Belkin's new Surf, Share and Play routers with apps preview review

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Posted on 24 Mar 2010 at 11:03

Belkin has launched a new range of routers whose main aim is to make it easier for users to get online, share files, print across a network and connect their multimedia gadgets. We saw the four new models: Surf, Share, Play and Play Max at Belkin's UK launch in Central London yesterday.

They're the first routers to embrace the concept of apps, with each model coming with ever more utilities. Some apps run on the router, while others need to be installed on your PC or Mac. Apps include Memory Safe for backing up photos and files to a USB hard disk, Print Genie for printing to a USB-connected printer, Music Mover for playing music through an audio streaming device like an Xbox 360, Daily DJ for custom playlists based on your mood and Torrent Genie for downloading files when your computer isn't on.

None of these capabilities are particularly groundbreaking - many routers and NAS devices already have them - but Belkin claims that they make it far simpler for novices to get these jobs done.

Rather than bombarding people with specifications and jargon, the new routers' packaging is very task focused. The Surf router is the cheapest at £50 (the ADSL version of it costs £70) and comes with the Self-Healing app. Belkin says this can detect and resolve network problems before you even know they exist, and gives you easy-to-understand error messages when problems can't be fixed such as "There is a problem with your internet connection. Please contact your service provider." and "The telephone cable has been unplugged from the rear of your router. Please reconnect it". Although an 802.11n router, Surf is rated at 150Mbit/s rather than 300Mbit/s, and it operates only on 2.4GHz.

All models have pre-set wireless security so there's no need to connect an Ethernet cable to configure WiFi first. The cables are also connected to the routers in their boxes to make it faster and simpler to get online.

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