D-Link DWL-650 Wireless Cardbus Adapter, 802.11b, 11Mbps Review

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(More customer reviews)If all you want to do is use your laptop on the front porch, or in an unwired office at work, this adapter may be fine. But if you were lured into wireless by the promise of high speed internet access in airports, hotels, coffee shops and such, it is virtually worthless. To connect to a network, the DWL-650 must be specifically configured to have the same SSID (identifying name) as the network. That is fine if you only connect to one network and you know its SSID. It is a nuisance if you want to connect to several networks and have to reconfigure each time. It is fatal, however, if you want to connect to a strange network and do not know the SSID. Networks that are intended to be open to the public use "broadcast SSID" to send the network ID over the airwaves. Adapters that can receive broadcast SSID can then automatically configure themselves to log on. The DWL-650 cannot do that, and there are plenty of other comparably priced adapters that can.

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A notebook computer is all about portability, so why should your network cable keep you tethered to one place? The D-Link DWL-650 PC card Type-II 11 Mbps 802.11b wireless LAN adapter, known as the D-Link Air for short, gives you back your mobility, letting you connect to your home or office wireless network from whichever desk (or couch) you happen to be at. Plus, as wireless networks continue spreading to hotels, airports, and even coffee shops, it will help you keep connected no matter how far you travel.
The DWL-650 installed easily, as a PCMCIA card should. We just ran the setup program from the included CD and plugged the card into an empty Type-II slot on our notebook PC. Windows XP immediately recognized the card and installed the drivers. Then, using the D-Link configuration utility, we configured it for our specific LAN. Once connected to the LAN, the little green LED on the end of the card stopped blinking, telling us we were good to go. The printed manual and online help gave helpful guidance on getting the card installed and connecting to our network.
As we tested our wireless setup, we reveled in the freedom the D-Link Air gave us. Using it in a two-story house, we were able to go from room to room, never losing our Internet connection. We even could go outside on the patio and browse the Web from a chaise lounge. Of course, the card worked equally well in an office environment, letting us take our notebook from the conference room to the lunchroom without losing our network connection.
In general, we found that the construction of the walls between the wireless card and the access point had as much to do with reception quality as did distance. So, for instance, if you're separated from the access point by several thick walls, reception will be much poorer than if a glass partition is all that separates you. The manufacturer suggests a range of up to 328 feet indoors and up to 984 feet outdoors, and we found that to be a decent approximation of the maximum range you can expect. The D-Link control utility has a graphical status bar that shows the wireless signal strength, so it's easy to know when you've wandered too far.
At 11 Mbps, the speed's plenty fast for most uses, like browsing the Web, accessing a file server, updating a database, etc. You can also configure it to transmit at slower speeds, depending on your network environment. The card supports both 64-bit and 128-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption, a vital feature that keeps your communications secret.
The D-Link Air will keep you well-connected whether at work, at home, or through a public WiFi (wireless fidelity) network at places like an airport or coffee shop. Since it's a PCMCIA card, it's easy to swap in and out if you need to use a wired connection in some places and wireless in others. Bottom line, if you have a notebook PC and have access to wireless capabilities, you'll love the freedom of movement this little card delivers. --Ken Feinstein
Pros:
Easy installation
Uses IEEE 802.11b standard for broad compatibility with wireless networks
Supports 64-bit and 128-bit encryption
Good range
Cons:
Not as fast as a 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet wired connection

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NETGEAR WN511T RangeMax Next Wireless-N Notebook Adapter Review

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(More customer reviews)Based on so far excellent experiences with Netgear, I obtained the router WNR854T and the access adapter WN511T. To my dismay, I was never able to get network established. Even the router itself is very troublesome, uncharacteristic for Netgear so far. But is works finally, as a wired router at least. Not so the adapter.
After I installed the software, I instantly saw our network discovered with 85% signal. Good, I thought, a piece of cake. Well, it was not. The IP address of the adapter was always 0.0.0.0 and no connection has ever been made. Strangely enough, when I changed anything on the router wireless setting, this change was instantly discovered by the card adapter WN511T and the software, and yet no channel change, with or without security setting has ever helped to establish a connection on my WinXP system.
I called support and someone with an obvious indian accent was to assist me. We have spend 1 hour 50min while basically repeating everything in the book, like changing settings, rebooting, rebooting in safe mode without firewall or virus scanner etc., etc., all such basic stuff. All to no avail. The specialist escalated the case and gave me another case number. He promised me that I would be called.
Meanwhile my right to return the product has expired and noone called me. Instead I received two emails from Netgear asking me for... satisfaction feedback, including this "escalated case"!!! I think that this outraged me most. I did not wanted hang on a phone again and so I filed an online complaint with Netgear. I received yet another case number, the 3rd to be precise. Yet another person with Indian name send me guide to establish the network. This person ignored completely my message so far, did not explained what went wrong with the "escalation," and send me again most basic hints from "page 1" in the manual. All I could do was to click "does not help" and remind them of the 1 hour 50 min spend with someone already on making basic steps.
I have also received a "critical firmware update" email for my router. I performed the upgrade in a hope for an improvement. This upgrade said that we have to upgrade the firmware for WN511T as well. So I downloaded this upgrade 1.0.0.4, or similar, but it never wanted install. I started the installation program from the CD. The installed notified me that (surprise, surprise) "critical upgrade 1.0.0.4" is available via net (I have also a wired adapter with direct net access) and asked me to use this new version instead. So I did, and it installed this time, but afterwards the adapter card has vanished from the list of devices. After some rebooting, removing and plugging in the card, it appeared once for a brief time, to vanquish for good. Device manager sees some "unknown network adapter" and fails to install drivers for it, via net or from the CD.
I could here also write an essay about Netgears wireless assistant software, let me skip this here except for a remark: It is not a mature software either.
Another email came in from Netgear support from another person, this time, wow, with English name. He assumed that we have bad interference and asked to switch off wireless phone and all other devices operating in the 2.4GHz range. We use 5GHz phones, and here in the dense populated Silicon Valley we cannot avoid interference, if the interference is the reason for the problem at all. Finally, Netgear's enthusiastic promotion claims that interference and dead spots are now history with their so great RangeMax NEXT 811N technology...
Now that I cannot return the device, I am hang with it and I am exploring my consumer rights to send it back to Netgear. I have no time to fight this immature technology. Like you and you, I am busy and I use computer to work.

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The NETGEAR WN511T RangeMax Next Wireless-N Notebook Adapter makes it easy for you to provide blazing-speed wireless internet access to your notebook computer, letting you surf the web, check email, stream music, make internet phone calls, and get a leg up on opponents when playing online games.
Easy Setup The WN511T is a PC Card and requires a Pentium 3 class PC with an available PC Card slot for installation. It supports Windows Vista and is also compatible with Windows XP and 2000 SP4. Setup is as simple as inserting the card into the slot and installing the included software. A built-in stub antenna helps you receive a strong signal for the fastest possible speeds.
Fast, Backwards Compatible, and Secure The NETGEAR WN511T uses the Wireless-N protocol (based on IEEE 802.11n draft) for speeds up to 300 Mbps and a range ten times that of 802.11g adapters. With this much speed and bandwidth, you can easily download large files, place Internet phone calls, download MP3s, stream video, and play online games -- all at the same time, without hiccups, and from farther away. You'll notice the difference immediately.
The WN511T is backwards compatible with 802.11g and 802.11b wireless networks so you'll be able to connect to any hotspot, and it improves network performance up to 50 percent when used with the older 802.11b/g networks.
You can feel secure about your information as the adapter supports Wi-Fi protected access (WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK) and 64-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption for IEEE 082.11b and IEEE 802.11g. The included software makes managing different WEP passwords a breeze as you can set up different profiles for each location you frequent, saving yourself the trouble of having to type in encryption keys each time you connect to a hotspot you've already used.
The NETGEAR WN511T RangeMax Next Wireless-N Notebook Adapter is backed by a 1-year warranty.
What's in the Box WN511T RangeMax Next Wireless-N Notebook Adapter, setup CD, warranty/support information card.

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D-Link DWL-122 802.11b 11 Mbps USB Adapter Review

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(More customer reviews)When I first bought my TiVo (about a year ago), I totally hated that fact that I had this forty foot phone cord running from my bedroom to the next room where I had to split the phone connection. After about a month of that madness, TiVo announced the launch of their new Series 2 network dial-in. So I bought this piece of equipment (the only USB to wireless internet I could find at Best Buy) and my TiVo recognized it immediately.
There has never been an issue with the device and I'm always getting at least a 60% signal, which registers as "Very Good" on my Tivo. Since TiVo announced that the Home Media Option was becoming standard on all boxes, I have never had a problem listening to music or viewing photos. I loved the setup so much that I bought a new TiVo for my sister last month and insisted that she buy the Dlink product. She has had no issue and her connection is nearly always at 90% or higher.
I couldn't see me having a TiVo until without this technology and just keep having tremendous success and no service interruptions with it. I am extremely pleased.

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The D-LINK DWL-122 - part of the D-LinkAir family of award winning wireless products - is a USB 1.1 wireless adapter capable of transfer rates up to 11 Mbps, giving you the ability to connect to a wireless network at home, at the office or any wireless hotspot. Get connected and stay connected wherever you go!Selectable 64 or 128-bit WEP encryption provides security for the data you wirelessly transmit

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D-Link DWL-7100AP Wireless Access Point w/SNMP, 802.11a/g, 108Mbps Review

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(More customer reviews)It had the latest firmware and wireless protocols installed, and the web-based configuration interface has well organized pages of setup options. The Help pages are actually helpful. As with any networking device it is good to be a little familiar with TCP/IP so you can handle minor annoyances like giving your computer a temporary static IP address in the same subnet range as the DWL-7100AP so you can communicate with it during configuration (This is explained in the manual). Afterwards, I was able to change my computer back to dynamic IP addressing, and still access the configuration pages of the DWL-7100AP. It will work just fine right out of the box with default settings, but as with any wireless access point, better security can be had by creating your own SSID name, disabling broadcast of the SSID, changing the default user ID and password, using MAC filtering so that only your computers will be accepted by the access point, and enabling data encryption. The DWL-7100AP allows you to use two kinds of WPA encryption, which is much more secure than WEP. I highly recommend this product and it's well-written manual. Some users report having their connection dropped frequently. I found that interference from 2.4 Gigahertz portable telephones in my house was the culprit for dropped connections on the 802.11g band, which is in the same frequency band as the phones. Since I switched to the 802.11a band (5 Gigahertz) I very seldom have dropped connections from the DWL-7100AP.

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D-Link, the networking industry leader, delivers another innovative and versatile solution in wireless connectivity with the D-Link AirPremierTM DWL-7100AP Wireless Access Point. This dual-band (2.4GHz, 5GHz), tri-mode (802.11a, b, g) Access Point provides the most bandwidth coverage available in an AP. Multiple wireless clients can connect to the DWL-7100AP using both A and G wireless standards and any of its 11 non-overlapping channels to transfer data at speeds of up to 108 Mbps. Network Administrators can easily integrate various wireless managements with the DWL-7100AP Wireless Distribution System (WDS), offering modes in AP, Point-to-Point Bridge, Point-to-Multipoint Bridges, AP Client, and Repeater, allowing users to gain controls beyond a sole AP.

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Buffalo Wireless-G MIMO Performance Notebook Adapter WLI-CB-G54HP Review

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(More customer reviews)This card is amazing. By using this card instead of a Cisco, Proxim, or my built-in Atheros chipset, I can get nearly twice the data rate and this is when using a standard 802.11g access point (Linksys WAP54G). Definitely the best wireless client card that I've come across for my network and I've also tested it in a dozen or so other environments while writing the Official Study Guide for the Wireless# certification from McGraw-Hill. Buy it here and return it if I'm wrong, but you won't be sending this one back.
If you get it and have a hard time getting it to work, contact me through my website at http://www.sysedco.com. When I write a rave review like this, I'll back it up by helping you get it up and running! Awesome device!

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AIRSTATION 125MBPS HIGH SPEED PC CARD W/ AOSS

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D-Link DWL-G650 Wireless Cardbus Adapter, 802.11g, 108Mbps Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this card with a D-Link DI-624 router/WAP; as a pair, they perform flawlessly, and offer the advertised performance, which is on-par with wired Ethernet.
Compatibility of this card with other access points was good in my testing. It connected just fine to all the WAPs I normally use (all of which are B protocol), and offered the expected performance.
The only complaint I have is that I attempted to install the card using the latest drivers from D-Link, downloaded from their web site. Despite carefully matching the hardware revision of my card with the offered download, my attempts to use the card failed. The drivers installed fine, but it would not "sniff" any wireless networks (there were two within range), including one a few feet away.
After uninstalling the downloaded drivers, and using the earlier version supplied on CD with the card, it fired-up just fine, and operated perfectly.
Unfortunately, this is something I've encountered before with D-Link products, both with device drivers (as for this card) and with firmware updates for various D-Link products I've owned. It's not always the best advice to stay fully current on updates, as they occasionally introduce anomalies. If you're technically inclined, this is a minor annoyance that can be dealt with using a combination of patience and judicious back-ups. Average users may not have as much tolerance for this as I do.
With the installation stabilized, I find myself quite satisfied with the DWL-G650, and definitely recommend it -- though less technical users should stick to the drivers on the packaged CD.

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The D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G DWL-G650 Cardbus Adapter is a wireless cardbus capable of transfer rates up to 108Mbps and features the latest technology to protect wireless communications. The DWL-G650 also works with 802.11b-compliant devices and when used with other D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G products delivers throughput speeds capable of handling heavy data payloads including real-time MPEG video streaming. The D-Link AirPlus DWL-G650 also includes a configuration utility to discover available wireless networks and create and save detailed connectivity profiles for those networks most often accessed.

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