| Belkin F5D7132 Wireless-G Universal Range Extender |
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Model: F5D7132
Brand: Belkin
Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Average Rating: 
(submit your review here)
Total Reviews: 173
Form factor: External
Hardware platform: PC
Data link protocol: IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
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| Features: |
Offers one-touch setup for wireless repeater mode
Adds wireless-enabled PCs to your wired network in access-point mode
Works seamlessly with the majority of routers and access points available
Ensures data and network security
Works with PCs and Macintosh computers |
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| Description: |
| The 802.11g Wireless Universal Range Extender/ access point (WURE) connects to your network switch and lets you join your wireless-equipped PCs to your wired network in Access Point Mode, or lets increase the coverage of your existing wireless network in Range Extender Mode. Once you've done the simple setup, you can share data and peripherals, as well as a single Internet account among all your computers. It is based on standard 802.11g technology for fast wireless file transfers and downloads. |
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| User Reviews (173 total): |
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works great - challenging set-up, October 31, 2007
By user (IN, USA)
I read the reviews that this unit is difficult to set-up. I appreciate a challenge, and a low price, so I got one. I wanted to use it as a range extender. As the instructions state, I pushed the one button to auto-configure. that should have been all that was required. It did not work. I hardwired it into a PC (even though I am primarily a Mac user) and used the enclosed set-up software. Once configured, I tried it out. Again, it did not work. I hooked it up to the PC again. The settings were not saved. i re-entered everything again. It did not work. As I was gathering up the box and paperwork in order to send it back, I thought I'd push that button one more time. To my surpise, it worked. The signal strengh on a Mac at the edge of my wireless range increased from 17% to 67%. I used to experience a lot of drop outs but no longer do. It works and has for the last few days.
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Works, with frequent resetting., October 27, 2007
By user (Kennewick, WA USA)
I got this product to use a and range extender, which it works great for and was easy to set up. However, for whatever reason about every other day it needs to be reset to find the network again.
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An Exercise in Frustration, October 26, 2007
By user (Twain Harte, CA USA)
The Belkin Universal Range Extender F5D7132 supposedly has an easy set up. Plug it in, place it near your router, push a button for 10 seconds, watch a blinking LED until it stops. It is then supposedly linked to your router. All that worked fine for me. Then you are supposed to be able to unplug it, move it further away from your router and in the direction you want expansion of your range. Plug it back in, and the range extender is supposed to link back up automatically. It would not do so, even after repeated tries. Called tech support and was told I needed technical information about my router. Called my router tech support, 2WIRE, and got excellent service and all the needed tech info. Called Belkin back. Taken through a long series of steps, many of them dead-ends, by someone whose accent was difficult to understand. Finally, he said to install the CD (not usually needed unless one is making a wired connection for the unit) and seek answers there. He was clearly giving up on me. I found on the CD the same manual I had already read online before calling tech support. The program on the CD would not run. I found in the box a slip of paper that said that it is not supported by Vista. Popped the CD into a laptop with XP. Program would not load properly. Called Belkin once more & told the very understandable speaker that this was the last chance to keep me as a customer. She started to tell me how to reset the unit with a paperclip, and the phone connection was lost. I read one of the helpful opinions above about linking the unit with the router from the point I wanted to station the range extender. I reset the unit and successfully linked router and extender at a distance from the router. I took my laptop to my office, which was only a few feet out of original range and found . . . no difference in reception. This unit goes back.
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it does the job, October 25, 2007
By user (new york, NY USA)
This extender seems to widen my wireless range somewhat in the one place that I've used it so far. I wasn't asking it to do too much, so I can't say that it is miraculous or not, just that it's doing the modest bit that I asked from it.
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Worth every penny!, October 17, 2007
By user (Bloomsburg,Pa)
I bought this so my wife could use her Stiletto 1oo all over the house and in the yard. Works flawlessly! 2 minute "easy" setup... love all Belkin products........
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Like they said, works good, PIA to set up, October 10, 2007
By user (Monterey CA)
Pretty much have to agree with everybody else: once it's up and running it works pretty well, set-up wouldn't be so bad if they provided instructions. Only problem I've had is occasional signal fluctuation/dropped signal- but it might be my ISP rather than the extender- I haven't been able to determine which. Range is good, not as good as advertised though- it slows down a lot if you get very far away. I recommend moving the extender as far from your router as possible to get the maximum range from both signals. The way I set up mine on a secured network: I'm using an AT&T 2wire router, so I plugged my laptop into the extender, typed the extender IP into my browser and used the web set-up page. Under site survey, chose my network. I was 64 bit encrypted, so under the drop-down menu, chose 64 bit, and in the box for the first key, typed the numbers on the bottom of my router (I'm just using the default setup). Problem was, this didn't work right off and made me pull my hair out- I was so desperate I even called tech support! yeah right. Turns out, (not that they could tell me this) you have to check the box on the first page of the web setup that says "security on"- I assumed I could run my belkin network unsecured once it was connected to my router, but no. Setting up like this the extender broadcasts it's own SSID so no problem confusing it with your weaker router signal like someone else mentioned. Three stars, for poor instructions and misleading advertising, but overall I'm very satisfied.
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its okay, October 9, 2007
By user (NY)
i bought this 2 years ago. the set up didnt take long and it was running in no time. the only reason i didnt give it a 5 was cuz of the range. the first floor was fast. the 2nd gets about 1-1.5mb max. (thats out of 10mb). once outside the signal goes down to 56kps. at that point laptop is 75-100 ft. away. that sounds far but the range is well over 400 ft. stated on my box. basically, the closer you are, the better. if you need to go far then a router more costly is what you want. oh one more thing. if you loose power, even for 1 min., unplug the unit and high speed modem then plug them in again. this will reset errors and yellowish lights.
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Works like a charm... If you know what to do, October 5, 2007
By user
For unprotected networks - installs in 10 seconds.
For protected ones: either you have step-by-step instructions provided by somebody else (unfortunately, not Belkin tech. writers) and everything works perfectly or you bring it back to the store.
My advise: find the review by Andy C. It's got everything you need to know to install this product painlessly.
My 2 cents on that review:
- MAC Address part is only necessary when you are setting MAC address based access restrictions.
- My extenders didn't work until I set both unit's and parent's SSID to my current one.
In regards to Vista compatibility: the unit by itself will work with Vista (or any other OS out there). The setup utility won't. To go around this problem - connect unit directly to your PC via network cable.
Here's the solution from L. Friedersdorf: "First manually configure your IP address (mine was 192.168.2.105, DNS populates automatically, and enter the default gateway as 192.168.2.254) After that, you can type the URL 192.168.2.254 into your browser, and you're in. Change the IP address and Subnet mask of your WURE to the correct ones (used in your network). When you are done with the WURE settings, you need to go back into network connections, TCPIP, and change your setting back to Obtain An IP Address Automatically." This is basically what config utility does for you. Once you change the IP address and subnet mask of your unit to those you use in your network - you are done. Vista or not.
Enjoy.
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It works great! some may need to follow Leo Piyush's directions., October 5, 2007
By user
Living in a four bedroom apartment where all the rooms are next to eachother in a receding order, it can get pretty frustrating to see your roommates get better signals than you. Such was my case for the past month until I got this.
It does work right off the bat (like after it searches and locates your wireless router), but you still may be getting a weak signal because your SSID's for your wireless router and the range extender are the same (which it should be if you used the autoconnect button on the back of the range extender). And that would mean your computer/laptop may still be utilizing your wireless router rather than your range extender. For that, I suggest you follow Leo Piyush's directions which can be found in one of the reviews here.
Anyways, its a great product and I would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a solution to weak signals from their wireless router.
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Works great, but hard to set up encryption, September 29, 2007
By user (Stillwater, OK United States)
This unit solved very nicely a problem I had with getting a wireless g signal to all areas of the house. The one-touch set-up, to get the range expander talking to a Linksys router, worked great. What was confusing and difficult was setting up the security. Thanks to Andy C's review, I was eventually able to get WAP personal encryption working. Tech support wasn't helpful--the technician told me the unit was defective, and that I should send it back. That didn't make sense to me, so I kept on working with the unit till I finally got it going.
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Defective!!! Replacement was too!!, September 28, 2007
By user (NJ USA)
This product is horrible. It takes hours to set up. I didn't even get to set it up correctly. The product was defective (Belkin tech support told me it was practically right away when i told them the problem). Anyway i got it replaced it the second one did the same thing as the first one. So i returned it for a refund. I will never buy another Belkin product again (iv had other products of theres before and there just horrible and there tech support is even worse, like thats a surprise!).
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Works, But a Challenge, September 26, 2007
By user (Chico, CA)
We the freeNezy testers at eJawab Inc. found that 6 Hrs trying to set up an extendor is not worth the effort. However after the setup, it has worked with no problems for 3 months now. OTher than the setup, the product is great.
- Vikram Jhaveri, Chico
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Easy to set up. Works great, September 24, 2007
By user
We used it to extend the wireless signal on our home network to our daughters bedroom located in the corner of the basement. The signal was always very week in her room.
Took only about 5 minutes to set up on my fairly simple home network. No problems at all. It's been working great ever since. Now she's getting excellent signal and speed.
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WAS having a terrible setup experience.....then....., September 24, 2007
By user
I have a WPA secured network and was just having a terrible time trying to get this thing set up. But, then I read the review by Leo Piyush. I followed his instructions to the letter and in a few minutes I was up and running. Now, instead of only having a 50% signal on my PS3, I have 100%. Thanks Leo!
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WARNING DOES NOT WORK WITH VISTA!!!!!, September 22, 2007
By user (Gearhart, OR USA)
Of course, you don't know this until you open the box. There is a sheet that advises you to check the website, and it says support is coming. I will return this along with the wireless N router I bought from Belkin. I think I'll stay with D-Link.
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Check your router first to see if it supports WDS, September 18, 2007
By user (Dallas)
After getting the unit working (forget the "one-button setup", read the directions on the CD), I couldn't figure out why it didn't seem to help the signal strength. I then found out that my router (AT&T U-Verse 2Wire) doesn't support WDS (wireless distribution". Neither does the Belkin Pre-N. If you aren't using something in the similar Belkin line, double check your documentation. Even after getting this on the network with security settings, you can't tell if it's actually doing its job from the setup page. Don't be discouraged by the setup. The directions work, though the setup is somewhat circular (set/recheck/reboot/etc).
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Simple to set up, but options kind of hidden., September 16, 2007
By user
It's a good product, and I got it up and going for my network in about a minute. It does what it says it's going to do, and the antenna is definitely sufficiently sensitive to significantly extend the range even if you've got thick plaster walls like my house.
However, they don't make it entirely clear how to do a few things beyond merely setting it up (using a computer that is connected to your network via the range extender, navigate your browser to 192.168.2.254 for the range extender's options menu).
Also of note is that I can't seem to get it to connect to encrypted networks, so my network has to be open (as in, no WPA or WEP) for it to work. This is because of how the only way to have it connect to a network is through the automatic one-touch button, so of course it's going to get locked out. I'm sure there's a way around this, but I haven't found it yet. But for now, I simply turn off SSID broadcasting after having the range extender connected to the network (don't forget to turn off SSID broadcasting in the range extender's menu too), and this is good enough for now.
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Tooooo easy!!!, September 15, 2007
By user
Belkin F5D7132 Wireless-G Universal Range Extender
After reading some of the reviews here I thought I was in for a long drawn out process to set this up. I read a couple reviews that cautioned about using the one-touch setup. But I figured, I planned on it taking the whole Saturday, what the hay!!, so I started there. I put the range extender on top of the Belkin G router and plugged it in. I had the Belkin tech support number at the ready as I pushed the button and watched the 10 seconds go by on my watch and released the button. Within seconds it found my router. I unplugged it and moved it to its new location. It kept searching at the new location so I pushed the button for another 10 seconds and within moments of the button release it was reconnected to the router. I did disable the password protection during the process, and I do have a Belkin G router. Maybe that made the difference, but I couldn't have asked for it to be any easier!
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Easy set up - needs a longer power cord, September 11, 2007
By user (Durham, NC United States)
I was prepared to spend all evening fooling with this thing after reading the reviews about how difficult the set up is. I bought it to use as an extender, not a WAP. I was very happy I had read to disable security on my router, because that could've been frustrating. It didn't mention that in the quick start manual.
I disabled security, then followed the quick start guide. It was easy. I plugged it in, pushed the easy connect button thing on the back for 10 seconds, and hoped it was ready to go but I wasn't very optimistic. I moved it to its home 2 rooms away, plugged it in, and couldn't tell if it was working. I downloaded the user manual (there was no hard copy included) and found that the address of the unit should be 192.168.2.254, so I navigated there through my browser, and there it was. Something in the instructions had recommended using the cable to connect the extender to the router to configure it. I never took the cable out of the box.
I set the security on it and reset it on the router and tested my wireless signal in distant areas of the house. The signal had improved greatly. It took me 15 minutes to do the whole thing and it worked as advertised. I'm very happy. I would've given it 5 stars, but the stupid power cord was short and made positioning the equipment in an aesthetically pleasing way difficult. Another foot would make all of the difference.
Still, it's great that my signal no longer drops out in the back of the house. As a matter of fact, my signal there is stronger than many other parts of the house now. It was well worth the inexpensive price.
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AMAZING Product!, September 9, 2007
By user (CLEVELAND OH, USA)
Once you configure this product right using the easy web interface you will be so happy and satisfied about it's performance, the web interface gives you tons of options that you can adjust and configure and the best part is : this device is totally isolating itself from any disturbance from other wireless routers around it and it keeps your network ALWAYS focusing on it's own signal rather than your computers getting hooked up with other neighbours networks which in most cases you can't even use !
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