Home :: Computers :: Components :: Networking :: Broadband Access  

Broadband Access

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

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

List Price: $79.99
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Installation was just as any other NIC except NO WIRES!
Review: I recently bought the DI-614+ so instead of using my existing wired network I bought this card so I wouldn't have my Ethernet cable on the ground from the router to my bedroom. Plus the cats, for some odd reason, liked to chew and play with the Ethernet.

I followed the instructions and installed the software on the CD before physically installing the card and everything after that went smoothly.
I don't notice a difference in web browsing or file transfers, but I didn't exactly do a lot of file transfers before. My signal is almost always above 75% but again I am only down the hall from my living room.

It works great for me!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Driver screws up mouse pointer when using internet
Review: AMD 1800+ with VIA motherboard and NVidia Titanium 200. Using latest drivers for everything. When device driver is enabled everything works fine until you dial the internet (plain Widows dialer). Then after a few minutes the mouse pointer graphic freezes, while an "invisible" mouse still moves (and although you can't see it, it works as normal). If you disable the driver there are no problems. No wonder it wasn't MS certified....

NO TECH SUPPORT BBS OR KNOWLEDGE BASE. TECH SUPPORT BASICALLY SAYS "INSTALL IT". AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Doesn't work with Soundblaster live
Review: I upgraded from a smc2662w because the smc card would scan (stop all transmission) every 15 seconds and would repeatedly kill my vpn connection.

I upgraded initially to the linksys PCI card... only to find out that it didn't work with XP.

I traded that in for a dwl-520+, but it doesn't seem to work with my soundblaster live card (can I buy a break?!). I'll give tech support a week to figure this out (right...), then I'm sending it back. The only bummer is that without the soundcard, my network connection is great!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Incompatible with Windows 98, First Edition
Review: Although there is nothing on the packaging to alert you to the requirement, the DWL-520+ cannot be installed unless you are running Windows 98, Second Edition, or a later version of Windows. This fact can only be found buried in the FAQ's on the D-Link website. I learned it the hard way after installing the card and trying fruitlessly for an hour to get it working. The installation software, astonishingly, never tells you that you are running the wrong version of Windows. And forget about tech support. I was on hold for an hour before giving up.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Something is wrong here
Review: You boot the computer, and everything is fine, but as time goes by, like an hour, the computer gets slower and slower and slower to the point where you can hardly move the mouse. Kill the airplus driver and the computer is alive again. Technical support makes you wait on hold on a toll number. Waited 20 minutes, no answer. Product is fine as long as you don't mind rebooting the computer several times a day.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Works ok w/ driver 3.0.23.4, not with 4.15.5.1 (ver 3.07)
Review: Like everyone says, Customer Service is terrible. They deny that a problem exists, blame everything else. I had problems with their 810+ Wireless Bridge not working with WEP also, same awful experience with cust service then as well.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It works!
Review: I have had no trouble with it or 810+ bridge that other people had claimed. I read the installation instruction and set up was a breeze (you need to install the software 1st prior to install the unit). It worked flawlessly in my Win 2k and later Win XP (both home and pro.).

Signal strength is good, reliablity is great, and data transfer speed is good.

Overall, good product.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Works ok w/ driver 3.0.23.4, not with 4.15.5.1 (ver 3.07)
Review: Like everyone says, Customer Service is terrible. They deny that a problem exists, blame everything else. I had problems with their 810+ Wireless Bridge not working with WEP also, same awful experience with cust service then as well.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not FOR W2K
Review: It's ironic that another model, the DWL-520 (without the +), gets so many bad reviews. This model works fine. In retrospect, I'd probably be happier with a USB connection as those adapters can easily be transferred to a laptop or another computer. If you don't mind opening up the computer for a "permanent" install, you should be happy. One issue I did run into - I ended up having to remove my ethernet adapter to get it to work or I ran into IRQ conflicts (I thought Windows 98 and up were supposed to solve this problem.) I also notice problems if a 2.4ghz cordless phone is too close, but I'm not sure if it interferes with this card or the wireless router.

The drivers out of the box seemed a little deceptive. My signal strength was showing as much stronger than it actually was. Later drivers were even more deceptive, showing signal strength at the highest level and the strength never changed. The most recent drivers (version 4.15.51 as of the time of this review) seem to be accurate so you may want to download those for your initial install rather than use the ones in the box.

Performance is great. The card is powerful enough to pick up (and connect to) my neighbor's network two houses down. One of these days I might even advise him to put a password on his network, but first I want to catch him downloading porn.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates