Belkin 5-Port Network USB Hub - F5L009 - Share printers and access media wirelessly

My goal was to achieve wireless printing with a Canon MP-530 using two laptops (HP dv9700t and Dell Inspirion)and a Desktop (Dell XPS400). I purchased a d-Link Dir-655 router and the Belkin F5L009. I set-up a wireless network with the Desktop connected with ethernet wire and the two notebooks connected through wireless network cards. I have a DSL network ISP. I found setting up the network slightly difficult.This was the first time I have ever tried to setup a network. The most important part of the network is to be sure you set the security features. The Dir-655 router does not come with the security features setup as a default. However, I can honestly say the Belkin network hub works great. I can print and scan from any computer. I have not tried to fax because this is a feature on the Canon which I have not used. On the negative side you compromise a very slight decrease in transferring the print information to your printer. If your goal is to achieve wireless printing without buying a new wireless printer then this is the way to go. According to Belkin you can share other USB devices using this unit. One last though, read the setup book carefully and call the manufacture tech support if needed. I found d-link to be very helpful.
 
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The Belkin Network USB Hub worked as advertised for me with no setup problems. I have a Lenovo Thinkpad T61 running Windows Vista Ultimate and an IBM Thinkpad T42 running Windows XP Professional attached to a Linksys wireless router. Both Thinkpads share access to a Canon MP730 multifunction fax/scan/printer and an Iomega external disk drive via the Belkin Network USB Hub (which is also attached to the Linksys wireless router). I choose to manually connect and disconnect each USB device when I need them rather than have them auto-connect. Full connection speed and no loss of functionality for both USB devices attached. A great product.
 
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I purchased this as a means to move USB releated devices from the immidiate area of where my computer is.<BR> Its really simple, I simply plugged it into an ethernet port, and all my USB devices I plugged in it came up.<BR> Its just simply great!<BR> I tested:<BR> A Epson C88 InkJet Printer.<BR> A SD card reader.<BR> A external USB hard drive seperately powered.<BR> A mouse!!! (that was funny)<BR> A CanoScan 4400F scanner (now that's impressive).<BR> A external USB hard drive with no power cord.<BR> <BR> Wish it was Gigabit (but then it would have cost more), and you may need to manually configure its IP on your computer if your looking for it on your router's wireless.
 
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WORKS AS PROMISES...I LOVE IT..EASY TO SET UP AND TO MAINTAIN...MUST HAVE ROUTER CONNECTED FOR IT TO WORK, BUT SO FAR SO GOOD...I HAVE AN EXTERNAL DRIVE CONNECTED AND ITS BEEN WORKING GREAT WIRELESSLY!
 
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Very satisfied with this product. Very simple to install and worked as advertised the first time. The service from Buy.com was fast and efficient and also the best price I could find on the internet.
 
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Does this product work with MAC's? I have several desktops and laptops and the software does not seem to load on the MAC's. It works on all the others, including Window's Vista. Any ideas?
 
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This is a very useful item. All USB Devices work exactly as if they were directly plugged into my laptop, or my wifes, or any of the other three desktops on my home net. The only negative I see is that only one person can use the devices at a time, but I don't believe there is any way to make that work.
 
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I purchased this Hub to share a printer, a scanner, an external DVD Burner and an External Hard Drive among 3 computers. Communication between the USB devices and the computers is bidirectional which is great. One important thing to keep in mind is that each USB device can be accessed at a time only by one computer which means that if two computers want to access the same device at the same time, the one which has access to the device will be required to relased so the other can take it. This will be a manual request and authorization process.
 
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<i>The good</i><br> The installation (on both computers) is easy. Once installed, it recognize my printer and my external USB Hard Drive. It doesn't make any sound and is very simple. <br><br> <i>The not so good</i><br> The only bad is that only one computer at a time has access to the USB device. For printer, it does offer a 'Share' mode that make this easier. This makes it a step up from moving the device from one computer to the other, but not a huge step. It would get a 5 on everything if it was shared by all computers (like a shared drive or printer).
 
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I had problems with a print server that could never just print the text without giving extra blank pages...It became a real hassle...So I thought I would give this a try...What a great product...Just plug it in, load the software, turn on your printer, and it works!!!...what a concept!!!...If only Vista was this good...AWESOME!
 
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I got this since the netgear wireless print server/bridge doesn't support my brother laser printer. It really was painless setting it up in XP. I wasn't so fortunate with my 2 windows 2000 systems. "Operating system not supported". OK, win98 I can see but 2000 is still MS supported. Unlike most other print servers I've setup, you don't need drivers for the actual print server. Just print drivers and the IP of the server. Not so in this case. You have to use the belkin software to create "Virtual printer port for USB". It might be possible to find 3rd party virtual drivers. The point is I shouldn't have to. Linux and other OS users are really out of luck. My last grip is if another user is connected to a device, the connected user gets a pop up asking to give the requester control. That just great if there isn't any one at that machine (or worse, a brain dead teenager). There is no way to force the connection from the requesting machine.
 
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I had wanted to set up a convenient way to share peripherals on my network for some time now. Network servers are ok, but they are more typical of a business network. Many MFD's like printer/scanner/copier/fax machines lose many functions, at least on my network with a router/print server device. Webcams aren't even likely to get that kind of use. But when I purchased this network hub (originally for a friend's birthday who said he would not use it) and began to use it, I felt like I had come upon probably the best single device for a computer on a network since USB's rise to popularity of recent years. I have five devices on my hub. And btw, they aren't connected wirelessly to my PC, wired routers are just fine. There's a CanoScan Lide90 scanner which connects to a laptop and a desktop and an iMac; a Logitech webcam which works great in spite of the hub's warning that it may not work; a DVD burner, a 1 TB external HDD, and an HP Photosmart 7760 color printer. I have not connected the HP All-in-One because it's on an inexpensive DSL network which I'm going to drop and use only the High Speed cable Internet connection. But it will get moved over soon. The main thing I have found for success with this device is to install the software on each computer and configure it to "connect automatically" only if necessary. Users must connect and disconnect as needed because only a single user connection between PC and a device on the hub at a time is the rule. Of course different users can connect to other devices if not in use. The software needs to be installed and for each additional user account you should put a shortcut to the application in the startup folder. The only drawback I have found of any consequence is that the devices need to be shut down before shutting down the computer, and instead of an automatic shutdown script there's a little EXIT link on the main page of the hub's software. It squeals at you if you don't do this properly.
 
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I bought one of these to provide Network Sharing of a Epson Perfection 2400 Scanner and Epson Stylus Photo R300. Works absolutely flawlessly for connecting my Vista 32-bit computers. Computers can be configured to manually or auto connect to devices (independently) and the control panel is easy for my wife to navigate.
 
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