This Belkin N Wireless F5D8233-4 has two antennas and doesn’t run nearly as fast as the pricey three-antenna Belkin N1 Vision, which costs $90 more.
The setup program lags behind the wizards found included with the new D-Link and Linksys routers, asking users to enter information that we’d rather the router just figure out. The design is also not as sleek and small as the Linksys clamshell design. And the Belkin N Wireless lacks Gigabit Ethernet ports, so your network file transfers will run a little slow.
The N Wireless also lacks 256-bit security encryption found on some budget routers. It still maintains a speed of about 80 Mbps from 5 feet, 20 Mbps from 200 feet, and, at 8 Mbps from 500 feet.
We tested a high-def movie stream to an Apple TV and noticed a little stuttering, while music streaming and VoIP calls were smooth as long as no one else was using the router. The N Wireless had a few dropped frames when streaming video and audio delays on a Skype call when we were downloading a large file.
For $89, the Belkin N Wireless router doesn’t offer the fastest throughput, but it does provide lots of coverage, and Belkin tech support is excellent.
