no cd, forget your n600

Why would you want (or need?) a CD? It should be pretty simple to find out its default IP address, and from there access is quite straightforward, no?

Go to Netgear and find your model and download the installation manual and firmware upgrades etc. I do not what model you have the following takes me to one of mine.

bob wrote:

I'll assume it was a Belkin product. N600 is not the model number. It's a marketing gimick designed to make it easy for you to compare features found in similar products from other vendors.

The real model number is something like Belkin F9L1101 v2 which you should find on the serial number label in microscopic fine, low contrast grey on black print. Have your magnifier and microscope handy. Use that number to search the Belkin site for your driver download. In case you don't find the instructions, you install the driver first, and then insert the USB dongle when the installation program asks for it.

Also, a missing CD usually indicates that the box is a customer return that has been resealed and resold. Missing parts and pieces are common. Consider yourself fortunate that it even had the USB dongle in the box, as proving that it was missing is very difficult.

No. With USB wireless, a driver is required before Windoze will recognize the device. Windoze has a large collection of built in and downloadable drivers for various USB devices, but is somewhat lacking in the USB wireless area, especially with the latest dual band chipsets. USB wireless is plug-n-play only after the driver is installed.

However, in this day of customer tested products, it's highly likely that whatever is in the box is out of date on arrival. I always look for updated drivers on the vendors web pile before installing and rarely use the included CD. For customers, I burn a CD with the driver and throw it into the box, so that an install on a different machine is needed later, they'll use the latest instead of the outdated original driver.

The OP didn't provide much useful information, so I filled in the blanks and assumed he was referring to a router. OTOH, you've surmised that he's referring to a USB device. You may very well be right, but I'd have to go back and read it again to see.

Agreed. If he's talking about a USB wireless device, he'll likely need a driver to get going.