In what appeared to be a tacit confirmation of the story, that repudiated the employee's action, described them as an "isolated incident," and said the company was working to identify and eliminate any bogus reviews that may have resulted.

. But my question is, did Belkin really need to pay for positive reviews? Are its products so unworthy that without fake endorsements, few people would buy them? As someone who has written and edited PC World articles and reviews about a wide variety of Belkin products over the years, I knew the answer right away: No.

This isn't to say that Belkin is the Rolls-Royce of tech companies. (I'm not sure such a company even exists these days.) Historically, it's been a purveyor of fairly inexpensive , as well as other electronics. In more recent years, Belkin has also acquired a reputation for its lines of what's euphemistically called "value" (read "cheap") home networking gear. So in terms of reputation we're talking more Ford Focus than luxury limo.

But while Belkin rarely stars in roundup reviews where its products were pitted against similar ones from competitors, it rarely tanks. Last year, for example, we rated its low-end (two-antenna) draft-802.11n router () as "good," describing its design, usability, features, and customer service as "stellar." Its PCW rating of 73 primarily reflected its entry-level specifications in a with advanced features, and it trounced the only other entry-level unit, a model that scored 61.

Looking back even further, Belkin was the first company to market products using the MIMO antenna technology that underlies the current generation of Wi-Fi gear. (which used proprietary technology from Airgo Networks, since absorbed by Qualcomm) and came away highly impressed.