In Brief

We've looked at lots of travel routers in the last year, from Apple's data-and-iTunes- routing AirPort Express to combination router/access point/adapter models from Linksys, D-Link, and Netgear. Even a unique combo dialup/broadband router from Always On Wireless. While they all perform the same basic task of unwiring your hotel or conference room on the road, they vary in form factor, price, and wireless features.

So where does the new Belkin F5D7233 Travel Router fit in? At $59.99, it's among the lowest-priced 801.11b/g travel routers, and at at 1.6 ounces, it's also one of the smallest and lightest. Even when packed in the included semi-hard case with cables and power supply, it's small enough to fit in a pocket of your laptop bag. Functionality and form-wise, it's almost exactly like the D-Link, with a three-position switch that changes operating modes from router to access point to adapter. Both the D-Link and Belkin have a handy USB cable that can be used to power the device from your laptop instead of using the external power supply. We suspect they are based on the same reference design. However, Belkin does a superior job in the user interface department, with a great Windows setup utility that walks you through each mode, and a complete printed reference manual.

In Depth

The Belkin F5D7233 truly fits in the palm of your hand, at just 3.2-by-2.4 inches. The front has three LED indicators, while the rear has power and Ethernet ports, plus the mode switch.

To get started in either router or access point mode, you put the switch in the appropriate position, plug the device into your broadband Ethernet source, and connect your laptop to the "Belkin Traveler" SSID. That may be all you need to do to get connected to the Internet, but if needed, you can fire up the setup utility to make parameter changes. Once connected, you won't need to fiddle with settings again unless you want to use a different mode, or your broadband connection parameters change (such as when moving from a DHCP connection to a static IP address). While Belkin only provides a Windows setup utility for the Travel Router, you can also use it with Mac and Linux via the Web-based utility, just like with a full-size router. In this case, you won't get the guided setup, but the reference manual (printed!!) is clear and easy to follow.

The Web utility is also the place to manage advanced parameters like the SPI firewall, Wi-Fi encryption, virtual servers, port forwarding, MAC address cloning, DMZ mode, etc. The Belkin has a full complement of support for Wi-Fi encryption protocols, including WPA-PSK and the latest WPA2 standard, and also features VPN passthrough for connection to corporate networks. In adapter mode, WPA Radius servers are also supported.

In access point mode, the firewall is turned off, and you can plug it into any wired network that already has a router to unwire a room. This will be your likely choice in most hotel rooms, and the manual carefully warns you to connect in a certain order to avoid being charged twice (some hotels charge based on the MAC address of the device connecting, and your laptop and the travel router have two different MAC addresses).

We're not sure when we would use the adapter mode, since most laptops have built-in Wi-Fi these days, but if you have an older 802.11b card, it can be handy to have a faster 802.11g adapter for connection at hotspots. To use the F5D7233 with the switch in adapter mode, you plug it into your Ethernet port and a power source, which can be your laptop's USB port or a wall plug. You then open the setup or Web utility, and choose the SSID you want to associate with. Connections aren't automatic, as with built-in Wi-Fi, but it works.

Performance and range are on the low side of basic 802.11g routers, but standard for the travel router class. You won't be able to use this for whole house coverage, but it will extend for a couple rooms, at least. The relatively limited range is actually a plus in a hotel room, since you don't want neighbors and passersby to snoop on your network. (You DID turn on encryption, didn't you?)

The only features that could make it better would be dual Ethernet ports (so you can plug in both broadband source and laptop or network switch at the same time), and the ability to share a single hotspot connection. The Linksys Travel Router has both of these, but is a lot more expensive, and most people don't need them. Overall, the Belkin F5D7233 Travel Router is a great combination of price, features, and compact size.