# Solved: Belkin N300 Wireless N Router horrible internet?



## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

Hey guys. About 4-5 months ago me and the family got this fifty dollar router from Belkin, and at first it seemed alright. Right off the bat, the internet was slow, it was crappy, and I couldn't do anything on it. I called belkin support and they told me to just ship it in and they'll give us a replacement. So I got my replacement, and guess what, its the same exact crappy internet I had with the first one. I looked online for different tips at making it faster, such as changing its channel to either 6 or 11. I've tried both channels and my internet speed didn't change in the slightest. My videos don't buffer like they used to, to takes at least 3 minutes for the video itself to even load and show up on the damn page, pages take too long to load, and while I'm trying to view a picture it goes through this sequence of loading slowly from top to bottom as if I have a piece of crap PC from the 1990's or something. And it isn't just on my PC, it goes for my phone to. I connect to my internets WiFi and things are slower than when I had the damn Mobile Data on. My Mobile Data is over 90% now and I'd really like to have the WiFi so I don't have to pay a buttload extra just to watch a few videos when I don't have the PC. Is this the routers fault or am I being dumb? It ticks me off how I paid fifty bucks for this things and its a piece of crap. The guy I talk to for support had the worst attitude I've ever gotten from any type of support member as well, so I'm sure as hell not going to give them another call.

sorry for any grammar mistakes, im on my phone ATM and the autocorrect is a pain in my rear.


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

Run Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector 
Download and install
If you cannot access the internet with this PC, then you will need to copy the program across to the faulty PC
Save the file to a USB flash drive or other removable media. Plug it into the working computer with internet access and copy the file and install the program. 
You will now need to take a screen shot and copy that back to the working PC and attach the screen shot in a reply on the forum here.

If you do not have another PC - do you have a phone connected to the internet - can you photograph the result and post the image in a reply

http://www.xirrus.com/Products/Wi-Fi-Inspector.aspx ( the site now appears to require a business email, so try the direct link below)
Direct link to the program is here http://info.xirrus.com/Wi-FiInspectorConfirmation.html

{If the above link does not work heres alternative links
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/fil.../download.html
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownloa...oad-99109.html
http://download.cnet.com/Xirrus-Wi-F...-75758254.html}

Then run and install the program - on a wireless enabled PC/Laptop
if you get an error - You need will need to have NET Framework installed for the WiFi Inspector to function.
On windows 8 - (i do not have windows 8) but, it would appear that, When you first try to run, you may get a message that .net framework is needed, and included in that message is a link to download/install.

Run the program

A user guide is available here http://www.xirrus.com/cdn/pdf/Xirrus...-1-RevB-6.aspx

post a screen shot of the program running.
if there are a lot of networks showing can you click on "networks" top lefthand area - so we can see all the network information.

post which SSID name is yours, its located in the list, under network "Adapter Name" (1st column)

Note:
For a reliable (or robust as the Xirrus user guide says) wireless connection you need a signal of about -70 dBm or better. "A desirable signal level for a robust Wi-Fi connection will be green".
note: the signal level is a negative number, so for example -88 is worst and -40 is better

To post a screen shot of the active window.
Windows XP
Hold the Alt key and press the PrtScn key. Open the Windows PAINT application (Start> All Programs> Accessories> Paint) and Paste the screen shot. You can then use PAINT to trim to suit, and save it as a JPG format file.

Vista or Windows 7
you can use the "snipping tool" which is found in Start> All programs> Accessories> Snipping Tool
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tuto...snipping-tool/

To upload the screen shot to the forum, open the full reply window ("Go Advanced" button) and use the Manage Attachments button to upload it here.
Full details are available here http://library.techguy.org/wiki/TSG_...g_a_Screenshot


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

Also in MY opinion Belkin is the worst router money can buy. I have only used 1 in my lifetime and wont EVER use one again. It crapped out on me the FIRST WEEK!!

EDIT:
Also have you tried connecting the PC directly to the modem WITHOUT using the router and see if speeds have changed?


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

What download speed do you get with Speedtest.net for a connection directly to the modem? With an ethernet connection to the router? With the Wi-Fi connection in the Xirrus screen shot requested above?


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## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

Wow, thanks a lot for the lengthy reply in such a short time. I don't get back on the PC in about an hour, so expect a reply sometime around then.
Haha, I hate Belkin just as much as any other internet junkie, so I feel your pain. This is my third one so far. Gotta get what you can afford at the time I guess.
Thank you a bunch for the reply, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

CaeDares said:


> Wow, thanks a lot for the lengthy reply in such a short time. I don't get back on the PC in about an hour, so expect a reply sometime around then.
> Haha, I hate Belkin just as much as any other internet junkie, so I feel your pain. This is my third one so far. Gotta get what you can afford at the time I guess.
> Thank you a bunch for the reply, I'll get back to you as soon as possible.


I dont know about Terry but my post was as simple as copy and paste  Actually you can get a NICE netgear or linksys router for the same price with BETTER performance than your "Piece of Junk"


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

If I may interject my opinions on this ...

Belkin products are just as good as the other name brands, but I think they spend little or nothing on quality control because it seems that a greater percentage of their products are DOA or die soon. Linksys has always seemed overpriced to me; seemed that $10 of every unit was simply because people thought they must be good since owned by Cisco. Now that Linksys is owned by Belkin maybe the prices will come down to Netgear, D-Link, etc., levels.


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

TerryNet said:


> If I may interject my opinions on this ...
> 
> Belkin products are just as good as the other name brands, but I think they spend little or nothing on quality control because it seems that a greater percentage of their products are DOA or die soon. Linksys has always seemed overpriced to me; seemed that $10 of every unit was simply because people thought they must be good since owned by Cisco. Now that Linksys is owned by Belkin maybe the prices will come down to Netgear, D-Link, etc., levels.


Everyone has their own opinions, But I will continue to disagree with you Terry. Granted I have only used a couple of Belkin Products However to me once failed always failed. Bought my first netgear product and it kicked butt!! Used it for 3years for heavy multi PC FPS gaming. (it was a Netgear N300 too) So I think you might be right about pricing however I will admit that to ME Netgear or Linksys is the way to go

BTW Terrynet your opinions are ALWAYS WANTED AND APPRECIATED


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## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

TerryNet said:


> What download speed do you get with Speedtest.net for a connection directly to the modem? With an ethernet connection to the router? With the Wi-Fi connection in the Xirrus screen shot requested above?


For some reason I can't connect to the modem and I have no idea why. I plugged my laptop into it directly and I couldn't get anything. I disconnected from my internet and everything, then tried plugging it back into the modem, but still got nothing.

I also DID have a Netgear before this Belkin, and I loved it. It was only $20 and ran very nicely. But for some reason it would constantly shut off every hour or so and it got very frustrating. It eventually died and Netgear support told me it had nothing to do with them, which pissed me off, they didn't even suggest that I send it in. I tried to buy another one, but they were out of stock and the rest were higher priced than the Belkin.

Nevertheless, I still tried the speed test while connected to my router wirelessly. It was very disappointing.

Ping
38 MS
Download Speed
0.19 Mbps
Upload Speed
8.10 Mbps

I attached a photo of the Xirrus with my post.
Excuse my WiFi name, I tend to be a bit of a comedian.
It says I've got -54, but it definitely doesn't feel like it. It took at least 20-30 just to download the flippin' Xirrus program, it was outrageous.

EDIT: I did the Speedtest a second time, and instead I got these results:
Ping
31 MS
Download Speed
0.36 Mbps
Upload Speed
14.31 Mbps


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

theres a bunch of networks near you on channel 6 try changing yours to 11 will you? and speedtest again afterwards. And I might get hollered at for telling you this But nonetheless If you don't mind we try to keep this a family forum so if you wouldn't mind please try to refrain from posting swears and foul language.  AND is that the correct DL speed .18MBPS??!! and your upload is OVER 8!!?? strange.... and BTW why did you not just buy a Netgear again? Just curiosity here


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## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

Because, as I said, the only other netgears they had available were over maybe 60 bucks, while the Belkin was 50, and if I remember right, I only had about 54 dollars on me at the time, so it was perfect because I wanted to hit Starbucks on my way back home, lol.

Sorry about the swearing, as well.

I attached another Xirrus screenshot just in case.

Here's the Speedtest Results, I did it twice just in case.

Ping
29 MS
Download Speed
0.26 Mbps
Upload Speed
11.08 Mbps

Ping
31 MS
Download Speed
0.32 Mbps
Upload Speed
19.75 Mbps


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

I dont see your 2nd SS from Xirrus. Have you told your ISP about these specific speeds? Also do this open a BLACK BOX cmd prompt and type 

ipconfig /release and hit enter

ipconfig /renew and hit enter

EDIT:
then open device manager and under network adapters right clcik your LAN (ethernet) driver and right click it and select disable wait 15 seconds then right click it and hit enable then run speedtest again


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

CaeDares said:


> Because, as I said, the only other netgears they had available were over maybe 60 bucks, while the Belkin was 50, and if I remember right, I only had about 54 dollars on me at the time, so it was perfect because I wanted to hit Starbucks on my way back home, lol.
> 
> Sorry about the swearing, as well.
> 
> ...


Maybe next time less Starbucks and better router??


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## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

metallica5456 said:


> I dont see your 2nd SS from Xirrus. Have you told your ISP about these specific speeds? Also do this open a BLACK BOX cmd prompt and type
> 
> ipconfig /release and hit enter
> 
> ...


My bad, I forgot to actually upload it. I did what you suggested and screenshot Xirrus again just in case. The one labelled BEFORE is the one that I forgot to upload, the one labelled AFTER is the new one.

Here are 2 new speedtests after I did what you asked.

Ping
30 MS
Download Speed
0.40 Mbps
Upload Speed
18.87 Mbps

Ping
29 MS
Download Speed
0.28 Mbps
Upload Speed
18.96 Mbps


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

well the channel worked before on ch. 6 you had -54Db signal now on ch. 11 youre up to -43Db so even stronger signal. Now I forgot to ask when you were doing all these test I assume you were connected over WiFi?? If not please advise


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## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

metallica5456 said:


> well the channel worked before on ch. 6 you had -54Db signal now on ch. 11 youre up to -43Db so even stronger signal. Now I forgot to ask when you were doing all these test I assume you were connected over WiFi?? If not please advise


Yeah, I'm connected to wireless right now. As I said before, for some reason I can't connect directly into the modem.
It may have changed, but nothing seems different. My youtube videos don't buffer. Heck, my videos are getting forced into 144P just to BUFFER correctly. Photos and other pictures still load slowly. Nothing has changed except that pages load maybe a second faster.


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

did you call your ISP and advise them of the SPECIFIC speeds you are getting? I had a similiar issue and my Power adapter for the modem was bad replaced it and bada bing bada boom workd fine


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## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

metallica5456 said:


> did you call your ISP and advise them of the SPECIFIC speeds you are getting? I had a similiar issue and my Power adapter for the modem was bad replaced it and bada bing bada boom workd fine


Last time I gave them a call about this the guy had a horrible attitude and didn't even go through steps with me to try and fix it, except to unplug it and plug it back in. Then he told me to ship it in and I got the exact same thing back with the exact same problem. I personally don't look forward to doing it again unless I absolutely have to.
I guess I'll do so later tonight if the problem isn't fixed.


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

I would personally tell them to let you speak to a Supervisor right off the bat. Tell them you have no DL speed but pretty good UL speed


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

If you told us your download speed with an ethernet connection to the router I missed it; please repost for me.

When you connected directly to the modem did you remember to power cycle it (unplug for 30 seconds or so)? What kind of service (cable, DSL, ...) do you have?


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

TerryNet said:


> If you told us your download speed with an ethernet connection to the router I missed it; please repost for me.
> 
> When you connected directly to the modem did you remember to power cycle it (unplug for 30 seconds or so)? What kind of service (cable, DSL, ...) do you have?


He didnt connect direct Terry. Said he couldn't?? I dont know why doesn't makre sense to me. But He did power cycle it numerous times.


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## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

Ok, I've got some other problems with this router now, that didn't happen to the last one. For some reason, it disconnects the internet, yet still says it's connected. Then when I reset it and the modem, it says the same thing, but still no connection. then after about 10 minutes it finally says that it's disconnected. What is wrong with this thing? Why is it doing this? This is preposterous.


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

Have you been in contact with your ISP's tech support recently? I would try asking if they could come and replace your modem and see if that fixes the issue. If they want you as a valued customer they will do whatever it takes.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> For some reason, it disconnects the internet, yet still says it's connected.


Please be more specific about what you mean by "disconnects the internet" and how you know it is not a problem with your ISP, cabling or modem.


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## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

Hey guys. I contacted the ISP (finally), and this time I actually got a really nice guy (even though he had a foreign accent, I could actually understand him.)
There were a couple options in my router settings that I had NO idea about, and that seemed completely unrelated to my wireless connections at all, that instantly made my internet faster. I can finally run videos above 360p, GIF's and Flashs load at a normal rate, and everything is just about perfect. The router even quit disconnecting itself!
Thanks a bunch for the help.


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

yup no prob  just glad its working


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Could you tell us any of those options, please? I'm sure they'll trip up others.

Glad you got it working.  Our troubleshooting efforts would not likely have resulted in happiness with these issues.


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## metallica5456 (Apr 1, 2013)

I wasnt gonna say it but at least Terry was honest.


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## CaeDares (Dec 30, 2012)

He told me to turn 802.11e/WMM QoS > off and Wireless Mode > to 802.11g​


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

Thanks.


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