Home > Consumer Reviews > Belkin F5D5230-4 Cable/DSL Gateway 4 Port Router

I wouldn't recommend this product. I have it for about 3 yrs, works as a simple DSL router in 2-3 computers home network. It froze on me on numerous occasion for no apparent reasons andhave to present the reset button on the router in order for it to work again. In 3 yrs, it broke twice. The first time was about 6 months in the ownship. Belkin replace it with a new one and postal cost out of my own pocket. The 2nd time was last week (warrany expired), the same old problem. It just quite working. I won't be replacing my router with the same unit for sure.

This router will take a legitimate connection to a web site and turn it into an ad for belkin products! The older models don't but if you update the firmware (like maybe to close a security hole in the future, or for compatibility of a network game) you will start getting ads! There are a couple of articles that are at popular news organizations that confirm this. BOYCOTT, DO NOT UPGRADE THE FIRMWARE!

My Belkin 4 Cable/DSL 4 Port Router never was a trouble-free device. It needed frequent resets and then seemed to cause one of our computers to start only in safe mode. Further investigation of the system revealed an over-heating power adapter. Unplugging the adapter fixed the non-starting computer and all three worked just fine when individually plugged into the cable modem. On December 6th, I wrote an email to Belkin because I wasn't able to find an identical adapter locally. Belkin replied they would email me again once my RMA was approved, but told me not to respond to their notice. After waiting what seemed to be an unreasonable time for the RMA, or further communication from Belkin, I wrote again, because only one computer was on line via the Cable modem. By December 26th, I had written three or four times with no response from Belkin.
When a relative came to visit with yet another computer, I relented and bought a Linksys router. The Belkin router remains inoperable when all that it needed was an adapter replacement or some other indication Belkin was aware of the problem with their product.

I purchased this cable/dsl router locally for a very good price and have found it offers relatively the same features as the Linksys and Netgear equivalents. The device itself is easy to setup, and works well with a standard high speed connection. The reviewer whose kept losing his cable modem connection may have had this problem due to a cable modem that does not support DHCP or possibly his provider uses PPPOE, though I am unsure if cable could. If so he would have to specially configure the router. I have not have any disconnection problems or connection problems whatsoever.

A plus to the browser interface is the direct link to firmware update, a hands off install of them and the ability to configure many options and settings. The browser interface could be set up better, but it not terrible and easily navigated.

The manual is very weak. There is no explanation for the advanced features, such as the VPN for remote management and I have yet to make this work. The DMZ and port filtering is vague and confusing as well, which as limited my success in implementing it. One reviewer thought that if you know how to use these advanced features, then you might know how to set them up. I do know enough to set them up and I still found the lack of information problematic as I cannot tell if I have set THIS particular device up accordingly. Of course these features are not required for a basic setup so I cannot ding them too hard for the lack of documentation

I am the proud owner of three "F5D5230-4" routers, and I have one at home, one in my car, and one at the office. Setup was so easy, that I had everything running in five minutes. I docked it one star because the manual is incomprehensible to English-speaking people. Whenever people ask me what that fantastic looking little box is with all those wires, I just lean back in my chair and proudly say "this is the mother of all routers, it's the F5D5230-4".