Hardware Reviews
Belkin Desktop Network PCI Card (F5D5000) Although there are lots of new, competing technologies out there, most notably wireless and phoneline, regular readers of homePCnetwork.com know that we are still bullish on the speed and reliability of home networks based on Ethernet and Fast Ethernet technologies. Solid, inexpensive network cards, such as this one from Belkin, just confirm that opinion. In fact, with good quality, fast performance, an outstanding installation manual and a great price (we found it for $12.84 + shipping at buy.com), this Belkin card receives our Editor's Choice award. Overview
The Belkin card comes in a 5x8-inch box with details on the card, its performance and driver support printed on the outside. Inside you'll find the PCI card, an outstanding 50-page manual, a cable to connect the "Wake on LAN" feature (if your computer is so equipped) and a CD with drivers and an electronic version of the manual. The card itself uses a PCI connection to your computer motherboard and is very small (about as tall as the network jack on the back). It has two LEDs on the metal bracket. One lights green to indicate a positive link to another device on the network and flashes green to indicate when data is being transmitted or received. A second LED lights green to indicate when the card is running in full duplex mode (meaning data is sent and received at the same time). In a market of basic network cards with few add-ons, the 50-page manual included makes this Belkin package stand out. The manual includes sections on how to connect to a cable/DSL modem, how to connect two computers via a crossover cable, how to connect several computers using a hub or switch, and how to share an Internet connection using a router or Windows built-in Internet Connection Sharing software. Belkin has hit the market niche for home networks right on target! Installation Installation under Windows 98 was smooth and identical to the included instructions. We installed the card on our test PC and turned on the machine. The "Add New Hardware" wizard popped up and we followed the instructions to allow the wizard to search the CD for the proper driver. It quickly found the correct driver (F5D5000 PCI Card), installed the needed files, and prompted for a computer restart, which we did. You can then follow the detailed instructions for installing TCP/IP, assigning addresses to each computer on the network, turning on file and printer sharing and sharing drives and printers. Outstanding stuff! As we mentioned, there are also instructions for cable/DSL modem hookups and Internet sharing. Performance With such a superb package, we couldn't wait to see if the Belkin PCI card also provided good performance. Our main performance test, at this point, involves two reads and two writes of a 60 megabyte file between our two test machines. We do the tests using only the TCP/IP protocol in our network properties and then remove TCP/IP and install only the IPX protocol. The results are shown below in the average seconds required to complete copying. As you can see, the Belkin bested the D-Link we use as the control in our tests. Keep in mind, however, that even the two-second difference in the IPX test may be difficult, if not impossible, to detect in everyday use.
We also tested the card in two subjective tests. We ran AVI movie files simultaneously in both directions across the network. That is, working at the test machine we call T400, we played a movie file that resides on the hard drive of the test machine we call T866, and at the same time, played an AVI file that resides on the hard drive of the T400 machine while working at the T866 machine. The point of the test is to make sure the full duplex capability (reading and writing at the same time) works well. The movie files played smoothly on both machines with the Belkin. We also played a network game across our LAN and found the Belkin provided smooth game play. Technical Support Although the manual does list a toll number (not toll-free) on the back of the manual, we didn't find any indication of technical support options in the manual. That was odd based on how well Belkin otherwise provided support to users new to home networking. The box did include mention of a lifetime warranty. A quick check of the Belkin web site (you can guess the address or find it in very small print on the logo on the back of the manual) did show a range of tech support options including FAQs, e-mail and a toll-free number, although there was no indication of the hours for tech support. Summary Overall, this is outstanding network card. It's built with good quality (backed by a lifetime warranty), showed fast network performance, came with a comprehensive manual and sells at a low street price. With that combination, we think the Belkin card easily deserves our Editor's Choice award. If we had to nit (and, of course, we do), we'd like to see a bit more information on the technical support options in the manual. That, however, is a minor issue. If you thoroughly read the included manual, we doubt you'll even need tech support. If you're looking for a network PCI card, we don't think you'll go wrong with this Belkin. Grade = A+ Details
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Photo courtesy of Belkin