Home > Consumer Reviews > Belkin ME1004-R Wireless Cable/DSL Router 802.11g

The router is a good wireless product for being just a g and not a super g or n. The signal strength extends for a decent distance 40-50 ft but is inconsistent @ times. Make sure not to have other wireless(phones) or electronic devices near the usb adpater.

This router is hard to setup with Vistas although it says it is compatible you have to use a manual process. The manual steps are not easy to understand and then I had to call their customer service three times. On the third call, which each call lasted more than 1 1/2 hours, I was escalated to a senior level technician and was able to set it up. It works well now, but I have to reset it sometimes. I will never purchase another Belkin product and the communications barrier between the customer service agents (in India) is very frustrating.

I bought this to replace a linksys router (with two antennae). I was very surprised at how easy this was to setup, much easier than the Linksys! Wireless was incredibly easy. I only had to add in the key that it generated to my laptop and instant connection to the network!

I find that the wireless range is surprisingly good, especially considering it uses only one antenna. The signal is strong enough to go 28' through two cement-filled, concrete/cinder block walls with steel. My laptop registers the signal strength as Very low, but I can surf the net and upload/download files at the same speed that I used to get with my Linksys.

UPDATE - downgrade to 2.5 stars.
My router suddenly lost its wireless range after about 2 months. I reset the router and it didn't solve the problem. I ended up having to buy a wireless USB adapter with a long USB cable to connect to my laptop, longer cat 5e cables so that the router could be moved to a spot that had an almost direct line of sight with my USB adapter to get wireless access!

I purchased this product because of the strong customer reviews and compact size. I did not realize that the easy install software is NOT compatible with Windows Vista so you are supposed to manually install rhe hardware and software. After having to flip through practically the entire user manual, you get to page 78, where it walks you through the manual installation instructions that are still not geared towards Vista. I ran the entire installation process and my computer still couldn't read the wireless router. This router is a completed waste of time and energy if you have Windows Vista. Do not BUY!

I bought this router based on the glowing reviews. Ignore the great reviews from folks who haven't used it for longer than a month. Yes, yes it was easy to set up, blah, blah. Yes it was cheap but I got what I paid for.
Out of the box, I was skeptical because of it's cheap appearance and feel. This router started cutting out on me (dropping it's wireless signal) after one month of use. Now after three months, the wireless is down more than it's up. Cheap piece of junk!
My quest for a quality home/office router continues.