Belkin Traveler & WPA-PSK

I have the Belkin Traveler wireless router (F5D7233).

When I configure the router for WPA-PSK the router does not reset -- I
do not lose my wireless connection. When I go back into the router
settings page it shows security is disabled.

When I configure the router for any other encryption method (WEP,
WPA-Radius) the router resets and my wireless connection drops until I
configure my wireless connection for the new settings.

I contacted Belkin and they shipped a replacement -- the replacement
is doing the exact same thing.

Clyde <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> I have the Belkin Traveler wireless router (F5D7233).
>
> When I configure the router for WPA-PSK the router does not reset -- I
> do not lose my wireless connection. When I go back into the router
> settings page it shows security is disabled.
>
> When I configure the router for any other encryption method (WEP,
> WPA-Radius) the router resets and my wireless connection drops until I
> configure my wireless connection for the new settings.
>
> I contacted Belkin and they shipped a replacement -- the replacement
> is doing the exact same thing.
>

If you insist you can use radis. Go to radiuz.net for details. It works
fine for me.

Clyde <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>I have the Belkin Traveler wireless router (F5D7233).
>
>When I configure the router for WPA-PSK the router does not reset -- I
>do not lose my wireless connection. When I go back into the router
>settings page it shows security is disabled.
>
>When I configure the router for any other encryption method (WEP,
>WPA-Radius) the router resets and my wireless connection drops until I
>configure my wireless connection for the new settings.
>
>I contacted Belkin and they shipped a replacement -- the replacement
>is doing the exact same thing.


Called teir 3 on 9/11/2006 and spoke to a "tech guy". After a few
minutes of him reading through the ticket and asking a few questions
he tells me that this problem has been forwarded to R&D. He's not sure
when/if they'll issue a fix.

I told him I think it would probably be in Belkin's best interest to
issue one since this product is not doing what it is advertised as
doing (if you advertise that a product can do WPA-PSK it probably
should be able to).

There hasn't been a new hardware or firmware revision since this
product hit the streets so apparently every F5D7233 Belkin Travel
Router can't be configured for WPA-PSK. Guess nobody complained since
probably people sharing internet connections in hotels don't care too
much about security.

I want WPA-PSK because I intend to use this for business travel/team
meetings so we can always be sure to have wifi available and WPA
security would really be nice.

Belkin says that "maybe" there'll be an update available on their
website by the end of October.

Clyde <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Called teir 3 on 9/11/2006 and spoke to a "tech guy". After a few
> minutes of him reading through the ticket and asking a few questions
> he tells me that this problem has been forwarded to R&D. He's not sure
> when/if they'll issue a fix.
>
> I told him I think it would probably be in Belkin's best interest to
> issue one since this product is not doing what it is advertised as
> doing (if you advertise that a product can do WPA-PSK it probably
> should be able to).
>
> There hasn't been a new hardware or firmware revision since this
> product hit the streets so apparently every F5D7233 Belkin Travel
> Router can't be configured for WPA-PSK. Guess nobody complained since
> probably people sharing internet connections in hotels don't care too
> much about security.
>
> I want WPA-PSK because I intend to use this for business travel/team
> meetings so we can always be sure to have wifi available and WPA
> security would really be nice.
>
> Belkin says that "maybe" there'll be an update available on their
> website by the end of October.

In my observation, this is fairly typical of Belkin's wireless
networking division: inaccurate product specs and long delays in
releasing needed firmware and drivers. Belkin's other products are
generally excellent, but their wireless gear should be avoided, not
because the hardware itself is that bad but because the organization
behind it has a confirmed history of HUA syndrome.

Neill Massello <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Clyde <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > Called teir 3 on 9/11/2006 and spoke to a "tech guy". After a few
> > minutes of him reading through the ticket and asking a few questions
> > he tells me that this problem has been forwarded to R&D. He's not sure
> > when/if they'll issue a fix.

<snip>

> > Belkin says that "maybe" there'll be an update available on their
> > website by the end of October.
>
> In my observation, this is fairly typical of Belkin's wireless
> networking division: inaccurate product specs and long delays in
> releasing needed firmware and drivers. Belkin's other products are
> generally excellent, but their wireless gear should be avoided, not
> because the hardware itself is that bad but because the organization
> behind it has a confirmed history of HUA syndrome.

I agree with your observation about their organisation. I have an
F5D7330 wireless Ethernet bridge. The problem I had was that there was
not a proper guide in the firmware update .zip file for the model. This
update would enable WPA-PSK on the bridge, when the bridge is used as a
"game adapter" - that is, connected to an Ethernet port.

I asked Belkin support about the missing guide and was told (later on)
that the adapter (F5D7330) did not support WPA-PSK.

Well, in the mean time I had already run the firmware update with my
fingers crossed and apparently the update was a success, because after
the firmware update had been applied the adapter was able to connect to
my access point that had been configured with WPA.

The Belkin support thanked me for this information and told me they
would pass it on to Belkin.

I have other Belkin hardware as well, notably two of their F5D7010 PC
cards that work out of the box with WPA on my Apple Powerbook. However,
Belkin hsa not updated their Windows client to support WPA. Dispite what
Belkin states on theit support site, their F5D7010 cards drivers only
support WPA with Windows XP and WZC. If you look fare enough you can
find other clients that do support WPA under earlier Windows versions.
But there are no Belkin's software clients.

Axel Hammerschmidt <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

<snip>

> I have other Belkin hardware as well, notably two of their F5D7010 PC
> cards that work out of the box with WPA on my Apple Powerbook.

It should be noted, that the card works out of the box with Apple's OS X
driver and client. No Belkin support for Apple's OS X.

Axel Hammerschmidt <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> It should be noted, that the card works out of the box with Apple's OS X
> driver and client. No Belkin support for Apple's OS X.

So the notebook card (F5D7010) that Belkin doesn't specify as working
with Mac OS X does actually work with it, but the PCI card (F5D7010)
that Belkin lists as working with OS X doesn't.
<http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/>.

Neill Massello <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Axel Hammerschmidt <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > It should be noted, that the card works out of the box with Apple's OS X
> > driver and client. No Belkin support for Apple's OS X.
>
> So the notebook card (F5D7010) that Belkin doesn't specify as working
> with Mac OS X does actually work with it, but the PCI card (F5D7010)
> that Belkin lists as working with OS X doesn't.
> <http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/>.

Some do, some do not. It's a question of which chipsets Belkin use. The
ones with Broadcom chips work with Apple's driver/client because Aplle's
Airport Extreme card use the same chip set.

The ones with Broadcom chipsets will have the Broadcom logo (a "54g" on
redish-brown background inside a circle) on the box.

Belkin changed the chipset they used on their card along the way. The
early models had Broadcom chips.

BTW. You can find quite a complete list of cards thát work with
different drivers/clients on Macs by Googling with: "Mac OS Wireless
Adapter Compatibility List". Remember to include the quotation marks.
The latest list I have seen is from August 2005.

As of 11/5/2006 there's no firmware on the Belkin site for this
problem.


Clyde <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Clyde <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>I have the Belkin Traveler wireless router (F5D7233).
>>
>>When I configure the router for WPA-PSK the router does not reset -- I
>>do not lose my wireless connection. When I go back into the router
>>settings page it shows security is disabled.
>>
>>When I configure the router for any other encryption method (WEP,
>>WPA-Radius) the router resets and my wireless connection drops until I
>>configure my wireless connection for the new settings.
>>
>>I contacted Belkin and they shipped a replacement -- the replacement
>>is doing the exact same thing.
>
>
>Called teir 3 on 9/11/2006 and spoke to a "tech guy". After a few
>minutes of him reading through the ticket and asking a few questions
>he tells me that this problem has been forwarded to R&D. He's not sure
>when/if they'll issue a fix.
>
>I told him I think it would probably be in Belkin's best interest to
>issue one since this product is not doing what it is advertised as
>doing (if you advertise that a product can do WPA-PSK it probably
>should be able to).
>
>There hasn't been a new hardware or firmware revision since this
>product hit the streets so apparently every F5D7233 Belkin Travel
>Router can't be configured for WPA-PSK. Guess nobody complained since
>probably people sharing internet connections in hotels don't care too
>much about security.
>
>I want WPA-PSK because I intend to use this for business travel/team
>meetings so we can always be sure to have wifi available and WPA
>security would really be nice.
>
>Belkin says that "maybe" there'll be an update available on their
>website by the end of October.

Well, one year later and there is still no fix. Just got the Belkin
Travel Router F5D7233 and it came out of the box with FW 1.01.20
(12/10/07). Discovered this same problem right away - WPA-PSK doesn't
take after being set. Started searching the net and found this forum
(and others) talking about this very problem. So, I'm forced to using
one of the WEP modes, which is okay - not a deal breaker. Still, looks
like WPA is MIA on this product, and it is likely never to get fixed.


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