I purchased one of their new, super cool routers on Saturday from Best Buy. It doesn’t work.
This is no cheap router. It’s one of the Pre-N, MIMO routers. It doesn’t work. I spent just over an hour on the phone with John in the Philippines. when I asked his name he sounded like he was plucking one out of thin air – he also refused to give me a last name.
His parting suggesting was I download new firmware. Done that. Still doesn’t work. So now I 34 minutes into another call to the Philippines. Oh… here’s Ronald… He wants me to do everything that John had me do. Is still doesn’t work.
What a lousy product – three hours of trying to get a very basic install done. What lousy customer service. I’ll never buy another Belkin product and I recommend you don’t either.
And as for companies that outsource their customer service to companies that operate under the cloud of fake anonymity – don’t do business with them.
Belkin products are okay if you know what to buy and do your research before-hand. Routers can be tricky especially newer technology that may have compatibility issues with other wireless devices. Try turning off or reducing the transmission type (like 108Mbps to just 54Mbps) or reducing the power. Also, check to see there no interference issues with your cordless phone or microwaves. Also, check to see your DSL modem is not conflicting with the router settings.
Personally, I like NetGear or SMC. They are cheap to buy online (especially refurbished) and they’ve always worked for me. I’ve been using mine for years with no problem.
I had a similar problems with a Belkin Router I set up for my sister. I ended up returning it to Walmart. But eventually I discovered it was a cable modem issue (couldn’t have usb and a ethernet connection at the same time). It was DLink’s customer service who finally worked it out since they were the next one I went with. Shame because the Belkin gear always seems to be cheaper.
I just bought a netgear router. Couldn’t install it and began to doubt my own ability with technology. Phoned netgear and they talked me through and sorted it out. There was a problem that router would not connect to the net so they had me re program it. Good on netgear even if everyone I spoke to had an Indian accent not sure where the call centre is!!!