Belkin High-Speed Mode Wireless G Router

In Brief

Combine great setup tools, speedy performance, long range, compatibility with all major Wi-Fi standards, excellent tech support and a lifetime warranty, and you've got a winner in the Wi-Fi router sweepstakes. Truly, we have not seen better setup and documentation anywhere. Performance is very good, typical for the High-Speed Mode class of enhanced-G routers, and the Belkin has all the expected firewall and routing features. There's even a very strong optional parental control system.

In Depth

Printed manuals seem to have fallen by the wayside with most Wi-Fi equipment. The best you can expect is usually a folded Quick Start pamphlet. The Belkin has both a searchable PDF manual on the CD, plus a full printed version that greatly aided us in getting the most out of the router quickly and easily. But the star in the Belkin setup system is surely the installation wizard, which is the most complete in its class (see the Setup & Usability page for more).

Mac users or those with mixed Mac/PC networks will also appreciate the fact that Belkin is one of the two or three vendors besides Apple to provide a Mac-based Wizard as well as a PC-based one. The router also has built-in AppleTalk support, another rarity. What's more, Belkin's F5D7011 PC card and F5D7001 PCI adapter both work with Apple's standard AirPort drivers, so you can add Wi-Fi G capability to older Macs, or even use them in place of AirPort Extreme in newer Macs. They are much cheaper than Apple's adapter, and offer greater range.

Features-wise, the Belkin offers complete routing support, including a NAT firewall and WDS (wireless distribution system) capability. With WDS, you can extend the range of your network wirelessly, using a compatible bridge or access point from Belkin. Unfortunately, the dual antennas are not replaceable with more powerful versions, as with many routers, but the range is very good anyway.

WPA PSK and Radius server encryption are both supported, as well as 64/128-bit WEP, so there's no excuse for not buttoning down your network. Belkin also says that the firmware will be upgradable to this fall's coming WPA2 standard. MAC addressing filtering and cloning are there, as well as VPN support.

But the most interesting feature of the Belkin for many homes with children might well be the Cerberian parental control option, which filters all Web traffic for objectionable content in categories ranging from adult and violent material, to smoking and gambling. You can even lock out chat or dating sites. Since the Cerberian system is actively managed, sites are constantly being added to its list, but if you surf to a new page, Cerberian will check it on the fly. It's one of the strongest parental control systems available, and much harder to circumvent than most.

Overall, the Belkin is our current top pick for a home Wi-Fi router. Excellent features, great setup utilities, very good performance and total cross-platform support make it a superlative choice for both Wi-Fi newbies and pros alike.