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Rating: 
Summary: Not compatible with multi-function printers.
Review: According to the documentation, this device is not compatible with multi-function printers.
Rating: 
Summary: Unusable device
Review: After much work using every routing device in the house, DCHP server and simple router. I was finally reduced to using a sniffer to at least discover that the system uses the default IP address of 192.168.1.250. Thinking the worst part was behind me and actually doing a little dance, I then spent about 3 hours trying to set up the wireless network and correct IP addresses. The system simply would not respond forcing me to perform a hard reset countless times. After a firmware upgrade and another round of fruitless web setup. I finally gave up. I never got the software from the CD to even identify the device. All in all the worst experience I have ever had with a piece of computer hardware. And for someone who actually does this for a living that's saying something.
Rating: 
Summary: Device is great, documentation needs improvement
Review: As with some of the other reviewers, I felt the documentation needed some improvement. I have encryption enabled on my network, so I had to use a hard wire to configure the device. Run the wizard to store the 128-bit encryption key (you need to make sure you select the HEX 26 digit mode in the drop down), select a name and print queue, and select either DHCP or a static IP address. I suggest a static IP address to make configuring a printer port easier (see below). It looks like the default for the device is 192.168.1.185, but I had to look in the router DHCP table to find that. Now the device is ready for connecting wirelessly.
One area missing from the documemtation is that the Print Queue Name used by your printer setup and the Hawking device need to be the same. When adding a new printer in Windows, you first select that you are adding a Local Printer (do not automatically detect). Then Create a new port. In the Type of port drop down you should see PrintServer Network Port (the Hawking software adds this port). Select this port and click Next. You will get a Port Name dialog box. Click Create and type in the PrintServer name and IP address. This would be the name you called your PrintServer while running the wizard. I suggested during setup to use a static IP address so you can just enter that number here. Click OK and your PrintServer should show up in the list. Highlight it and the Port and IP Address fields will fill in. Select the first Print Port (LPT1) and then enter the SAME QUEUE NAME that you used during configuration of the PrintServer with the wizard. I used PS1, PS2, and PS3 and entered the PS1 name in the spot next to LPT1. Click OK and then select the printer you are connecting, and finish out the Add Printer dialog.
One additional item you need to do is to go into Printers and Faxes, right click on the printer you just added and select Properties. Click on the Ports tab. Highlight the printer you just added and select Configure Port. In the Select Protocol dialog, I selected AUTO, and set the Queue Name to the same as done during the PrintServer wizard configuration and during the Add Printer/Add Port. In my case this was PS1. That was the last trick and all worked great after that. It takes me about 3 minutes to configure another wireless notebook to print through the Hawking device, and it works great. Hope these instructions help, and wish they had been in the manual to start.
Rating:
Summary: get the linsys unless you enjoy frustration
Review: didn't see my parallel port, software wouldn't allow a key for 128 bit encryption, all in all a bust
try the linksys--no knowledge necessary, wizard does it all
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent product
Review: I had this product up and running in less time than it took to open the package. You do need a wired network and an extra ethernet cable (which does not come with the product) to program the device. The manual was brief but sufficient. If you set up your own wireless network, as I did, you'll be able to use this product.
Rating:
Summary: Too risky - do not buy this product
Review: I spent over 4 hours trying to install this product, to no avail. I am knowledgable about networking (an amateur, but I know what I am doing) and simply could not get this to work. The documentation, which you WILL need, is insufficient and the setup is extremely complicated. If you download the most recent firmware and admin software from Hawking's site, you will get a wizard which seems very good. According to the wizard, everything was fine. The only problem is that my printer, a Konica Minolta PagePro 1350W, would not print a page, period. I wonder if the printer is simply incompatible.
Bottom line is that this product is not ready for prime time. PC World magazine rated this print server as an Editor's Choice, which is why I bought it. DO NOT BE FOOLED. You are rolling the dice here. Some people have been able to get it to work, and I imagine it's a real boon for them (it would have been for me), but you are taking a risk. So please be aware of that before you buy this product. If you are a pro with lots of time on your hands (which I imagine the people at PC Magazine are), maybe you should give this a shot but otherwise it's too big a risk of wasting your time. I suspect there is a reason this print server is so much cheaper than those of the competition (I got mine for around $90, a lot of comparable ones are $140 or so).
Rating:
Summary: Bad installion docs, but works after you figure it out.
Review: The device supports a good range of network and printing protocols: TCP/IP, Appletalk, Netware, Unix LPR, Windows print client, Internet Printing Protocol (which means you can print to a URL from your network or even the Internet). I have XP and Win 98 clients on wireless-G network with Linksys transcievers on the PC's and a Linksys wireless gateway/router. So far, I can't complain about the device, but there are a few reasons I can only give it 3 stars.The installation booklet omits some critical information most import of which is the fact that you *MUST* have a wired TCP/IP connection to the device to configure it. If you don't have wired TCP/IP, you cannot configure or use this device. The stupidity of requiring a wired network to configure a wireless network device should be apparent. Much better it would have been to run setup through a USB or serial port. I was able to configure the device with a TCP/IP crossover cable from the one PC I have with a TCP/IP interface. The installation booklet is essentially trash. On the included CD is a fairly large pdf document which, if you care to read through it, gives a more complete (and correct) discription of the installation and requirements. However, it still ASSUMES you have a reasonable amount of familiarity with TCP/IP networking and routing requirements. It also assumes you know a few things about wireless networking AND your particular wireless network. Some things get some explanation; some things don't. If you don't have a pretty good working knowledge of these networking things, this might not be the device for you. I would say success at correctly setting things up will demand a fairly high computer geek factor. One thing to remember: In order to reset the device back to factory defaults (so you can start over and try again), you must press and HOLD the reset button for about 5 seconds until the power light flashes rapidly. The docs don't tell you this. The installation docs contain no help or trouble shooting info. None. Zip. Nada. Also note that the Hawking web site is completely barren of any of this info too. A morning email to the Hawking tech support received a very brief reply of limited usefulness that afternoon. In summary: The device is certainly a capable printer server. The docs and technical support need to be much better. I am at a loss to explain why a wired network must be present to configure a device for a wireless network.
Rating:
Summary: Response to previous reviewer
Review: This isn't really a review, but a response to the previous reviewer. While it doesn't make sense to you to need a wired LAN connection to configure a wireless device, it does to me. It's using the same approach that WAPs use. You have to configure the device before you can use it, and it's probably cheaper to implement a wired LAN (since it is, after all, a LAN device) than to incorporate either a USB or parallel interface. Thanks for the information regarding the lack of decent documentation. I'm still considering this device, primarily because it supports 3 printers, but will be more cautious and (hopefully) prepared if I do get it.
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