BELKIN F5D8073 N Wireless ExpressCard Adapter - Retail

Took awhile to get working...

Reviewed By: on 1/7/2010

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

Pros: This card was a dissapointment at first, either it was Windows XP, the driver, or my router that was crudding everything up, but I never got it to be stable on either a G network or N network.

Initially the drivers were *beta*, so that was the likely reason the thing was hanging intermittently.

So I gave up and I put it in a drawer for about 6 months.

Recently upgraded my old laptop to Windows 7 and got a new N router to boot. Decided to see if the card would work and it does, its connected at 300Mbps so its doing what its supposed to do.

There were no issues setting up either. Downloaded the drivers, installed them, connected through WPA2/AES, and checked windows networking properties, its connected at 300Mbps, actual throughput is around 75Mbps. Easy. No hangs whatsoever, just watched National Lampoons Vacation on Netflix, not a single pause.

My current setup is very low latency, fast, is working great, and I'm glad I have this gd card at the moment.

Cons: I wouldn't try to make it work with anything but a Ralink chipped router, and wouldn't try to install the drivers on anything but Windows 7.

Other Thoughts: I have the Encore ENHWI-N2 wireless N router as well, it is super fabulous and only costs $35, highly recommended.

You must connect the Belkin N-Card through WPA2/AES to get a 300Mbps connection (actual throughput 75Mbps). So get a router that supports that security spec.

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Reviewed By: wireless on 10/28/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: when it worked it was decent.

Cons: after a restart it never worked again, same problem with the second one, no more belkin in my home.

Other Thoughts: if you purchase and install, never restart your pc or unplug the card, it becomes undetectable, and belkin didnt even answer my help request email.

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It works

Reviewed By: CodeV on 8/7/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 day to 1 week

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: This ExpressCard adaptor took little time to install and has worked well so far. Came with driver on CD and install software worked fine. Has pretty blue led light on the black antennae which matches my black laptop.

Cons: My HP laptop has a slot big enough for the L shaped ExpressCards, and this Belkin adaptor fits OK, but I am not happy about the way it retains this card. It takes almost no force to pull it out, and this worries me. I may end up duct taping it, to secure it better. Not sure who is to blame here, HP, Belkin, or the folks who made the ExpressCard standard.

Other Thoughts: I bought this card to extend the life of my laptop, an HP dv9205us, which had a known issue, a defect which leads to motherboard failure of the built-in wireless controller port. HP refused to fix it, because mine failed two months beyond the arbitrary cut-off date for servicing these computers. I tried a different internal card first of course, but no joy. At least this card gets me back on the internet wirelessly again. I would give it five stars if it was retained in the slot more securely.

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