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Belkin WiFi G Router Gripes

The gripes below refer to this Belkin Router which is using the latest firmware. 

• Hardware F5D7230-4 
• Firmware Version 4.05.03 
• Boot Version 2.01.09 

WiFi Problem

November 4, 2005. I had more than my share of problems getting WiFi working on this router initially, but that's pretty much par for the course with WiFi. After it was working, I turned off the WiFi radio transmission. The router has a LED indicating if WiFi is active or not and even after disabling WiFi the light remained on and green. After unplugging the router and plugging it in active, the WiFi indicator light was off. This seems to be a bug in the router, no big deal in and of itself, but it's not the end of the story.  

A few days later, I again try to connect to the router using WiFi G. I log into it from a wired connection and turn on the WiFi feature. The same computer I had used before no longer establishes a connection (security was WPA-PSK TKIP). I tell the router to broadcast the SSID, even though it wasn't needed last time. Still, I can't connect. I change the WPA password for good luck and still it fails. Each failure is really two as I try using both the Windows XP SP2 software to connect and also the software from the computer hardware manufacturer. 

Remembering the prior bug, I take a shot in the dark and restart the router. Now it works. The router never indicated that it needed to be restarted to make the WiFi enabling change effective. 

Other Gripes

The picture on web site home page for the router does not match the router at all, it's not even close. The big difference is that my router has two antennas and the picture shows only one. The online specs for the router say it has two antennas. It would seem that Belkin changed the hardware without changing the model number. 

The online FAQ is outdated. Most of it dates back to 2003. It says the WiFi G standard is not yet ratified.