Networking Reviews

This is a strange one. On MacOSX 10.2.8, it works fine with the DSL modem at 10M, but is a disaster with the school network at 100M. And by disaster, I mean: Kernel Panics. It's the kind of crash where everything stops, the screen dims, and you get the "you must restart your macintosh" in four languages. To address this, I did the following: 1) re-installed the driver (1.1.3); 2) re-installed OSX 10.2.8; 3) re-installed OSX 10.2.8 without preserving user or internet settings; 4) erased my MacOSX partition and re-installed everything from scratch. Still, I get kernel panics within 10 minutes of going online at 100M, and at no other time (even with the card used for 10M dsl; even when card is plugged in but not attached). Note: user reviews of d-link's USB wi-fi dongle for MacOSX record a similar problem.

Until this problem is corrected, I strongly recommend against use of this card for MacOSX 10.2.8 installations.

Within 15 minutes of receiving this card I had my local area network up and running between two computers. Admittedly, I was looking to do something very simple: two computers, side by side, connected with an RJ45 cable (not included with the card). The drivers included on the CD-ROM work fine with Windows 98. My only complaints are that the card sticks out of the PCMCIA slot about an inch and that if you remove the card and reinsert it the card needs to reinstall (a simple process). I bought this card as a cheap test to see if I could set up a simple network before trying to tackle a wireless network. I am so satisfied that I will probably buy D-Link wireless hardware.

built-in connector avoids the need for a dongle. if you have a cable connector for your ethernet it will not connect to this device. this device is only for RJ-45 type connectors.

This adapter does not work with Windows Me. Although it appears to have all the features you want at a really nice price, the D-link card is not a good value. In comparison to a premium card, such as Xircom or 3Com, the D-Link card uses 5 volts instead of 3.3 volts, which drains a portable PC's battery much faster. Also, the D-Link card does not have cell phone hookups or a global modem, which limits its use even further. Finally, the company's web site has sparse technical data and the phone technical support department operates on a 'call-back' system that very rarely returns calls.

I bought this card for use with a Mitac laptop, I chose this one because the prize was among the better compared to xircom and others and because it doesn't use dongles which the majority of those laptop cards did, back in 2000. I have used Win 95, 98 and Me with it and it works allright. The biggest problem using Me is the fact that it sucks up 50 % of RAM, but I don't recall any troubles with the card and Me..

After owning two PCMCIA cards that broke at the dongle cable, I decided to try D-Link's dongleless PCMCIA DMF-560TXD. This was the wise choice to make because now I don't have to worry about the coupler breaking and having to replace it again. A new dongle cable costs as much as a new PCMCIA, so it's not worth having. The DMF-560TXD has plug-n-play for automatic installation, and it comes with lifetime warranty so I don't have to worry about ever buying another PCMCIA. D-Link's DMF-560TXD is great!

My problems with this unit started before I ever even got to its wireless aspect. I plugged it into my Linksys switch, and the link lights on both the 700AP and the switch would come on for a couple of seconds, then go off for a few seconds, endlessly. This switch is working fine with several other devices -- how is it possible that D-Link could make something that can't even communicate over Ethernet? I tried various cables, uplink vs standard port, etc., to no avail. I pulled an old hub out of the closet, and put it between my switch and the AP, and the AP had a stable LAN connection.

Next I popped the D-Link DWL-650 PCMCIA card into my laptop. No problems with driver or software installation. After the required second reboot of Win98SE, the D-Link utility software could see the AP -- but didn't show its SSID, as expected, since I had disabled SSID broadcast on the AP. However, the 650 couldn't connect to the AP even after being provided the correct SSID. It just silently failed, with no error message.

I reset the AP to factory defaults, and the 650 could connect to it just fine. As soon as I disabled SSID broadcast, it was all over. Even after re-enabling SSID broadcast on the AP, the 650 could not connect. It appears to only operate at factory defaults.

I contacted tech support, which was a joke. The Level 1 techs couldn't offer anything other than "reboot your computer and power cycle the AP." The Level 2 tech told me to reset to factory defaults, which of course works, but leaves the AP insecure.

I gave up and put it all back in the box and returned it.

All I care about is using my built in wireless in my laptop. I wanted something that was secure enough to keep out wardrivers driving by my home but was easy to use and not expensive.

This wireless access point is it. D-Link didn't skimp on the quality either. My friend has one of their more expensive acess points and it is built the same, just without the extra speed boost that 11b+ has. I only have an 802.11b card built in my laptop so I didn't need the extra speed, and again I didn't want to spend the money.

Setup was easy thanks to the setup wizard, WEP didn't cause any problems, and the connection is reliable. I like being able to boot up my laptop and it connects to my network automatically from anywhere in my home.

This access point fits nicely on my desk and provides a great coverage area in my home. The price is right, the company is reputable, and I end up victorious over my network. I can now wonder around the house with my laptop and still have an Internet connection thanks to my built in wireless in my laptop and this D-Link device.

First of all, this product is mislabelled. It is not a "bridge". Secondly, as a computer professional I generally can get these things to work, this was an exception. The network was to be set up with my dual-band DI-784 router (does A, B, and G). The 810 would not connect to the router with security features on. In addition, when you upgrade to the 2.12 firmware, the option to manually enter the Access Point MAC address disappears, which forces you to use broadcast SSID. Nice upgrade in functionality huh? Not that it mattered, because even with all security off and broadcast SSID on, with half the data rate specified, this thing caused my router to REBOOT. Yes. The "bridge" sent a packet, and the router power crashed. All interfaces went down, and the whole thing rebooted. Dlink tier 2 support couldn't figure it out, and escalated to tier 3. I didn't feel like waiting another day for the tier 3 folks to be in the office, so I gave up and returned it. Unless you're interested in debugging this thing, be very wary of it. This may be specific to interaction with my model of router hardware, but the 810 appeared to be at fault as other wireless devices have performed without issue on the same router. Steer clear of this, buy a real Access Point and switch it to client mode, so at least you have full functionality. This device DOES NOT support WPA, so you'll have to downgrade your network security to use it.

At the time of purchase I was a little sceptical about how much I was paying and if it would work alright with my gaming consoles. I was plesently suprised to see that it was almost effortless to set up and it worked right away. I switch this between my XBOX and my PS2 when I want to play online and it works great for both. My consoles are in a completely seperate room than my router and cable modem, but thanks to wireless technology this has been working great.

I am very pleased and like showing it off to all my friends to make them jealous.

I've had my wireless network setup for about a month now and installing this wireless gridge on my xbox was no sweat. I basically plugged in the power to this bridge, plug in a Cat5 into the back connected to my computer and I configured this to connect to my network, and I was done. Then I transported this bridge to my xbox and plugged it in and I was done. I was up and playing Halo online in the next 5 minutes. It has been working flawlessly for the past couple weeks.

Bought this to use my brand new Panasonic shoebox cassette player/recorder ... in my car, since new cars now have CD players, not cassette players.
Caused the cassette player to operate with a loud hum, which it does NOT do when played with batteries or regular AC house current. Was this one just defective, or are they all that way? ...

I purchased this inverter to use on my Toshiba laptop for my vehicle. It works wonderfully. I have no humming noise from it.

Note - the problem the other user had, wasn't due to the Inverter!! Many cars have ground faults which become apparent when you have connections running from the power system (cigarette lighter) to the radio - without getting into the weeds, he (and you) would hear this hum regardless of what brand inverter you used. Radioshack makes a special filter which would cure this, but not every car needs it (it's due to a wiring issue).

This product proved to be extremely unstable with my two Compaq computers, both running Windows 98 SE. My PCs would inevitably freeze at some point after I attempted to share files. Called and emailed tech support, who were neither savvy nor even courteous after their initial fix ideas didn't work. If you really want to try a USB networking product, try 3COM or Intel.

This product works very nicely in all aspects of computerNetworking. You can do simple file transfers, play games,etc... If you have a Network Interface card installed on your PC, you run into some minor problems. If you don't, it's the best thing you can get to have two computers Networked.

Be aware that there is a patch that you must download, from the manufacturer's Web Site. It's a small file, which is self extracting and inserts the updates to the right place on its own...

I connected my desktop computer to my laptop computer within 10 minutes (including setting up the software on both computers). I was able to transfer files and access programs on either computer without ANY problems. My only complaint (and I believe it has more to do with Microsoft Networking, not USBnet) is that I now have a sign-on dialog I have to go through (User Name, Password) on both computers. Great product, fast connection, and it lets me share my SCSI-based Zip drive & scanner with my notebook computer!

I have used this switch on a daily basis in excess of 6 months. It was inexpensive and worked great when I plugged it in. After about 4 months I started to have problems connecting thru the switch. At roughly the 6 month stage the switch would stop working entirely after about 10 minutes. After noticing that the case was getting warm to the touch, I pulled the card from the case and positioned it in front of an exhaust fan on my work bench. Within a few seconds it had re-established a network connection and has been working since. Obviously the chip has an overheating problem. I could not recommend this card to the average user who needed long term reliability. Spend a little more, get a switch you can rely on.

You get exactly what is advertised... Since I've installed it in my network the only difference I've found is that I have more ports, which is exactly how a switch should work. This is the second thing I've purchased by Hawking Technology. I hadn't heard of them before, but am very pleased with their products and quality.

This is a "supplementary" switch I'm using to link a couple of *ancient* machines in the attic to the house network. I wanted them to be hooked up, but I didn't think they warranted the expense of a Linksys switch.

And there was Hawking, looking kind of like a poor relation next to the others. It certainly isn't as physically "attractive" as other hardware, and doesn't carry a "prestigious" brand name, but the price convinced me I had nothing to lose by giving it a try.

Setup was simple, as with most any simple network switch: unpack, plug in power, plug in network cables. Up and running in about three minutes. No problems so far, and it seems to be as good a performer as its more beautiful and famous cousins. It seems solidly constructed, and each port has its own yellow/green status LED to indicate connection speed.

So, if you're looking for an inexpensive 10/100 switch, and you can convince yourself that "beauty is only skin deep," I recommend you give the Hawking a try.

The 1Mb/s transfer rate over POTS (phone line) is a little slow, and internet sharing crawls. The built-in ethernet port is nice, if you can run the cables.

I networked three PCs using the Homelink Phoneline system. It took forever to get it working, because the documentation is very incomplete, but now that it's working, it's wonderful. My daughter attends an online academy and I teach online and we can both work at the same time without a problem. janet

Installed the Linksys HomeLink PhoneLine Network Cards on Win 95 and XP operating systems with the Linksys HomeLink Phoneline 10M cable/dsl router. The phoneline NIC's work great, easy to setup, and not a single problem with them. If you have a Linksys HomeLink Phoneline 10M cable/dsl router, this is the NIC to get for it.

I got a 7-port hub about the same time a friend of mine got the 4-port hub by Entrega, so I know it's highly unlikely that I just got a dud, as a friend of mine also has problems w/ her hub.

I'm constantly having to jiggle the plugs before the LEDs will come on and even without any movement of any cable or jarring of the desk, the connection will suddenly go unstable again. I'm not sure if the craze w/ all the (albeit cool) clear plastic has made some of the components less than sturdy or what.

I recently got a Compaq beige hub for my Macintosh G4 at home and it works like a charm. The Entrega USB hubs are just plain buggy. I am not pleased w/ the inconsistent connections and what seem to be half-baked, flimsy ports on the back.

Entrega was bought out by Xircon back in September of 1999, I'm not sure if newer models of Entrega branded hubs are as flimsy as they obviously were before the new ownership, but I can tell you, the one I own and the one my friend has are poorly constructed. In fairness to the new company Xircon, I have never owned a product bearing their label, and I don't know if new products by the parent company have been improved upon. Caveat Emptor.

This product was very easy to install into the computer and works great. If you need it, GET IT! It is very helpful

How can i install the Entrega HUB-7u, in a Windows XP Operation System?
It's possible ?

I purchased this router specifically for the Time of Day content filtering. When it arrived I could not find how to set it up or even set the system time. When I contacted Hawking's tech support they said it does not have taht feature even though it is listed on their own web site and in the data sheet I downloaded from them. The data sheet also says the package contains a CD. It does not. I wonder what other features it does not have in reality.

Used to have a Linksys, but the wife could never use it to VPN into work, always had to connect straight to the cable modem, leaving me without net access. Lots of complaints on the net for this exact problem - seems to be an MTU size problem. Threw it away and bought the Hawkings and we are both so very happy now! The wife no longer has her Windows XP machine straight on the internet, we can both be online at the same time.

There is a problem with using the web interface for management of the unit: can not use Safari; can not upgrade the firmware with IE. Have to use OmniWeb to complete the upgrade (at least for Mac OS X, don't know what to expect on a Windows machine).

One feature that the Linksys had that I would like is the logging of incoming and outgoing traffic, showing which ports and addresses are being used.

The logging feature on this one that I really like is that I can see when there is a port scan attack against me.

The unit is much smaller than the Linksys, great for a small desktop.

Hawking does it again. SBC finally updated our area for DSL availability, so I ordered their service. I wanted a router/firewall to protect my home network. After looking at units, such as SonicWall, I settled on something that I could actually afford - the Hawking PN9239 DSL Router.

This router has similar features of other, costlier ones. It has switch-selectable support for dsl or cable service. It has built-in web-enabled set-up that allows quick and easy set-up. The service I use employs PPPoE and the Hawking unit was up and operational after entering the account name and password information for the account. Static and dynamic IP addresses are supported and the unit can serve as a DHCP server if needed.

I am very impressed with the quality and ease of set-up and operation of this router, as well as the affordability of the unit. I have never been disappointed in any of the Hawking products I have used.