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There is a lot that can be said about DSL routers that allow you to
surf the internet while you are out in the garden so can Belkin's N1
Wireless Modem Router allow you to watch HD video at the bottom of the vegetable patch?
The box fitted nicely upon our test shelf and didn't spoil the look of our living room. Instead of some meaningless LED lights you have blue icons giving you the the status of the unit.
Setting up the device was really easy, as long as you have the connection settings. These can be entered manually or using the provided set-up CD, which takes you through a step-by-step guide (although this appears to be for the PC only - Mac users are on your own!)
The N1 uses the 802.11n draft specs (hopefully it will allow a firmware upgrade to the N standard when ratified). This should give users up to 300Mbps for throughput which hopefully should be good enough to stream HD video. If wireless is not your thing (and we have to ask why?) there are 4 wired Ethernet ports on the back to connect to your computer, or indeed a printer of network attached hard drive.
{mospagebreak}We managed to get the device up and running without too much trouble and worked well with our Windows-based laptop and our iMac. To make sure that the router gave us the range we so craved, we took our laptop outside. It performed very well on the decking just outside and we still managed to get a signal when we went down to the bottom of the garden (although the bottom of our garden smells a bit - the Absolute Gadget cat likes to use it as a toilet).
While the box doesn't have Gigabit Ethernet, we feel we can forgive Belkin as the router delivers so much in other respects. The unit impresses and has just about everything you could want in a professional looking package. The performance (both speed and range) should make this unit one to put on the Christmas list.
Rating: 8/10
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