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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: 3 stars
Summary: Mostly works; fine for basic level users
Review: Installation of the DWL-650+ is a breeze. D-Link's install process and software is better than some I've seen. And certainly it's high-speed performance (when matched with a compatible WAP) is a benefit, and a cheaper option than other, faster wireless standards.

I have used the card for a couple of months, and find two primary annoyances:

1. The configuration software for the DWL-650+ doesn't support passphrase entry of the WEP encryption strings as some other wireless cards do, forcing you to type-in the strings. And type you do... Since the software doesn't allow you to paste from the clipboard (perhaps you keep your WEP strings in a text file -- if you do, it'll do you no good with the DWL-650+). (I should note that if you allow Windows XP to manage your wireless connections, this is a non-issue, since you can paste into the Windows configuration dialogs.)

2. For some reason, PPTP VPNs do not work through this card, at least with Windows XP. I've tested it in two different laptops, and the results are the same... Attempts to use the remote network over a PPTP connection with the DWL-650+ simply fail for no particular reason. Switch to a different brand of card, same WAP, same VPN configuration, same laptop -- and things are fine. (I've read other reports of this type online as well, so I don't think it's just me.)

All that said, I do like the native configuration software's ability to sniff out available networks (though once again, Windows XP can do this itself as well, but the native software does it better). And the card does seem to capture and hold signal to the WAP quite nicely, and better than other brands I've tried.

So for basic use, the card is fine, and would probably satisfy most users.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: driver problem, so-so support, but decent product
Review: I have a netgear router and read some not-so-good reviews about this product, so I had some reservations buying this card.

Supprisingly, it worked quite well out of the box. The problem began after I upgraded the driver. I could no longer access the internet using either the wireless or the wired connection.

Having read the bad reviews on D-Link's support, I picked up the phone reluctantly after some unfruitful online research. Once again, D-Link support supprised me by answering the phone quite quickly. But their first question to me after hearing my case was "why did you upgrade the driver?" Duh... What kind of question was this? Anyway, several different support guys/gals suggested me going back to older drivers etc. But nothing worked. The impression I got from their responses was that some of them wanted to get rid of me asap and some simply didn't have a clue. After several phone calls, finally there was a guy who seemed to know what he was talking about, and he helped me to solve the problem. The July 2003 version of the win2k driver (3.03) messed up the TCP/IP. I had to remove the TCP/IP from ALL my connections and reinstall it.

The card has been working properly since. No drop of connection or anything. Since the 22Mbps speed needs a matching router, I don't have any input there. The signal strength and link quality seem to be even better than my netgear card on a different machine working on the same netgear router. So it's a decent product when it works.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Works well if it's not defective
Review: The first one worked fine for about a day, then my HP Compaq nx9005 running Win XP failed to initialize it. Every time I plugged the card in the slot, Windows reported that "The device has a problem". The second one didn't work from the beginning: Windows would not even recognize it. Well, being a patient person and trusting numerous 5 star ratings of this card, I got another replacement which has been working flawlessly for about 2 weeks.

If you have a problem, don't bother calling the tech support. They are useless. Get a replacement, and if you are lucky, you might get a non-defective one.

Update: My replacement card also failed to perform properly. I gave up trying and returned the card. Extremely disappointed with D-Link.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: WORKS
Review: The LinkSys one didn't. This one does. The application software could be greatly improved. Orinoco/Lucent makes a much better product with more range and better software - but for much more $$.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy as pie
Review: I really like this product! It was so easy to set up with the DI-614+ router and now I can go all over the house with my laptop. I didn't think it would be as easy as this. Also, it seems to be quite fast, even when I'm at the other end of the house from my computer.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Speeds for the price.
Review: The price is about forty bucks as of today (before rebate). I can get a throughput of about 8 Mbps when transfering so that's about 5 bucks per 1 Mbps transfer.

With other 802.11b products and their cooresponding access points you get 5Mbps. Other companies' cards cost about fifty bucks and that makes the ratio 10 bucks per 1 Mbps transfer.

As long as that isn't fuzzy math then I don't see the reason to go with other brands of 802.11b products. They cost more or about the same, but get slower speeds.

It is all about the price and speed ratio.
Compatibility is also no issue with D-Link's 802.11b+ products. They can all slow them selves down to 5Mbps to work just as normal with regular slower 802.11b access points.
The range of this card and my AP (dwl-900ap+) together let me roam everywhere in my home and outside in my yard and even a little in the street.

I am very pleased and I hope this review helps you decide which products to get.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Super Range and Speed!
Review: I can get a strong enough signal with this Adapter and a DI-614+ as my AP from 3 rooms down the hall and in the living room. This is about 75 feet away and through a couple walls. I wasn't always able to do this though. I had to change my channel from 6, the default, to 1 which had less interference I guess. All I know for sure is that when I changed the channel I was able to travel further away from my 614+ and still get tolerable speeds.

I wish I would have found this combo earlier so I could enjoy wireless freedom sooner. Well then again I am glad I waited because now it is a lot more inexpensive than it used to be. Plus the product is more mature now and the bugs have been worked out. That reminds me, make sure to get the latest firmware because you probably aren't getting the newest firmware or drivers when you buy it in the box. check dlink.com for updates.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Top Notch WEP, and useful Software.
Review: With 256bit WEP I feel very safe from those code crackers who might try and get into my network sitting outside in their car with their laptops. HA, who am I kidding, nobody would devote that much time to sit outside my home just so they could get into my network and look at my non-important files. I wouldn't find anything too interesting on someone elses files, but whatever. I am secure enough to keep the network nerds out of my network as they drive by, and my neigbors, which is all I am worried about.

The software that comes with this card is pretty useful considering that it tells you all the access points it could connect to when you do a site survey. I can see that one of my neighbors has a wireless netowrk also and they don't even have WEP on. I could probably log on to their networks but I wont. The software just lets you double click the AP you want and you can connect almost instantly. Of course if you have WEP enabled you need to know the passcode to get through.

All in all this is a great card, and when it is combined with the DI-614+ it is even better. Speeds are very quick and it feels just like I am on the wired network with my desktop.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: 650+ is a good card.
Review: I bought a dlink 650+ card and a 614+ router recently. Unfortunately the router was defective which I found out after being online with DLINK techsupport for 1 hour. I must admit that techsupport(although they are forthcoming and try to help as much as possible) are not very bright.

Anyway, the router was just defective, so I got it replaced for free. The new router worked right away without problems. (btw, I am on Win XP PRO with a Sony VAIO 2.6 Ghz lappy)

The final verdict :
Good ---------
1. 650+ card is cool. Works without any problems. Good range.
2. 614+ router also works without a problem. If it takes u more than 10 minutes to setup ur wireless, then u r too slow.

Bad ----------
1. Techsupport ....! Not because of their attitude but bcoz of lack of tech know how.
2. Dont know if all cards do this but I find it irritating whenever I access a web page, my 650+ causes a radio interference which leads to my sound card emitting a gibberish radio sound which is quite irritating. (I mute my sound card when I am on wireless)
3. Although I can connect to my office thru VPN (some reviewers said they cant) but I cant use Terminal Client to connect to my office machine. I can use VNC just fine though. WHen I am wired Terminal client works without problems.

Overall a good deal. I am happy with my purchase :):):)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: quality network adapter
Review: I can use this on my Win2K laptop with netstumbler and get good range and results with netstumbler. check the forums to find out how to make this card work with the program. as far as i can tell, from using mine and hearing from friends, it works as good if not better than other brands of wireless cards. plus if there is a network out there that uses the 256-bit WEP this is ready for it. Not every brand has the capability to use 256-bit WEP. Plus it can go 22Mbps when used with other D-Link products. Which is the reason I bought a D-Link AP/router (614+).
I like everything this card has to offer and even heard there is a group working on linux drivers. though not suported by d-link themselves.


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