Acquisitions - Additional Information (Details) - USD ($)					3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Jan. 07, 2016	Jan. 02, 2015	Dec. 31, 2017	Oct. 01, 2017	Jul. 02, 2017	Apr. 02, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Oct. 02, 2016	Jul. 03, 2016	Apr. 03, 2016	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Revenues					$ 604,884,000	$ 621,745,000	$ 610,633,000	$ 551,381,000	$ 612,435,000	$ 601,109,000	$ 601,631,000	$ 541,497,000	$ 2,388,643,000	$ 2,356,672,000	$ 2,309,222,000
Loss before taxes													99,348,000	126,461,000	39,940,000
Amortization of intangible assets													103,997,000	98,385,000	103,791,000
Thinklogical Holdings LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of outstanding shares acquired	100.00%
Acquisition price	$ 171,300,000
Fair value of acquired receivables	$ 4,400,000
Goodwill acquired					$ 44,000,000								$ 44,000,000
Goodwill, expected tax deductible amount period													15 years
Revenues													$ 30,800,000
Loss before taxes													8,900,000
Amortization of intangible assets													11,900,000
Net income attributable to Belden common stockholders													60,690,000	113,014,000
M2 FX Limited [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of outstanding shares acquired			100.00%
Acquisition price			$ 19,000,000
Estimated earn-out consideration		$ 0	$ 3,200,000										3,200,000
Benefit included in selling, general, and administrative expense														3,200,000
Tripwire [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of outstanding shares acquired				100.00%
Acquisition price				$ 703,200,000
Fair value of acquired receivables				37,800,000
Amortization of intangible assets															43,200,000
Net income attributable to Belden common stockholders															92,104,000
Acquired receivable, gross contractual amount				38,000,000
Post acquisition revenues															116,600,000
Post acquisition income (loss) from continuing operations															47,800,000
Impact on reported revenue due to reduction of acquired deferred revenue balance to fair value															50,400,000
Compensation expense														9,200,000	$ 9,200,000
Tripwire [Member] | Pro Forma [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amortization of intangible assets																$ 3,000,000
Compensation expense																$ 9,200,000
Tripwire [Member] | Revolving Credit Agreement Mature 2018 [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Revolving credit agreement due 2022				$ 200,000,000
Fair Value Adjustment to Inventory [Member] | Thinklogical Holdings LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Net income attributable to Belden common stockholders													$ (6,100,000)	6,100,000
Amortization Of Sales Backlog Intangible Asset [Member] | Thinklogical Holdings LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Net income attributable to Belden common stockholders														$ 1,400,000