Belkin F5D6050 Wireless USB Network Adapter

Belkin F5D6050 Wireless USB Network Adapter
by Belkin Components

List Price: ~~$59.99~~
Our Price: $12.00
You Save: $47.99 (80%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
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Customers in the UK, Buy this product at amazon.co.uk for British Pounds

Digital Photo Product Details

Manufacturer: Belkin Components
Audio: English (Original Language)
Model: F5D6050
Product features:

Lets you stay online anywhere in your range
Sets up easily with included Belkin software

Accessories:

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Belkin F5D6050 Wireless USB Network Adapter

Customer Review: Works Great on PCs, Not So Good on Macs
Summary: 3 Stars

I live in a mixed PC household consisting of two Wintel laptops, a Rev D iMac running MacOS 9.2.2., and a G4 Mac running OS X 10.2.8. I bought a couple of these Belkin units to get the iMac and one of the PC laptops on my 802.11b Linksys wireless system. The installation on the PC was a snap. The drivers were on the CD that came with the unit and I was up and running in minutes. Fast transfer rates - no issues. Works every time.

The iMac was a different story. First, there is no Mac software on the CD that comes with the unit. You have to go to the Belkin website and download it. Installation of the software was easy but after re-boot the problems began to surface. First, the iMac would freeze during the boot process. After restarting over and over, it would suddenly boot correctly for no apparent reason. After successfully booting, sometimes the control panel sees the device and sometimes it doesn't. I added a powered USB hub to the mix thinking that it would fix the problem - it didn't.

So on the to G4. I hooked it up the the G4 Mac just to see if it worked any better than on the iMac. Again, I had to first go to the Belkin website to get the driver. It installed with no issues, but problems with its use were similar to the iMac. While there is never a problem booting, sometimes the Network Prefs panel sees the device and sometimes it doesn't. Simply rebooting (which I hate to do with a Unix system) eventually 'fixes' the problem.

I think the bottom line is that this is a fine product with poorly written drivers for the Mac OS. I don't want to be too critical because there are so few companies anymore that take the time to support the Mac at all. But in the end, I can't recommend that anyone buy this for use on a Mac until Belkin updates the driver software or makes other changes that bring this product up to the level of plug and play that Mac users have always been used to.

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