rid of this piece of junk and installed a Linksys Network Card. Both Linksys hardware and software are a vast improvement. No more dropouts.
I would suggest that prospective purchasers of Belkin products hesitate before buying.. It's one thing to have a product that works intermittantly, but it's really frustrating when Product Support is worthless.
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Works Great with Mac Os X Tiger 10.4.4, January 27, 2006
By user (Bloomington, IL United States)
I tried another product before this to work with my Quicksilver G4 tower. I recently upgraded to the Airport Express and needed a wireless solution for the G4. I wasn't sure if anything would work with this other than the original Airport card (which is no longer made). The Airport Extreme card will not work in my machine either. This Belkin card was purchased locally, with the model number FSD7001. As soon as I installed it, the system immediately saw it. It was seamless. No software installation was needed. This works great on OS 10.4.4. Hope this helps you Mac users.
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Constant dropouts, January 16, 2006
By user (Alstonville, NSW Australia)
I have owned this wireless card for about 9 months. When i used the drivers provided by belkin i would get constant dropouts at totally random times. When i purchased the wireless card i also bought a Belkin F5D7633 wireless g router. I have a Compaq laptop that has a inbuilt broadcom wireless g card and this has always worked perfectly. I cant remember a single time that it dropped out on me. I thought that i tried everything to fix my desktop pc wireless card. Ive moved the antenna on the card, updated the router firmware, built a new pc for the card, moved the computer so that the card and router are in a line of sight...and nothing improved my situation until i heard about drivers written by the chipset designer RALINK. I went to ralink's website (www.ralinktech.com/supp-1.htm) and downloaded the driver 11g-RT2500 version Drv3.0.3.0 (not the 64bit driver). I uninstalled the previous belkin driver and re-started my machine, and then i loaded the new driver. So far, so good! It has only dropped out once since the driver has been installed (usually it would drop out every 5 minutes if i was not streaming internet radio). Im really hoping that it continues to operate properly cuz im nearing the point in that im looking at new cards.
I really think belkin should clean up their act in regard to drivers and their model numbers, because there are now 6 cards that have the f5d7000 model number. Their website is difficult to navigate too.
Just for the record, i have the f5d7000-3000 card
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Finally, a wireless pci card that doesn't disconnect after awhile...., January 15, 2006
By user (California, USA)
Before I bought the Belkin F5D7000 (version 5000), I was using a Netgear WG311v2 wireless pci card. I sometimes leave my computer on overnight and I noticed that the Netgear card kept on disconnecting the next morning. I had enough and bought the Belkin card and I'm glad I did. No more problems with disconnecting after awhile! Installation on my Windows computer was a breeze. I suggest to use the Windows XP Wireless Zero Configuration Utility instead of Belkin's utilty.
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Version 4000 "might" work on OSX Tiger 10.4.2, October 28, 2005
By user (New York City)
Super easy to install, rebooted, and automatically showed up as an Airport card, BUT it can't find any networks to connect to. System pref says Airport is on. Tried the trick I learned on http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/archives/jul05/071305.html#tip but still can't get it to work. Looks like the card has potential but I don't think I know enough about the inner workings to finish this project. I'll give it a neutral 3 stars since it does show up as Airport and a more knowledgeable user may be able to get it going.
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Version "4000" does NOT work on Macintosh, September 21, 2005
By user (Riverton, UT United States)
After seeing a review on this site that claimed Mac compatibility, I bought this card, which turned out NOT to work, since it is "version 4000" and apparently uses a new chip set for which there is no Mac driver. So, I'm out shipping on yet another card that doesn't work on the Mac, which is really getting old.
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Easy to install if you follow the instructions, August 10, 2005
By user (USA)
This card is really easy to install if you read and follow the instructions. The anti-static wrap on the card states in large bold font that the software must be installed before the card is inserted into the machine. If you install the software first, the card will be recognized right away. Configuration is easy -- just match the settings on your router. I was able to install this card and start browsing the web in 10 minutes. I then downloaded and updated the firmware on the card. The latest firmware is stable. I never lose a connection. I have this computer in a separate room from my router. No more mess of network cables!
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Macintosh Buyer Beware, July 1, 2005
By user (Chicago)
I bought this with the understanding that it would work in a Macintosh computer. Much to my dismay, version 3 of this card (the one you're likely to get) no longer uses the Broadcom chipset that Apple uses natively. Supposedly, there are Macintosh OS X drivers available for the RALink chipset used on the current model, but I wasn't able to make it work.
Despite some other problems in the Compaq box my card ended up in, it seems to work very well, getting a good signal about 50 feet and several walls away from an access point.
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Junk of the first order, June 2, 2005
By user (UK)
This card just won't work for me. I have a version "3000uk" according to the label on it, which uses an RALink chipset.
Installed on WinXP Pro, which was a relatively easy install, but the card disconnects from the network after approximately 1 day of the machine being switched on, and refuses to reconnect without power cycling. Needless to say, for a machine I'm using as a server, this is unacceptable behaviour.
Also worth noting: a lot of sites list this card as Linux compatible. It isn't; they're talking about the earlier 1000 and 2000 versions (based on Broadcom chipset) -- the ralink drivers aren't compatible with ndiswrapper, and the ralink kernel module won't work with the card either.
Stay well away. The extra for a DLink or Netgear card is well worth it.
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