Belkin 802.11g Wireless DSL/Cable Gateway Router - Installation
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I laughed at Belkin's sub-three-minute installation boast. Now it was time to see if this really held true. I popped in the CD and did exactly what the screen said. I disconnected and reconnected every wire according to the directions. Every time I tried it, I could not get the network card to establish a connection with the router. So I went over to my other computer and tried it. Once again, I did exactly what the screen said, and once again it did not work. I tried it a dozen times on each computer with no avail, spending considerably more than three minutes on the task. Still, I was able to get the router configured in less than 3 minutes, but I did it in a different way.
Windows XP SP2 has at least one good feature, contrary to popular belief. Microsoft included better support for wireless networks, which is what I used. I popped in the wireless card, installed the drivers and rebooted. When Windows came back up, it picked up the wireless network, and detected the router. I ran the wireless network wizard, and I was back in action. Internet worked like a breeze, and I saw the other computers on my network. Time, a shade more than a minute; it beat the installation through the Belkin wizard, and it actually worked. If you do not run Windows XP with SP2, then you won’t be up and running in under three minutes. If you can get the CD to work for you, that is; I wish you better luck than I had.
Setting up wired computers was as easy as wireless with SP2. My computers were already on a network before I brought in this router, so changing routers required no work from me. All I did was change which router the cable went to, and Windows did the rest. There was a slight pause when I tried to open a browser for the first time, but after that it was fine. If you don't already have your computers networked, and you want to use Windows XP with SP 2 to set this up, you will need to run the Windows Network Wizard. This is very easy, and following the simple directions will have your network up and running in no time, whether you are configuring wired or wireless computers.
My neighbors aren't tech savvy neighbors, so my wireless card in my computer didn't pick up any other networks. I do have a cordless phone, but it runs at 5.8 GHz, and did not interfere with the router. I did experience some noise interference. I think this may have been caused by other electronic devices in my house such as the microwave, or possibly the power lines near my house. Changing to different channels have little to no impact on this static.
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