The D-Link DWL-120 wireless LAN USB card is a high-performance wireless USB network adapter. At 11 Mbps, the DWL-120 is the fastest wireless network adapter on the market today. The USB interface makes the DWL-120 easy to install and use, and the wireless adapter enables you to share hard disk drives, DVD-ROM and CD-ROM drives, Zip drives, and printers. The adapter also provides shared access to an analog, cable, or DSL modem for Internet access.
Designed for desktop PCs and laptops with a USB port, the D-Link DWL-120 can be used point to point (ad hoc) or in conjunction with an access point (infrastructure mode) to extend the reach of its communications capability. Strict adherence to the latest IEEE 802.11b networking standard for wireless connections and USB standards makes the DWL-120 compatible with any compliant hardware. The network adapter is fully mobile and seamlessly roams from access point to access point. The range of coverage per cell is 100 meters indoors and up to 300 meters outdoors.
The DWL-120 operates in 2.4 GHz direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) for wireless networks in the home or office. It also uses a 40-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption for a secure network connection. It includes an internal nondetachable diversity patch antenna and one built-in green LED indicator for power, network link, and activity. The DWL-120 is compatible with Windows 98 and Me; Windows 2000 compatibility is expected by late 2001.
D-Link provides a lifetime warranty on parts and labor for the DWL-120.
1 drops connection with 614+ router using xp
shows excellent signal strength but then for no reason looses connection for a few seconds then connects back up, does this constantly, tried changing channel to 6 and that helped a bit, I am going to try to flash the bios in the 614AP. Any help on this one?
2 Doesn't connect to D-Link AP800+ repeater
DWL 120 connects to weak signal of D-Link router DWL 614+ and not to strong signal of D-Link 800+ repeater. A laptop right next to the DWL-120 with a PCMI card installed does connect to the strong signal of the repeater. An upgrade to firmware 2.5 results in complete failure of the DWL 120.
3 A solid adapter
I used this in conjunction with a D-Link PCMCIA wifi card to share a cable internet connection between two Windows-2000 based systems via built-in Internet Connection Sharing in an ad-hoc network. The adapters themselves performed reasonably well, the connection would occasionally drop out but a restart of either the client or the host computer would always restore the connection, possibly there was a better solution but I didn't really try anything since that worked. Possibly not for beginners, there are some configuration issues those types might not be comfortable with. But I found it to be a piece of cake.
4 A++
I was surprised that this actually worked very well on one of my tempramental low-volatage cyrix mediagx-based computer that rejects every other usb device. No problems on two other computers also. Very small, good looking design. Along with my D-Link DI-614+ router, it's catching near the top scale signal throughout the house. It works.
5 Works with XP
I recently got a new Dell with XP installed. Even though it is not officially supported to work with XP it works fine. It always keeps a good signal from my wireless station and the line speed is always as fast as my DSL. This is as good as a USB wireless conecter that anyone needs.
6 Works with linux
only 4 stars because I need to download linux-wlan-ng, which isn't shipped with the kernel, but that's the only complaint; it works with wavemon too. It is nice and compact, enough so that a *shorter* USB A-B cable would be an advantage, for packing in a laptop case.
7 Works great!
Super easy to install, and even works with my Mac network.
8 Very easy setup, but ...
I purchased the DWL-120 along with a DI-713P wireless router. The setup for the DWL-120 was per the manual until I rebooted the computer at which time Windows 98 failed boot up with protection error message. Computer would not complete a boot up until DWL-120 was disconnected. After computer booted I could plug in DWL-120 and it would work fine until next reboot. Computer is an AMD 450 with MVP3 chip set running Windows 98. After much troubleshooting I was able to narrow problem to shared interrupt. I turned off video card interrupt in BIOS and computer booted nominally with DWL-120 connected.
I'm not sure if this is a problem with my hardware or the DWL-120 driver but everything works great now. Very satisfied.
9 USB heaven
This was a great buy. I didn't want to add another PCI card and this was the best solution. At first I was worried that the USB connection wouldn't be fast enough, but that disappeared as soon as I hooked it up. It's now zooming away.
10 Incompatible with software firewalls
I have a Windows XP computer connected to a cable modem. I went crazy trying to install the D-Link wireless network kit with a 1000AP Access Point and two DWL-120 adaptors. The second computer, Windows 98, connects to the internet through the Windows XP machine. I hired someone else to install it. Finally he figured out that Norton Internet Security was breaking the D-Link network and now it works fine with Norton Internet Security turned off. I tried installing ZoneAlarm and that broke it also. So I've ordered a LinkSys hardware firewall to install between my cable modem and computer. I sent a technical support question to D-Link at some point by email and got no response.
11 Don't waste your time
Product seems to be OK but if you run into any trouble forget about it. D-link tech support is clueless. They can't speak English, and they have no knowledge of their own products much less basic networking. I bought a D-Link 713P (wireless router)along with this product. Tech support could not even tell me what one of the two products was at fault. I'm returning both items and I'm getting a Linksys router and NIC. You get what you pay for, and I recommend you pay a little extra for another wireless brand.
12 Good Thing in a Small Package
The speed I attained was 225 Kbps, far slower than the 1.6Mbps I achieved with the wired connection with the same DL-713P wireless router. Otherwise signal strength was very good to excellent from 75'.
13 D-Link DWL-120 - A Great Wireless Link
I have used this wireless network adapter to link up with a T-1 line for internet access since late summer 2001 and it works great!! Easy to install - dependable - fast!! I heartily recommend this for any type of wireless networking.
14 Excellent product
We use these to rent to customers at our WISP and they're wonderful. Easy to set up, they find AP's fast, pull quick and have FANTASTIC range - even without ideal LOS (far better than the PCMCIA cards).
15 Good overall product
I also have a d_link DWL-1000AP so the setup of this item was very straightforward. Hooked it up to the client PC and set a few IP configurations and I was wired to my network and internet. Speed is as good as the wired PC's for internet access. The only fault I can find is that with WEP enabled I cannot get to the internet. My network connection seems to be fine though. Customer service impossible to get too, they tell you to leave a message and they will call back. I am running windows 2000 server and professional on the PC's in my network and the help files do not work in those versions of windows. I am trying to get the help files for my OS but no luck so far. The three star rating is more for service and support than for the product itself.
16 First Time Wireless Installer Here
I received this unit as a networking kit with the DI 711 Gateway. Had some problems initially but then it started working. I don't know what I did but it worked and has been humming right along for a week.
17 Outstanding Product
Just got this a few days ago - installation is very easy and I can't believe how well it works.
I'm using this for my dektop PC located about 50-75 feet from a Linksys 4-port wireless cable/dsl router. The signal (with almost no tweaking) stays in the very good - excellent range.
My download speeds (even with WEP enabled) are as fast as they were when the PC was hard-wired to the router - and my ping in online games has not gone up at all. All in all a great product.
18 Mount it high
I have several D-Link 802.11b products in my house, and my network hums right along very nicely. This unit is connected to my desktop box, but I substituted a 10ft USB cable and mounted the unit with velcro tape up high on my study wall. This seemed to improve connectivity a couple of notches. Easy to install and setup.
19 Rock Solid, Simple and trouble free
I bought this unit to link my Compaq Ipaq (USB connectors only) to my wireless LAN at home. I had it up and running in less than three minutes, on Windows 2000.
Three weeks later, reinstalled WindowsXP on the unit, which automatically installed and configured the unit, without any help or driver disk. I wish that everything I had was this trouble free.
I especially like the fact that it runs off of the USB power, and does not need an external power supply. The unit is also smaller than I anticipated, which was a nice treat.
20 Great for Laptops!
This device, coupled with either an access point or router (or both), gives fabulous performance and maximum flexibility. I network my laptop with my main machine, and can move my laptop anywhere around the house (even the backyard) with no obvious degradation in performance. Thus, I can access the internet or share (and print) files from any room in the house with no additional wires. Also, the technical support folks are great - they didn't treat me like a moron, etc. and they actually helped! I highly recommend this device or other D-Link stuff. (I also have D-Link's DI-713P access point/broadband router).
21 If I can ever get this working I'll up the rating...
...but for now, D-Link gets only one star due to hassle.
I know the hardware is good because I've managed to set up a wireless network between this and my PCMCIA wireless card (also D-Link) using the USB adapter on someone else's PC. On my own desktop PC, the configuration utility usually refuses to run, and twice now, installing the D-Link USB adapter has trashed my DSL connection (also USB), requiring a lot of reinstallation and rebooting before it would work again.
I will credit D-Link tech support with being prompt in replying to an e-mailed tech support question; they'd responded before the end of the business day after the evening when I wrote (i.e. less than 24 hours). But the reply wasn't overly helpful, and when the configuration utility doesn't run, "you don't really need it anyway" is not a very reassuring answer.
Modes and such are all set identically, but this and the PCMCIA card won't see each other. I'm not even using encryption just yet, so as to keep things as simple as possible. I'm not sure how many hours of my life I'm really willing to devote to fooling with this thing.
Be warned.
22 Works for me and a Great Convenience
A good friend of mine had this USB adapter and a couple of other USB devices like a webcam, a zip drive, and his wireless keyboard and mouse. He was getting poor transfer rates (2-3Mbps) with this USB adapter so he decided to sell it to me and get one of the PCI type Wireless adapters. This was the perfect choice for both of us. He now gets about twice as much speed as he did with this USB adapter and I get about 5-6Mbps with this USB adapter. It seems as though he hade too many USB devices and the bandwidth allotted for this device wasn't what he wanted.
We also found out, after actually reading the manual thoroughly, that placing wireless devices near monitors, TVs, radios, and anything else that uses radio waves could suck up the signal strength of the wireless products. (His USB adapter was on top of his monitor, since that was the highest point he figured it was best.) Turns out it wasn't.
So I ended up getting a good deal, and a great product. And he ended up finding a good alternative. I would like to send my thanks to my friend Matt for the good price and D-Link for the useful documentation.
23 The D-Link disappoints.
While the thought of being able to simply plug-and-play and get 802.11 wireless networking is appealing, the d-link doesn't deliver. The installation was fairly simple, requiring only a quick reboot (after setting IP addresses, etc). But! I have never been able to get more than 2Mbps out of this device, even 2 feet from the AP. I have a laptop with built-in wireless, and it easily gets 6mbps. Also, my Win98 computer is less than reliable while using the D-Link... Windows blue-screens after a short while -- generally when transferring moderate to large amounts of data.
In all, you'd do best to check out the USB solutions from other manufacturers (I know for a fact Lucent ORINOCO and Linksys have similar products).
24 USB is VERY EASY and Wireless makes it BETTER
I bought this USB Wireless Network Adapter because I didn't want to take up a PC slot in my laptop and I could always use this with a Desktop whenever I needed to.
The Setup was super easy, (install drivers from CD, plug it in, click "next" a bunch of times and it worked with default settings) It took me under 10 minutes to get this device working. Most of it was remembering what my network settings are.
Recommended to anyone who likes to do things the Easy Way.
25 Quick Installation and Great Documentation
I own the Wireless Network Kit D-Link sells and it comes with two of these Wireless USB Network Adapters. I was able to set-up my network in about an hour and only ran into one problem. But it turned out to be my fault and thank to the documentation I was able to solve it rather quickly. Next time I will read the instructions a little better.
The netowork runs fast and I am more than happy with the results. I highly recommend this product along with the Kit for people who are like me and don't want to run wires thoughout their home.
26 Quick Install And Even Easier to Use
The first thing I thought of when I saw this product was the fact that i didn't even have to open up the computer to install it. That is a big factor to me. And I am sure it is to others.
I was able to get this product up and running in about 5 minutes. That is quicker than any other Networking product I can think of. If you want easy and wireless, this is the answer.
Although it takes up a USB port, and doesn't allow you to use the USB connection for any other high demanding bandwidth device, it is an ease of use product and that is why I give it such a high score. Anyone can plug in a USB cable. Not everyone can install a PCI card.
27 Very Easy Install and is faster than I expected.
Being that this is a wireless and USB device it is extra easy to install. Just one cable to the USB port. Especially when your USB port is on the front of your computer, like mine.
It recognized the Access Point right away and didn't even have to configure much. I just followed the quick install guide and everything was fine.
I also thought since it is a USB device it wouldn't transfer data as quickly. I was wrong. Everything was just as fast as the rest of my wireless network. THANK YOU D-Link!
28 Very Easy Install and is faster than I expected.
Being that this is a wireless and USB device it is extra easy to install. Just one cable to the USB port. Especially when your USB port is on the front of your computer, like mine.
It recognized the Access Point right away and didn't even have to configure much. I just followed the quick install guide and everything was fine.
I also thought since it is a USB device it wouldn't transfer data as quickly. I was wrong. Everything was just as fast as the rest of my wireless network. THANK YOU D-Link!
29 Ok but not as good as the competition
I'm very happy with the D-Link DWL-1000 Access Point, however they have not done too well with this USB adapter. The range is much less than competing PCI or PC Card adapters from Lucent or Cisco and the software is rather lacking. If it wasn't for the fact that I NEED a USB adapter for my application, I would have returned this item a long time ago (having the antenna away from the back of the PC is quite important). By far the most annoying problem is an apparent bug that causes the speed to degrade over time from 3Mbps down to 1Mbps until the PC is rebooted. I don't know if this is an isolated problem, but D-Link has yet to respond to my technical support queries.
Overall this is a decent choice for the average home user who doesn't want to deal with opening up the computer. Anyone planning on professional use should opt for one of the Cisco or Lucent cards with an external antenna.
30 Nice product but NO support or help
I purchsed the product and one should be able to load the software and have the unit discovered automatically. It would not auto detect on my network. When I checked help I was told the help files are not compatable with the language installed on my PC. So I went to my Win98 machine and had the same problem. I spent 30 minutes on hold with technical support before I gave up. They had NO help on ther web site and when I tried to contact support via e-mail I receved two automatic responses, saying go to the web site, but again no help or drivers for this new model. Through trial and error I did add manually and I got it working but, from my experience I will not buy another D-Link product. Cisco is to have a unit out in a matter of weeks and they do have a good support structure.
31 Works Like A Charm!
Installs fast and Easy, simple to configure, finds access point immediately. Nice alternative to PCI card, and very flexible. Works with Win 2000, ME, 98.
