D-Link DWL-G520 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps
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D-Link, the industry pioneer in wireless networking, introduces another performance breakthrough in wireless connectivity--the D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G series of high-speed devices capable of transfer rates up to 54Mbps.

The D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G DWL-G520 PCI Adapter is a wireless PCI adapter featuring the very latest in advanced wireless silicon chip technology to deliver incredibly fast data transfer in the 2.4 GHz frequency. The DWL-G520 also works with 802.11b standard wireless devices and when used with other D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G products delivers throughput speeds capable of handling heavy data payloads, including real-time MPEG video streaming.

The D-Link AirPlus DWL-G520 also includes a configuration utility to discover available wireless networks and create and save detailed connectivity profiles for those networks most often accessed.

In addition to being the industry’s fastest wireless network solution, it includes management settings and policy-based content filtering for advanced network management. Filters can be set based on MAC address, IP address, URL and/or Domain Name.

The D-Link Xtreme G DWL-G520 with 108 upgrade is ideal for creating a fast and affordable wireless network, delivering the industry’s fastest wireless network performance. D-Link Xtreme G is also the only 802.11g solution with 108Mbps mode that remains fully interoperable and compatible with all 2.4GHz devices, capable of creating one homogenous network environment for the multi-vendor environment.

  • Packet Bursting: The packet bursting technique puts more data into a single transmission, allowing more raw data to be stuffed into each packet and as a result not only delivers much more data, but also executes this process with less traffic on the network. Packet bursting transforms lengthy binary code into simple equations, resulting in an overall reduction in the number of 1s and 0s being sent over the network. It is also the technique defined as one of the methods for performance improvement in the IEEE 802.11e QOS draft standard.
  • Fast Frames: The fast frames technique enhances data throughput by increasing the number of bits sent per data frame and accelerating the timing of a data frame with a dynamic transmit optimizations. This technology enhances the Packet Bursting capability synergistically to provide accelerated performance results. The fast frames technique is also based on the 802.11e QOS draft standard.


The DWL-G520 is a powerful 32-bit PCI adapter that installs quickly and easily into desktop PCs and when used with other D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G products automatically connects to the network. Like all D-Link wireless adapters, the DWL-G520 can be used in ad-hoc mode to connect directly with other 2.4 GHz wireless computers for peer-to-peer file sharing or in infrastructure mode to connect with a wireless access point or router for access to the Internet in your office or home network.
AirPlus Xtreme G DWL-G520 High-Speed 2.4GHz Wireless PCI Adapter, 802.11g
1 Wish I had not bought this
I bought the DI-624 and a DWL-G520. Bad, bad, bad, very bad.
The problem is the g520. I cannot get any decent signal strength. I even added a 6db microstrip antenna and it made no difference at all. More money wasted. All I can get under any circumstance is very low signal strength. It works somewhat until it drops the signal entirely. How useless it that!!??

This card is junk!! But at least it doesn't freeze my computer.
2 Freeze, freeze and freeze again
Since purchasing the D-Link DWL-G520 adapter along with the DI-624 router my computer has done nothing but freeze. As I have now read, I am not the only one with this problem and it has been a very frustrating experience. I am thinking now of moving the adapter into another slot but wondering if it would be worth my trouble. Perhaps I shoud just purchase from Linkys???
3 50% of population have freezing problem with DWL-G520
Ok... let's face it. I've read a ton of forums (because DLink knowledge base suck, and offer almost no support). My conclusion is that 50% of people who bought this card have their computer freezing each 5-60 seconds for no reasons while their computer was working at lightning speed before installing that card. The other 50% say that it's a very good card.

So it mean that if you buy it, 50% of chances that you just thrown out your money by the window because it won't work correctly.

Think about it... Just save some money & a lot of time. Just buy some other stuff... there's plenty of good companies doing very professionnal stuff for not much more $ than DLink. I won't suggest any of them... but think about it.

- No support (like i said, everything is going fine before you install this card. Then everything is going wrong when you install it. Then you call tech support and you get into the "update your xyz driver, then update the other driver abc, then the other one, then get back to the old one, then change your DWL card from a PCI slot to another one. Put it closer to the case, put it far from the video card, put it... In your ass finally. That's what i call no support.)
- 50% of products should be in the garbage...

the decision is your.

I've been bad lucky... i'm in the 50% who have freezing problem. I've just burned another 75$.

Good products = Plug it, and it work. If you have to go thru all the steps that tech support will ask you to do, that mean that someone have not done his job at DLink, and DLink even if they are aware, have absolutely no clue of what's going on, and won't put people on this case.... because they have other Wireless card to sell, newer, maybe better... maybe not... "maybe"... it's what describe DLink very well.

For those who are putting that on your shelves to sell computer stuff, you should be ashamed. You contribute to this situation. If DLink can't sell their stuff anymore, believe me, they will solve their problems first, build themselve a name, then push some new stuff and they would be more carefull.
4 Wireless isn't easy, no matter whose card you buy
OK. This card would get a 5 star rating, but for the fact that no card/wireless system deserves it. First, every company designs their own products only to work with their own company's proprietary devices -- This, in spite of their all using the same IEEE 802.11 configuration standards. VERY annoying. But, OK, every company wants you to buy EVERYTHING just in their brand. Secondly, to set up a wireless network takes more than just plug and play skill -- There are basics that the consumer just has to know when setting up, and then INEVITABLY troubleshooting when the network goes down. (All networks go down from time to time, no matter who supplies the hardware). So, then, what about D-Link? The signal is strong, travels well through insulated, and sound-proofed walls, communicates very well with the 624 router and affords extremely fast data transfer rates. I am VERY happy with D-Link; it has lived up to its other consumer reviews, as found in PC Magazine, and other sources. Just read carefully BEFORE installing, just as you will have to do before installing ANY wireless network system.
5 Doesn't work well with Windows 98 SE
My Dell Dimension XPS 400 Windows 98 SE has the Linksys WMP54GS card in it and it works perfectly. (The first time I installed it!) This computer has a modem and didn't have a wired ethernet card.

After trying the D-Link DWL-G520 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps card, which worked only once (after disabling the Dial Up modem) the Linksys card was the only card that the computer recognized, didn't freeze up during boot, and that connected to the wireless router the first time.

With the WMP54GS, the dial up modem is still installed and enabled.

I didn't have such good luck with my Compaq Deskpro P500 Windows 98 SE computer.

This card stopped the computer during boot up, even before the screen shows the memory test. Something very serious happened during the bootup sequence that locked up the machine.

It appears that older computers, especially Compaq, have unique charateristics that preclude using newer cards (read: cards with higher speeds). It might be in the BIOS that recognizes cards, it might be bus speed, it might be the use of PCI connector pins, it might be the operating system, it might be the incompatibility with the cards driver. I don't feel compelled to diagnose what is wrong.

After 3 weekends trying to get the D-Link DWL-G520 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps card to work in the Compaq, I bought and simply tried several major brand cards (Linksys, D-Link, Netgear) for 54 Mbs and 11 Mbs until I found one that worked. That card was the Linksys WMP11. It works perfectly. (The rest are being returned - sorry about that AMAZON.)

An installation quirk: In the Compaq, using the Linksys WMP11, I had a strong signal, and it reported it was connected to the Internet. but my computer couldn't connect to the internet.

I determined that the wired Ethernet adapter in the Compaq was causing a problem, and capturing during bootup the TCP/IP connection before the wireless modem had a chance.

The way I checked what was connected to TCP/IP in your computer is to RUN winipcfg and see what is in the dropdown box. If the WMP54GS or WMP11 (or whatever wireless card you installed) description isn't there, then the computer can't use it to connect to the internet.

The dial up modem is still installed and enabled in both computers. That did not stop the WMP11 in the Compaq or the WMP54GS in the Dell from working.

HINT: The wired Ethernet adapter is no longer in the Compaq. I am saving it though because that wired adapter is the one I used to connect via hardwire to Comcast, and it has the MAC address that I cloned into the Linksys router. I'll reinstall it and connect it to the router if I need to re-do the setup for the modem to the Comcast internet connection.

Looking back, it appears that the newer wireless lan cards are throughly tested on Windows XP and Windows 2000 computers (the install is usually much easier according to my wealthier friends) and minimally tested on Windows 98 SE and Windows ME computers.

Linksys apparently spent the time debugging the drivers and the resident modules on Windows 98 SE so it knows how to handle an existing dial up modem.

D-Link apparently didn't. For the D-Link DWL-G520 AirPlus Xtreme G Wireless PCI Adapter 108Mbps card(the only high speed card for which both computers booted up successfully at least once) I had to disable the modem (entry in network and modem in My Computer - Devices)to get it work at all, albeit fitfully and ultimately not sufficiently to serve its intended purpose.
6 manual gives wrong instructions for configuring card
The card by itseld is good and drivers work. However, do not trust D-Link software & manual for configuring the card. I could get it working only with windows XP's network management options. To the contrary, the manual Explicitly asks us to disable options saying "let windows manage my wireless network".
It took customer support 2 hrs to get it all working and had to call 3 times and talk with 4 experts.
7 Great card ...
Its an excellent card and working fine if you know how to configure the it. And as always Dlink is an excellent producer of network hardware did not disapoint me this time as well.

Card works great on the Linux 2.6.8 kernel with the MadWifi driver.
Works good with FreeBSD -current as well.
(thats for the Bozos in the review section who are on Windows XP; blame the windows XP for the problem NOT the card, and look at those who have written the driver not at the card manufacturers..)

easy control with wicontrol and configuration.

Excellent card.
8 Ya Got A Fifty-Fifty Chance
Read all the magazine reviews and articles...thought this card was the way to go.

So I bought two, plus a DI-624 router.

My first install went great - my Compaq was up and wireless in less than 15 minutes (30 if you count install time).

My second computer`s install dragged on for days.... The card appeared to install smoothly, with great signal strength and was an sight to behold - for about 3 minutes. Then it locked up my computer...everytime.

NO solution, from bios upgrades to new drivers, went untried. But after a week I gave it up, went back to wired and returned the card.

Something between the on-board sound and NIC cards caused a conflict - which froze the system within minutes of every reboot. My first PC didn`t have on-board components - which may have been the saver.

You really take your chances with this card.
9 Easy to Use, Great Performance
I bought DI-624 router and G-520 PCI last week to replace my existing wired router. The install/configuration is a no-brainer. Last evening, it took me 5 minutes to hook/unhook the routers, maybe 20 minutes to physically install the PCI, and 5 minutes to setup.

Now I have two PCs wired to DI-624 in the first floor, and one wirelessly connected to the DI-624 in the second floor.

The performance is awesome. I tested the Internet speed from all of my PCs, they were all 3.3 mps. File transfers from on PC to another is fast, as a matter of fact, you cannot tell that you have a wireless connection.

I like these products.
10 Terrific speeds...but very difficult installation.
Like others, I purchased this card to work with the DI-624 router which had stellar reviews for wireless throughput. The installation of the DI-624 was simple, but installing the DWL-G520 was very difficult.

Almost immediately after installing the drivers and rebooting, my computer began locking up. Since I was installing the card into an older machine, I began to think that maybe it was my computer that was the problem. After hours of reformatting, swapping hard drives, switching and reinstalling operating systems, I finally checked online for a solution. And apparently, many others have had similar experiences to mine (even those with newer faster performance XP systems). It seems that this card does not work well with sound cards and/or AMD systems and/or other PCI devices. I finally got it working after disabling my sound devices.

And I was impressed with the wireless throughput. My landline gets 2750 kbps download and 350 kbps upload. With the wireless connection, I was getting an amazing 2650/333 kbps at 70% signal (on the next floor up through 2 walls with the door closed - apprx 40 feet). It annoys me that I can't enable my sound card, and I'm still debating whether to keep this silent setup with terrific speeds or perhaps going with another card.

I do not recommend this card for the novice computer user. Only buy this card if you're comfortable playing around with your system setup.
11 BUYER BEWARE!!!
Bought the DWL-G520 from another internet merchant along with the DI-624. The DI-624 works great, but this PCI card is the worst product I've ever bought. Running on Win2K SP4, it locks up my computer after 5 minutes of use everytime!

After talking to clueless Level 1 Support several times and jumping their hoops (upgrade bios, upgrade sound card drivers, upgrade video card drivers, upgrade chipset drivers, upgrade OS service pack, use newest driver, revert to old driver, move the card to a different PCI slot...), I was finally able to have the card RMA'd.

But the same symptom happened with the replacement card they sent me. In all my years, this is the worst POS I've ever come across and D-Link Level 1 Support is worst and most clueless support technicians I have ever encountered, EVER. Avoid this card if you value your time and money and if you ever need their support, skip to Level 2 support!

12 Good luck if you buy this product
This product caused my PC (HP 8660C with Windows 98 SE) to freeze every time after 5-60 minutes of use. Installing the latest drivers on the PC and the D-Link router, as well as two calls to customer service, did not resolve the problem. Reading the other reviews, clearly this adapter works on some PC configurations and not others. You might be lucky, or you might spend many frustrating hours trying to get it working. I returned it and bought a Linksys router and adapter with speedbooster, which work great. The only reason I gave 2 stars instead of 1 star was the customer service, which was based in the US instead of India, and at least tried to solve the problem.
13 Never worked for me...
I bought this PCI card and companion router (the DI-624) upon reading reviews from several respected sources. To be blunt these components just never worked. In fact the DI520 card froze my desktop computer every time it was on! Not a great way to be wireless... Switched to Linksys and everything is great, fantastic, not a single call to tech support (compared to about 8 hours over five days with d-link). In short, I doubt that this is a bad product, but it certainly is a one star rating for my experience. Finally, be sure you buy from a dealer that will allow easy returns because if you find yourself in a situation similar to mine, you will want to launch it and try something else.
14 Do nut buy this card
I bought this card because I previously got the DI-624 router from costco and thought it would be a good idea getting everything from the same manufacturer. That was wishful thinking.

The card never worked correctly. It installs fine, and the signal is always very strong, but the connection lasts 5 minutes at best. Eventually it will drop and neve reconnect, even though the signal indicator is still at 3 bars.

First I thought it was my old Windows 2000. So I upgraded to XP Pro. Same thing. Then I got a completely new mainboard, CPU, BIOS etc and thought that would do the trick. No avail. Even worse, the new PC started to have spurious hiccups, freezes and jittery games. All this stops when I disable the wireless card.
D-Link tech support is clueless and suggest nonsense such as as 'it could be interference with your cordless phone'. My Dell notebook with a dell wireless card works flawlessly in the entire house. So much to tech support.
Summary: If you want to avoid trouble, buy someting else. Just look at ebay how many 'refurbished' ones are for sale. That tells enough.

15 Took a bit of TWEAKING to make the DWL-G520 work!!!
Using a D-Link DI-624 as the wireless router/access point for my home network, I got my laptop linked up fairly easily but connecting to the net with a second desktop using this wireless adapter took some trial and error. I followed the manual's instructions (with latest drivers/firmwares) and got WIRELESS CONNECTION on the PC BUT CAN'T ACCESS the INTERNET!

Here's what I finally did to make it work (the wireless linked PC is a Dell 8200 running WinXP):

Removed the wireless adapter from a PCI slot close to the fax/modem.

Uninstalled first software install. Rebooted. Reinstalled DWL-G520 software. Shut off PC.

Reinstalled wireless adapter in an empty PCI slot farther away from the fax/modem.

Turn on PC, hardware detected. Install the NEWEST driver that was downloaded previously via ethernet on my new Dell 8300.

MAKE SURE the ROUTER DI-624 is properly configured!!! I had enabled WEP (write down the KEY!) and used the MAC filter (only the MACs of my router and ethernet/wireless adapters CAN access my network). I also disabled SSID broadcast (I can detect several of my neighbors' SSIDs with WEP disabled).

MOST Importantly the DHCP server was enabled with just enough starting to ending IP addresses for the number of computers in my network.

NOW enter ALL necessary info of the network using the DWL-G520 config. utility. Click the WinXP network icon for wireless networks avail. Check your network, enter the WEP key and........FINALLY, access to the internet!!!

It took some time to dial in my preferences but now my downstairs wireless PC is 1532/243 kbps down/up with a LOW (38%)signal.

Good Luck!

16 Works great once AOL was gone
My friend and I set up the wireless connection between our 2 homes. He has the DI-624 and I have the DWL-G520. At first it didn't work at all on my DELL running XP home. My other friend came over with his lap top using an other card, typed in the key and he was surfing at a fast speed. That let me know the DI-624 was working. So I did everything to get it to work, called D-Link support (and yes they suck), down loaded patches, and even upgraded to XP Pro and nothing helped. SO then I desided to uninstal AOL, and then the magic happened. After it worked I've been very happy with it. I'm a good 30 yards from the router in a different house and I get 30% to 40% signal. Thus if yours isn't work check the other software running on your machine such as AOL or firewalls.
17 ************ Avoid D-Link Products ********************
The product may perform up to your expectations but I only hope you never have to interact with D-Link's support organization. After dealing with conflicting, contradictory and completely erroneous information from their support organization, I have come to the conclusion that I don't care to do business with D-Link again.

I hope that if you do buy a D-Link product it works flawlessly (which mine did not), and you never have to call their tech support organization.

18 Make sure u have the latest revision - read for more info...
First, you must know that D-Link has the annoying and unprofessional habit of releasing unfinished, not so ready hardware to market. It seems that their engineering team is under pressure from marketing (typical) to deliver products before they are completely tested and ready. There are several revisions (internal designs) of this and other D-Link products. As of this writing (April 2004), the DWL-G650 has 7 of them, A1, B1, B2, B3, B4, C1, and C2 each representing a correction to a "Oops" of some sort! The DWL-G520 has 2, A and B, while the DI-624 router has 3, A, B, and C. The latest revision is what you should look for, it is usually on the sticker on the back of the box - just below the serial number.

OK, so I had the DI-614+ router, DWL-650+ PC Card, and DWL-520+ PCI card, and they worked great. I just needed the higher speed to stream music and video from my server upstairs, and wanted to use the more secure WPA protocol (not yet supported on the DWL-520+ *stupid D-Link*), so I upgraded to the DI-624 router (rev. C), DWL-G650 PC Card (rev. B4), and DWL-G520 PCI Card (rev. B). I upgraded the firmware on the router right away to 2.42 and the driver for the G650 to 2.48. The router seemed to work fine, but the card was not seeing it. My older 802.11B card (DWL-650+) was able to see and connect to the new router, but not the new card. I tried many things to no avail. I then installed the older driver 2.42 and the card started seeing the router but had trouble keeping the connection..I played with many settings and nothing helped. I tried two other laptops (different brands) and experienced the same symptoms.
Finally, I went to the a store and purchased another DWL-G650 and made sure it was the newer rev. C2 (the latest). Guess what, it worked right away and kept the connection solid. I tried FTP between the server (wired to the router) and the wireless laptop and got a transfer throughput of about 2400KBytes/sec... This is while using WPA-PSK with Super G enabled and using a short preamble. The same results were obtained with the PCI version of the card (DWL-G520).
I returned the bad PC Card (rev. B4) back to the store and kept the new one! So, just make sure that you have the latest version of the hardware.

One more thing, if you compare the signal quality/strength between DWL-650+ and DWL-G650 or between DWL-520+ and DWL-G520 you'll find that the new cards have a much lower number (worst). For example, my old 650+ used to get around 70% quality compared to 36% for the G650 at the same exact spot/direction. The difference is identical when comparing the 520+ to the G520. I have not experienced any performance issues though, the TxRate is typically at 72Mbps (not 108Mbps)! I think the new AirPlus XtremeG utility calculates the quality number differently and hence the difference, and future driver updates may further enhance the signal measurement.

D-Link's release of faulty hardware is wrong and must be stopped. The problem is that their competition are not much better. So go for what works, and buy from a place that has a good return policy. Someday another vendor will make better products and offer better support, and I will abandon D-Link :)

19 Light-Years Better Than Linksys
This card is just super!

I spent some frustrating hours with two -- count 'em, TWO -- Linksys Wireless-G PCI cards, trying to get them to talk to another Linksys product, a Linksys Wireless-G Router. No luck. The second one was a replacement for the first, and the insert that came with it said it had passed Linksys quality control. Maybe, but neither one played nice with my Win2000 machine.

Finally, I gave up on the Linksys PCI card, and probably shouldn't have tried it at all, given the mediocre reviews it received here on Amazon. That's when I sat down and diligently read the reviews for D-Link and figured I had nothing to lose by trying one more PCI card (one that's received rave reviews, BTW).

The D-Link card and driver installed without fuss in the Win2000 machine. It's two rooms away from the router and the wireless signal passes through a bathroom, with the attendant metal pipes and wires, etc., and still gets a 86-90% signal. It's set up to communicate with the router using a WPA-Pre-Shared-Key (WPA-PSK), the router does not broadcast an SSID, and the router only accepts wireless communications from this single wireless client. Browsing the Internet is as fast as, if not faster than, the original wired connection. Now I can get that ugly cat-5 cable off the door-jambs and baseboards.

I'm sold. Don't fool around with the Linksys PCI card. If it works, count yourself lucky, but D-Link seems to have the wireless communication network stuff figured out. Strange, my Linksys Wireless-G Router (WRT54G) is running flawlessly, handling the traffic for both a wired and a wireless connection. But don't waste time on a Linksys PCI card. Get a D-Link card.

20 Freeze problems
I purchased a D-LINK G520 card for my PC running Windows XP Pro on an AMD processor. I am using is in conjunction with a D-LINK DI-624 wireless access point. I have downloaded and installed the latest drivers from the D-LINK website. I followed the installation instructions to the letter. The connection works fine, for anywhere from five minutes to an hour.

After that, my computer freezes completely, every time. If I remove the D-LINK card and enable and plug in my regular LAN card, I have no problems. This is the only time XP has ever frozen for me, after over one year of use.

I am in the process of testing the card under Linux, but as far as I know the only available drivers are in pre-production form.

I am not certain what makes my PC different from that of the other reviewers, but if you search through you will note that several other reviewers have had the same problem. If the issue is solved, I will write another review explaining the fix. Until then, I recommend that you do not purchase this Wireless card.

21 BUY THIS CARD!!!
The guy who wrote the bad review below must work for Microsoft, because as everyone else has said, this card is great. I had TONS of issues with my first card (Linksys WMP54g, see my review for details) and when I popped in the DLink all of my headaches went away. Works great and with the firmware is lightning fast. Dont waste your money on any other product.
22 Easy installation; Fast
I am using this card on a home network with a Netgear Wireless-G access point. On the same wireless network, I have a Linksys Wireless USB Adapter (WUSB54G) and a Netgear PC card (WG511).

Installation and set up of this card was easy. I installed it on a Windows 2000 desktop and the instructions were not very clear for Win2K, but I was able to figure it out without much sweat. Considering that almost everyone has Windows XP these days, this may not be a problem.

The speed and performance is good - as good as it can get. On my network (at the same distance from the access point), this card and the WG511 are equally fast. With my ISP, my download speed is about 1.2mbps and upstream speed is 200kbps. The WUSB54G is pretty slow (must be because it is USB) - I get only < 300 mbps downstream.

23 Really amazing card
I had this up and running in 5-10 minutes! No issues at all! Just make sure to have the most recent drivers, which are downloadable from the D-Link website, on your computer, cd, or floppy disk before installing, as the CD that comes with the product(though I did not buy it at Amazon) is a bit out of date, and may cause issues.

Wonderful card! Very strong signal from far distances.

24 Do Not Be Fooled By These Reviews
I purchased this product, as well as the DI-624 Router, in part because of the positive reviews I found on Amazon.com.
After using the product and returning it after four days, I am very suspicious about the validity of these reviews.

I installed and reinstalled and reinstalled the router and the PCI Adapter, downloaded patches from the internet and checked and rechecked the router's configuration. Virtually every time I tried to access the internet over the wireless network my connection was either dropped or my computer froze. The directions that came with both products provided very little information, the DLink website was equally uninformative, and after reading the comments on this site about DLink's customer service line, I didn't even try to call. After four days, I gave up and returned both products and purchased the Microsoft MN700 base station and the MN730 PCI adapter. I had both products installed and running perfectly within 15 minutes.

Do yourself a favor and buy a different product. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration.

25 Yes Download new Firmware TODAY!
The new 108Mbps firmware helps with everything. I get better speeds obviously. In fact file transferring is twice as fast now. Security is still good, connection stability is still great, and signal strength is a little higher now.

Overall the new firmware only improved what was already a good product. This adapter just sits in the back of my PC and I have zero problems with it or my wireless connection.

Installation was quick and easy. The software that comes with it is pretty much invisible and takes little know-how to actually make work. In fact if you plug in your new access point and this card in your PC they practically connect to each other automatically. Very nice feature for newbies.

26 New 108Mbps Firmware Works!
I just downloaded and installed the new firmware released by D-Link @ support.dlink.com for my G520, G650 and DI-624. This new firmware and drivers upgrades my speeds to more than double. I can now transfer MP3s or ZIP files across my network wirelessly in less than half the time as I did 2 days ago. All for FREE as well.

The signal strength and quality is just the same as before, but now when I lock it down in Turbo mode I get way fast speeds. I am simply amazed that this is all free and doesn't take any new hardware to do.

The adapter itself has been running flawlessly for a month now and I sometimes forget my PC is wireless. In fact if there wasn't a small icon in my system tray I don't think I could tell the difference.

27 Very Fast Connection Speeds
I have this on the other side of the room as my D-Link DI-624 wireless 11g router and it is just like I am wired. My speeds are fast, my connection is constant, and I feel plenty secure.

128-bit WEP encryption, MAC filtering, Locked in G speeds since I don't have any 11b clients, plus this adapter comes with good software. The software that comes with it shows me what APs are around and which ones I can connnect to.

This adapter even has a removable antenna so you can add a better antenna if you need to. I don't need to since I am in the same house.

28 Good Signal, in spite of Antenna Behind PC.
Surprising it is when I receive a strong signal from my AP 3 rooms away. Connections are fine and the speeds are fast. I've been hearing that D-Link will release a faster version of drivers so that you can transfer data faster. This is an easy to use PCI adapter with good software that gives you some good info for local APs trasmitting signal. I can even see my next door neighbor's wireless network. It is encrypted.
29 Stable PCI Wireless Adapter
The card installed within minutes and was not a hassle at all to get working. And since my DI-624 sends a strong signal through out my entire apartment I can have my PCs anywhere and they are still connected at a high speed. The card has been running great on my Windows 2000 Pro machine with no problems. The software is a nice addition and I can even see me neighbors access point. The antenna is removable so that if I do need a better signal I can attach a better antenna on the back.

Answer: If you have a DI-614+ (22Mbps) and you are going to get a wireless PCI adapter you should definitely get the DWL-520+ (22Mbps). Gget the DWL-G520 (54Mbps) if you have a 54Mbps Access Point. The best speeds you can get with the 520+ and the 614+ are about 10-12Mbps real throughput. With the G520 and the 614+ you will only get 4-6Mbps at best because 54Mbps will step down to 11Mbps not down to 22Mbps. So 614+ = 520+ or 650+, but 624 = G520 or G650.

30 dlink g520 54mbps vs the dlink 22 mbps
i have a dlink airplus 614+ 22 mps router. should i get the dlink g520 with the 54 mbps or get the 22mbps from dlink or it doesnt really matter much? any thoughts thanks. not a really comp expert myself.
31 Wireless = Cool
Once I got wireless adapters for my family's laptops I had to get one for he desktop as well. Now we all have wireless and no Ethernet cables in the house. There is a 4-port wired switch on the back of our router, but we don't even use it. Why should we? wireless works and it works great. I stuck with all D-Link as not to get the adapters and AP confused and it has seemed to work out great. Now we aren't constricted by our location.

This PCI card was pretty simple to install and worked as soon as it was done installing. The configuration was simple and the icon in the taskbar gives a good indication of your connection.
I always have full bars since our desktop PC is only one room away from the router/AP. Overall my decision to go all wireless has been fun and overall fairly simple to do. Thanks D-Link.

32 Easy and Fast
Easy to install and Fast transfer speeds. I installed this on WinXP and it worked out of the box. I get a pretty good signal strength from about 2 rooms away and I like the D-Link software that comes with it.
I am also glad I didn't have to mess with running cable across 2 rooms of my home just to be on the internet.
33 Plugged it in ... Next thing I know I am Connected.
Install the drivers, shut down, plug it in, boot back up and Windows knows right where the drivers are. Then suddenly it's installed and I am connected to my router. After being connected I went in and configures WEP to work and all those fancy things.

I like this card and was surprised at how easily and quickly I was connected with a nice strong signal. My desktop is upstairs, but the wireless access point is downstairs. This card still gets a good signal.

34 A bear to get in, doesn't play nice with WinXP
I tried getting this product to work with my WinXP computer, and what wound up happening was a series of freezes, crashes, boot errors, and all sorts of miscellaneous problems. I finally just took the card out of that computer, because it was such a pain to deal with. Their tech support was non-existent.

But, to make the best of it, I tried to put it in my Win2k computer. It took a few reboots and uninstall/reinstalls of the software and driver to get it working. But, once it got in, it worked just fine. A lot of effort though, if you're not concerned about the wireless-g you might want to go with a USB adapter.

35 Still Good Signal from Behind PC
I was a little complexed to find that the antenna only sticks out so far. I thought this wouldn't be the greatest way for best reception, but I figured they wouldn't make it that way if it didn't work, so I went for it. It turns out this gets a Good Signal Quality from down I my basement with my AP being one floor above and about 15 feet to the right. I was amazed at the quality of the signal to say the least.

The install was normal and quick. The configuration is very stright forward and I don't see people having problems setting this up.
Recommended

36 Superb Little Wireless PCI Card
All I had to do was plug it in (5 mins), install the drivers (2 mins), then configure to work with my network (1 min) and I am up and connected to my network.

It is all easy to do, due to the good documentation, and it works great with the DI-624. Speeds are fast, it's secure, and I don't know what else I can say about it besides it is running with no problems.

37 Strong signal even behind the PC.
I was surprised to get a good strong signal from my DI-624 2 rooms down the hall on my desktop in the office room because the antenna just sits behind the PC. But I was wrong. I was hoping I would be wrong, but made sure I could return the card if it didn't work out for me.

I am mainly glad I don't have to drill holes in my walls to run cable from one room to the other. Now I am all networked up for a fairly low price. The best part about a wireless network is that when you move you don't have to wrap up cable, or worry about where is the best place to drill new holes, or drop a line from the attic, etc. I am very pleased and hope this lasts for a good long time.

Oh and don't foget to get the newest firmware. It helps. In fact for all networking products, check the website for a new firmware or driver before you install what in on the disk in the box. It isn't mandatory, but it will just eliminate some time.

38 It Works
i installed this card within about 5 minutes and had it working in about 10 because i forgot my WEP key. oops.
the utility that comes with this card works great, it has lots of info, isn't big a bulky, but isn't too small to be hard to use either. the utility can show you some good detailed info about networks around you, and specifically yours. after i got my WEP key right i was up and running and have only been disconnected about once or twice for some unknown reason. i think it was some software my kid was playing with because a reboot worked just fine to restore the connection. other than that everything has worked out great for this card and the dwl-2000ap it connects to.
39 Works great for me.
All I had to do was follow the instructions that came with this thing and I was up and running wirelessly in no time. I have this card in my PC and it connects to a DI-624 (router/AP) with a strong signal strength, about 80%, at 2 rooms down the hall from the living room which has the main PC and the DI-624.

The utility that came with this card is a very nice piece of software. It is intuative, good looking, and not too obtrusive.

I'd recommend this card to others since it works great for me.

40 Fair product, bad software
I purchased a DWL-G520 PCI card and installed it into my Dell 8200 desktop. The card works fine with my Belkin 802.11g wireless router and seems to give me good data speeds, but the included software to control the card and modify the settings does not work. It will not recognize the card in my system ("no card found"). I contacted D Link and they have a complicated procedure to remove the card, uninstall the drivers, reboot, reinstall the drivers, reboot, reinstall the card, blah, blah, blah... Needless to say it didn't work. I also have a sound blaster card so maybe that is the problem... I will be sending it back and getting the Belkin 54g PCI card. I have the Belkin 54g PCMCIA card for my laptop and didn't have any issues with the setup and use. If you go for the low cost solution...
41 Known (but not advertised) conflict
These DLINK wireless adapters have a known conflict with Sound Blaster cards. I tried to install one in my Gateway with Win XP and it would not work, after the third call to tech support they informed me there was a known conflict with Sound Blaster audio and told me to take out the Sound Blaster. Now I ask you what good is a silent computer???
42 Rather simple install and gets good signal from AP
I have installed PCI cards before so this wasn't that hard to do, and everything went as planned thanks to the quick install guide included with the PCI card. All I had to do was follow instructions and it actually worked the way it is supposed to. Install probably took about 10 minutes total because of unplugging yout PC and opening it up.

The signal strength is also quite good considering the antenna is behind a computer and stuffed under a desk. I get about 60-75% signal strength on average. sometimes if people are standing in the way I get a little downgrade in strength, but nothing that effects the speeds.

I really like the software utility that comes with this card (and the laptop card) because they are very informative. The more info I know the better, just as long as it isn't thrown at me all at once. Luckily that is exactly what this software does. It isn't too complicated or too watered down.

I'd recommend this card to anyone who doesn't want to put holes in their rental place to run Ethernet cables to the next room. Wireless is much easier and the speeds are the same, as far as internet browsing and gaming goes.


Wednesday, 09-Jul-2008 01:46:04 CDT
Quote of the Day:


The bomb will never go off.  I speak as an expert in explosives.

		-- Admiral William Leahy, U.S. Atomic Bomb Project






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