Belkin Owners, Read ThisInaccurate range/throughput marketing comes back to haunt vendor ( old news - 05:44PM Friday Apr 27 2007) Tipped by nozzer  User Nozzer writes: "Apparently, if you bought one of the following models in the last 5 years, you can get all your money back" as part of a new class action settlement. The lawsuit was filed against Belkin for selling hardware that did not achieve the advertised Mbps data throughput or connectivity ranges in real world environments. It's something multiple vendors have been doing for years, with varying degrees of wrist slapping punishment doled out. This is the first time we've seen where a vendor is offering a full refund for a significant portion of their product line (correct us if we're wrong). The impacted product SKU numbers (see this pdf table for detail): B5D036, F1UP0001, F5D6000, F5D6001, F5D6020, F5D6050, F5D6050-APL, F5D6051, F5D6060, F5D6130, F5D6230-3, F5D6230-4, F5D6231-4, F5D6231-4-APL, F5D7000, F5D7001, F5D7010, F5D7010-APL, F5D7011, F5D7050, F5D7130, F5D7230-4, F5D72314, F5D7231-4P, F5D7233, F5D7330, F5D8000, F5D8010, F5D8230-4, F5D9009, F5D9010, F5D9013, F5D9013, F5D9230-4, F6D3000, F6D3010, and F6D3230-4 More detail over at the Belkin website, which includes a FAQ for those looking to get either their money back, or a discount on future Belkin purchases.
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roflmfao111
@weyerhaeuser.com
 from:
antdude
| A Generalization of All Belkin Product's?
Their KVM switches work perfectly!
Let us guess you use a Microsoft router.... | |
| | | dentman42
join:2001-10-02
Columbus, OH
 ·AT&T Midwest
| Re: lol said by roflmfao111 :
A Generalization of All Belkin Product's?
Their KVM switches work perfectly!
Let us guess you use a Microsoft router....
I'd argue that, at least the cheap 2-port PS2 models with captive cables. They tend to freeze up (requiring both connected PCs to be powered off). Had several of them, both at home and work, with the same problem. At least they were cheap. | |
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rogue_
I Have A Secret Window
Premium
join:2001-10-17
Lake Hiawatha, NJ | Re: lol I've never had any issues with the Belkin products I've bought.
I'll pay closer attention to thier products now though.
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Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. | |
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phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Winter Park, FL
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
1 edit | Re: lol said by rogue_ :I've never had any issues with the Belkin products I've bought. I'll pay closer attention to thier products now though. I've never owned Belkin, and it's like that for a reason. I take calls from people everyday. I have noticed that the Belkin equipment isn't as reliable. I get all sorts of issues with them. Everything from bad ethernet ports, to bad wifi transmitters. I have had people complain that their connection is intermittent, only to find their Belkin router keeps resetting on it's own, while the modem says up. I don't know if it is coincidence or not, but I know they seem to be more troublesome than most pieces of equipment. But I never wish malice on someone, so if your Belkin works, then wonderful. This is just MY experience. 
EDIT: Perfect example, today, get a call, customer is getting a 169.254 address, powercycled router, still getting it, bypassed the router, and got a public IP. So something was wrong with the router, but all the while he kept saying "Well I've never had a problem with it before.." The moral of the story, none, except if you use a router, call the manufacturer for assistance if you're gonna leave it connected.
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
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major marco
Res Firma Mitescere Nescit
Premium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA
clubs:
| said by roflmfao111 :
Their KVM switches work perfectly!
Um, no, not exactly. I tried 2 different Belkin brand KVM switches in the past 2 wks and the both of them were pieces of shit. You couldn't pay me to take a truckload of them.
BTW, what exactly is considered a "Microsoft router"? Even the cheapest NAT works with another OS b/c the router doesn't care what your OS is. It's all about setting up the Samba shares correctly if using a distro of Linux/Unix.
You obviously think very highly of yourself if you're dinging someone else for having an opinion about a product you use, but at the same time, you have no idea what you're talking about if you think there is even such a thing as a "Microsoft router." 
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The Toll
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| | | | Devistater
join:2004-02-13
Clovis, CA
| Re: lol There is such a thing, so YOU apparently have no idea what you are talking about. MS dipped thier toes in the networking market for a couple years, and sold wireless routers, wireless USB, etc.
Its long since been discontinued (since 2004 I belive). And thier stuff kinda sucked (not nessasarily an unusual state of affairs). For instance, I had so much trouble recently trying to get WPA enabled on a spare 802.11b wireless USB from them, I gave up and got a free after rebate 802.11g one at compusa (I think it was dlink or some such).
Anyway, here's an example of what the routers look like:
»www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Broadba···0006IJO4
I have no idea if the original comment meant this, but it DOES exist. | |
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Goober
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL
 ·WOW Internet and C..
·Comcast
1 edit | Re: lol lol. I love kideez coming in here spouting knowledge.
As regarding the MS routers, they worked and you could get them cheap. I installed one for a friend because it was only $5.00 after price matching and rebate. He only wanted it for NAT and the very ocassional wireless.
It worked okay for his needs. | |
| | | | | | Devistater
join:2004-02-13
Clovis, CA
4 edits | Re: lol Yeah it worked as long as I didn't want WPA security. Thats kinda important in today's world to keep away casual people. That and the fact that since we were mixing macs and PCs, that was the easiest security to set up that was common and easily configurable.
kideez eh? I'm older than you think.
Speaking of security, you might want to use some wireless security yourself.
You asked what dangers you are facing by not using any wireless security...
If you ever log into your bank or have a stock account, or use a credit card to buy, someone can potentially sniff those packets and grab the stuff (it may or may not be encrypted). If you have anything shared, they can get in that way. If there's any windows exploits that haven't been patched (or if you dont update windows) they can use them to get into your systems because they are behind your router.
You also could open yourself up to potential lawsuits and criminal issues (RIAA/MPAA are the least of these) if you just leave your wireless wide open. At least use some sorta MAC control to keep out casual users. | |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | If you NEVER bought anything from them, how do you know they have ALWAYS sucked? | |
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beldin
Permanently barned
Premium
join:2006-06-06
Union, SC
·AT&T Southeast
| I've got several Belkin products (mostly USB hubs) and they work fine. I don't own any Belkin routers, but several of my customers use them with no problem. So, saying that all Belkin products suck when you have never even owned any is... well... it sucks.
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DSL Extreme 6.0 | |
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Mega DETH
It's All About The Ping
join:2003-08-20
Watertown, WI | wow A real class action settlement that one can get all money back?! This has to be a first, usually the lawyers suck up most of it.
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"Action does not equal Achievement" | |
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ropeguru
Premium
join:2001-01-25
Hollywood, FL
clubs:
 ·VOIPo
| Re: wow said by Mega DETH :A real class action settlement that one can get all money back?! This has to be a first, usually the lawyers suck up most of it. Yeah, right... How many receipts for your computer products have you kept for 5 years?? Most people will only get the 50% off os three Belking products priced up to $300. If this were really a good thing, they would look up the manufacturing dates via the serial number and give refunds for those manufactured in the past five years without any receipt necessary.
It is still a game of the vendor and lawyers win.
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FWD#: 223611 | |
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ablack6596
join:2005-01-28
Scarsdale, NY | Re: wow That's why you buy online where you can easily look up your old orders.  | |
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insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN
| This makes me sick. ISPs advertising unlimited connections than capping is much worse than this. I think it is understood with wireless that speeds advertised are always the maximum. They are never the actual because of environmental factors. I don't see how some consumers being naive about the technology should result in winning a lawsuit like this. These companies weren't lying. So are we going to go after dsl customers that can't get the advertised speeds due to distance limits?
Maybe they will sue anyone making 802.11g products because you can never hit 54mbit throughput. Then everyone will get a refund and an industry will be destroyed. | |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
·VoicePulse
| Re: This makes me sick. I mostly agree with you, except wifi speeds are advertised based on theoretical limits, not real world limits. No way no how, no matter what environmental factors you have just perfect, will you see 54Mbps out of an 802.11g setup.
I'm not saying they need to dumb it down to "here is what you'll get through 3 brick walls and a floor" speeds, but it should be limited to what a person sitting 6" from the router could actually see.
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Intel Quad Core QX6700 @3500Mhz/Asus P5N32-E SLI/4x 1024Mb Corsair/WD 74Gb Raptor/PNY 7800GTs SLI/Antec 550 True Control/Custom water cooler | |
| | | plat2on1
join:2002-08-21
Hopewell Junction, NY
clubs:
| Re: This makes me sick. said by Camelot One :I mostly agree with you, except wifi speeds are advertised based on theoretical limits, not real world limits. No way no how, no matter what environmental factors you have just perfect, will you see 54Mbps out of an 802.11g setup. I'm not saying they need to dumb it down to "here is what you'll get through 3 brick walls and a floor" speeds, but it should be limited to what a person sitting 6" from the router could actually see. even sitting 6" from the router you could have wildly variable speeds depending on your RF environment. | |
| RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs: | F5D5130 seems to work fine But then again, it is wired, not wireless.
I like how the lawsuit information is not on the Dlink menu or press releases, you have to know about it and where it is.
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. | |
| dcurrey
join:2004-06-29
1 edit | Imagine that Wow image that a company being held accountable for false advertising. Hope this catches on.
No more "Up to 5 megs speeds."
No more "Unlimited Access"
No more "Hidden fees" ie e911 fee regulatory recover fee Wast disposal fee ect | |
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Matt
Quitting Caffeine - Argh
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| Re: Imagine that said by dcurrey :Wow image that a company being held accountable for false advertising. Hope this catches on. No more "Up to 5 megs speeds." "Up to" sounds like they are being fairly honest to me. If they stated "Guaranteed 5Mbps" then you might have something.
Now you may have something with the unlimited access, as access is a pretty broad definition ... which is why I think they have stopped using it.
The problem is the networking companies have emblazoned their boxes with blatantly false advertising for years, even on the wired side.
200Mbps Transfer Speed! (on a TP switch, which is really 100Mbps Full-Duplex)
11Mbps Transfer Rates! (under ideal conditions, maybe 5Mbps. Let's not even talk about WEP)
22Mbps Transfer Rates! (in the small print then mention it's only when used with a client adapter you probably don't own)
It goes on and on. I am glad Belkin is stepping up to the plate here. It will definitely make me recommend their products for low-cost users going forward.
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Oh I'm so creative and all my programs are so easy to use ... | |
| | public
join:2002-01-19
Santa Clara, CA
·DSL EXTREME
| Rerun
This is the first time we've seen where a vendor is offering a full refund for a significant portion of their product line (correct us if we're wrong).
Netgear paid for the same thing. Maybe these are the same lawyers maxing their investment. | |
| bigskank
join:2002-06-07
Norman, OK
| eh...not really that good. Actually, this isn't that good of a settlement. To get a refund, you must provide a sales receipt (who the hell still has their original receipt or a copy of it?). Also, you are limited to two refunds total. That means if you're a business owner who has purchased several of these Belkin products, you are limited in what you can recover.
If you don't have a receipt for your Belkin product, you are limited to a crappy cy pres settlement (basically, a coupon). The coupon is only good for 50% off some future purchase of up to 3 different purchases of Belkin products. There are however, some major restrictions on the coupon:
1) The coupon is only good if you make the purchase from the Belkin online store (which is somewhat overpriced compared to B&M stores or other online stores, like Newegg).
2) The coupon must be used within 90 days (that means all 3 purchases must be done in 90 days after they send the coupon)
3) The coupon is non-transferable (i.e. you can't EBay it).
So, basically, the coupons are not terribly useful and don't represent giving you that much of a savings. Although I know there will be plenty of people saying "well, it's better than nothing," the lawyer's for the plaintiff's class are pretty much screwing class members to get an easy settlement and a quick payoff for themselves (they are making $175,000 of this suit, while you are only getting 3 lousy coupons).
All the info is here:»www.belkin.com/class_notice/clas···benefits | |
| | rci
join:2005-03-28
Monroe, MI
1 edit | Re: eh...not really that good. Exactly! Who still has their receipts? I don't. I used one to get a rebate on their crappy router (crappy router was free after rebate. lol) and I didn't save the ones for the two wireless cards.
Oh well.. I did apply for the 50% off coupons, who knows, maybe I'll have some use for them? It's too bad they only apply to their wireless products.
btw.. The F5D6231-4 is really quite a horrid router, and now it's pretty much useless since it only supports wep and you can't even turn the wireless off. lol | |
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Goober
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL | No Return for Refund I didn't see where you actually have to return the unit for a refund. If that's the case, then this is at least worth a couple of free routers. | |
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ARGONAUT
got ping?
join:2006-01-24
New Albany, IN | got receipt? "Yes" 
Full refund for me! | |
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Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY
·Qwest.net
| Re: got receipt? Crap.....do I get a refund because I bought one of their routers and it turned out instead to be a turd. To late for me this dog's lawn God offering has long since found peace in a land fill. They can't suck Bill Clinton would have purchase a couple of cases of them. 
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The older I get the more I prefer the company of my dogs over that of man kind. | |
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hangthemNOW
@comcast.net
| Criminals like D-Link belong in prison At least Belkin is standing behind their product and refunding people's money or providing a credit. D-Link has been sued by the FTC and who knows how many people for their falsely advertised and defective products and they do nothing but try to hide behind their lawyers and send out more PR hype. IMO the execs at D-Link belong in prison.
I'd buy Belkin over D-Link any day. | |
| | zerog
join:2002-02-10
Dallas, TX
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Criminals like D-Link belong in prison Yeah,
D-Link used to have great networking products. Then they started getting into wireless products and cheaping it out... Thats what we get for cheap wifi routers, eh?!?
My personal fav is the DSM-G600 (wireless network storage enclosure)
One of the key selling points is "Gigabit Ethernet Port"
It's EXTREMELY misleading (read class action). The unit doesnt even reach full 100mbps throughput (even under ideal conditions) much less even get into the 1000mbps range.
Why bother put a gigabit port on the unit? Seems like it's just a marketing scam... | |
| | | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| Re: Criminals like D-Link belong in prison said by zerog :Yeah, D-Link used to have great networking products. Then they started getting into wireless products and cheaping it out... Thats what we get for cheap wifi routers, eh?!? My personal fav is the DSM-G600 (wireless network storage enclosure) One of the key selling points is "Gigabit Ethernet Port" It's EXTREMELY misleading (read class action). The unit doesnt even reach full 100mbps throughput (even under ideal conditions) much less even get into the 1000mbps range. Why bother put a gigabit port on the unit? Seems like it's just a marketing scam... So you can do 1000mbs HD speeds out of the 512KB cache!!!!! | |
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whodidit
@wideopenwest.com | lucky me I found the receipt for my 7230-4 and filled out the online form.
I'm not holding my breath waiting for the $$. | |
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agaprazr
What...Me Worry?
Premium
join:2005-01-08
Salem, OR
·Comcast Formerly ..
·DSL Northwest
| F5D7050 Works Great I have a Belkin Wireless G USB Network Adaptor that has worked great from the start. It advertises transfers of data upto 54Mbps. Everything I have read and have been told about wireless internet is that there are an infinite amount of factors that can effect the data transfer speeds in wireless, or even wired internet for that matter. I would venture to guess that a great many of the experienced wireless internet users would agree me that the advertised data transfer rate is universally understood as being the MAX transfer rate under perfect conditions.
Personally I think this class action suit is frivolous and should have been thrown out of the courts.
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...and the greatest of these is love. 1Cor.13:13 | |
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Michieru2
zzz zzz zzz
Premium
join:2005-01-28
Miami, FL
| ! It should also be noted that you need the sales receipt to receive a refund. Obviously I lost that somewhere in early 2006. So I can't get a refund even if my product is indeed affected by this.
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The only limits we have are the one's we set ourselves. | |
| GameGuy369
join:2004-07-09
Olathe, KS
clubs: | The UPS rocks I own a Belkin UPS and it rocks. Its the 1500VA one or whatever and its the best thing I have ever bought for my computer. | |
| | Kornflake
join:2006-12-21
Angola, IN | Re: i got a usb adapter yeah i love my wireless adapter i have not had ne problems with it | |
| | vinnie97
join:2003-12-05
Mesquite, TX | Re: The UPS rocks I doubt it's any better than what an APC provides. | |
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Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA | JACKPOT! Thank you Buy.com! Well I used to have a Belkin 802.11b router I bought for $20A/R from Buy.com in 2004 - and whaddaya know? Buy.com still has it in my past order history - and I can re-print the receipt!!! Here's $37.99 comming my way!
JACKPOT! | |
| | vinnie97
join:2003-12-05
Mesquite, TX
1 edit | Re: JACKPOT! Thank you Buy.com! good ole' buy.com. Likewise they have my receipt from 2005. However, a purchase I made at Provantage just last year is already missing from my history there! I only have a packing list, with no price listed. I might have to scan it in and add a price column myself. | |
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johnsea
Cool Down
Premium
join:2003-01-26
Canada
·Aliant Communicati..
| Canada? This leaves us out. It is only allowing people from the US to submit the claim 
On the other hand I'd feel bad about it. My Belkin router has outperformed even a Cisco AP I had. | |
| propcgamer
join:2001-10-10
Rockville, MD
| dissapointed even though i have had some issues with my belkin routers (mainly stability with lots of traffic).
one thing they really do well is something called WDS, which allows you to have multiple belkin routers placed throughout the house and it acts as one big network, and it worked amazingly well! | |
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Rob A
Same Old Jets
Premium
join:2005-01-17
Pompton Plains, NJ | Belkin Never liked them, this doesn't surprise me. | |
| | vinnie97
join:2003-12-05
Mesquite, TX
1 edit | Re: Belkin Thanks for your significant contribution to the topic. They're not alone in being guilty of falsely advertised speeds. Their actual hardware isn't that bad, it's their firmware development team and customer support that need some work. | |
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