The D-Link DFE-530TX+ is a 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet 32bit PCI Adapter for desktops, workstations, and servers. The DFE-530TX+ supports a wide range of operating systems including Macintosh and Windows.
With support for IEEE802.3 and IEEE 802.3u standards, the DFE-530TX+ supports 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX networks. The DFE-530TX+ utilizes auto-negotiation to automatically adjust to the highest supported transfer rates up of to 200Mbps in full duplex mode.
D-Link's DFE-530TX+ also supports optional advanced networking support features like Wake-On-LAN and Boot ROM. Computers and operating systems that support the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) can remotely wake your PC from anywhere on the network with Wake-On-LAN.
With the addition of an optional Boot ROM with PXE support, the DFE-530TX+ can support network booting of supported operating systems.
The DFE-530TX+ is a cost effective and versatile solution for a wide range of desktop connectivity environments.
- PCI Local Bus Master 2.1/2.2 Support
- Plug-and-Play installation
- Supports 20/200Mbps in Full Duplex Mode
- Supports 10/100Mbps in Half Duplex Mode
- Supports PCI 2.1/2.2 ACPI Power Management Wake-On-LAN (Magic Packet, LinkChg and Microsoft wake-up frame) Compliant to PC 99 Standard
- Independent 2Kbyte receive and transmit FIFOs
Diagnostic LEDs- Link: LED indicator lit when there is an active Ethernet link
- Activity: LED indicators blink whenever there is a reception or transmission of a frame
The D-Link DFE-530TX Wakeup-on-LAN NIC is an Ethernet adapter for PCs, high-end workstations, and workgroup file servers. Realtek's RTL8139A single-chip Fast Ethernet controller uses the bus master burst mode to directly transfer data between the card and the host computer's memory. This spares the host's workload by bypassing its CPU. This PCI adapter eliminates network bottlenecks and also works with videographic or multimedia stations.
Plug-and-play installation gets you up and running in no time. The software supports Windows for Workgroups; Windows 95, 98, and NT; LanMan; Novell; and Linux.
D-Link provides a lifetime warranty.
1 Works great, no problems
I purchased my D-Link NIC at Best Buy, but would highly recommend this to the Amazon buyer. Works like a champ. I purchased two more and they worked great as well. Windows XP had its own drivers, no need to install the drivers that are included. I used the card with Win 2000 and Win 98SE in the past and worked like a champ. I would recommend this card to anyone who needs one.
2 Dead after 45 days....
Just long enough to convince me I didnt need the receipt, therefore no return possible. And any one who has a problem has to jump through hoops to get it fixed by D-link.
3 D-Link DFE-530TX+ Ethernet Adapter
Have had several in operation on XP, M.E., and 98 SE computers. Have been mostly trouble free, small problems worked out with assistance of helpfull phone staff. User's guide is somewhat confusing, On page 17, under title "Software Installation" directs you to the "READ ME" file on root directory of installation diskette, of course there is no readme file there. But, well, nobody's perfect.
4 Quick install, works fine, no problems.
Installed in Win. 98 machine. Took seconds to install drivers, a few minutes to install into machine, restarted machine and was ready to go. Easy instructions. Works fine.
5 WARNING - A Good Card BUT Painful Installations
Warning! Recently, I upgraded one of my computer system with the new D-Link DFE-530TX network card and it destroyed my network system configuration file. After I installed their network driver that came with it (installation CDs) I was not able to connect to the Internet. Other computer systems that was on the same router had (no problems) access to the Internet so I knew my network router/cable were fine. I tried to dial out to the Internet but it also failed. Finally, after several hrs debugging the cause of my network problems was D-Link driver installation (CD). It corrupted my MS Windows Winsock file. I had to delete and installed a new Winsock file + Updated the Registry. Overall, the network card is OK but it does KO your MS Windows Winsock file. Used Intel and Linksys network cards with no problems - smooth and paineless installation. In the future, I will stay away from D-Link products and stick with Intel and Linksys.
6 No problems
This card has worked perfect with no problems since I got it around a year ago. I was going to get some no-name card but I've read about problems with cards like that. I ended getting a D-Link router (the 604) since this card worked so well and that has been great too.
7 1 2 3 ... Instaled
This installed on my XP machine in seconds flat. I physically instlled it into an available PCI slot and then started back up my PC and it installed automatically. I didn't even have to touch software configuration, it just plain works.
If you in need of a NIC then I suggest you pick one of these up for the low price that it is and in minutes you will be Ethernet and Broadband ready.
8 Poor W2K Driver -- No Support
I purchased this product as a second NIC for a Windows 2000 Server. I like the fact that the DFE-530TX+ was easy to reconfigure for a low-profile PCI slot (it has both full-height and low-profile brackets in the box).
Unfortunately when I installed the drivers and rebooted I got the "blue screen of death". I tried uninstalling and reinstalling several times per the documentation, I downloaded the latest version, etc. to no avail.
So I called tech support. I waited on hold for 8.5 hours before I gave up the first time. Altogether I called tech support about 9 times. 2-3 times after drilling down their phone menu the system was silent for a few minutes and then disconnected me. I never did speak to a tech support person.
If the drivers actually work with your OS it may be a good product, but I would certainly avoid it if you're running W2K.
9 Good Budget Card
This is a good card for most of us who want to get networked. There are good linux drivers out there and performance is pretty decent....
However, if you're looking for a card to put in a server where high transfer rates are very important and low CPU usage would also be nice, look for another card. In my own tests of transferring files across a network from a fileserver, this card used 40% of the CPU where other cards that I have tested (but are more expensive) use about half of that with slightly higher transfer rates.
10 Good for home networks.
The D-Link DFE-530TX+ is a great buy for your home computing needs. If you transfer large files between computers on your home network, having Fast Ethernet (100 Mb/s) connectivity is essential; this card will allow you to add it without breaking the bank. Of course, you will need a 100 Mb/s switch (or at least a hub) to connect them and benefit from the speed.
If you only have one computer at home, and will be connecting to the Internet with a broadband (DSL or cable) connection, the 100 Mb/s advantage of this card is irrelevant, as your broadband connection is slower than 10 Mb/s (standard Ethernet) anyway, and will act as a bottleneck. However, this card is so inexpensive, you can easily justify buying it with the future in mind.
The reason I have given this card only 3 stars is that it does not perform adequately in high-end server and routing applications. I would not recommend this card for use in mission-critical networks.
11 OK for connectivity, not so OK if you want large transfers
I have this card installed in my Linux box. Had to compile driver
to get it working. Read a comment from the author of the driver
that this was an "entry level card, more for connectivity than
for performance" and, in my opinion, this has turned out to be
true. It is fine for everyday operation -- transfer a few files
around, access resources remotely, etc. However, the card has
hung my machine reliably everytime I attempt large file transfers
(>25MB), requiring a hard reboot. I searched around on the net
and found several people had the same experience. So buy with
caution!
12 No problem nic
I recently built a new computer and this was the nic I installed , no problems what so ever , windows xp home , nice and fast cable modem connection to the internet .
13 Absolutely Greeeaaat!
Ok, so I don't often say that. But really, this NIC is super. I am a PC/Network tech and I use this card on new & old Win PCs as well as RedHat, Mandrake & SUSE Linux. The Nix distros all recognize it without any additional drivers. If you want to compile it into the kernel, get the driver form Dlink and have at it, but it is not necessary.
This NIC performs great on each OS I've used it on. It is a great card for ADSL and works perfectly with SpeadStream DSL modems. The 3Com cards may have more bells & whistles, but for this price you can't go wrong - and a lifetime warranty at that. The retail for this card is somewhere around 35 or 40. Overall, unless you have a specific need for a specialty NIC, try this one!...
14 Great card!
I bought this card over 6 months ago, and it has worked great. The physical (PCI) installation is simple and straightforward. The driver installation on floppy took a little while, till I used the "help" folder (in DOS window) and reviewed OS specific instructions (W98SE in my case). The manual is skimpy on the driver/software installation. I use it with the DI-704 router which is just great. I called D-Link tech support once on another issue, and they were very helpful. From personal experience I have been extremely pleased and would recommend D-Link and/or Netgear, in terms of product quality and tech support. I have tried Linksys products twice, and returned them, and would never try again due to very marginal performance and even worse tech support.
15 Surprising Price and Performance
There's not a whole lot to say about the D-Link DFE-530TX+, except that you get a lot more than what you pay for.
This ethernet card will serve you well for many years. We all know that the consumer networking industry moves pretty slowly, so unless you're interested in wireless networking, D-Link's offering will remain competative long from when you purchase it.
The price is nothing to scoff at, either. You may not be able to get quite as much of a rebate on D-Link's card as a few others, but spending those few extra dollars will get you a quality card from a quality manufacturer. I've never had any trouble with my D-Link card, which is more than I can say for some of the SMC cards I've worked with.
When it comes to features, the D-Link comes with everything you would expect on a network card, plus Wake-On-LAN functionality. Now, do you really need your computer to wake up whenever it receives a network request? Probably not, but it doesn't really hurt anything to have the option available. If you want to use Wake-On-LAN, installation will take a little longer as you'll probably need to break out your motherboard's manual to find the header that you connect the cable to. Also, you should be careful with Wake-On-LAN when connected to a Linksys Cable/DSL router, as when the power flickers the router may have some trouble starting back up due to already having a computer connected. This isn't really a major issue, though, and has only affected me once.
All in all, the D-Link DFE-530TX+ is an excellent card for a reasonable price. You won't regret purchasing it.
16 Good performance for next to nothing
I've used two of these cards with perfect results. Installed one into a emachines T1220 Celeron system running XP and one on a Quantex PII system running Win 95. Both installed in seconds from provided CD and are up and running on my D-link DI-604 router sharing files, printers, and broadband connection. Great!
17 Easy installation
Took no time to install the hardware and drivers. Running Windows ME and the whole thing took less than 5 minutes. This was my first time installing a NW card, and had no problems. Card is working well with my cable modem. Can't beat it for the price!
18 WOW! My PowerMac G4 is lovin' it!
Last year, I had DSL for my PowerMac G4. One night after a particularly bad storm, my DSL stopped working. I couldn't tell whether the problem was the service, my modem or my computer. Eventually, I took my G4 downtown to Tekserve. They said my Ethernet port was shot, but they couldn't successfully install an (Asante) Ethernet card. They wanted to keep my G4, but that sounded particularly expensive (during post-9/11 financial distress). Plus, I really needed my computer.
So it was with trepidation that I approached getting DSL again. I just got a new job that requires me to telecommute, so I had to revisit my G4/Ethernet problem. The D-Link card caught my eye over at xlr8yourmac.com - the customer responses over there and here at Amazon sold me. And the price can't be beat! I bought it 3am this morning and picked it up at Circuit City around noon. Got back home at 2pm, popped that baby in and was online (in OS 9.2.2 - haven't tried OS X yet) in less than 15 minutes! Ah, sweet relief!
I am SO happy with this card! WOW!!! I HIGHLY recommend it!!!
19 No time at all
Both windows me and windows xp detected cards first boot and installed drivers,up and running in minutes .
20 Horrible
Unfortunately, after several (5+) hours of working with this device, I haveto proclaim it a disappointment.
Installing the hardware itself went fine. However, when I attempted to install the drivers for this device, Windows (98 in this case) went nuts.
It turns out that the drivers on the floppy disk DO NOT include necessary files... However, even when I use those drivers and reboot, my machine STILL doesn't detect the network card. Windows itself claims it's there, but ipconfig (in DOS) and winipcfg can't find it. I've checked BIOS to make sure the PCI slot is enabled -- it is.
Additionally, the driver installation freaks out because it can't find easy-to-locate Windows-related files (ftp.exe, networks, etc.). I imagine the installer is looking in the wrong directories; I point it manually toward the correct directory and the installer continues.
After checking D-Link's troubleshooting documentation, I'm out of ideas, and running out of patience. Most likely I'll return this to the store or buy a different brand of card.
21 Nice Network Card
I bought this to go with my cable modem. I did have some problems installing it but finally got it to work by rebooting a couple of times. After that it worked without problems.
22 Overall a good home or small office network card
I have been using D-Link brand for about 4 years. During the years I have been networking, I have used Intel, 3com briefly, SMC, and Netgear as well. I have read so many negative reviews about Linksys that I won't even bother. Intel cards are excellent, but not real cheap. The cheapest I have found was about..., which isn't bad at all, but if you are looking for an economical network card that isn't loaded with every feature and it doesn't have to start your car, Intel is a little too much. 3com is one of the better brands, but still expensive. The rest are fairly good, but I started using D-Link after my last employer relied on them heavily.
The entire office network of nearly 20 computers was done using D-Link hardware. They used D-Link network cards, switches, and routers for the Novell and Internet connections.
What surprises me is how low cost the hardware is. They are usually the same as other brands, perhaps even a few bucks cheaper at times. I bought an 8 port 10 mbps hub for...., and am considering their 8 port 10/100 switch now. On top of this, for home or small office, the hardware works excellent.
In the 4 years I have used D-Link, I have only ever had 2 bad network cards out of the box. 2 in a row at that. This is out of using dozens upon dozens of their cards. Not a bad ratio really. No company can make hundreds or thousands of a product on an assembly line and have NO faulty items come out.
I have used them under DOS, Windows 95/98, Novell, Lantastic, and Red Hat Linux with no problems. This card is very widely supported. On the downside, I would not use this brand for anything CRITICAL, such as a large business environment with a mission critical server or anything that demands HEAVY use, such as a call center that relies on a central database being accessed by hundreds of users.
This doesn't mean they are junk. Not at all. For mission critical, Intel or 3com is BY FAR better, HOWEVER, if you are networking 2 up to several dozen machines together and it doesn't DEMAND HEAVY use, they are excellent products.
My last employer depended on D-Link and so did the technicans for the support database. It never failed us.
I am only reviewing the product, not the support. I have read some negative reviews about their support, which could be true. I have never called them.
The heaviest I have used their hardware on my end was about 2 years ago for network gaming. About 7 or 8 machines with various network cards (a few had D-Link) were hooked up to a D-Link 8 port 10 mbps hub playing games. We were HAMMERING on the network and the hub had no problems handling the load. An inexpensive... hub at that.
Bottom line: mission critical and heavy demanding use, consider Intel or 3com, which are designed for that, but typical home/office/small business use for dozens of people AT ONCE on the network, D-Link will handle it just fine.
23 Good card for the price!
I've used the Netgear and LinkSys equivalents to the D-Link DFE-530TX+ as well, and I don't see any real difference between these cards at all except for the price. D-Link is the least costly of them all and works just as well. I would AVOID Netgear's cards though, since I have had shutdown/lock-up problems using their cards in Windows ME. No problems with the D-Link thus far. Perhaps since the D-Link uses a different chipset (Realtek, whereas the Netgear uses Lite-On I believe). A good choice for a low cost network card.
24 Terrible for Linux
its ok for windows, but since it uses a Realtek chipset, its terrible under linux, you have to compile the driver. agh.
Simontek
25 Perfect for me and hasn't caused me any problems.
I have had my PC for a while with just a standard 56K modem. Then I wised up and bought cable access. Now I needed a NIC to go along with the Cable modem. The Cable Company offered to let me buy one from them ... I did some research on the Internet and this Card was ... on sale at an online retailer at the time. So I bought it and the installation went rather smooth.
Windows was able to recognize it right away, and it already had the drivers on the Windows Disk, I didn't even need the floppy or instructions that came with the DFE-530TX+. And when the Cable Guy came to install the service, everything worked just fine. I have no complaints and can't see how others could mess up this easy installation.
Highly Recommended
26 Another great product from D-Link
I'm one of those people that would rather keep reusing old computer parts until they completely die than buy new ones; network cards, after all, haven't changed much in the past 6 years. Recently, however, I decided to switch my hub to 100baseT as it worked faster than the dual-mode I was using. Suddenly, my old card became obselete (well, on THAT switch at least) and I did some research into the latest crop of LAN cards out there. D-Link is very highly rated across the board, and I settled on this particular card. My system automagically recognized it, my switch latched on to it, and have not had a problem with it at all. It even happily coexists with the 6 year old 10baseT combo token ring/RJ45 card!
Summary: If you need a LAN card, you can't go wrong with D-Link.
27 Macintosh Users Take Note!
This card works beautifully in PCI Macs. I installed 2 ofthem after reading some comments on the ... pages. You must download... ... ...and modify the driver from the realtek site but theinstructions and task is easy. Start to finish I didn't take morethan 5 minutes. My experience matches many others. This is a very cheap alternative to $30-$50 cards from other vendors.
28 Good companion with D-Link router and switch
In fact, I just bought another D-Link DFE-530TX+ after the first one that I bought two months ago. It works well with D-link DI7-04 router and D-Link DSS-5+ switch. I use these products to build a home network (PC/laptop/servers/PowerMac) with internet sharing on one cable modem. If you just want to use this NIC with internet-sharing router by using DHCP as the default, the configuration is fairly easy. If you want to use this NIC with a swicth to build a home network, it take a little more understanding of TCP-IP network to get it done right. Nevertheless, it is a good combination with D-link DI704 router and D-Link DSS-5+ switch.
29 Updating the drivers for windows Me
I'm haveing trouble updaing the drivers for windows Me besides that I think its a good product for it's cost.
30 This is the worst peice of trash I have ever bought.
This was my first attempt at networking and D-link has made it a nightmare. The cards installed fine, but the booklet only explains on how to install it and hook it into the main board. And it explains it in such a confusing way, you have to read it over and over again until you can understand it. Then it says to refere to the readme file on the floppy disk, when you open it up, all it says is to insert the disk and follow the directions. Wow what help that was. I got in installed, or so I thought I did, I really still am not sure if it's installed. It had no help on how to use the product and make connections with my other computer. Now I see why it was so cheap. Sure this maybe great to an expert, but to any newbie, this will just mess you up and cause you to waste money on it. It changed my passwords on my system some how and just messed it up pretty bad. I needed to format anyway, but I was so surprised on how much it did to my system. The technical help was no good either, I couldnt even get in contact with them. Please avoid this, unless you know ALOT, and I mean ALOT about networking, otherwise it's a waste.
31 Looks cheap, but works amazingly well!!
My first impression is "this is such a cheapo lookin' card, but for the price, I guess I can give it a try"... Boy, was I wrong or what? The installation is so easy, it took 2 minutes and 40 seconds, including opening and closing the computer cover, and software driver. The card's performance is second to none, far exceeds my Linksys and Netgear, even Intel cards. Ever since, I've buying this particular card for my home and professional networking use, and it never failed me.
I know some people gets uncomfortable when they see a "ancient floppy disk" for storing driver. But darn it, it works great. And what's amazing about D-Link, is that they always seem to include the latest driver in their packaging. I have bought over 60 of these cards, and the driver date is just barely 2 - 3 months old on every purchase. Consider Linksys, their drivers are at least 1 year old. To top it off, Windows 2000 and ME has build-in drivers for this card, and the floppy isn't even needed.
Overall, this is a good performing card at a wonderful price. They use the SAME chipset (stamped with their own name) that other competitors use as well, but they did it much less expensive... Definitely +++!
32 Good product
This is a great product just plug it in and boot up your computer true plug and play! Gets very good speeds very nice! I recomend this to anyone who needs it for home, small bussines also a great tool for students. This is not exactly the divice you want to buy if your interested in your files actually moving at 100mb per sec.
33 Penny-Wise, Dollar- foolish...
D-Link makes low-end NIC's. My problem with them is why they're made so awfully. Quality is so inconsistent. Their help desk is indifferent to the card's many installation problems. D-Link's diagnostics work only in DOS(?).
Skip this one...
34 D-Link DFE-530TX+ as part of DFE-910 home network- great
I installed 2 cards as part of the home network kit and they worked immediately and without problems. I instantly had all 3 of my home computers linked together and could share files and play games. I just installed the Midpoint Lite software and can share my internet cable connection on 2 computers. The 3rd has a network card from a different vendor, and the software won't work with it (manual states this explicitly). I came here to buy another one ... I've not had any problems with the card and it zips!
35 This DFE-530tx+ is the nic to get!
I purchased this card to network my computer with my college's server and the installation was sooo easy! It has the plug-and-play for automatic installation and gives me 10 or 100 mbps full duplex. It was so trouble free that my roomate also picked one up for her computer and now we both are connected on our campus.
36 Buy a LinkSys! NOT THE D-LINK!
I had nothing but trouble with this card. First off it took me forever to install the software for the card...and it isn't as though I am running a (s)low end PC here! (650MHZ PIII, 32x CD-ROM, 160 MB Ram, etc.) Then, the instruction pamphlets read like stereo instructions! I thought companies were supposed to be creating these things "easier to use"...not with this product! To top things off, Windows 98 SE didn't recognize the product until I restarted the computer for the third time. Then, after it was finally installed, it kept dropping data packets when I connected it to my MediaOne Road Runner. I had had enough! I took it back, and then went out and spent $40 on a Linksys...it took 1/2 the time to install the software, and it worked perfectly after the first try...no data loss!
37 incredible deal at amazon
it took me at least 30 minutes to install the software alone. one problem i had was that the software installation manual was located on the (ancient 3 1/2") disk. so when the win98 plug&play wizard pops up it's best to cancel it first and then read through the README files. one of the problems had to do with the way the win98 cabinets are arranged and you must know the location of the files it asks you for.
after the installation i had no problems whatsoever. this card runs like a dream. my connection speed has shot straight through the roof, running between 100 and 200 Mbps! i don't know why this card retails for so high, but for Amazon's price, i can afford to sacrifice what i used to refer to as "download time."
38 Easy install, questionable quality
I read a good many reviews before selecting the d-link nic card. I found the install easy and trouble free- but the quality isn't what I'd expected. The RJ45 connection is poor (cable doesn't lock in) and I've lost my connection several times, having to remove the card to get a proper connection. This may well be a faulty card, but I can only speak from my experience with the one, which thus far has not been great.
