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D-Link AirPlus DWL-650+ Wireless 22 Mbps PC Card

D-Link AirPlus DWL-650+ Wireless 22 Mbps PC Card

List Price: $59.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: D-Link AirPlus DWL-650+ Wireless 22 Mbps PC Card
Review: Easy setup.Quick access speeds. Strong signal in 3-story home. Used in notebook running Win98SE. On Comcast broadband cable modem for high-speed access.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very good quality
Review: Installed is very simple and quality is very good. I enjoyed the wireless connection and I can use my laptop anyway in my house.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: It's OK
Review: I noticed no difference with this card as oppose to Linksys or Netgear 11Mbps wireless card.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Last Straw
Review: My complaints about the D-Link 650+/614+ products mirror most of the negative reviews:
- Blue screens
- System freezes
- unstable performance
- card goes dead and laptop needs reset
- less than advertised speed
- causes progressively slow laptop response
- tech support was useless

So I don't understand how others have had such great experiences.
I even recognize the same shining reviews on other sites. Looks suspicious, does D-Link have a positive campaign to offset the negative reviews?

I've had similar experiences with other PC/Laptops and third-party products so I give up. I am going back to the Mac. Good bye and good luck PC world!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: this product does not work on XP
Review: all that I've gained from this product is corrupt files that I can't remove from my computer. It didn't even get so far as to recognize the wireless card, let alone make any sort of connection. Customer support wasted about 3 hours of my time, then told me it was a problem that was known when the product was shipped, and they knew how to fix it but weren't going to help me

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Wireless Networking made Relatively Easy
Review: I'd tried earlier generation wireless networking, and ended up with little success and many sleepless nights.

The DWL-650+ worked well. Within 20 minutes of opening its box and the D-Link wireless router, I was up and running, communicating with machines on my wired network.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Shoddy construction
Review: Unit worked well but began to fall apart a month after I bought it. I'm quite disappointed.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Balance of Price & Performance
Review: One of the niceties of attending a technologically savvy university is wireless surfing of the Internet; you bring the laptop and the wireless adapter, they'll supply the Access Point and on-ramp to the Net. Wireless technology has been moving at a rather rapid pace of late. What once was the doldrums of 11 Megabytes per second (Mps) has now catapulted up to 22.5Mps, then 55Mps, and coming soon, 100Mps and beyond with the introduction of the 802.11g standard coming electronics store near you later this year.

So, when it came time for me to purchase a new wireless adapter for my Toshiba Satellite 1905 Notebook, I had an urge to jettison the past and move headlong into the future. In other words I wanted a wireless adapter capable of transmitting and receiving at 22.5 Mps or more.

Cisco Systems was one the first companies to break into the wireless networking arena in the mid-1990's, and has been selling wireless solutions to Corporate America for quite some time now. The companies Aironet line of wireless products are a staple in the industry because they are reliable, durable, and work as advertised. But, they have been traditionally expensive cards to get into, and that still holds true, so I shopped around for an inexpensive alternative. I chose the DWL 650+ Wireless Adapters by D-Link. I bought this card for two reasons; 1. conformity with the current 802.11b standard and; 2. the ability of the card to communicate at 22.5Mbs with other D-Link access points and or network cards (NIC). Of course it helped that the card was on sell at the local Best Buy.

Like the Linksys Instant Wireless WPC11, (see my review on this card at: http://www.epinions.com/content_38866816644), and the Aironet Wireless Ethernet Adapter PC4800B (see my review on this card at http://www.epinions.com/content_39004966532), the DWL 650+Wireless Adapter is a fully functional Ethernet NIC that conforms to the 802.11b standards for performance and in interoperability with other 802.11b wireless equipment. The card operates at a frequency of 2.4Ghz, and utilizes the same protocols as wired Ethernet adapters; i.e. TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, Microsofts' NetBEUI, etc.

The D-Link DWL 650+Wireless Adapter is a standard Type II PC Card form factor. The box includes the card and a CD-ROM which is used to installed drivers for Windows 95/98/SE/Me/2000. The included drivers for Windows XP are not signed by Microsoft and that might pose a problem depending on the make and model of your motherboard. I had no problem installing the software on my Windows XP Home laptop. As soon as I configured the card with the parameters of my wireless network I was able to communicate with the rest of the computers on my Windows 2000 Domain. Note: Windows XP Home Ed. does not include native support for wireless adapters; i.e. automatic detection of different wireless networks and access points, however Window XP Professional does include such support.

I was able to connect to my home network at 11 Mbs, on some occasions, and 5.5 to 2 Mbs on others. The card is capable of automatically downgrading its data transfer rate as the signal from the access point becomes weaker, thus maintaining connection. A handy signal strength bar in the system tray relays to me how strong, or weak my signal is. When at the extreme range of the access point the card downgrade as far as 2Mps, which is still with acceptable limits for surfing the web and working on Word documents, but little else. The D-Link DWL 650+Wireless Adapter is capable of transmitting and receiving at the following transfer rates: 1, 2, 5.5, 11, and 22 Mbps Transfer Rate.

Under real-world conditions, the D-Link DWL 650+Wireless Adapter's performance meets or exceeds my expectations. I have taken my notebook around the house and out to the back porch (my access point is in an upstairs bedroom closet), and never once lost a signal. The signal faded somewhat on the back porch, but that is to be expected; surfing the web was never compromised.

At school I have experience mixed results. Connection to the schools wireless network has been spotty, but I attribute this more to the placement of the access points, then to the card performance. Other students have experienced the same results as I have.

Conclusion:

The D-Link DWL 650+Wireless Adapter is a reliable middle of the pact wireless NIC. I am not disappointed by its performance, nor am I overwhelmed, by it, just pleased. If you need a wireless NIC that will meet your needs for current 802.11b standards, but still has the flexibility to expand beyond to 22.5Mbs, then the D-Link DWL 650 Wireless Adapter might be the cup of tea you're looking for.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A keeper
Review: One of the coolest toys. Installed flawlessly (yes on XP) and I was connected to my D-Link 614+ router in minutes - you may not notice a speed improvement unless your access point is also capable of 22Mbps. You should also check that your registry TCP/IP value are sufficient to make use of the increased bandwidth e.g. TCPWindowSize under XP.

Really fast and reliable. Use the driver on install CD or d/l the latest from their site. I've hit on a few glitches with intermediate releases. D-Link support is nothing to write home about.

But then again the card works great.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I love my wireless freedom!
Review: This truely makes my laptop mobile. The installation was easy, install drivers and software, shutdown, plug in the card, and boot back up. Having my wireless router already setup before installing this card allowed the card to connect right away. D-Link made this all pretty easy, even for a somewhat of a newbie like me.

I get great signal all around my home except certain spots in my kitchen (next to my microwave and refrigerator). Every where else is great and I notice no slow down in speed when playing counter strike over the internet and just web browsing.

I must have been good all year for Santa to bring me such a great present. (I also received a D-Link DI-614+)


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