I bought this router to replace my faithful old Netgear DG834G that our ADSL ISP suspected was contributing to some ridiculous loss of sync issues. It was direct off-the-shelf and I hadn't read any reviews, but knowing to stay away from Linksys and being careful not to go with the same brand that might have been ruining my connection, I figured Belkin would be safe.
So I took it home, plugged it in, and immediately noticed a speed improvement. The web-based configuration system is easy-to-use and comprehensive. I experienced a minor glitch that night and had to reboot the device, but I upgraded the firmware and thought little of it until the next day.
It wasn't until then that I realised this was no minor glitch. The router was hanging up at least once per day. I finally got around to reading some reviews online and discovered that overheating and crashing was a problem with Belkins. People had found themselves with devices that would never remain working for a straight day, and here I was having to power cycle it constantly. Were it just myself needing to use it that might have been simply an annoyance, but with an entire family wanting to use the internet and with me not always around/awake, that was a problem.
It was always just freezing, either. Sometimes the config system would be accessible, and sometimes it wouldn't. But no matter what happened and no matter how long it took me to notice and power cycle it (be it five minutes or an hour), as soon as the device came back, the internet connection was available. And it's not even overheating any more, not now that I have it hanging out a window into the fresh summer air.
So that's a firm thumbs down, which is a shame because despite the fact that it doesn't work it's a full-featured device and provides a fantastic service when it's operational. But the more-than-daily crashing renders it useless, and even at £50 retail that's not what you expect from a world-class brand.
