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D Link AirPlus DWL-520+ Wireless 22MBPS PCI Card

D Link AirPlus DWL-520+ Wireless 22MBPS PCI Card

List Price: $79.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Soundblaster Live conflict
Review: As a previous reviewer wrote, incompatible with Sounblaster Live cards due to a conflict with the Memory IO C000-C01F being used used by both cards. Disable one or the other and your fine, both will cause a BSOD(Blue Screen of Death).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: painless install - good configuration - site survey
Review: I am pleased with the configuration options that are bundled with this product. One feature I like most is the site survey feature. Before I connect to an access point I can see which access points are broadcasting and if they have WEP, what channel, what SSID, and more. Then I can choose which one I want to connect to. Of course there is an auto detect feature that connects to the fastest/strongest signal access point in range.

The installation went without a hitch and I was very pleased with the ease of use.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Effortless Install with Immediate Results
Review: This card installs like any other NIC. I installed the configuration software first like I've read in other reviews, and the quick start guide and then inserted this wireless NIC in my system. I booted up and Windows found everything it needed. i already had my router/access point up and running so after the second reboot I was automatically connected to the access point. From then on I didn't HAVE to do anything else. Although I did configure my wireless settings so they weren't the default and I enabled WEP. All the settings are very intuitive and easy to understand.

Bottom Line: Easy to install and works with no fuss.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: everything has been runing smoothly since the install
Review: I installed this on my Dell PC in addition to my 10/100 ethernet card and there haven't been any conflicts since the installation. I get a strong signal from the other side of the apartment and I don't think I've experienced any downtime since the installation. It has been about 2 weeks since I installed this card and I am very happy with my purchase.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simple install - removable antenna shows it can be upgraded
Review: I like that fact that this wireless PCI card by D-Link has a removable antenna because it will allow me to get better range if I wished to purchase a better antenna later on.
This is just one of the things I like about the card.

There isn't much to say about a wireless PCI based NIC except for the fact that it is easy to install. But aren't all PCI cards? I personally haven't had much trouble with them in the past. This card also comes with some good software give you more control over your network card. I can do a "site survey" to see what access points are in the area and choose which one I'd like to connect to. I can choose my encryption, it goes as high as 256-bit, and I can change almost anything I want about this card.

Bottom line is the low price, the 22Mbps speeds, regular 802.11b compatibility, extensive software package, and removable antenna for future upgrades. I like it all.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Works on Win2K and Win XP - Great Speeds
Review: I bought 2 of these, one for each of the kids' computer, and I couldn't ask for anything more from these wireless network cards. I have learned my lesson a long time ago about updated drivers and before I do anything I always get the latest drivers from the manufactures website. I was able to install everything just fine on both computers with the updated drivers and it has been running smoothly ever since. It's been about 3 weeks now, and my kids say they can't even tell the difference of speed. We used to have all the computers in one room, but since we've gone wireless they can have their computers in their own rooms and not bother me so much. The best thing is I didn't even have to run cable through the attic or walls. I bought these to go along with the DI-614+ since they are rated at twice the speed of the normal 11Mbps 802.11b. I haven't tried the 11Mbps networks, but these are fast enough for us. We can play games online, transfer files just the same as before (a little slower when there are big files like movies) and Internet browsing is exactly the same.

We get 80% or above signal strength, but the kids' computers are only one and two rooms away from the router/access point. We have set up 256-bit WEP encryption so that nobody tries to connect to our network and we love our network. Well I love the convenience, the kids don't notice a thing, nor do they care.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good Range and Great Security
Review: I am very pleased with the 256-bit WEP encryption. I like my wireless portions of my LAN to be secure and as far as I know 256-bit WEP is about the best encryption can get right now. Settings this up on my router/ap and this card was real simple. I don't think I notice any variance in speed when operating with 256-bit WEP encryption on, but I don't exactly have a test lab.

Everything else about this card is fairly straightforward and simple to use. I get good signal strength about 2 rooms down and the speed in comparable to DSL when browsing the internet or downloading.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Can it get much simpler?
Review: All I had to do was put in the CD to install the software, shut down my PC, and install it into the next available PCI slot and boot back up. Once I booted up Windows took care of everything else. I am running Win98 on a 450mhz Gateway I bought a couple years ago and everything about this adapter has been good.

I get about 70% signal strength and 100% link quality from the other side of the house. The signal has to go through a couple of rooms, but for the most part it is very stable. My speeds are about 6-7Mbps real world when transferring files which is twice as fast as my friend's 802.11b network rated at 11Mbps.

Works for me and I am pretty sure it would work for you. Why would you want 11Mbps if you can have twice the speed?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Works Great and the Install was a Snap
Review: I don't like to see bad reviews here for a product I just bought, but I'd have to say I haven't experienced any of the symptoms other people have described.

Install was a snap, and I've had this up and running for about 3 days and nothing has gone wrong. The signal strength is good and the speeds are fine.

I will see if I can do an update here if anything goes wrong. So far everything is working great so I have to give it 5 stars. I have no complaints.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy to Install and Connects with Router Automatically
Review: I'd like to contribute a positive review here, since the previous reviewers seemed to have problems with this card. I bought this card to go with my D-Link Wireless Router, and everything has worked fine since I bought this. I haven't had one issue since I've installed this card.

My signal strength has always been above 75%, but I don't expect it to change much since it is installed in a desktop PC. I am running Windows 2000 and I don't notice much of a difference if at all in my internet access speeds.

I used to have a wired network but wanted to expand to more than 2 computers and my hub was old and slow. So with this wireless upgrade to my network I was able to install everything in about 1 hour. I bought the D-Link router with 4 wired ports still use one wired PC connection, and another PC has this PCI card in it, my laptop has the PCMCIA version and they all network together quite nicely. I was impressed with the short time it took me to implement this change.

Thats my experience with D-Link and their wireless networking products. I hope your experience is as easy as mine.


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