Belkin 5 Port Network USB 2.0 Hub - F5L009 - Share printers and access media wirelessly
Belkin 5-Port Network USB Hub

If you are looking for a low cost way to gain access to your USB printer or external hard drive without buying a net enabled printer, this is a very elegant way to do so. It works out of the box provided your network is not complicated. If you own a wireless router, the unit becomes a wireless extension of your router. The access to a device such as a hard drive is going to be slow, but definitely convenient.
 
Was this review helpful?    

Using it with my MacBook Pro. Wireless connectivity to my 2 external HD's and my Epson printer. Install was super easy. Highly recommend it for anyone with a laptop.
 
Was this review helpful?    

I have wanted nas for years now but it was too expensive! This is the perfect alternative. I can use the external usb drives that I have been using for storage on my network with any of my computers! I can also have a shared network printer now without buying a new one or an expensive server. Setup was simple and easy to understand. The only con is that you can only use each usb hard drive with one computer at a time, however it is easy and simple to switch them through the interface on the computer. I am very happy with this product and would highly recommend it.
 
Was this review helpful?    

Set up went without a hitch. It works perfectly with my Linksys wireless G router. I now have access to 3 printers, an external hard drive, and a scanner from all 5 of my computers...very convenient. Works fine with XP and Vista. Now if I get my $20.00 rebate, it will be a perfect deal. (Never have had a rebate problem with buy.com.) The design probably would have been better if all 5 usb ports were in the back, instead of 2 in the front, but I can live with that. Overall, a nice piece of gear!
 
Was this review helpful?    

I had the Keyspan usb server (which was not usb 2.0) and it worked fine with XP but on my wife's new laptop with Windows Vista it just did not work right. I didn't even bother trying with my mac. But as soon as I got the Belkin usb server I connected it loaded up the software on both machines and voila. Everything works perfectly! If you have a wireless router and a laptop....you NEED this USB server !
 
Was this review helpful?    

Using this as a hub for a printer and 2 USB hard drives. Once you install the drivers on all the machines that access these devices, it works perfectly. You do need to have a network cable going to your router.
 
Was this review helpful?    

At my home we have a couple of people who own and use expensive machine embroidery software. The software uses USB keys as copy protection devices; the software won't run unless the keys are plugged into the PC running the software. ---- We had an issue a few months ago where one of the keys was damaged because it was plugged into a laptop which fell off the couch. The key was damaged, but is repairable. To date we have been using our second (and only remaining) key. ---- After evaluating a much more expensive software-only solution and looking at more expensive competing hardware solutions, I decided to give this model a try. The idea is to keep this USB network device in a safe environment and leave the security keys plugged into it at all times. Anyone on the network who wants to use the software can utilize the key "remotely" and not have to physically handle it. ----- Although I am an experienced computer and network user I still found the product easy to install and configure. You must load a driver onto each client PC that will access device server, but the driver software finds the server automatically and after installing it on half a dozen PCs have not had any issues. The client software includes a "control center" window that shows the USB devices connected to the device server and allows you to connect and disconnect the devices to the client PC. ----- Although I haven't had a lot of road time with it so far it is working as advertised. The users of the software are happy because they are no longer concerned about the keys becoming physically damaged. ----- My only complaint might be the lack of advanced network configuration options. It works great in my basic network setup, but if I wanted to get a little more fancy (allowing remote users to access it through redirected ports in my firewall, etc) I don't see a lot of options to allow me to tweak the network settings.
 
Was this review helpful?    

This was so easy to use. I just plugged it in to my wireless router and installed the software on all 3 of my computers and each computer was able to access my external hard drive, both printers and media reader. No problems at all. I give this product 5 stars!
 
Was this review helpful?    

i am disappointed in this product as it specifically states that you should not have a vpn connection when using it which makes little sense as most people who work from home use virtual private networks. hope to see a fix here from belkin.
 
Was this review helpful?    

I was looking for a way to access my external hard disks wirelessly and the product worked perfectly!
 
Was this review helpful?    

The set up couldn't have been easier, we literally received the USB Hub the very next day after ordering it with just standard shipping. We now have 2 external hard drives and an HP 5280 printer/scanner/copier hooked up through the Hub and it works seamlessly. This is the best way to go if you have several computers wanting to share in your household.
 
Was this review helpful?    

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.
 
Was this review helpful?    

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.
 
Was this review helpful?    

I have tried sharing printers with print servers in the past and gave up because they were so unstable (Hawking and AirLink brands). I then switched to sharing printers through a desktop, which worked well most of the time, but not always, and required that the desktop always be on. I have now used the Belkin USB network hub for a week and have found it to be the best solution yet for the 4 PCs in my house. It is very stable, not having dropped a connection on any computer yet. It is slower than the other approaches because it requires that a computer connect and disconnect to the printer individually, but I think that is an acceptable trade-off for the stability. Unfortunately it does not work on Macs - major bummer for the 3 Macs in my house.
 
Was this review helpful?    

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.
 
Was this review helpful?    

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!
 
Was this review helpful?    

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.
 
Was this review helpful?    

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?
 
Was this review helpful?    

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.
 
Was this review helpful?    

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.
 
Was this review helpful?    

<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).
 
Was this review helpful?    

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!
 
Was this review helpful?    

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.
 
Was this review helpful?    

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.
 
Was this review helpful?    

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.
 
Was this review helpful?    

The included software wouldn't work with a DYMO label printer I needed access to. I searched the Belkin web site and couldn't find any software updates. Belkin support said the DYMO printer wasn't supported. While searching on GOOGLE for user posts about the unit, up came the (hidden) web page with the Version 1.4 software update. Loaded it and everything works, including the DYMO! I use the unit to access multiple printers, a scanner, and a card reader. Everything works from the laptops without needing to keep a desktop machine booted or use our old print server which needed constant rebooting. So, once updated, it does exactly what I needed.
 
Was this review helpful?    

I got this item and it was up and running in less than 5 minutes. If you are using DHCP, you only have to run the setup software from the CD and that's it! It is not really wireless and should not be advertised as such, beyond that minor issue and the speed or lack there of, I love it.
 
Was this review helpful?    

The product does everything its supposed to do, but getting it installed correctly took some time. The documentation that comes with it is very sparse. I called the support line, and the prompts to get to the product support don't route you correctly, so that was a mess. I finally figured it out using trial and error, and now it works fabulously well.
 
Was this review helpful?    

The Belkin 5-Port Network USB Hub is a simple but elegant solution if you want to network a B&W Laser and Color Printer with minimal effort. I use my laptop in my bedroom but my printers and wireless router are located together downstairs. I was able to plug in the Belkin Hub into the ethernet port on my wireless router. I loaded the Belkin Software and I was up and running in about 10 minutes. It is necessary to use the Belkin software and I have it configured for autodection. This is less convenient if you have multiple PCs/Laptops, as you will have to request permission if the device is being used by another user. This is simple and easy to use. Now I don't have to run downstairs to plug in my laptop to the printers. I plan to add my Seagate FreeAgeent Passport USB external hard drive to the network. I understand that as long as you have a separately powered external hard drive (Non-USB Powered), you won't experience any problems.
 
Was this review helpful?    

I have a wireless home network with several home computers, several printers, several USB drives. the instructions were incomplete, obviously written by someone with english as a second language. after a frustrating experience to get this dumb thing to work, I found out it did not work with more than one printer. and the USB drive access was really, really slow. Those guys need to go back to the drawing board.
 
Was this review helpful?    

This is the second one I have tried. The first one was from a locl store and constantly reported over current when anything was plugged in. I used the software from the CD and downloaded a newer version from Belkin. Neither version works with Vista. Works great under XP. Maybe it will work when Vista SP1 arrives. Belkin may be testing against that instead of the current release. Customer support, in India, is not very useful. The best they could suggest was to return it and use something else. I guess you get what you pay for when you outsource...
 
Was this review helpful?    

I bought this Belkin network USB hub last Saturday. It was a bit tricky at first but after going to the Belkin website and updating the firmware and application software everything was a breeze. Really like the product.
 
Was this review helpful?    

I have tried several network USB hubs, and this is truely the best for its class in terms of performance and it is offering 5 USB ports. However, this little device is not cheap comparatively. I have no idea why the description says its a "WIRELESS" hub, in fact it is NOT a wireless hub. I guess what it is trying to say is that you CAN plug it into a wireless router and use all the USB devices wirelessly. I connected my my printer and a external hard drive to it; and it works flawlessly so far. I cant ask for more about its performance and the stylish black design. It would be nicer if it was cheaper. Thanks buy.com for the excellent service again!
 
Was this review helpful?    

<p>I don't want to make it sound like this is a bad device because I really like it. But Belkin needs to be a bit more honest about what this device is. </p> <p>It is NOT a wireless device. It MUST be wired to a wireless router. That really didn't make a difference to me because I don't care where the device is located. But remember that any USB device you want to share (and by the way, USB devices are the only things that will plug into it, no network cabled devices except the router), this device, your USB printer, and your wireless router will all need to be located together. In my situation that makes for a lot of plugs and cables.</p> <p>It does NOT truly share devices. Only one computer can access a device at a time. Again, not a huge deal for me, because at any given time my wife and I don't need a device at the same time. If you are looking for a truly "shared" printer device, this may not be for you. When you print, you need to open the Belkin software utility, connect to the printer, print, then disconnect from the printer so it is available for other computers. Same process for other "shared" devices. You can configure it to automatically connect and disconnect before and after printing, but I've found this to not work so well (my printer tries to spool before it is connected and the print job fails). Again, I don't mind the manual process because it is quick and I don't print that much from my laptop anyway.</p> <p>One huge plus for me is that this device allows more than one computer acess to the same USB external hard drive without a dedicated computer attached to that drive (again, only one computer can use it at a time though). But that is huge for me. I can put lots of files on that drive from my laptop and my wife can access them from her laptop anytime as needed.</p> <p>Set up is extremely easy, takes less than 10 minutes to be up and running.</p> <p>Overall I'm very happy with the technical team that built this device, but dissapointed in the marketing team that put together the packaging and description. I think being more open about what the product is and is not capable of would go a long way. </p> <p>Regardless I give it a strong rating because it fits my needs well. Base your purchasing decision on your needs. If you need concurrent access to devices, this is not your solution. If you don't mind waiting every now and then while someone else is using a device (or if two people needing the device at the same time is unlikely, as in my case) this is a great product for that need.</p>
 
Was this review helpful?    

This is truly a network USB hub, not a wireless network USB hub. In order for it to be wireless, you need to connect it to a wireless router. Otherwise it is just a network usb hub when connected to a standard network router. I purchased this for our office to share a multifunction printer and scanner that wasn't designed to be network capable. However, using this hub on our network (so not connected to a wireless router) I was able to share it to the computers that needed it. I had a few inconveniences with the Brother MFC device that I connected it to as it only shares certain aspects of this device without taking ownership of it for that computer. To summarize, read the owner's manual on Belkin's website first to see if it will meet the needs that you have before purchasing and know that if you want it to be wireless it has to be physically connected to a wireless router.
 
Was this review helpful?    

Believe the hype! This little wonder is everything that Belkin and reviewers elsewhere claim and more. I set the F5L009 up this evening...connected it to power, bridged the device to my Airport Extreme router using the included short ethernet cable, and plugged my Canon Pro 9000 and MP530 printers into it via USB. IT SET ITSELF UP! It is auto-detecting if your access is dynamic (there is a short setup guide if your acess isn't dynamic), and had already recognized the printers by name and had them ready to go. I downloaded the new Macintosh software from the Belkin site and installed the client onto my iMac (Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.8 GHz)...each computer wishing to share devices in this way will need the appropriate client installed. Using the client software, the computer believes that the printers are connected directly to it. No muss-no fuss...IT JUST WORKS! How often can you say that about a product? The printers receive data and print with no slowdown I can discern. Bottom line: if you want wireless access to your printers from one or more systems anywhere you can get a wifi signal, this device is for you.
 
Was this review helpful?    

Computers > Shop by Brand > Belkin > USB Hubs

Networking > USB Hubs

Computers > Shop by Brand > Belkin > Hot Deals

Computers > Shop by Brand > Belkin > Hubs & PC Cards

Computers > Shop by Brand > Belkin > Travel Necessities

Computers > Shop by Brand > Belkin > Home Networking