Belkin Wireless Router Issues

[Dragoon Knight]

OK, I'm at the end of my tether, here.  I hate all Belkin products, purely as a result of the frustration I've had with the single item I have purchased that bears their demonic insignia.

I recently purchased a combined ADSL Modem / Router... it's a Broadband Modem with 4 ethernet ports and wireless networking capability.  Now, networks thwart me on a regular basis, but this thing takes the cake.  I connect everything up exactly as specified, but the wretched thing refuses to recognise my phone line.

To explain in a bit more detail, when I connect everything to the modem and turn it on, the power light comes on; so does the first ethernet light (connected to my PC) and the wireless light (to indicate that wireless is up and running).  The telephone light (which should be on, solid green) blinks twice and then shuts off.  This light is meant to indicate when an ADSL connection is available on the phone line.  Please note that this is seperate from the world / globe light, which indicates when an ADSL connection has been established.

I've already contacted Belkin Technical Support, but they're all in India, and therefore of absolutely no help.  I've been sent a replacement, which does exactly the same thing.  There is nothing wrong with the setup of the device, and I've tried switching the RJ45 cable and the ADSL splitter.  The entire setup is connected to the main telephone wall socket in my house.  Despite my best attempts, I cannot get the blasted things to recognise my telephone line.

And yet, a

[gryphon]

first guess. . . your line is indead bad due to the fact that the distance between your main phone connection and your router is to big.

Second. You have a ISDN router and a anolog phone line or vice versa.

have you tried to setup the router and see if it work after those actions ?

[Dragoon Knight]

I've tried using different lengths of cable, all to no avail.  And the router I currently use is exactly the same type; an ADSL connection using a normal BT line, split into voice and data streams using the ADSL filter.  And yes, I've tried changing the filter as well.

What I can't see is why one modem works and the other doesn't.  It annoys me. >:(

[gryphon]

can you check if your modem is set to use the correct VPI and VCI or LLC and VC values ?

[Dragoon Knight]

Ah, see, that's where people seem to fall down.  I can play about with the internal settings of the router until doomsday, but it doesn't change a thing.  I've altered every single possible setting to be the same as my current router, but this still doesn't change the fact that it simply doesn't recognise my phone line.

As far as Belkin Tech Support have advised me, the router settings don't mean a thing if the box can't even detect that a phone line is present; they're just there to alter the connection settings once one is verified as existing in the first place.

Might just give up and get a NetGear or LinkSys. :(

[erjin999]

Netgear microcode gets slated sometimes, God knows I have had a few issues with mine (DNS dies when using P2P for any comps on the LAN) but they are oh so easy to use. And look the biz too.

[Dragoon Knight]

Well, I'm not sure what the heck the problem was, but despite my best efforts to get the Belkin routers to work, I simply couldn't.

So I bought a Netgear.

It works.  More than that, it worked perfectly, first time, right out of the box.  Everything connects without any problems at all, and I couldn't be happier.

Screw you, Belkin.

[erjin999]

Thats a bit harsh. I know people who have gone the other way. Shit happens.  ;)

[Dragoon Knight]

I've had plenty of problems with Belkin in the past, but at least I was familiar with them.  I knew how they worked... or didn't, as the case may be.  I knew next to nothing about Linksys, Netgear, D-Link or any other brand.  I thought that if I bought a Belkin router, I would be in safe hands, since they're meant to be one of the best.

Aside from call centres in India (enough said, I feel) they have obviously sold a piece of equipment that is faulty.  Not only that, but they sent out another piece that had exactly the same fault.  Quite a large co-incidence that I should get two faulty pieces of equipment.  But that's only if you take it as read that most of their equipment is fault-free, which has not been my experience with Belkin.

But the way I see it, I've got two routers that I can eBay for parts and make my money back.  Belkin are the losers here, and I finally have shared internet for all my computers / devices. :)

[Apollyon]

I, too, hate Belkin.

US Robotics have always been reliable for me.

[erjin999]

Well, personally as I have stated, my choice is Netgear, but I know they have a reputation as not being the most reliable.

[gryphon]

officially ISP support only a few routers and/or modems. And yes I agree that most should work. Not all ISP can work with every type of modem.

[erjin999]

But a belkin ADSL Router sold in the UK should work on ADSL in the UK... :-

[gryphon]

no. They only work if your ISP supports them.

And I know that's a "rule" that can be bend indefinitely. But to give you an example. Cisco can block non-Cisco routers on a network. And some ISP's only work with specific modem types so they can controle the firmware. Then last option is to filter for MAC addresses.

Just a few examples that ISP tend to use. So in regard to "a belkin ADSL Router sold in the UK should work on ADSL in the UK". That only applies if your ISP supports it.

Guess what. Personally I have a few residences from where I connect to the internet. Depending in where I am (Home, other home, work, work, work or DC you get the idea) there is a Cisco, Linksys, Symantec,  Watchguard or 3Com router present.

Now the router I have in my own home, won't let me connect to one of my VPN servers at work. Crazy like h*ll but it just won't work due to incompatible routers at both ends.

edit: funny thing is. gryphon keeps buing the wrong Linksys stuff. Gon'na loose the Linksys later today and replace it with a new one I just bought as the entire series has troubles with VPN's. An error Linksys forgot to fix during the last 2 years. .