Wi-Fi: Getting there…The Belkin N750DB and Range Extender FULL REVIEW

REVIEW BY NIR APTIR. FOLLOW HIM @knifeatgunfight

The new N750 DB and Range Extender from Belkin is a subtly styled, soberly built device, and manages to make setting up W-Fi just a little simpler for anyone wanting to install or upgrade a Wi-Fi network.

It’s refreshingly different in terms of design when you put it next to some other wireless routers – they’re normally very bulky with antennas jutting out, not something you would want hanging around in full view. With that, there’s also no wall-mounting ability, but it’s not problem because it just looks awesome, you wouldn’t want to mount it on a wall anyway.

For those of us that are arriving on the slow train, the era of dual band is upon is. The 5 GHz radio band is making its way to the mainstream for a supposedly higher throughput of data over wireless. If you don’t have any idea what I’m blabbering about in that short sentence, and if the terms “5 Ghz” or “2.4 Ghz” don’t ring a bell, or worse, confused you, then have no fear. Just read along as if you know what’s happening, and know that wireless is advancing. Many mainstream handsets, tablets and laptops already have 5 Ghz frequency capability, a good example is the Acer Aspire S3 which I reviewed a few weeks back. These are starting to ship without Ethernet ports and rely fully on wireless technology for network communication. The industry is definitely shifting towards high-speed wireless environments – plugging a cable in for network connectivity is slowly becoming something reserved for power users, servers, Neo-at-his-day job cubicle-like businesses, and generally, anyone who would rather still prefer to sit at a computer.

It’s not as amazing as it sounds, but if you’ve had experience with wireless repeaters and the like, you will understand why it’s such a mission to get these things working. They tend to drop, or reset, or hang. You end up having to reset them all over again every few days of regular usage, if you ever managed to set them up properly at all. Belkin seems to be eliminating a big part of that mission with simplicity – you might set it up for yourself by mistake, and then at least it’s done.

Belkin includes a Self-Healing feature that maintains the integrity of the setup. If you’re a bit nosier, you’ll be able to tweak things like the Self-Healing feature, and you’ll find that Belkin’s configuration interface is as solid as ever. It’s snappy, and doesn’t stray away from the excellence that Belkin has provided from the control panel side for years.

Performance wise, it really depends on good placement in the home or office. As stated from the horse’s mouth – “Actual speed and distance will vary depending on interference, network traffic, building materials, and other environmental factors.” – This is something not to be taken lightly at all when dealing with any wireless configuration, as any enthusiast will know. If you have cardboard partitions, expect stellar performance. If you have extremely thick walls in your palace, well, then it all depends, but you can’t blame Belkin.

Stability must be noted for the N750 and the Range Extender – the devices handled massive amounts of information without freezing or needing to be restarted, all while linked up for a considerable duration.

Belkin claims up to 900Mbps of combined routing speeds, if you look at all the interfaces (wireless and wired) combined. The performance of the Gigabit Ethernet hub delivered solidly on HD streaming, online multiplayer gaming, surfing the web, with no disconnects or glitches. There are ports for two USB devices, which allow you to share a printer and can simultaneously share data or backup via an external hard-drive. That’s a lot of functionality.

If you’re looking to unload your wired internet to other devices in the home or office, or future-proof your existing wireless network with ease, these are the products that will get you there.

Notable tech specs:

Belkin N750 DB Wi-Fi Dual-Band N+ Gigabit Router:
300Mbps (2.4GHz) + 450Mbps (5GHz)
Gigabit Ethernet (four port switch)
Wi-Fi Protected Setup, 256-bit WPA2® encryption, 64/128-bit WEP encryption
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n

Belkin Dual-Band Wireless Range Extender:
300Mbps (2.4 Ghz) + 300Mbps (5Ghz)
Four-port 100Mbps switch
Wi-Fi Protected Setup, 256-bit WPA2® encryption, 64/128-bit WEP encryption
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n

Design: 7.5/10 (Minimal, elegant, but flawed in some places)
Price: 7.0/10 (At $99 + $69.99 they’re decently priced, not sure about SA)
Performance: 8.0/10 (Noteworthy stability, close to the best Wi-Fi experience)
Ease of use: 9.0/10 (Really easy setup, solid and fast interface)
Features: 7.5/10 (Fully featured. Re-inventing the wheel in some cases, but for the better)