| 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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Belkin Range Extender, January 9, 2007
By user (Richmond, VA)
Device works very well. Went from having 2 bars signal strength to solid 5 bars all the time. Setup is not too straightforward if you don't use standard 192.168... addressing. But Belkin documentation is good and once working it is very solid.
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Very pleased, January 9, 2007
By user
I am very pleased with this trans-action. Delivery was within time frame and product was as advertised.
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Does the job, January 9, 2007
By user (Honolulu, HI USA)
I took it out of the box and got it working under 30 sec. after plugging it in. After about two months of using it, I did have a connection problem (it looked like I was connected to the network, but I didn't get an IP from the DHCP service). I just pressed the scan button and got back my signal even though my home can see six wireless signals from the neighborhood. Got one star taken off because of the reset, but otherwise it works effortlessly!
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Hard work, but worth it in the end, January 5, 2007
By user (Hertfordshire, England)
It was a real struggle getting this device up and running as an extender
I did it as follows
1. Connected the WURE to modem router with network cable
2. got utility up and running on one of my PCs
3. gave WURE an ip address and subnet mask (192.168.1.6)and(255.255.255.0)in my case
4. accessed WURE menu system through web management tool
5. set security settings according to the protocol you use (64 bit WEP for me)and put in the relevant password into the network key box
6. DONT PUT ANY SSIDs into the boxes - leave the two boxes alone
7. Next find out the MAC address of each and every device on your network including the WURE
8. Put each one of these MAC addresses into the MAC address section of the WURE and save it all.
9. Then log out of the utility
10. Unplug the ethernet cable of WURE from your router
11. Log back into WURE web management interface
12. It should show you the WURE is now connected on your network if you have put in settings correctly . You will now see the SSID of your network in the correct boxes
13. Unplug the WURE and move it half way between the black spot and your wireless modem router.
14. Press the autoconnect for 10 secs and wait for red light to stop flashing
Job done !! Phew !!
Andy
Hertfordshire, England
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terrible experience, January 4, 2007
By user (New York)
Couldn't get it to work with my Belkin router. Spent 1 1/2 hours trying to get some intelligent support. On "hold" for most of the time. Support unable to help and told me the unit must be defective and returned. Wasted the entire evening. Support is horrible.
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Good buy, excellent price/performance., January 3, 2007
By user
It actually does exactly what it is supposed to do, now we have a strong signal throughout the house. Installation was quite painless, give it the encryption data and then forget it's there.
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Belkin as WAP, January 3, 2007
By user (Tucson)
I am using the equipment as a Wireless Access Point to tie my notebook computer into the wireless network. Whenever I use the WAP with my notebook it kills the desktop connection to the router hub.
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Product is great, instructions is inadequate, January 1, 2007
By user (CA, USA)
I just got this product working (as a range extender) within my network yesterday after some very frustrating experience setting it up. I use WPA-PSK authentication for my wireless network. As such, the auto configure buton does not work. The easiest way to set it up is by using the utility that comes with this product and with this extender connected to the existing wireless router physically. The utility was able to recognize the extender right away and I was able to reset its default IP address to match my subnet and then access its web interface from this utilty to setup the parent SSID and match the security settings. then restart the router and this range extender. Once I've done that, it works flawlessly.
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Warning ....., December 26, 2006
By user (NYC)
I read the poor reviews and decided to go for it anyway. Similar frustrations as most of the other reviewers. It won't work as advertised, the (outsourced?)techs have no clue why, too much hold time giving the same info over and over (Case #, name ....) I'm waiting for a Level 3 tech to return my call. I'm told it will be in the next 36 to 48 hours .... Wonderful! Save yourself the aggravation and go in another direction ..... I wish I did.
UPDATE:
I fixed the problem (without waiting for help) and the product works as advertised. Here is what you need to do so this won't happen to you .....
If you are using the product as a Range Extender: Follow the instructions. After reconnecting the extender in the new location, press the auto connect button for two seconds. If successful, the red searching light will go out.
So simple, but never mentioned in the foldout directions that come with the product (The CD is only used if you're using the product as an Access Point).
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piece of junk, tech support useless, December 15, 2006
By user (NY, NY)
i've spent about 7 hrs with tech support now to try to get this up & running -- i'd say it was a joke if it wasn't so painful. after all of this time, they finally gave up & said it must be broken, send it back in. so i did, and so far this one isn't working, either. don't really have 7 more free hrs to get this working so not sure what i'm going to do. just wanted to advise to run don't walk to get another extender if you can.
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Easy, Cheap, Effective, December 10, 2006
By user (Billings, MO)
I have a wireless router hooked up to a cable internet connection and the primary computer is about fifty feet away from the router with several walls and a kitchen (lots of EM distortion) in the way. After installing the wireless range extender, the signal strength was boosted from 32% to 68%. This is actually faily impressive considering the low cost and the fact that this house was constructed with several materials that hurt radio signals such as tinted UV windows and large iron structures.
The installation was very simple but there are a couple of minor problems that I encountered that, if you follow these instructions which are actually not in the Belkin manual, you should be fine.
1. If you have any kind of encryption enabled on your router, the extender will be able to connect to the router but won't relay any signals. You'll need to connect your computer directly to the ethernet port on the wireless extender and access the configuration menu by typing in 192.168.2.254 in your browser. You'll also need to change your IP address to do this. Information on how to do this is found in the online Belkin product manual, NOT the quick setup guide that comes with the product. Once you're in the configuration menu, change the wireless extender's encryption protocol to match your router's and that should do it. Make sure to use the same 64bit sequence and key number. Now your extender will have the same SSID and encryption as your router and the network should be up and running.
2. The only other consideration is where to put the extender. There has to be enough signal strength coming from your router to the extender for it to boost and send out again. I found that placing the extender one third of the distance from the computer to the router so it was closer to the router worked very well. Anything further away and the extender's "searching" light keeps blinking and there is no connection.
In conclusion, if you're looking for a seamless way to double the signal strength on G and B wireless protocols without spending a ton of money, this is it. Most instances all you have to do is push a button and it matches your router's name and channel but if you have encryption, as stated above, there's about five minutes of more work to be done but well worth it.
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Non-Intuitive setup but definitely works like advertised, December 8, 2006
By user
A few people have complained about the difficult setup and how the Auto-Configure doesn't work. The Aut-Configure might not be the best option for most people and the advanced setup requires you to connect your computer to the device using the supplied Ethernet cable. The software setup is precisely explained on page 14 of the manual that is included on the CD.
Once you are connected to the device, you can browse to the web management interface and configure it to repeat any available Wireless network.
Again, Non-Intuitive so you'll get frustrated if you don't follow the manual but it took me no longer than 20 minutes to setup the whole thing as I was aware of the non-intuitive setup and knew to find the manual on the CD.
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Horrendous Support, December 2, 2006
By user
They claim that this product will work with any router? Not true, I am an IT professional and I couldn't get this unit to work with my netgear router. The instruction manual says to hold down a button and you magically connect. Of course there is not a shred of information if this magic doesnt happen. After 4 hours with tech support, who must have asked me my name/address/phone/serial number about 8 times as I was taken on a magical ride touring a myriad of complete idiots. They tried to tell me to eliminate all of my network connections, settings, cookies, internet files. What do cookies and TIFs have to do with connecting to a network? Don't waste your time with this.
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Range Extended but..., November 10, 2006
By user (Texas)
Worked great with external 9 dbi omni antenna but owner of network says it interferes with rest of network. Not a technician so don't know that part - sure wish I did.
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poor support/broken device, November 7, 2006
By user (NY United States)
Device failed to amplify the signal and in fact caused some interference. After spending 60 mins with level 1 tech support call was escalated to the level 2 technician who was unable to sort this out either. After 40 mins on line with her I was told that device is clearly defective and should be returned. 1 star rating reflects inability of the tech staff to diagnose and distinguish broken device from operational one as well as fairly poor documentation in as far as what troubleshooting steps and/or options are.
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Four bars throughout the house., October 27, 2006
By user (Los Altos, CA USA)
The device works as advertised. My wireless router is in my den at one end of the house. My wireless reception at the other end of the house was almost non-existent. Now I get 4 out of 4 bars throughout the house and in my backyard as well. Setup took about 10 minutes, including encryption configuration. The ease of setup and reliability may be due to the fact that I am using a Belkin Pre-N wireless router. But, the two Linksys wireless bridges throughout the house work just fine. The best $40 I spent in a long time.
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Strong Signal & Easy Setup, October 11, 2006
By user
It took about 10 minutes to setup and I had a full strength signal in areas of my house that were poor at best. I have been using it for about 3 months now with no problems and always a strong signal. I never thought it would have been this easy and so inexpensive to improve my signal stregth. My Netgear wireless route provides very good signal strength for one end of the house, but there are areas at the far end that had a poor signal. There was no easy/cheap way to run a wire, so this was a perfect solution. I have just bought one for my in-laws and it works perfect at their house. I highly recommend it and you can not beat the price.
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Spent an hour and a half with tech support, failed to make it work, October 9, 2006
By user (California, USA)
I'm a software engineer and I've setup many wireless networks in the past. Usually I try to be balanced and objective, but this product has many problems that I don't know where to start.
* The very brief user guide is poorly written and completely useless.
* The software utility that comes with it (installable from a CD) is one of the most poorly written utilities I've seen:
a. unintuitive interface. For example, they have this obscure button "UP/AP" and no explanation in the guide or in the utility of what that means. Buttons are enabled/disabled in a strange way.
b. you keep getting failure messages, and you have to try the same thing several times until it hopefully takes your settings
* Repeated attempts with TWO different networks in my apartment and my sister's house failed, with and without WEP security.
* After hours of trials on my own, I called tech support, spent an hour and half on the phone trying different things, then then the person left or stopped responding.. not sure if he hanged up or what the problem is. Called again, waited on the line again, said that I want to return it and the rep was fine with it. I'm returning it.
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it's great!!!, August 20, 2006
By user (nj, usa)
I really love it. I plugged it in and after 10 seconds I was able to get a crystal signal.
Before I had this extander i just couldnt connect to the nearest open network at all and now it s reallly 0 distortion.
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1st time using a range extender, August 18, 2006
By user (Oregon)
Setup was fairly easy although the provided documentation left a bit to be desired since I had to do some digging to find out how to enable WPA/WEP. Once everything was configured it works quite well and is giving me a good strong signal in an area that was poor on a good day.
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