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Belkin N750 DB Wireless Dual-Band N+ Router Reviewed

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N750 DB Wireless Dual-Band N+ Router
At a glance
ProductBelkin F9K1103 N750 DB Wireless Dual-Band N+ Router   [Website]
SummaryRalink based dual-band simiultaneous router with Gigabit Ethernet ports, three stream N on 5 GHz only and USB printer and drive sharing
Pros• Gigabit ports
• Excellent 2.4 GHz performance
• Guest network (2.4 GHz only)
Cons• No service blocking or web filtering
• Poor 5 GHz performance

Typical Price: $76  Compare Prices  Check Amazon

Overview

Updated 7/18/2011: AP switch clarification

Belkin has a new N router line that has been completely revamped from head to toe. Out with its poorly-received "app" based Surf, Share, Play and Play Max line and in with five new models. The comparison chart in Figure 1 pulled from Belkin's site summarizes the key differentiators except for frequency band.

Belkin N series feature comparison

Figure 1: Belkin N series feature comparison

There are two three-stream N models in the lineup, the 2.4 GHz single band N450 and the subject of this review, the N750 DB. As seems to be the trend with most dual-band three-stream N routers of late, the N750 DB provides up to 450 Mbps link rate on the 5 GHz radio only. And you only get that rate if you have a matching three-stream N adapter and use 40 MHz bandwidth mode.

The new line retains the old one's focus on simplicity and ease of setup. As Figure 2 shows, there are only two front panel indicators, so as not to confuse non-techies.

Front panel callouts

Figure 2: Front panel callouts

Don't go looking for network status indicators on the back panel, either. Figure 3 shows the only ones you get are for the two USB 2.0 ports that you can plug printers and drives into for sharing.

Rear panel callouts

Figure 3: Rear panel callouts

Belkin ships the N750 DB with both a WAN port cable and the power supply already plugged in. They also have the usual installation CD that walks you through setup and installs a "Router Manager" app. As usual, I didn't try either one.

Inside

You can't really see a lot of detail in the fuzzy FCC ID photo in Figure 4. Fortunately, the internal pictures file has closeup shots of the key components.

Belkin N750 DB board

Figure 4: Belkin N750 DB board

The main CPU and 5 GHz radio come from a Ralink RT3883F 3X3 N SoC. This is a second-generation 3X3 N device from Ralink, that's also in TRENDnet's TEW-691GR and probably in the just-available TEW-692GR.

The 2.4 GHz radio is a Ralink RT3092 2X2 N SoC. A Realtek RTL8367R 5+1-port Gigabit Ethernet switch handles the WAN and LAN ports and I was able to make out 64 MB of RAM. I couldn't see how much flash, but my guess is 8 MB.

Features

Belkin has never been big on cramming a lot of routing features into its products and the N750 DB continues the tradition. Here's the summary:

Routing

  • DHCP, Static, PPPoE, Telstra BigPond/OptusNet CableWAN types
  • DHCP server with lease time adjust
  • UPnP support (no exposed controls)
  • Built-in dynamic DNS client for DynDNS
  • DMZ host
  • WAN ping allow / deny
  • 20 virtual servers (single port forwards) with separate source and destination ports
  • Three level manual uplink QoS for eight services (single port)
  • PPTP and IPsec VPN pass through (no exposed controls)
  • Automatic upload and download QoS
  • Logging
  • USB SMB/CIFS storage sharing
  • UPnP / DLNA media server (USB storage)

Wireless features

  • Switchable AP / Router mode (software switch)
  • Guest SSID on 2.4 GHz radio only
  • MAC address filtering
  • WEP, WPA / WPA2 Personal support
  • Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) support, pushbutton and PIN
  • Auto and manual channel set

Missing features

  • IPv6 support
  • DHCP reservations
  • Port range forwarding
  • Triggered port forwarding
  • QoS rule adjustment
  • URL / keyword filtering
  • Email alerts or log sends
  • Transmit power adjust
  • HTTPs admin access
  • Firewall rule scheduling


User reviews

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Average user rating from: 14 user(s)

NOTE! Please post product reviews from actual experience only.
Questions, review comments and opinions about products not based on actual use will not be published.

User Rating    [Back to Top]
Overall: 
 
3.3 Features :
 
3.0 Performance :
 
3.6 Reliability :
 
3.3
 
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Belkin dual band N600 router

Overall rating: 
 
3.3
Features:
 
4.0
Performance:
 
3.0
Reliability:
 
3.0
Reviewed by Edward
November 26, 2012
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Have bought this a couple of months ago. Overall, it performs satisfactorily on the 2.4GHz band but the 5GHz signal is much weaker than any other routers of the same category. Also, signal tends to get weaker at distance further than 15m~25m.

 

Great Router for the money

Overall rating: 
 
4.3
Features:
 
4.0
Performance:
 
4.0
Reliability:
 
5.0
Reviewed by Smokin Gunn
November 05, 2012
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I have had this router for about a year, It has been super stable with no issues. Great wireless performance and a nice stable connection. I was a little afraid to try a Belkin router myself, but overall this router has been a very pleasant surprise for the money. I am running the latest firmware from the Belkin website. For less than $100 bucks I consider it a steal.

 

Just Don't Buy it!

Overall rating: 
 
2.3
Features:
 
3.0
Performance:
 
2.0
Reliability:
 
2.0
Reviewed by ricardo
October 07, 2012
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it's hard to find a good router these days..regardless of price
I bought this router @ COSTCO too and let me tell you I've done all FIRMWARE updates and the wireless still gives me a weak signal and 8 months later the wireless computer, iphone, etc..cannot connect to this piece of junk!..that I have to reset the router ...and it only last for about a week or so.

 

Great wireless router for the price

Overall rating: 
 
4.7
Features:
 
4.0
Performance:
 
5.0
Reliability:
 
5.0
Reviewed by Rick Shaw
July 11, 2012
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Bought this router to replace a aging SMC wired router. Hooked it up and it worked without any issue. I had to update the firmware to the latest which add the parent control that was missing previously. Also added was the Twonky media server, which is nice addition. I have several wired and wireless devices connecting to the router and connection speed seems to be pretty good. I've never done any detailed test on it just to be clear.

Owned this unit for about a month now and never had issues yet.

I just check the price today and it dropped by $10.00 so I think I'll buy another one to set it up as a access point.

 

Do not waste your time with this router

Overall rating: 
 
1.0
Features:
 
1.0
Performance:
 
1.0
Reliability:
 
1.0
Reviewed by john frazzini
March 06, 2012
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I had a Belkin N+ router since 2007 that worked great I purchased from Walmart and never had a problem, but it was outdated and I needed a better router. I had such a positive experience with my Belkin router I was pleased to pick one of these up as Costco for under $100.00 and it was easy to install using the same http address I had for my old router and did not have to install the CD. I had high hopes, but had to call support due to my modem not being recognized as being connected to the internet and spent hours on the phone only to find out, from a supervisor, that because my particular modem will not be properly recognized and I will not get the blue light that signals all is well and the light would remain amber. I was told this after hours of useless troubleshooting by techs that simply went through the same script each call. I could go on and on about the service, but you should get the point. OK I can live with an amber light, but the video stream from my Dish sling adapter constantly froze and dropped and it worked fine with my old Belkin router. There are no lights other than the power light that will either be blue or amber and no power button. I live in the mountains in Arizona and sometimes the electric goes out that was never a problem for my old Belkin, but every time I lost power the modem would not work again. I tried to reset per support and tried everything to get three of the four to reset but to no avail and they all had to be returned. One of the four never worked. I did some research and bought the only other modem Costco had at the store in Prescott which is the one I wanted, the Netgear 3800, and I could not be happier. I was reluctant to switch brands, but I had no choice and I used to recommend Belkin to all my friends because of the old router, but never again. As with many companies and brands that I have had very good luck with, Belkin has turned to producing junk over quality. I would also like to thank cnet for their recommendation for the Netgear router I now own and it was also posted on the box the router was recommended by cnet. I WILL NEVER AGAIN BUY ANYTHING FROM BELKIN NO MATTER HOW INEXPENSIVE IT IS.
Take my advice and do not waste your time with this router. When I returned the last Belkin to Costco an bought the Netgear, the Belkin router had been repackaged and I looked at it hoping it was a newer version and the bugs were fixed, but it was only a newer more colorful box with no revisions.
I usually do not take the time to write this much about a product, but I have to drive 40 miles round trip to Costco and I am only trying to save someone else the awful experience I had to go through. I am not recommending anything, but only not recommending and warning anyone who will listen to my experiences with this piece of junk they labeled a router. I would also suggest to try to use it for a week before you review it and see what happens if the power goes out.

 
 
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