Home > Consumer Reviews > Belkin N1 Wireless Notebook Card

I purchased two of these to go with my new Belkin N1 router. I installed the cards in my IBM and Compaq laptops. Installation and setup were very simple, kudos to Belkin for that. The IBM instantly connected and showed a speed of 300Mbps, the Compaq also connected, but only showed a speed of 54Mbps. No matter where I placed the two laptops the IBM always showed 300 and the Compaq showed 54. In addition, the Belkin Network Utility would only work on the IBM not on the Compaq. After several calls to Belkin support and two escallations to higher level techs (by the way, none of whom speak English as their primary language), I have given up and am returning all the Belkin products and going back to my Buffalo system until the "N" thing is figured out some more.

I bought the Belkin N1 wireless router and this notebook card in the hopes of obtaining a usable signal several rooms away from the router. The router worked flawlessly, and the notebook card gave me a weak / intermittent signal where I wanted to use it. This was however an improvement over my previous 802.11b Linksys wireless router that gave me no signal at all at this location.
After about an hour of use, I got the 'blue screen of death' on my new Dell dual core laptop that warned that a serious error occurred and Windows was halted to prevent further damage. It further warned that if I recently installed new hardware I should reboot and uninstall the hardware. I rebooted, Windows came back, and I uninstalled the notebook card. I called Belkin tech service to report the problem, but the rep just kept trying to get me to reinstall the card. Nope. Too risky. I'll return the card.
By the way, when you install the card, Windows warns that the product is not Windows logo certified. Belkin's instructions state that you should ignore this warning and install anyway.
I hope Belkin addresses the issue with a firmware update and gets Windows logo certification.

I've had good luck with this wireless card. No dropped connections. The install was very easy and fast. I get great range and very fast download speed. I am very happy with this product and would buy it again if I needed another.

This product is unstable. I have spent numerous hours on the phone with Belkin tech Support to no avail. One time they left me on the phone on hold for over three (3) hours. I need to pack these items up and mail them back or to Belkin.

Gladwin Bailey

I, too, experienced the "Blue Screen of Death" on my laptop which has XP pro on it. I had to uninstall the card software in order to stop my system from continuously rebooting. On another note, the install of the router was GREAT, regardless.

I didn't get anywhere with the Tech support group and had to return everything.

Anthony