Belkin Wireless N300 Modem ADSL Router (BT Line) - Black

OK first things first, this product seems to be listed at prices ranging from £115 to £250. I bought it for £40 by pre-ordering while Amazon were waiting for stock. For the price I paid this is a decent router + modem combination, for the prices currently being asked - not so much.The router itself looks good. Somewhat unusually Belkin have decided to fit the ADSL modem not inside the router casing as you would expect but inside the power plug. This results in quite a bulky and ugly wall-wart if that is a concern for you (it is not for me). This separation of modem and router also leads to something I shall go into greater detail about later, the router and modem can be rebooted independently of each other.The wireless signal seems to be pretty good, I live in an old house with solid brick internal walls and the signal drop-off is significant but a vast improvement on my old netgear in the 2.4 GHz band. Hopefully I shall acquire some 5 GHz kit soon.Set-up was straight forward I simply used a wired connection to navigate to [...] which is the default router address. The management web-page is a bit cluttered and changes seem to take a long time to apply (10s to change DNS servers, 60s to change the default address range). Once I had put in my ISP details the web page alerted me that new firmware was available for the router. I downloaded and applied this, I also applied the update to the modem firmware that I was not alerted to. Hopefully future firmware updates will add a feature to alert the user to modem updates as well. Set-up from the web browser is your only option if you run linux, but then again it's usually the best way of setting up a router anyway. Incidentally if you are connecting from a server the web page fails to load in text-mode browsers (lynx, elinks, links2).In the interests of writing a decent review I booted windows and actually gave the bundled software a try. It didn't get off to a good start when the CD installed adobe reader without asking and without need since I already have sumatraPDF when booting windows. The system tray app seems inoffensive though mostly it just opens up a browser on the relevant management page. The install assistant however is a nuisance, for some reason it refuses to accept that the network and internet are already set-up, and this silly little program insists on running every time you start the sys-tray app. Possibly if you are uncomfortable with setting up a router then this hand-holdy assistant will be useful - but then I doubt you'll be dropping the £100+ now being asked for what is essentially early adopter wireless ac kit. For the likely audience my advice is to open the box and throw the CD straight into the coaster drawer.Now for some of the problems - the modem seems a bit unstable and will occasionally drop the internet connection, but then it sometimes takes a week or so for a line and modem to figure each other out. The router management web page has an option to reboot the router, but that is all it does, it reboots the router and not the modem - it took me a while to figure that out. The management page has no option to send a reboot signal to the modem - a major oversight that would be very useful and hopefully a future firmware will enable such an option. This means you have to physically go over and reset the modem, and the little red reset button is so fiddly to press that what you will actually end up doing is pulling the plug out waiting 15 seconds or so and plugging it back in - thereby forcing a router reboot as well and denying yourself the option of continuing to use your local network while your internet connection resets.The DLNA server built in is not very good. It seems to only remember the state of any USB storage you attach as it was at the time you attached it, if you add or delete files to the network attached storage (the samba implementation seems fine) then the dlna server will ignore these changes (but again the samba share shows the changes just fine). So if dlna is important to you then unless a future firmware improves things you have the choice of either rebooting the router or unplugging and re-plugging the storage to get your changes to show up.All in all for the price I paid this is a good router with a mediocre modem (if the current modem doesn't settle down I may just set up my old netgear modem/router as a modem only). For the price currently being asked, well unless you are one of the 5 people on earth with ac wireless kit I'd steer clear for now.Update - as anticipated the modem has now settled down and is maintaining a good connection.

I purchased this product last year to replace the bundled modem router received after signing up with an ISP several years ago, until recently bundled routers have generally been average in capability and of the older 'G' standard which can only handle small amounts of data. I now have several internet capable devices within my home and wondered if I could improve the wireless signal. I took some time over comparing products which could provide great cover and look good. This item has many poor reviews but to be honest, when you look into it, so have the other top rated products on the market. I decided to let looks alone win the day. The set up of the device was a little tricky and did not follow "word for word" as in the instruction manual. One little oddity I noticed whilst on the 'Belkin set up' page was that the time zone was set up for Australia ! I have mine connected to a desk top computer in an upstairs room via an Ethernet cable as a wired device and so have the wireless function on the desk top disabled to stop the wireless connection taking preference. All other internet capable devices around the house are able to connect wirelessly to the unit no problem, and the security is fine. I have also activated the 'Guest account'. I am not sure however if the signal was any stronger as we still suffered from weaker signals in certain areas of a four bedroomed detached house so I have since purchased the  Belkin Wireless Range Extender Dual Band . I have this downstairs and hooked up next to the television etc. in the living room. Once this device is switched on it pairs up with the modem router and I am able to receive a signal in the garden as well, but that is another review. So I am happy. The design is a little off balance once loaded up with too many connections and the printer function connected to the USB port was really quite hit and miss so I have since returned to wireless printing which works every time. Unfortunately I cannot make the unit earn it's keep as yet as the internet connection speed is so poor in my area that I am unable to stream anything more than standard view iPlayer programs, definitely no Lovefilm or Netflix at the moment. Hopefully I am now ready for when that time comes.........

I had a bad experience with another product which turned out to be incompatible with my Espson XP-205 printer. Before ordering this Belkin I e-mailed their help desk and got a reply the following day assuring me that there would not be a problem with their product. The set up was easy using the CD installation disc supplied, having obtained my Broadband User Name and Password from my Internet Service Provider. I have little technical expertise so simply accepted the default settings during the installation - even if some of the fields were blank. It all worked like a dream, supplying a steady dependable signal to all the devices in the household. I did have a worry when the printer did not connect with my laptop immediately but that was resolved by a software update which I had not actually requested (??!)This is a light shiny black unit which is liable to collect dust. The antennae are internal so it presents a neat modern look. I like the lack of flashing lights common on other modem/routers which are no use to me. This unit has just a soft blue light to assure connection.Loving it so far (4 days). I will come back in about a month and update this review.UPDATEIt lost contact with my printer after about a week but clicking restart reconnected within a few seconds. I had to switch it off the and back on again on one other occasion. Downgraded to 4 stars but I am still pleased with the product overall. I feel it gives swift connection to my e-mails, browsing, etc though I have not measured it properly. The "dashboard" it provided is a very useful information/help facility if needed. I am pleased with my purchase.