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D-Link DWL-G520 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps

D-Link DWL-G520 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps

List Price: $89.99
Your Price: $49.39
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Strong signal even behind the PC.
Review: I was surprised to get a good strong signal from my DI-624 2 rooms down the hall on my desktop in the office room because the antenna just sits behind the PC. But I was wrong. I was hoping I would be wrong, but made sure I could return the card if it didn't work out for me.

I am mainly glad I don't have to drill holes in my walls to run cable from one room to the other. Now I am all networked up for a fairly low price. The best part about a wireless network is that when you move you don't have to wrap up cable, or worry about where is the best place to drill new holes, or drop a line from the attic, etc. I am very pleased and hope this lasts for a good long time.

Oh and don't foget to get the newest firmware. It helps. In fact for all networking products, check the website for a new firmware or driver before you install what in on the disk in the box. It isn't mandatory, but it will just eliminate some time.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Plugged it in ... Next thing I know I am Connected.
Review: Install the drivers, shut down, plug it in, boot back up and Windows knows right where the drivers are. Then suddenly it's installed and I am connected to my router. After being connected I went in and configures WEP to work and all those fancy things.

I like this card and was surprised at how easily and quickly I was connected with a nice strong signal. My desktop is upstairs, but the wireless access point is downstairs. This card still gets a good signal.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great card ...
Review: Its an excellent card and working fine if you know how to configure the it. And as always Dlink is an excellent producer of network hardware did not disapoint me this time as well.

Card works great on the Linux 2.6.8 kernel with the MadWifi driver.
Works good with FreeBSD -current as well.
(thats for the Bozos in the review section who are on Windows XP; blame the windows XP for the problem NOT the card, and look at those who have written the driver not at the card manufacturers..)

easy control with wicontrol and configuration.

Excellent card.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Terrific speeds...but very difficult installation.
Review: Like others, I purchased this card to work with the DI-624 router which had stellar reviews for wireless throughput. The installation of the DI-624 was simple, but installing the DWL-G520 was very difficult.

Almost immediately after installing the drivers and rebooting, my computer began locking up. Since I was installing the card into an older machine, I began to think that maybe it was my computer that was the problem. After hours of reformatting, swapping hard drives, switching and reinstalling operating systems, I finally checked online for a solution. And apparently, many others have had similar experiences to mine (even those with newer faster performance XP systems). It seems that this card does not work well with sound cards and/or AMD systems and/or other PCI devices. I finally got it working after disabling my sound devices.

And I was impressed with the wireless throughput. My landline gets 2750 kbps download and 350 kbps upload. With the wireless connection, I was getting an amazing 2650/333 kbps at 70% signal (on the next floor up through 2 walls with the door closed - apprx 40 feet). It annoys me that I can't enable my sound card, and I'm still debating whether to keep this silent setup with terrific speeds or perhaps going with another card.

I do not recommend this card for the novice computer user. Only buy this card if you're comfortable playing around with your system setup.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Doesn't work well with Windows 98 SE
Review: My Dell Dimension XPS 400 Windows 98 SE has the Linksys WMP54GS card in it and it works perfectly. (The first time I installed it!) This computer has a modem and didn't have a wired ethernet card.

After trying the D-Link DWL-G520 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps card, which worked only once (after disabling the Dial Up modem) the Linksys card was the only card that the computer recognized, didn't freeze up during boot, and that connected to the wireless router the first time.

With the WMP54GS, the dial up modem is still installed and enabled.

I didn't have such good luck with my Compaq Deskpro P500 Windows 98 SE computer.

This card stopped the computer during boot up, even before the screen shows the memory test. Something very serious happened during the bootup sequence that locked up the machine.

It appears that older computers, especially Compaq, have unique charateristics that preclude using newer cards (read: cards with higher speeds). It might be in the BIOS that recognizes cards, it might be bus speed, it might be the use of PCI connector pins, it might be the operating system, it might be the incompatibility with the cards driver. I don't feel compelled to diagnose what is wrong.

After 3 weekends trying to get the D-Link DWL-G520 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps card to work in the Compaq, I bought and simply tried several major brand cards (Linksys, D-Link, Netgear) for 54 Mbs and 11 Mbs until I found one that worked. That card was the Linksys WMP11. It works perfectly. (The rest are being returned - sorry about that AMAZON.)

An installation quirk: In the Compaq, using the Linksys WMP11, I had a strong signal, and it reported it was connected to the Internet. but my computer couldn't connect to the internet.

I determined that the wired Ethernet adapter in the Compaq was causing a problem, and capturing during bootup the TCP/IP connection before the wireless modem had a chance.

The way I checked what was connected to TCP/IP in your computer is to RUN winipcfg and see what is in the dropdown box. If the WMP54GS or WMP11 (or whatever wireless card you installed) description isn't there, then the computer can't use it to connect to the internet.

The dial up modem is still installed and enabled in both computers. That did not stop the WMP11 in the Compaq or the WMP54GS in the Dell from working.

HINT: The wired Ethernet adapter is no longer in the Compaq. I am saving it though because that wired adapter is the one I used to connect via hardwire to Comcast, and it has the MAC address that I cloned into the Linksys router. I'll reinstall it and connect it to the router if I need to re-do the setup for the modem to the Comcast internet connection.

Looking back, it appears that the newer wireless lan cards are throughly tested on Windows XP and Windows 2000 computers (the install is usually much easier according to my wealthier friends) and minimally tested on Windows 98 SE and Windows ME computers.

Linksys apparently spent the time debugging the drivers and the resident modules on Windows 98 SE so it knows how to handle an existing dial up modem.

D-Link apparently didn't. For the D-Link DWL-G520 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps card(the only high speed card for which both computers booted up successfully at least once) I had to disable the modem (entry in network and modem in My Computer - Devices)to get it work at all, albeit fitfully and ultimately not sufficiently to serve its intended purpose.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Works great once AOL was gone
Review: My friend and I set up the wireless connection between our 2 homes. He has the DI-624 and I have the DWL-G520. At first it didn't work at all on my DELL running XP home. My other friend came over with his lap top using an other card, typed in the key and he was surfing at a fast speed. That let me know the DI-624 was working. So I did everything to get it to work, called D-Link support (and yes they suck), down loaded patches, and even upgraded to XP Pro and nothing helped. SO then I desided to uninstal AOL, and then the magic happened. After it worked I've been very happy with it. I'm a good 30 yards from the router in a different house and I get 30% to 40% signal. Thus if yours isn't work check the other software running on your machine such as AOL or firewalls.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wireless isn't easy, no matter whose card you buy
Review: OK. This card would get a 5 star rating, but for the fact that no card/wireless system deserves it. First, every company designs their own products only to work with their own company's proprietary devices -- This, in spite of their all using the same IEEE 802.11 configuration standards. VERY annoying. But, OK, every company wants you to buy EVERYTHING just in their brand. Secondly, to set up a wireless network takes more than just plug and play skill -- There are basics that the consumer just has to know when setting up, and then INEVITABLY troubleshooting when the network goes down. (All networks go down from time to time, no matter who supplies the hardware). So, then, what about D-Link? The signal is strong, travels well through insulated, and sound-proofed walls, communicates very well with the 624 router and affords extremely fast data transfer rates. I am VERY happy with D-Link; it has lived up to its other consumer reviews, as found in PC Magazine, and other sources. Just read carefully BEFORE installing, just as you will have to do before installing ANY wireless network system.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: 50% of population have freezing problem with DWL-G520
Review: Ok... let's face it. I've read a ton of forums (because DLink knowledge base suck, and offer almost no support). My conclusion is that 50% of people who bought this card have their computer freezing each 5-60 seconds for no reasons while their computer was working at lightning speed before installing that card. The other 50% say that it's a very good card.

So it mean that if you buy it, 50% of chances that you just thrown out your money by the window because it won't work correctly.

Think about it... Just save some money & a lot of time. Just buy some other stuff... there's plenty of good companies doing very professionnal stuff for not much more $ than DLink. I won't suggest any of them... but think about it.

- No support (like i said, everything is going fine before you install this card. Then everything is going wrong when you install it. Then you call tech support and you get into the "update your xyz driver, then update the other driver abc, then the other one, then get back to the old one, then change your DWL card from a PCI slot to another one. Put it closer to the case, put it far from the video card, put it... In your ass finally. That's what i call no support.)
- 50% of products should be in the garbage...

the decision is your.

I've been bad lucky... i'm in the 50% who have freezing problem. I've just burned another 75$.

Good products = Plug it, and it work. If you have to go thru all the steps that tech support will ask you to do, that mean that someone have not done his job at DLink, and DLink even if they are aware, have absolutely no clue of what's going on, and won't put people on this case.... because they have other Wireless card to sell, newer, maybe better... maybe not... "maybe"... it's what describe DLink very well.

For those who are putting that on your shelves to sell computer stuff, you should be ashamed. You contribute to this situation. If DLink can't sell their stuff anymore, believe me, they will solve their problems first, build themselve a name, then push some new stuff and they would be more carefull.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wireless = Cool
Review: Once I got wireless adapters for my family's laptops I had to get one for he desktop as well. Now we all have wireless and no Ethernet cables in the house. There is a 4-port wired switch on the back of our router, but we don't even use it. Why should we? wireless works and it works great. I stuck with all D-Link as not to get the adapters and AP confused and it has seemed to work out great. Now we aren't constricted by our location.

This PCI card was pretty simple to install and worked as soon as it was done installing. The configuration was simple and the icon in the taskbar gives a good indication of your connection.
I always have full bars since our desktop PC is only one room away from the router/AP. Overall my decision to go all wireless has been fun and overall fairly simple to do. Thanks D-Link.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Ya Got A Fifty-Fifty Chance
Review: Read all the magazine reviews and articles...thought this card was the way to go.

So I bought two, plus a DI-624 router.

My first install went great - my Compaq was up and wireless in less than 15 minutes (30 if you count install time).

My second computer`s install dragged on for days.... The card appeared to install smoothly, with great signal strength and was an sight to behold - for about 3 minutes. Then it locked up my computer...everytime.

NO solution, from bios upgrades to new drivers, went untried. But after a week I gave it up, went back to wired and returned the card.

Something between the on-board sound and NIC cards caused a conflict - which froze the system within minutes of every reboot. My first PC didn`t have on-board components - which may have been the saver.

You really take your chances with this card.


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