A notebook computer is all about portability, so why should your network cable keep you tethered to one place? The D-Link DWL-650 PC card Type-II 11 Mbps 802.11b wireless LAN adapter, known as the D-Link Air for short, gives you back your mobility, letting you connect to your home or office wireless network from whichever desk (or couch) you happen to be at. Plus, as wireless networks continue spreading to hotels, airports, and even coffee shops, it will help you keep connected no matter how far you travel.
The DWL-650 installed easily, as a PCMCIA card should. We just ran the setup program from the included CD and plugged the card into an empty Type-II slot on our notebook PC. Windows XP immediately recognized the card and installed the drivers. Then, using the D-Link configuration utility, we configured it for our specific LAN. Once connected to the LAN, the little green LED on the end of the card stopped blinking, telling us we were good to go. The printed manual and online help gave helpful guidance on getting the card installed and connecting to our network.
As we tested our wireless setup, we reveled in the freedom the D-Link Air gave us. Using it in a two-story house, we were able to go from room to room, never losing our Internet connection. We even could go outside on the patio and browse the Web from a chaise lounge. Of course, the card worked equally well in an office environment, letting us take our notebook from the conference room to the lunchroom without losing our network connection.
In general, we found that the construction of the walls between the wireless card and the access point had as much to do with reception quality as did distance. So, for instance, if you're separated from the access point by several thick walls, reception will be much poorer than if a glass partition is all that separates you. The manufacturer suggests a range of up to 328 feet indoors and up to 984 feet outdoors, and we found that to be a decent approximation of the maximum range you can expect. The D-Link control utility has a graphical status bar that shows the wireless signal strength, so it's easy to know when you've wandered too far.
At 11 Mbps, the speed's plenty fast for most uses, like browsing the Web, accessing a file server, updating a database, etc. You can also configure it to transmit at slower speeds, depending on your network environment. The card supports both 64-bit and 128-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption, a vital feature that keeps your communications secret.
The D-Link Air will keep you well-connected whether at work, at home, or through a public WiFi (wireless fidelity) network at places like an airport or coffee shop. Since it's a PCMCIA card, it's easy to swap in and out if you need to use a wired connection in some places and wireless in others. Bottom line, if you have a notebook PC and have access to wireless capabilities, you'll love the freedom of movement this little card delivers. --Ken Feinstein
Pros:
- Easy installation
- Uses IEEE 802.11b standard for broad compatibility with wireless networks
- Supports 64-bit and 128-bit encryption
- Good range
Cons:- Not as fast as a 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet wired connection
Cardbus Adapter capable of transfer ratesof up to 11Mbps, giving you the ability toconnect to a wireless network at home, atthe office or at wireless hotspots. Now,with the DWL-650 in your notebook PC,you can stay connected wherever you areand wherever you go.
The DWL-650 is Wi-Fi compatible, meaningthat it can connect and interoperate with other802.11b compatible wireless routers, accesspoints and adapters.
With its quick and easy installation alongwith driver support for Windows XP, 2000,Me, and 98SE; the DWL-650 ensures thatyou will be up and running on a wirelessnetwork in just a matter of seconds. Now,you can have wireless connection overstandard 32-bit cardbus architecture foroptimal performance capability.
The DWL-650 also features up to 128-bitWEP encryption to provide a level of securityfor information that you wirelessly transmit.Using its default settings, the DWL-650automatically connects to other D-Link Airproducts as soon as its active.
1 Easy to use and Works Perfect
When I say that this wireless adapter card works perfectly I mean it. I've never had to reboot because of this being in my laptop, or ever had a problem with my wireless connection because of this card, nor was it hard to get working in the first place.
I can't say how much I value this card because you only know the value after it's gone. And I've never been apart from this card now that it's pretty much a permanent fixture in my laptop.
The range is perfect for me. I never feel that I have to get super close, nor do I feel I can walk real far away from the AP I'm connected to. Overall this card works wonders and I recommend it to anyone who needs a wireless adapter PCMCIA slot card in their laptop.
2 Decent and Reliable 802.11b Laptop Card
If I had to buy another wireless card for my laptop, and I wanted to stay 802.11b, I'd buy this card again. And how many computer devices can you say that about? Not many in my book.
This wireless card was easy to use and installation just took one reboot and some clicking of NEXT. Everything seemed to work on the first try and I haven't had any major issues that a normal reboot didn't fix now and then. But I don't blame that on this card, just windows.
Good range, decent configuration interface, and doesn't take a powerful machine to run it. It works for me and I don't see why it wouldn't for others.
3 not supported under UNIX/Linux !!!
D-Link created a confusion out there in the market area, selling the wirelss adapters with diffrent chipset using the same name for them.
The first models (version A and B) used to have Prism chipset from Intersil (which are supported by POSIX sistems) but now they changed thei chipset with other vendors like Realtek without changing the name of the product - that's how I bought this thinking it is spported - unfortunaltelly it is not !
4 108 Mbps is NOT working
I use DI-624 and DWL-650 with Dell 600m. The 108 Mbps or Super G just doesn't work, the wireless connection drops every 10-20 min. Make sure you visit http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum and search for paeDISCONNECTED and you will meet many unhappy users there. I have tried both 2.42 and 2.50 firmware and many things suggested in http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum. The only way to make DI-624 and DWL-650 work for me is to disable Super G. DI-624 also works with my 802.11b came with Dell 600m.
5 Check your bus speed!
Be absolutley sure that you have a 16-bit bus or this card will not be compatable with your computer. If you do not have a 16-bit bus you will have a 32-bit bus. You will need to find a wireless card that uses 32-bit bus speed.
Best of luck!
P.S. Trust me, this happened to me!
6 D-Link DWL-650 very poor range
I have a Belkin wireless router/modem which works well with a Belkin PC card. I also allows me to work with an HP5550 hand-held all over my house. However, only about half of the house is usable with this D-Link card and my laptop. I am very disappointed in the range although in other respects it is OK.
7 Works fine for my HP XP notebook
For the most part, I'm satisifed with this product. I installed this on my HP notebook, running XP Pro. Intially, I had problems getting it to work on my notebook. The installation screwed by TCP/IP so I could not connect to the web. Through some research, I figured out that I must uninstall my Sygate firewall prior to the installation, install the card, then re-install my firewall. This was consistent with a Linksys card installation I did before. After I got it running, it works pretty good. I have it connected to my Linksys router with 128-bit WEP.
Some say that when you take out the card, then put it back in, that you will have to re-enter the WEP key. I had this issue at first, but I no longer have this problem. What I do is that I'll keep the card out while I boot up my PC. When my PC is fully booted, I will then insert the card. XP will read it, and then I'm online without entering the WEP key. Sometimes I do have to manually connect by clicking connect, but rarely will I have to re-enter the WEP key.
Pros:
Low priced, keeps its signal about 95% of the time, speed is fast and acceptable.
Cons:
Signal strength is lower than I expected. Being downstairs right under the router, strength will be between 65-80%. But even though the signal is low, my connection speed is still good.
8 No Range
I've had a wireless connection in my house for three years and after getting a new computer and connecting it to this card my reception is terrible. Even 20 feet away the signal is weak. You have to sit next to the router to make this card work so you might as well just plug in.
9 Okay for a budget
I needed a card that would help me get a signal from a basement to the second story of a house. This card gave me 3 out of 5 on signal strength, and in some places didn't get any signal. I read about a lot of cards and ended up getting an Orinoco card instead (I got this one in a package purchase.) The Orinoco card is more expensive, but it gives me 5 out of 5 for signal strength everywhere in my house. If signal strength is a concern for your use, or your going for max distance, you may have some problems with this card.
10 Poor connection/signal quality
I bought this card off a yahoo.com store. It does not always connect to the available wireless network. It is not even compatible with Windows XP - the installation says so, it is not digitally verified by XP. While it is able to detect the network, it just won't get connected. I use it on my campus' wireless network. While people around me can connect to the network using their wireless card, mine just refuse to do it. Although sometimes it does connect, this is not a very reliable card.
11 Pretty Shoddy
I suppose the range etc. are fine - I haven't tested it directly against other cards but qualitatively performance seems fine.
It has an annoying installation where you have to have the CD-ROM available at the same time as the card. If you are installing on a laptop without a CD-ROM, by sharing the drivers from a networked CD-ROM, this will make installation more annoying and mystical.
It has a very stupid and irritating constantly brightly flashing "active" light during normal operation.
It installs a utility which can only be run by administrative users, but tries to run itself under any user, so that normal users get a stream of error windows filling their screen. It's very stupid in this day and age to assume that everyone on a machine will have administrative privileges.
All in all, a thoroughly disappointing purchase. I've had good luck with D-Link products before, so the general lousiness of this particular one surprises me.
12 2 out of 3 worked great
I bought 2 of these cards and the router initially and had no problems setting up and getting online. Shortly after that, one of the notebooks started having connection drop-outs. When I applied pressure to the card the connection would restore but it frequently caused the computer to freeze, even during the boot sequence. Since I had 2 cards and wasn't having any problems with the second notebook, I tried the working card in the first notebook and it worked perfectly. In other words, one of the cards I got had a defective connection. It was past the Amazon return period and frankly I was too lazy to contact D-Link for a replacement. I picked up another card later and it works fine.
Both working cards have been working great for months and I have never experienced any connection problems whatsoever. I have also not noticed any decrease in network speed compared to the land line. I recommend the card with the caveat that there seem to be quite a few poorly made ones out there.
13 Terrible Customer Support and Terrible Quality
At first, it worked fine. However, after 3 months, it stopped working and I got the error code 10. I called customer service several times (>=4) and every time I had to wait for more than 10 minutes in queue. They gave me absolutly unhelpful advices: reinstall card and reinstall driver. Attempt several times, Eventually I got a RMA number to exchange it. They do not accept US mail, so I had to send it via UPS and it costed $8.(40% of purchase price). After one month of wait, I got another card, which looks like an old one. I guess they sent me a repaired one. Unfortunately, this one does not work at all!!
14 cust
it is quoted to have a sensitivity of -90dBm. Yet, this card keeps droping the signal.
Good transfer rates but, it does not give a reliable connection.
(even when close to the antenna).
15 Blue Screens, lousy tech support, just not worth the hassle
I'm on my second DWL-650, and still having problems. I'm running Win2k on a Dell Latitude CPi laptop. I've been doing PC repair for the last 10 years. Here's a list of the problems:
DHCP won't renew when the laptop comes out of standby (meaning I have to use a static IP, or restart the machine).
Windows crashes to a BSOD if I ever remove the card without stopping it first. Windows even crashes if I put the computer into standby, remove the card, and then put it back.
Tech support has told me that it's a problem with Win2k, or with my laptop...despite the fact that I used a DWL-610 on the same machine for months without any of these problems.
The bottom line: spend an extra $10, and get a better card.
16 Do not buy for use with an HP or Compaq laptop!
This was the first D-Link PCMIA card I've owned, and they have both been good performers, except they interfere with Windows' power management features on HP and Compaq notebooks. I thought the problem would be solved by buying this newer card, but it hasn't. My computer refuses to stay powered on for more than 20 minutes unattended, and frequently, when browsing the Internet, my mouse cursor freezes and the only way out is to hit the power button. I did some online research, and it turns out many other HP and Compaq laptop users have had the same problem. For some reason, these incompatibilities still exist, despite D-Link knowing about them for some time.
Again, D-Link cards perform well and are a good value, but I would not recommend one to an HP or Compaq user.
17 Don't expect tech support
I purchased this card to use in an older laptop running Windows 98. Before buying the card I emailed D-link tech support to see if it would work and was told that Yes, it would work with Windows 98 first edition. In fact, it will not work with Win98. I emailed and phoned D-link tech support after the card did not work and was told that the current hardware revision will not work with Win98 first edition. The helpful D-link tech support reps suggested that I should have looked at the box (hard to do when you order from Amazon). The D-link website was unclear, merely listing Win98 as supported, not differentiating between 98 and 98SE. They further suggested that I go to seeveral stores and try to find an older hardware revision (there are several) or upgrade my OS.
I decided to upgrade to WinXP. The drivers loaded, and the card recognized my wireless network. But, I had to re-enter my WEP key every time I turned the computer on in order to get an internet connection. I finally removed the D-link set up utility, even though I was using the WinXP Wireless Zero utility. After removing the D-link set up utility, everything runs fine.
The bottom line is that the card works fine and is a bargain, but D-link tech support and documentation is lousy.
18 Great
Had to download the XP drivers using windows, but once I was in a wifi area, the card automatically detected the connection with no problem. In fact, I'm online now because of this card. Worth the cost.
19 Dont Buy this if you are using Linux, WinXP, or other Unix
Even though the name has not changed from previous version of the product; firmware and chipset has changed. The Cardbus adapter has no drivers in linux. Better buy a Linksys version 3 or other adapter and save time.
D-Link has taken customers for granted, very very poor driver support.
20 Great product!
I installed this on my Dell Inspiron 8000 (ME). I did have to call tech. support because the manual will take you only so far. I was on the phone for ten minutes with tech support, clicked on my browser, and was online, with my feet up, on my living room couch. Easy, easy, easy! You can't beat the price on this card, either.
21 The D-Link DWL-650 is a good card.
So far this card has been working well and meets my expectations. I've been able to connect to hotspots around my area with no problems.
The card was easy to install and configure.
I'm using the card in a Win2K system. I tried using it in Win98SE and it consistently crashed the system after a few minutes of connecting. With Win2k, I've experienced no crashes at all.
This is my first wireless card so I don't have anything to compare to.
22 Yes, but *which* DWL-650?
I'll give it two stars because it kind of work under 98.
But I give it a low rating because it's not one product
and a lot of reviewer confusion seems to have arisen
because this isn't just one product...
So the $100k question is:
"Yes, but *which* DWL-650 did *you* get?"
Was it the H/W revA or B card?
The revH?
The revP (or P1? Depends on whether you
check the box or the card or the CIS tuples!).
The PCCARD one or the CARDBUS one (they both exist, by the way)?
And this all leaves out the "+" model.
Our good friends at D-Link, as at LinkSys and SMC, seem to
take a liberal view of what a model number now means.
In fact, there are 32-bit Cardbus and 16-bit PCCARD type II
variants. I've seen them shelved together at a store and
the boxes distinguish them. Though the box will say "PCCARD" or
"CARDBUS", many of the DWL-650 variants are packaged
the same save for a small sticker on the lower left corner
of the back of the box. Go to the web site, and the overall page
says these are all Cardbus, go look at the particular RevP
card information and you get a different story.
Give D-Link this much credit: some other makers have completely
changed chip-sets and not announced any changes; they just tweak
the drivers. Some of the new
wireless chip-sets in the cut-rate variants of these previously
decent cards are of rather uneven quality.
The problem is that it's not just one product. It's something like
4 to 6 products labelled the same or nearly identically. The same
sleazy engineers who brought us winmodems and external
controllerless modems attached over USB have gone to work for
WiFi card makers and are engaging in the
age old tricks of supporting only MS Windows OS variants, and
trying to win the race to the bottom for cost by swapping out
chips, tweaking their drivers, and not telling anyone what's in
their hardware.
Want a reliable card with a known good chipset? By something
with an Intersil PRISM chipset... this is why you see
people saying "go get a Netgear card" or "go get an Orinoco
Gold". Like me, many of these people have poked at these cards
from FreeBSD or Linux and noticed the hardware changes as a
result. The PRISM chipset worked pretty well and had good,
driver support, even in freeware OSes where it was based on
drivers that had been written to the Wavelan's Hermes.
I've recently been to a store 3 times for
PCI wireless cards. The third one I bought I kept. It's
a Netgear MA311. At least _someone_ doesn't jack around with
what's in the box without changing the model number in
an obvious manner. The first two cards had changed chip sets
and didn't do what I wanted at all. In the second case, the
packaging was perfectly identical to the previous internally
very different card. I'm stuck with my DWL-650 because I got
rid of the box.
For those seeking PRISM card here's a partially reliable rule
of thumb based on the Netgear packaging: look all over the
box and look for a station firmware revision. Lots of PRISM2
and 2.5 cards ship with station firmware 1.3.6. Some have
1.4.9 and 1.5.6 reportedly exists. This at least might be a clue
when in doubt, though probably unreliable.
Best bet? Buy a Netgear card, or buy online and check
technical specs. at time of purchase. Some sites actually
list the chipset in the card, since some manufacturers tell,
though the big box stores don't seem to have them.
Finally, save yourself some trouble if you want a good,
reliable card: don't buy the cheapest thing on the shelf.
Spend the $50-$80 for a known quantity. You'll be happier
when the first one is a keeper. Don't be surprised though if you
end up exchanging... it's very common for unadvertised
changes to occur in these kinds of cards.
Caveat emptor.
23 Plugged in and running in 10 minutes
Worked like a charm. I used the CD distributed with the card and followed the directions for Windows XP and didn't have a single problem.
24 DWL-650 Works Great
Installed the DWL-650 (which is a 16-bit PC Card, not 32) on a presario laptop running XP Home for use on a university network. The driver from the CD worked fine and the PC Card detected the network and configured itself automatically. The speed and range are very good. The only minor issue is that the card fails to detect the network if it is plugged in on startup; you have to eject it after startup then plug it back it in (at which point it connects to the network immediately). This might be fixed with the newer driver from the D-link website, but the card works so well I haven't bothered to update. Overall a purchase you'll be happy with.
25 Some people....
Listen here.
A lot of people are complaining that the card doesn't work at all. If you're using PCMCIA Type II, of course not. This is a 32 bit CardBus...seen on newer laptops. That means if your laptop doesn't support this protocol, of course it isn't going to work!
A lot of people are saying that it doesn't work with Windows XP. That's funny, because when I put it in the slot with the D-link CD in the drive, XP installed it, configured it, and I was on the internet immediately before I knew what was going on.
A lot of people say it overheats. So did my 1.7GHz P3 laptop, but my 2.6GHz P4 doesn't. Maybe you need to check your cooling apparatii in your laptop.
A lot of people say its range is bad. I live in a two story house, and the router is located in the garage. My room is directly above the room, and even through floors the signal is strong enough, and this is directly next to a 2.4 GHz cordless with a microwave in the other room. So I don't know what you guys are talking about.
A lot of people say they are having trouble getting it to configure and install correctly. I did at first - but the trick is, if you change anything (drivers, etc), it may kick the wireless out of sync. The fix? De-install the driver and reinstall it. It'll work like a charm.
Bottom line - I'm a computer nerd, but this is my first wireless networking attempt, and I'm overall happy with it. I think I'm going to do this from now on instead of running Cat-5 cabling all over the place. I bought a newer laptop just to take full advantage of this and so far I am not disappointed in the slightest.
26 Drivers do not work well on WinXP
I could not get the configuration utility to work with Windows XP. I had to use the built-in settings in WinXP to get it to work. Event then it would work only sometimes. It seems to work better on WIN98. I have wasted a LOT of hours trying to get this thing to work. It seems to have a stronger signal then earlier DWL-650 cards, but that is useless with faulty drivers.
27 Poor Drivers and Quality Control
At college, I use this card on a broadcasted network. Originally, it worked well. I installed the latest drivers on D-Link's website. Then, the driver would fail, and the computer would freeze. I would reinstall the driver, and it worked fine. This happened repeatedly until the card wouldn't work anymore. I called d-link, and they told me a brand new driver was put online, and I installed that one, and the card still didn't work. I took the advanced steps of removing the old driver from the system. Nothing. I purchase a Microsoft card, and it works amazing! All these smaller companies can't make the drivers properly for Windows XP, but Microsoft can guarantee compatability in the future. Also, another d-link product I own no longer is supported for windows xp. Although you'll be giving into the capitalistic machine, I would buy the Microsoft card for peace of mind.
28 Great Product at Great Price, Windows XP Works Perffect !
I've had 2 of these cards and D-Link's 713P router for about 2 years, and they work great! Set-up was simple and the range is spectacular!
The guy who had problems going from Windows 98 to XP must've done something wrong. He mentions installing the D-link CD. Well, I went from 98 to XP and never installed the cd - just plugged in the router, turned on the machine, and Windows configured everything. Never had to install any software or do anything at all to the 2 laptops that already had the cards installed (one running ME, the other XP).
This is a great product!
29 works good
This little card seemed to work great for me. I just plugged it in, installed the driver, tinkered with the setup program and it was up and running.
The range is very good compared to the Linksys WPC11 range. With a Linksys wireless router in the middle of a house and this card, I could walk at least 300 feet outside and still get enough signal to surf then net, the Linksys couldn't even get out the door with enough signal to surf the web.
Nice card at a nice price.
30 Not a Good One.
I used this D-link 650 wireless card and found very serious defect.
If an incoming email address is like abc.pqr@xyz.com and if you will reply this email (Am using Eudora) then it will crash your mailbox because of Dot (.) between abc.pqr. I tried to talk to D-link but didn't get any Positive response. D-link must have to recall this Product - DWL-650.
Try to avoid D-link.
31 This might crash your mail Box -
I used this D-link 650 wireless card and found very serious defect.
If an incoming email address is like abc.pqr@xyz.com and if you will reply this email (Am using Eudora) then it will crash your mail box becasue of Dot (.) between abc.pqr. I tried to talk to D-link but didin't get any Positive response. Infact, they must have to recall this Product - DWL-650.
Try to avoid D-link.
32 You get what you pay for
I initially purchased the DWL 650 (although for some reason, the user's manual calls it a DWL 500) to run a D-link router. Worked OK with a Windows98 OS, but since I recently upgraded to Windows XP, all sorts of problems ensued. Evidently, D-link provides no driver for XP, (the CD provided crashes XP, so don't use it!)so I had to download the driver from D-link site for the DWL 650H (no idea what the difference is between 650, 650+ and 650H). Works only OK now, but signal strength greatly fluctuates, and frequently cuts out (not that the crappy D-link router helps matters).
Before you buy this card, note the price, and remember that you get what you pay for.
33 this card [stinks]
I frequently pull the card out of my laptop and this card doesn't work now, I have to prop it up in order for the OS to recognize it. Very weird and [bad quality] card...
34 not so bad I a thought it would be
I was given a lot of hope in D-Link. Installation was simple. (I have window XP) Well, I have a lot of thick walls, the signal is not too good when you walk around the house with walls. I have the US Robotics, it's a little better than this one, but the installation for it was terrible. So, overall result, I would recommend this one over the US Robotic. Good Luck! DL
35 DON'T PURCHASE THIS CARD YOU'LL BE SORRY
Purchased 2 DWL-G650 1 worked after updating OS, one did not. Configured second laptop for working card then took the bad one back. Same card same number except it with a B2 Firmware the working one was an A1 firmware. Installed software did not work had to uninstall and install the new software. Now it is installed and indicates it is working but receives nothing. Called tech support....Forget it long distance and I waited about 20 minutes before hanging up. Sent email no response. Taking them both back today and buying a linksys. My fault tried to go cheap and got what I paid for. I already had a linksys and should have just stuck with them.
I don't believe that D-link has a QA department, which becomes apparent with the product and software.
36 Works perfectly, but a bit of a nuisance
I bought this card and use it successfully on an IBM laptop. I only use it at home (a small apartment), so I can't comment on range.
It works well, and installation was easy enough. One nuisance, though. Since I use encryption, I can't set the network to be default, but every time I turn my computer on (or come out of sleep mode), I have to go into the setup utility and press "apply" to approve the encryption key. There's no way to set a default key that would kick in every time the machine is turned on.
Good product for a low price.
37 It works good in toshiba but not compaq presario!
good connection with my netgear router
but once i plug into compaq presario 2800, it halt
38 Works
Not sure why lot of others are having problems.. but this took two reboots and 2 minutes to setup and load webpages with the D-Link wireless router.
Sure I'll agree their phone support is subpar, but once you get it works and it doesn't break.. then who really cares ?
39 Great Affordable Card
Mainly going to use this card to surf the internet at Cafe's, airports, etc. Great little card, set up easily on my old old laptop, connected to network easily and away I went. Great card for old or new laptops
40 Simple and Successful
I purchased this WiFi card and signed up for T-Mobile's Wireless HotSpot service, and all I had to do was take my laptop to Starbucks, pop in the WiFi card (and go through one-time automatic installation), and then open my web browser (and log into T-Mobile) to surf the web. It was incredibly easy, and now I can surf the web, check email, and even connect to my company's VPN from Starbucks, the airport, or Borders.
41 Just about destroyed two laptops
I installed two of these cards on my Mom and Dad's laptops. One, a Compaq Presario running Windows ME, became completely hosed after the install software destroyed the registry. I'm going to have to reinstall the whole machine.
The other, a Dell Latitude running Windows 2000 Pro, goes into an endless reboot loop if the card is plugged in. Both the HW and SW are junk in my opinion.
42 DWL-650
Best bang for the buck if you are using Windows 98 or 2000. I had fantastic reception on a compaq and toshiba laptop. I was using the first generation Linksys Access point with this card...works great! The Dlink DWL-650 had better reception than the first generation linksys PC card does. I upgraded my OS to Windows XP and the card DOES NOT WORK WITH XP. I believe the 650+ works with XP. Do not buy the DWL-650 if you have Windows XP on your laptop.
43 The Worst Wireless-Card Ever!
D-link wireless card is simply the worst wireless card I've ever seen. I bought this card to use it at my university's library. However, this card failed to provide a stable connection with their network. The problem was the card was showing a strong connection for one minute and for another minute the network was unavailable!! Get a Microsoft's card instead of this card
44 What a POS - for the love of God, get a Orinoco Gold!
What a waste of hard-earned money. Whoever designed this should be tarred and feathered! Not worth $half the price of a good card. I don't know how many public places it keeps [failing] in... at school, Starbucks, libraries, etc... Greatest problem ----- keeps disconnecting, then connecting, then disconnecting (1 minute it says connection "Excellent-11Mbps", a second later "Low signal or No Connection" all while I'm sitting at the same seat/table! Very very annoying... Glad I have a XP OS, my friends with DELLS in Windows 2000 just LOVE it when they have to type in the SSID every freaking time they go to a new place. Too bad Amazon.com doesn't have a 0 star rating for this product, it deserves it. As you see from my name, this looked like a hot deal, but the only thing that got hot was my temper.
45 D-Link generally is ok
I have the D-link router 614+ and the DWL-650, among others. First, they are priced okay. Second, they are easy to set up. Third, the web-site support is pretty decent. I'd bypass the phone tech support because of the same problems other reviewers have cited elsewhere, but this limited tech support is generally true for all of these low-cost items. Lastly, however, the range is very limited. I'd have the connection dropped off intermittently 2 floors up/down or 2 rooms away from the router. I'd probably buy it again, nevertheless, because other made-for-home products (e.g., Linsys) are more or less the same. One must recognize its limited range, which is a lot less than advertized.
46 Didn't work at first, but AMAZING customer tech support
I felt the need to write this review just to compliment the amazing customer service I received. I actually bought this at a warehouse type retailer, and of course you aren't going to get any technical support from oneof those places. I called the 800 number and (GASP) got a person who was polite, helpful, and very patient with me as he walked me through upgrading the firmware. In this day & age when customer service is an archeological relic, they were amazingly helpful, responsive, and effective. I have had no trouble using it in my house with the D-link wireless router, and I use it at a distance of >120 feet from the base station regularly.
47 Wireless Range is not as declared
Everything works fine with this product except that the wireless range is much shorter than specified. Connection drops often in a distance just two rooms away on the same floor or from upper stairs to down stairs.
48 don't work with my siemens wireless router
Easy to install, but disconnect often with my siemens router. Maybe the reason is that they are not compatible.
Don't suggest to buy it if you are using siemens router.
49 Extremely quick and easy to set up
I had low expectations for this very low-priced wireless network card, but could not pass up the price and bougt it anyway. I was amazed that within 10 minutes of opening the box, I had connected to my current wireless access point (WAP) with perfect reception.
I now have two WAPs and two wireless-enabled notebooks, al working perfectly. I only regret that I paid over $...for my first wireless network card.
I am running Windows2000 Professional, and my WAPs are made by Linksys and Netgear.
50 Awful Range
This is a good card for someone who's going to use it in an apartment near your Wireless Access Point. Otherwise, if you plan on using it in a public area like a Starbucks, a university or an airport go elsewhere. This card has A LOT less range than a 3 year old Linksys card I'm using on the same laptop. Don't use the CD when installing on XP, but run windows update while the card is in the slot... there is a XP certified driver there, although I haven't noticed any improvement in range. Overall, it's better suited as a doorstop rather than a Wireless card and the tech support is really awful as well.
51 Does what it is supposed to...
I did not give it a 5 because if "An electronics fan from Skaneateles, NY USA"'s comment is true, then this card is not too portable.
The card works really well with my Speedstream router and I could get the connection to work on main floor and in the basement. The router is hidden behind my desk door sitting on top of the computer, yet I have no problem getting 100% channel quality and strength.
It is nice to get wireless connection. It is easy to set up too.
52 Absolutely the worst tech support I have ever encountered
D-Link employs teenagers who can barely speak coherent English and who don't listen to the customer, even when you repeat the same simple and clear statement to them two or three times. Multiple calls produced a more inarticulate "tech" each time, most with what the average person would consider a profound lack of basic diction and communication skills.
They insist on following their flowchart regardless of whether it has any relevance to your stated problem. They often express technical concepts improperly or in a sloppy manner and don't appear to have a working knowledge of their own product line.
The first-level "techs" quickly run out of ideas to help with what should be elementary setup questions, promising to have a second-tier tech call you back. The call never comes.
The printed manuals that come with the equipment are pure fiction and as such are useless, referring to nonexistent pages for essential information.
If you are a professional networking wizard and have no need of tech support then by all means consider D-link if you enjoy endlessly playing around with equipment yourself on a test system and have no need for reliability or functionality.
If, however, you are a consumer with ordinary questions and ordinary equipment, stay away from D-link as the nonexistent "tech" support will quickly sour you to the company and make you passionately regret your purchase.
Do not buy D-Link equipment for a co-worker or family member unless you wish to inflict profound pain, anguish and heartache upon them and turn them into an enemy for life.
53 Great wireless card
I have the newest revision of the DWL-650 (L1). Installation and set up was a breeze (Laptop under W98SE). It connects wirelessly with DI-713P with great signal strength. I understand there are presumably "better" or "higher-tech" sophisticated and pricier wireless PC cards, but for your typical wireless home use, it more than meets the challenge and delivers (32 bit cardbus and up to 128 bit encryption). Definitely recommend.
54 CHEAP is RIGHT!
This card lacks the ability to sense SSID signals. You have to tell it the network is there. Also, while it is Plug-and-Play friendly with Win XP, the Dlink utility that comes on the CD-ROM doesn't work with XP Home (crashes when installing), so there is no way to control the level of WEP. I can only get this card to work with my Linksys WAP _WITHOUT_ WEP.
55 I have a better suggestion.
While D-Link makes very affordable products, they are poor in quality, and the tech support is horrible. I work where we sell these things, and they are trash. If you want a good wireless card, I strongly recommend the 3-com office connect X-Jack card, (B00006HX60). The 3com has a retractable antenna so you don't have to remove the card every time you pack your notebook. Trust me, it's worth the extra money. The 3com has a stronger connection and better drivers.
56 It works on WinXP!
I did not use it for too long, but it works! Don't even touch the CD you have in the box! For Windows XP just plug it in and follow instructions. When you want to connect to the network -- click on the icon in the right corner, and choose the network you need!
57 Works ok for a low end card. Otherwise look elsewhere.
I had this card along with a linksys, and a orinoco. The Dlink was not built well, in fact it broke just a week ago. The orinoco is without doubt the best for reception as well as physical stregth. Orinoco is packaged under names such as Dell True Mobile, IBM High Rate, and a bunch of others.
58 Easy to setup. I am satisfied.
Just a few min. to set it up to work with my Netgear MR814 wireless router on the second floor. Excellent connection anywhere inside my two story home. I tested outside my home. When the connection became lost I moved closer to the router but the connection wouldn't back on automatically. I need to pull and insert card again in order to have it connected again. Not sure this is common problem. No experience with other cards as this is my first one.
59 Wrong Marketing, Bad product
I bought this item from Amazon.com based on the editorial reviews but found out that it does not even have proper drivers to work with Windows XP even though D-Link says the card works with XP but if you go ot the manufacturer's site, it tells you thet the drivers are not certified to work with XP. Also, the configuration manager utilty does not work on XP or windows 2000 so it was very difficult to get this card working with other wireless routers. I totally regret buying this card.
60 Good... but you'd better have Windows XP
Good card - works just as well as a Cisco - but I faced installations problems with Windows 2000. Windows XP worked just fined though - so I upgraded my OS.
61 This is a Cardbus adapter
Like all the D-Link products I've purchased, this is a high quality card that is easy to install and works great. The product description is a little confusing. This is a 32-bit Cardbus adapter; therefore, it only works in a newer notebook computer. So if your 4 year old notebook supports Type-II PC cards, this card will not work.
62 This is a Cardbus adapter
This is not a Type II PC Card. It is a 32-bit Cardbus adapter. It works great it my new notebook, but I bought for my 5 year old notebook with the Type II slots.
63 WLAN with D-Link is awesome
DWL-650 and 900AP work great! Very easy and quick to get up and running (about 20 minutes start to wireless access). Set up is straight forward. I get all the bandwidth I need all around the house.
64 Don't buy this !!!
I installed it in my laptot. Everything is fine EXPECT it always disconnect about 3 esconds every minute. Quality is not good. I used my laptop just near my wireless access point (2 feet far) .. and it got disconnected sometimes.
65 This thing worked great!
I loaded the software into my Compaq PC, plugged in the card and within seconds was asked which of two operating networks I wished to connect to. I logged in and voila! it worked great (into an Apple airport network, by the way!). I was at a conference in a large hotel and I connected from one end of the conference center to the other. It couldn't have been any simpler. This thing is great!
66 no way
I bought my fist DWL-650 card and it lasted 3 months and quit. I have to mention that during that 3 months it worked perfectly with 50 feet of range (indoors). I called D-link and returned it. They found it to be faulty and sent me a "new" card. This card set up and worked fine but I can't go further than 10-15 feet from the D-link router and I loose the signal. The tech support is pathetic and it takes them a month to repair/replace your card.
67 This makes my Dell Laptop freak out!
I bought this wireless card new and it worked well for a while and suddenly I began having problems with my mouse and my sound during broadband streaming. I unplugged it in and grabbed another wireless card and the problems disapeared. I thought my drivers or my hardware had gone bad. I would choose another card like the netgear one, which is what I will be buying to replace this hunk of junk.
68 Nice Card
The card woks great with my DI-614+ Router. The only problem that I have is after my laptop goes into standby, I have to reboot to get back on the network.
69 Great entry level wifi card for the money
This is actually the new revision of the dwl-650 also known as dwl-650L1. Since D-link's main product page did not specified which revision you are looking at, you have to find the product line list that shows the differences between each revision dwl650; dwl650k1; dwl650L1 . Currently [11/23] there's no update on firmware or drivers, so driver from the CD is the latest.
I've tested this card on my old Toshiba protege 3010CT [P266 win98SE]. Even though it requires a 32bit cardbus slot, I have no problems using it in protege's 16bit cardbus slot. Bottom line follow the installation guide to the key, you shouldn't have any diffculties setting up this card.
70 Good product, good service
...Although I have some issues to install the card on my old win98 laptop,the wireless card works perfectly.
good experience deal with Amazon.
71 D-LINK DWL-650 DWL 650+ D-LINK Support BAD BAD BAD!!!
I use XP. I bought D-LINK DWL-650+, it works with the D-LINK DI-614+, but cannot work with the wireless network in my school with the latest driver. But it is strange that the old driver can work in my home and school. I sent e-mail to DLINK, they only reply your first e-mail without any valuable suggestion. Then you never can reach them. I call D-LINK, the man was so bad ... I bought two D-LINK DWL-650, I cannot setup it up in my computer. I have to return them. I will never never buy any any product from D-LINK. Product is bad, support is bad ... company will vanish at last. Believe me!!!!
72 More reliable than my 1st brand....and cheaper!
I've been playing with my LinkSys wireless card for quite some time; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to its moods. For considerably less money, I thought I'd try another brand, even though my wireless router is a LinkSys. Lo and behold, it worked right out of the box, yielding a 100% signal quality connection at almost 70 feet from the router. It has not gone down once in 2 weeks, so I guess you could say I'm very pleased.
73 Don't buy it if you want the customer service
Simply put, if you are expecting any customer service at all for this product, then buy something else. This company is notorious for the bad customer service. The product is ok if it works on your system.
74 Don't count on customer service from D-Link
I was shipped a DWL-650 which never worked from the moment I got it. I sent it back to D-Link for replacement under warranty and have STILL not yet received my replacement unit. They tell me that there is physical damage to the unit and that I have to pay an additional amount to get the unit repaired and sent back. E-mails to the customer service department go unanswered. I recommend people try another company which stands behind its products.
75 Can anyone tell me if my PCMIA lot can use this card?
Can anyone tell me if my PCMIA lot can use this card?
76 No PocketPC driver!
If you need it for a Pocket PC do not buy this item. If you need it for Laptop remember that this card can't be used to access public wireless networks (such as the ones available at hotels, starbucks, airports, etc.) which use "Broadcast SSID" to authorize client access. For other uses might be just what you need...
77 39.99 at Office Max w/o any rebate
for 39.99, a decent performer. Lucent silver cards are better, but they are about 60.00 online+shipping
78 poor documentation, poor quality
I happen to have a Toshiba and Dell laptop. I could not get the card works with them. Neither can the tech supports. I am frustrated to have to spend more than 2 full nights just working on installing. The documentation is poor, difficult to understand, might not even accurate and does not even provide NT quick installation guide.
79 works well for me
i didn't pay an arm and a leg for this...and its works really well for me. i've heard people unsure about going with dlink products...but they've worked great for me...
80 It is a OK product
this product does not have XP driver. u have to download the driver for Win XP from D-link site. the only problem i am having is that after sometime the netwrok does not work while it shows that it is connected to the network. i have to restart or replug in the card to get the network access at my clinic. card configuration utility is also not there. anyhow i am enjoying the WLAN at my clinic. D-link support is great!
81 I believe my opinion is useful for you
I read all of the reviews here before I made the purchase. I believe I can handle this card finally. Here is my final points after 4 hour's experiment on it:
1. This card works great in any MS operating system except XP.
2. For XP, it also work great, but needs a little trick.
... The control utility coming along with this card never works under XP under any circumstances, so do not bother test again.
It works great in any other system except XP.
...
82 Not Suitable for the Road Warrior
If all you want to do is use your laptop on the front porch, or in an unwired office at work, this adapter may be fine. But if you were lured into wireless by the promise of high speed internet access in airports, hotels, coffee shops and such, it is virtually worthless. To connect to a network, the DWL-650 must be specifically configured to have the same SSID (identifying name) as the network. That is fine if you only connect to one network and you know its SSID. It is a nuisance if you want to connect to several networks and have to reconfigure each time. It is fatal, however, if you want to connect to a strange network and do not know the SSID. Networks that are intended to be open to the public use "broadcast SSID" to send the network ID over the airwaves. Adapters that can receive broadcast SSID can then automatically configure themselves to log on. The DWL-650 cannot do that, and there are plenty of other comparably priced adapters that can.
83 Not ready for XP
It appears that this product is not yet compatible with Windows XP. After trying for three days and talking with technical support, no luck. Tech support must not have even read my question to them. I reported my results based on an answer in their FAQ, and all they did was send me a copy of the FAQ that I was questioning! The configuration utility won't work with XP and their was no way to set a couple important configuration parameters. I purchased a Linksys wireless adapter and had it up and connected to my D-link DI-714 in 10 minutes.
84 Works within 20 feet of access point.
I got the access point from D-Link and figured a D-Link PC Card would be good for compatibility. I intalled on XP Pro with latest drivers from Dlink site. I can wander about 25 feet from the access point before I start losing signal. When I'm in my office, forget it. The signal pretty much disappears. I'm only about 50 or 60 feet from the access point and there are about three or four walls plus a refridgerator and a washer/dryer in between but still. Not recommended for anything that requires working thur anything but wide open spaces.
85 Not ready for prime time
When you buy a product that says it supports "XP", you'd at least think the manufacturer would have tried it once. I installed this product on Dell Latitude, running W2k. Crashed and rebooted endlessly. Tried it on a Gateway 2000 running XP Home (First time I'd seen the new Blue Screen of Death). Tried it on an IBM ThinkPad, XP Pro. Same thing. Downloaded the new drivers from the website. No change. Either be prepared to return it, or find some spare space in your junk drawer. I have no way of knowing if these things have any wireless capability.
86 Easy install - seems to loose the connection from time to ti
I'm using my D-Link DWL-650 with D-Links DWL-1000AP. The combination seems to work just fine.
Installing the PC-CARD was easy. Don't follow the manual if you're on NT - just install the driver, reboot and plug the card in. It works great from there.
Only minus (why I only give it 4 stars) is that it seems to suddently drop the communication, even when there is full signal. Which high-bandwidth requirements, I have to rescan for the Access Point about every 5th minut - as the Tx and Rx goes to zero.
Which normal use (surfing, network stuff etc) I haven't seen this problem yet.
87 wjcunning
Bought two of these. One for XP, one for a WIN98 box. Simply awful product. Stay away at all costs. This is the first and last D-Link product I'll ever use.
As an Electrical Engineer, RF systems specialist, and qualified AIS consultant, I was confident about using this product, and expected it to work well. WRONG.
Simply look around the internet a bit, you'll find TONS of people having problems with these things.
I spent 2 hours on the phone with D-Link technical support. Waste of time. The technician hadn't a clue how to assist. After spending a lot of time, and getting frankly awful performance from these cards, I gave up and put them on the shelf.
Save your money, find a better product. These things just aren't ready for prime time.
88 Plugged In, Worked Without a Hitch
Downloaded the XP driver first. Inserted the card. It worked, and works great. Can't relate to all the bad reviews. It was so simple, and hasn't failed or locked-up even once. Using a Compaq 2715US, PIII 1.13 Ghz, WinXP Home.
I'm really pleased to have the internet available all over the house.
89 [Inexpensive]
As one of the lower-priced wireless PCMCIA cards, the DWL650 is definitely worth considering in a 'budget' 802.11b network.
However, WinXP users will need to carefully select the correct driver from dlink's ftp site (the link mentioned in a previous review is *still* not corrected as I write this) in order to avoid several hours of unecessary frustration.
Once up and running, the DWL650 works like most other 802.11b wireless products on the market today (variable range and consistency given different installation environments).
90 Decent in w2k, but not for XP
I got this card working fairly quickly on a Windows 2000 laptop. But on my XP Pro laptop, it kept giving me blue screens at boot up. In W2K, the range was fair....but nothing to right home about.
A decent card to use if only using Windows 2000 or another previous version of Windows.
91 Poor product and support
I bought DI-713P and two DWL650s because I had a good experience with DI-704P (hardwire). It seems that D-Link does not have a good know-how or technology in RF as many electronic, specially computer realted companies. The most frustrating part was, althogh the box says it works with Windows2000 which I have on our four computers, they simply did not work. I downloaded the new software and driver which were no use. I sent and received more than 10 messages....DLink's tech support is very frustrating as they sent the same pre-scribed messages again and again without answering my questions. They do not publish a tech support phone number and only e-mail is available. After so many e-mail exchanges, I finally got a toll free number to speak with a technician who was very nice; yet after going through everything, he had to give up. DWL could not recognize signal from DI-713P. It was not an IP or configuration problem. I believe it was RF problem. It is also possible that DWL might have a conflict with Dell Latitude C800 and C810. I should have read those customer reviews before I bought them. I recommend D-link for hard wired routers but definitely avoid wireless products. I also received a three page long instruction on how to make changes for XP. It is obvious that this company has no intention to get behind their own products.
92 Finding right drivers for XP a pain
I had similar problems with "blue screen of death" crashes, and failure of the card to work unless I uninstalled and re-installed XP drivers from D-Link web site with every reboot. I found out that "XP drivers" linked to from D-Link web page (DWL-650_0307) are not correct drivers. Go to the ftp page (ftp://ftp.dlink.com/Wireless/DWL650/Driver/) and download dwl650_driver_f51. If you use this as only XP driver it seems to work although occasionally still a little quirky.
93 Crashed Windows XP, intermittent problems in W2K
Even the latest drivers from the web site dlink.com crashed Windows XP at a client site with a blue screen error, so I ended up leaving the client my Orinoco Gold PC card, which worked right away. On my laptop, the performance is on and off, at one point I was only able to access certain sites but not others, until I uninstalled a bunch of my software, then it continued to work fine. I will never by this card again. Why bother? For almost the same price you can get an Orinoco card. I would go for that instead!
94 Doesn't work in Sony Viao
Brought this for my Sony Viao. Doesn't work even with latest driver download from dlink website. But works flawlessly on my other laptop; IBM Thinkpad 600. Email support from dlink website is useless and slow..., 2 days response time per question.
95 Not compatible with IBM Thinkpad T-Series
This thing stunk. It installed ok, but never connected with the AP. I gave it to a friend to try out and it worked fine on his. My T21 Thinkpad would not power it up correctly, so I am now using an Orinoco Gold - great card, great features.
96 Weak Wireless PC Card
I bought a D-LINK DI-713P Wireless Router to use with the DWL-650 and I was very disappointed with the 650. Signal degradation was immediate (30%) after only 30 feet. This was with Encryption TURNED OFF! I tried using another brand wireless card and was able to go all over my house (over 2000 sq ft) without any dropped signals. DLink makes a great wireless router DI-713P. Too bad I can't say the same about the DWL-650.
97 Does not work with T-series Thinkpad
Being an IT geek, I did not think there would be any problem with this NIC. but to my disappointment, it did not work with my T21 Thinkpad. It seemed to install ok, but after I rebooted and put the card in, it got the Blue Screen of Death. In fact, anytime I inserted the card, I got the BSOD. I checked for IRQ conflicts, but could not find any. The client software did not recognize the card, even though the device manager indicated that it was working. Oddly, when I put an Orinoco gold card in, the Client software for the D-link became activated - weird...
98 okay, but not the best choice
I bought this card along with a wireless router. It worked okay, but the signal strength was very weak from only a few rooms away. My router is in the study and when I went to the living room (about 100 feet away) the card couldn't pick up a signal. At first I thought it was a problem with the router, but then I read some more reviews and got the impression that another card might work better. I ordered another brand and it works much better. Now I can sit in my living room and surf away. Also, and this is important, if you are thinking of using a software "sniffer" program to find other wireless networks when you travel, you should know that most of them will not work with this card. Most programs rely on a Lucent chipset.
Finally, the antenna on the D-Link feels flimsy. I had the feeling that if I bumped it the wrong way (while balancing my notebook on my lap), it might snap off. So every time I wasn't using the card I was careful to take it out of the computer, which is a hassle.
99 The DWL-650 Control Utility doesn't work with XP.
When I received the DWL-650 NIC I loaded the Control Utility that came on the DWL-650 CD. After loading the DWL-650 Control Utility and installing the DWL-650 NIC, the computer would continually reboot as if it were stuck in a loop. Once the Windows XP screen came up the computer would again reboot. If I removed DWL-650 from the PCMCIA socket the computer would boot into Windows XP correctly. But, if I reinstalled the DWL-650 the computer would immediately reboot and would go into the same loop again. When I uninstalled the Control Utility the computer would again boot correctly into Windows XP even with the DWL-650 installed in the PCMCIA socket. It was not until I called D-Link the third time, about this trouble, that I was told that the Control Utility that came on the DWL-650 CD was not compatible with Windows XP. Leaving the Control Utility off the computer solved that problem but I also had download and install the XP drivers to get the system working. The XP drivers did not come with the DWL-650. I feel D-Link should have a note either on their website or in the DWL-650 box describing the compatibility issues with Windows XP.
If you are thinking about switching to a wireless system it would be a good idea to go the manfacturer's website and download all the latest software and driver's before you install the wireless system. Especially if you are going to use wireless only. Luckily I had a desktop computer connected to the wireless router's port via a CAT 5 cable which allowed me to download the drivers I needed to correct the issues and get it working. Once it was working I was quite happy.
100 Good price but hardware issues to be aware of....
Purchases a DLINK DI-713 access point and DLINK DWL-650 pcmcia card. The AP works great but the PCMCIA first did not establish a connection for my DELL laptop with Win XP on it. Tech support spent 2hrs with me trying to resolve but was unable to. I then tried to install on my other DELL laptop with NT4.0 and now the PCMCIA port on that laptop is toast. Not a great track record for software and driver installations, but their support is very helpful and their hardware seems well made. Stick with an 802.11 Intel or Linksys pcmcia - which may cost more but cause less grief.
