vemartin's Full Review: D-Link Air DWL 520 (DWL-520) Network Adapter
In my home I am fortunate to have both a wired and wireless network installation. I recently completed the upgrade of the wired portion from 10 Megabyte per second (Mps) to 100Mps; a total of two servers and one workstation. The cost of PCI 10/100 Network Interface Cards (NIC) have come down in price to such a degree that not switching would have been in my opinion silly.
But converting my wireless network to 100Mps was impossible since such high throughput is as yet unrealized in the wireless arena, however it is coming. D-Link and several other manufactures now offer 54Mps (the 802.11g standard), but at a cost I am not willing to pay, yet. However, D-Link also offers a 22Mps solution, in both Wireless Access Point (WAP), PC Card, and NIC.
Moving my wireless network segment to 22Mps meant an investment in an all new WAP since the current WAP was capable of only 11Mps. D-Link has been on the forefront of home wireless technology for the last few years and offers a suite of products to suit my modest needs. So, I watched and waited for a good sale, and when one happened my way late last year, I purchased the 22Mps D-Link DWL 900 AP Wireless Access Point.
And the complement the DWL 900 I purchased two D-Link DWL 520+ Wireless PCI NIC Adapter cards. The DWL 520+ operates at a frequency of 2.4 GHz, and supports the following wireless standards: IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.11b, and can transmit and receive traffic at the following data rates: 22Mbps 11Mbps, 5.5Mbps, 2Mbps, and 1Mbps.
Not Ready for Windows XP
Despite D-Link’s claim these cards will not work with Windows XP out of the box. Both my primary workstation and that of my spouse run Windows XP Home. Both PC’s also have Linksys WPC11 Wireless NIC’s installed, and running flawlessly, but the cards are limited to 11Mbs throughput.
Hoping the installation of the D-Link DWL 520+ would be painless (who was I kidding?); I installed the first card in my workstation. True to form, Windows XP detected the new card and then prompted me for the software which I eagerly fed it. But then a funny thing happened on the way to 22Mps wireless heaven: nothing. The card didn’t work. Not only did it not detect the WAP scant 20 feet away, but it also locked up my computer. So I rebooted: same result lock up. Puzzled, I restarted Windows XP in Safe Mode, same result: lock up. I then removed the card, and booted into the “Last Known Good Hardware Configuration,” but Windows XP refused to play. End result: Operating System (OS) reload! Needless to say I was not amused.
Thinking this might be an aberration (or that I might have a defective card), because after all I experiment with my workstation constantly, I attempted to install the second card in my spouse’s computer: same result, sans OS reload, thank God. I called D-Link technical support; not luck. In fact I knew more about the cards then they did!
On a whim, I installed the first card in a spare Windows 2000 Server box, result: the card worked! I then installed it into a Windows 98 computer, result: the card worked again. Needless to say, in frustration I shipped the cards back to Amazon.com and got a full refund. And now I am back to where I started; 11Mps.
Conclusion:
The D-Link DWL 520+ while the perfect mate for Windows 9x and Windows 2000 computers, does not work with Windows XP, so you are now forewarned. Since Windows XP was able to detect the physical card, I have come to the conclusion that the drivers are to blame. Since my experience with the D-Link DWL 520+ the company to my knowledge has not updated the drivers, but certainly cannot be ignorant of the problem. Bottom line, if you run Windows XP, this is not the card for you.
Uses PCI interface Supports 11 Mbps, 5.5 Mbps, 2 Mbps, and 1 Mbps data rates with automatic fallback Up to 128-bit encryption Uses 2.4 GHz frequency a...More at Amazon Marketplace
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