|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Internal details
Figure 3 is a shot of the N150's main board. It uses Ralink's RT3050 1x1 802.11n Router/AP SoC combined with 2 MB of flash and 8 MB of RAM. The RT3050 includes a four-port 10/100 switch, 10/100 Ethernet WAN port and 2.4 GHz transceiver / MAC / BB. Since the radio is in the RT3050, I'm guessing the device hidden under the shield is an RF amplifier.
Figure 3: N150 Main board
Figure 4 shows the companion Belkin N150 Wireless USB Network Adapter (F6D4050 v2) board. I made a composite of the top and bottom views of the board to show the mini RF connector on the bottom side. You can't tell from the photo, but a closeup photo in the FCC ID file shows a Ralink RT3070 single-chip USB 2.4 GHz 802.11n1x1 radio used.
Figure 4: N150 Wireless USB Adapter board
Routing Features
Figure 5 shows the N150's Status page, which is just like you see on Belkin's other wireless routers.
Figure 5: N150 Status Page
If you look carefully you'll see the Internet Settings Connection Type set to Static. I had to resort to this setting when the N150 refused to pick up WAN IP information via DHCP (Dynamic WAN connection type) from the D-Link DIR-655 A4 that I use as my primary router. I haven't had WAN DHCP lease problems with a router in years, but it appears that I have found them in the N150. I told Belkin about the problem, but didn't hear anything back.
Updated 6/19/2009
Belkin has reported that they have duplicated the WAN dynamic IP lease problem and are working on a solution.
As with all of Belkin's routers, the N150 has very basic routing features:
- DHCP, Static, PPPoE, PPTP, L2TP, Telstra BigPond/OptusNet Cable WAN types
- Built-in Dynamic DNS client for DynDNS
- WAN ping blocking (default enabled)
- Single port and Port Range forwarding
- Simple schedulable outbound port filtering
- Remote management enable with single IP restriction and port setting
- System and firewall logging
- UPnP (default enabled)
- MAC address access control for wired clients
Missing are useful things like:
- Firewall controls like SPI disable and Proxy, Java, ActiveX and Cookie blocking
- IPsec, PPTP and L2TP VPN passthrough enable/disables
- Triggered port forwarding
- DHCP reservations
- HTTPS admin access
- Bandwidth control / QoS for Internet traffic
- Parental controls
- Syslog support and traffic logging
Routing Performance
I tested routing performance using our standard router tests. All tests were done with the client in DMZ. The results are summarized in Table 1 below.
| Test Description | N150 Throughput (Mbps) |
|---|---|
| WAN - LAN |
50.5
|
| LAN - WAN |
92
|
| Total Simultaneous |
97.9
|
| Maximum Simultaneous Connections | 48 |
| Firmware Version |
2.00.04
|
Table 1: Routing performance summary
The reason for the low WAN > LAN performance is shown in the IxChariot plots in Figure 6. All that bouncing around comes from the WAN to LAN test, which shows the lousiest routing throughput performance that I have seen in a very long time. It's a shame, too, since upstream performance is nice and smooth at around 92 Mbps.
Figure 6: N150 routing performance
When both up and download tests are run simultaneously, the numbers show average throughput of 75 Mbps up, but 23 Mbps down. Simultaneous sessions maxed out at 48, again, the worst I have seen in awhile. This is clearly not a router to be used with high-speed fiber connections.
User reviews
View all user reviewsAverage user rating from: 10 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.
Piece of Junk,died after 2 months of use.
this router is sh*t,makes my internet connection and xbox live laggy.i now have already 1 year Linksys E1000. Linksys E1000 is awesome,xbox live stopped lagging and connection is more faster and stable with this router. I took a hunting rifle to my old Belkin N150.
Average product N150
I bot belkin N150 since it had a very attractive price, i bot in Jayanagar Bangalore for 1.4K,
installation is simple since its done by Airtel guy, it takes 10min max.
We ourself doing seems to be tough.
Regarding performance its ok range is it can cover your house max, if ur looking for greater coverage like a apartement or two floors it seems to be tough. range is not that great.
Some times it refuses to connect.. i dont know why.
Final words its a average product, value buy.
Put up with this router for more than a year...
Replaced an older Belkin that had given up the ghost hoping to get better reliability. Required occasional weekly resets which I figured was normal. After about 6 months, required daily (sometimes 2x a day) resets after losing wireless connection or losing the connection with the cable modem altogether.
Finally decided to replace it with a Netgear a couple weeks ago and the Netgear has worked flawlessly without requiring a reset since it was plugged in.
Wished I would have replaced the Belkin sooner or have just bought the Netgear in the first place.
Solid
This wireless router out of the box had some issues. Windows 7 would not allow me to initial connect to the wireless router as it said the password was incorrect. I had to contact Belkin and they had me connect to the router via a CAT 5 cable. They said the software was not compatible with Window 7. Okay I was able to connect via CAT 5 and configure the router. I then connected my iPad and things seemed okay. After about five minutes the router was not available via WiFi. So I had to reset the router, and reset the router, and reset the router... see where this is going. So I went to bed and in the morning the router still was not working correctly. Then I reconnected my laptop via CAT 5 and updated the firmware. Since I updated the firmware, it has operated without an issue. Now the only problem I have with the router is the lack of a link light status on the LAN ports. A very small thing but it would certainly make this router almost untouchable if Belkin would add just the basic features that are found on simple switches.
HORRRRIBLE
I can attest that the other reviews of this product are accurate. I was actually just browsing around the site and noticed the "Worst rated routers" (by visitors) and laughed out loud when i saw the router I'm looking to replace at the top of the chart!! The router is tremendously unstable. I thought i had a defected router, but sent it in and received a new one, and less than a month later the replacement started crashing, too. So far the only "nice" thing about owning a Belkin product is that you can send it in without fuss to receive a new one if you think something is wrong, but you can't get around the fact that the product itself is crap. I'd highly, highly suggest NOT purchasing Belkin, and ESPECIALLY do yourself a favor and don't buy this router.
Related Items:
Contest #29 ResultsNot-So-Brilliant Disguise: Linksys By Cisco WRT120N Wireless-N Home Ro
New to the Charts: Belkin N+ Wireless Router
Slideshow: Netgear WNDR3300 RangeMax Dual-Band Wireless N Router
New to the Charts: Belkin N Wireless Router
