D-Link DWL-1000AP 11Mb Wireless LAN Access Point 802.11b

Rating:
Summary: Worked right out of the box...
Review: I purchased the D-LINK DWL-1000AP along with the D-LINK PCMCIA card and had it running in about 3 minutes. The product works well. I then walked about my home with a constant ping stream going out an Internet site without even a hickup. 11Mbps as advertised.

Rating:
Summary: Ease of Use = 0, Documentation - Poor, Tech support - None
Review: I spent at least 6 hours trying to get the Dwl-1000AP setup with two SWL-120 USB ports, three computers in all. Where the MAC number is supposed to be on the DWL-1000 Acess point -- I couldn't find it. Tech support never returned calls. Quick setup guide is anything but. Manual setup for setting up my ip address did not work. I am sure it will work in someones hands, but I have been using pc's since the original IBM pc in 1980. I have owned nine systems and would describe myself as above average in computer use. I have better things to do than waste time when the company can't get it together enough to provide documentation or tech support.

Rating:
Summary: Difficult to config. Works well when running
Review: I struggled to get the software to find the WAP when hanging it off the same hub as my servers. Eventually what I did was use a crossover cable to directly connect to the WAP and the config software found the WAP immediately. I have yet to get the WEP going though. The config software isn't very user-friendly but I'm sure there is a way around it. At the price for the D-Link DWL-1000AP it's not bad though. Signal strength is good through a few rooms and downstairs. Be sure to check out the vulnerability though, posted on packetstormsecurity.com in the public SNMP string (which is on by default) Anyone with a wireless card within a few hundred feet could take control of your WAP thru this vulnerability. Over all I'm pleased with the product for home use.

Rating:
Summary: Needs direct line of sight for signal strength indoors
Review: I would have said 2.5 stars if given the chance.

First the good news: this (along with a DWL-650 PCMCIA card) was definitely easy to install to my already existing network. I first downloaded the latest drivers for the DWL-650 - their were none for the DWL-1000AP. I scanned the manual for the DWL-1000AP and it said that I had to get the laptop setup first. So as per the instructions in the DWL-650 manual, I first installed the new downloaded drivers. I then plugged in the PCMCIA card into my laptop (HP Omnibook 4150 running WIndows 2000). Win2K properly recognised it and installed the software drivers all automatically. I rebooted my laptop, and while it was booting I then plugged the DWL-1000AP into a free spot in my network hub, plugged in the AC adaptor, and watched the leds do their thing and indicating that it was up and running. When the laptop re-booted it, found the DWL-1000AP and I saw my already existing network shares! Total time spent was about 1.5 hours including the 2.86mb download. Pretty easy, very fast to get going. I started out impressed.

But now for the bad news. I wanted to test how good it worked. I put the access point up on top of a tall bookcase near the entrance of my home office which is on the main floor. I ran the configuration utility to examine signal strenght and link quality. I'm not sure which each measures, but it is an indication of how things are working. In my office, a total of 8 feet away from each other, the measurements varied from excellent to fair (100% to 46%) with it in a stationary position. Jumping all over the place for no reason I could attribute. But as far as I could tell, it worked just dandy fine at 11Mbps (or so that what it says). I walked 20 feet to my chair in the family room. This introduces 1 interior-drywall wall. Signal strength dropped to fair to poor (40% - 6%) to an occasional "no connection". It still seemed to work ok though. I went upstairs to my bedroom which is above the office introducing a floor and perhaps a wall between laptop and acess point. Probably about 25-30 feet total, worked about the same as the family room. I then went to the basement level, directly below the spot in the family room which worked and could not get anything at all. This included about 6 foot of sapce from the top of the book case, a wall or 2, and a floor. I did find some "poor" spots directly beneath the AP, but it seemed very sluggish.

To summarize, nowhere near the advertised 35-100 METERS (approx 100-300 feet)! Walls and floors do get in the way. I called tech support to see if there was anything I could do. After a wait of over 45 minutes (toll call!), I was told that walls and floors (and microwave ovens and 2.4 ghz phones and remote control signal tranmsmitters) cut the distance down dramatically. A direct line of sight was needed to get close to the 35 meters. I believe that this is mis-leading, if not false, advertising.

So in short, if you are using this within a room, this is ok. If you are using this to try and prevent snaking network wires through walls and floors, it may work. If you can snake your access point to give you a better direct line of sight, maybe.

P.S. According to their tech support, other 802.11b PCMCIA cards may work for greater distances. Also, if you live in a "thin-walled" apartment, you should actually install the DWL-1000AP software and change the default SSID, encrpytion codes, etc. so that just in case your neighbor also gets a wireless setup, he can't see your network. Feel free to email me ([e-mail]) if you have any questions about my experience.

Finally, I did keep this since MY goal was to be able to work in the family room while being near the wife. I just had hoped it would allow me more distance and actually let me work from a lounge chair outside when it warms up. Too cold here to try it out now.

Rating:
Summary: STOPS WORKING INTERMITENTLY AFTER FIRMWARE UPGRADE
Review: i've been using dwl-1000ap with di-704 router and dwl-120 products for over a year now. until recently after i've upgraded the dwl-1000ap with the latest firmware with a 128-bit wep support, the access point started dying on me. the activity light goes dead whenever the network traffic gets extremely busy.
however, the pwr and lnk lights are fine. i have these in my room with no interference from other 2.4ghz devices. my workaround is to restart the access point by unplugging and plugging back the power cord. it's even more worse in windows xp environment when my dwl-120 keeps reporting back "no communication with ap. possibly out of range"

Rating:
Summary: Hard to install even with same brand components
Review: It says in the quick install guide to just plug the unit. No configuration is needed if you are networking with other d-link products. Sorry but it's not that simple.

I spent the last 3 hours trying to configure it and still not works. The AP Manager don't recognize it and when configuring it manual, the MAC number gives me problems.

Right know I'm writting to d-link support for advice. :( I just wish the installation could be easier.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to install even with same brand components
Review: It says in the quick install guide to just plug the unit. No configuration is needed if you are networking with other d-link products. Sorry but it's not that simple.

I spent the last 3 hours trying to configure it and still not works. The AP Manager don't recognize it and when configuring it manual, the MAC number gives me problems.

Right know I'm writting to d-link support for advice. :( I just wish the installation could be easier.

Rating:
Summary: Works fine once you can get it going...
Review: It took me about 90 minutes to get it up and running and it should have taken 10. I suppose part of the problem may have been that my pcmcia card is an Intel and something wasn't configured right with it but the directions in the QuickStart manual (which is thicker than the regular User manual) didn't work. It would not auto detect and I when I entered the MAC with the IP like the manual showed it still wouldn't work. Glancing at the full (smaller) User manual it looked like I could configure it throught the wired LAN side if I had a DHCP server (which I do). Once I looked at my DHCP server to find out the IP of the unit I was able to complete the configuration in about a minute. Armed with a little information from the config page (which isn't visible until to are able to talk to the unit) I could see the ESSID and properly configure my pcmcia card which took all of a minute. Poof it worked.

As for range. I didn't expect to get anywhere near the specified range since I'm sure that's quoted as line of site -- even for the indoor number. I live in a 1430 sq ft house and the WAP is in a spare bedroom which is about in the middle of one side of the house. With it just sitting on the computer desk I can use it in most of the house. I moved it to a strategic location in the closet so that the coffee table in my living room (opposite corner of the house) has only one wall to pass through and I can use it everywhere I've tried. Unfortunately the Intel software doesn't seem to have a connection quality indicator but it seems to be fine. (Keep in mind that even the slowest speed is plenty fast for DSL rates.)

The documentation is the weak link here. It might be fine if you have a D-Link pcmcia card but woefully inadequate for my Intel card. Luckily I work as a software engineer and my degree is a hardware background so I had the wherewithall to get this thing up and running fairly quickly (though it could have been much quicker). I pity the non-techie who runs into the problems I did as they would be *very* frustrated. Again, it might be easy as pie with a D-Link card. (I bought an Intel one because I've always been happy with their nics, it was only a few dolars more, and they are proud to state they have a linux driver.)

Oh, don't count on the help within the installation software. It doesn't work as it says it was created for a language that your version of windows doesn't support. How bad is that? Maybe they have an updated version online. I haven't checked as I got it working anyway. That would have been my next step.

Rank a 2 on documentation but the product still gets a 4 because it works just fine in the end. Would have been a 5 if their documention was better and the online help actually worked. Very cool though.

Rating:
Summary: Little trouble and Well Worth the Price
Review: My installation was rather painless, I had trouble twice, but I thought I could do it with only scanning the instructions. (I want to feel smart) I then read the instructions more carefully and was able to solve my problems.

It says in the instructions not to place the Access Point close to any device(s), which emit radio waves. This includes Radios, Monitors, TVs, etc. And preferably Line of sight. But as you know line of sight isn't the easiest thing to do. And this applies to any Access Point or wireless networking device.

Once I got the network up and running I was able to obtain a "Very Good" connection on the other side of my 5-bedroom home. I would highly recommend this product to people who have kids, like myself, and you want them to be able to access the internet from the other side of the house, but don't want to run the expensive wires.

Rating:
Summary: D-Link vs Linksys
Review: Products Tested: D-Link DWL-1000AP 11Mb Wireless LAN Access Point 802.11b D-Link DWL-650 11Mb Wireless PCMCIA LAN Network Card 802.11b vs. Linksys WAP11 - Instant Wireless Network Access Point Linksys WPC11 - Instant Wireless Network PC Card

Computer Hardware: Laptop: Dell Inspiron 600mhz, W2k Network: NT 4.0 Server, W2K Server Switches: 3Com and Linksys

Quality: After working with dlink first, linksys blew away dlink on the feel of quality and workmanship. As we all know, these components are so miniaturized that they could put them into any light-weight enclosure. dlink chose the light packaging approach....feels "cheap." linksys chose the mid-weight package...you feel as if it has higher quality...and you got something for your $250-300! linksys chose the dual antenna design over the single on the dlink. Technically, I am not sure if it is better but the actual reception really is... These are subjective and personal factors but for most, it makes a difference.

Ease of Use: From the documentation, to the support, to the software, it is really apparent dlink cut costs everywhere and with things they shouldn't. The setup is extremely confusing, the software is buggy...really, and the docs are horrible. In my manual, every other page did not have printing on it...quality control missed this! Linksys...even though I had to use the USB setup at first (dlink does not have a USB port on their access unit), the configuration was simple. The docs actually explained the parameters on the configuration screens. Once I set the IP address to one recognized on my network (I am not using DHCP), I used the linksys SNMP configuration tool to set and adjust the other parameters. I have a laptop. When using the wireless network card on the dlink, if you eject the card, the next time you re-insert the card, it does not remember your setting. You have to go back and set the parameters in order to get the card to function again. I called dlink tech support on this...on hold forever, hung up, and no call back...even when they asked and I left my mobile number, just in case... On the linksys, when I re-inserted the wireless card, it remembered the setting.

Service and Usability: Both products have a signal and quality meter in their utilities. One important note...the distance specs on both of these products (I think the 802.11b category overall) are NOT accurate. Inside of your home and through walls, etc., expect much less. How much less...you need to try it out to be sure. If you have line of sight to the access unit, these distances will go up. I mounted the access unit in my living room, on top of the entertainment center. I chose this location b/c it had the best reception. With the dlink, in the master bedroom (through one wall!), I was *barely* able to use the network...0-40 on the signal meter. On one occasion, once the dlink card lost the network, I could not get back on?? The total distance to the access unit was 30ish feet. With linksys, my signal was consistent at 40-60...once or twice is dipped to 20-30 but came right back up. I also tried a configuration with the dlink access unit and linksys card. They did work together but I could not improve the signal quality. I concluded that the dlink access unit was one of the problems. When I used the dlink wireless card, several times my computer shut down automatically??

Overall: Save tons of time and money...just buy the linksys system...access point and cards. Linksys is priced well and makes a quality offering. It is very clear to me that dlink is just focused on price and cutting their cost.