Hawking HWDN1 Hi-Gain Wireless-300N Network USB Dish Adapter

by Hawking Technology

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 3.5 x 2.9 inches ; 6.7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0015FGXZU
• Item model number: HWDN1
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,319 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

The Hawking Hi-Gain Wireless-300N USB Dish Adapter extends your wireless network 6 times and boosts your data throughput 12 times! It is capable of transfering data at up to 300Mbps. The Wireless-300N USB Dish Adapter is designed with advanced Directional Dish Technology for excellent range and performance. A built-in dual antenna concentrates wireless signals for extended wireless range of up to 600%*, compared to a standard network adapter. It is the most powerful 802.11n Wireless Networking Adapter on the market. Furthermore, it is backward compatible with Wireless 802.11b and 802.11g and will operate on the highest throughput that your network allows. Installation of the HWDN1 Wireless-300N Dish Adapter is simple and straight forward - run the setup CD and connect the Dish Adapter to your notebook or desktop through an available USB port. To achieve the maximum wireless range and performance, direct the HWDN1 towards a wireless source and you are ready to connect! The Hi-Gain Wireless-300N USB Dish Adapter will extend network coverage 6x using MIMO & Hi-Gain Dish Technology and boosts data throughput 12x. Excellent Solution for Media-Intensive Activities with up to 300Mbps data transfer rate and supports WEP, WPA (PSK, TKIP), and WPA2 (AES) Security Encryption for the highest level of security.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finally something that works as advertised!, August 4, 2008

By 

C. Bender (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hawking HWDN1 Hi-Gain Wireless-300N Network USB Dish Adapter (Personal Computers)

I purchased this last week and hooked it up last night. It worked perfectly for me. Installation was easy and I didn't have to make any adjustments to the settings. I am about 500 ft from the source and it is in a separate concrete building. While I am only able to get about 50% signal strength I think that this is great. I am going through multiple interior walls and two concrete block walls over a distance of 500 ft. With a normal wireless card it couldn't even find a network let alone one strong enough to get a good connection. I also have a friend that lives in a apartment that has WIFI at the clubhouse. She is two buildings away but has a window with a view of the building. She set the receiver in the window and was able to get around 40% signal. Considering that she got nothing before this is good. I would definitely recommend trying this dish.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great adapter for non-beginners to computers., December 21, 2009

By 

Huh? Wha? (WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hawking HWDN1 Hi-Gain Wireless-300N Network USB Dish Adapter (Personal Computers)

I've been separated from my router temporarily, and had to deal with signal drops, slow speeds, etc... Well, I saw this product, and thought I'd give it a try. I'm getting my signal through a metal wall, and from about 120-150 feet away, so in all respects, drops and horrible signal is par for the course.

I wasn't really expecting miracles from this adapter. Maybe a little better speeds, but I still thought drops would happen. Actually, I was pretty shocked. Now, I get 24% signal strength, which doesn't seem like much, but my connection speed has quadrupled and I haven't had a single drop.

Pros:
1) Once you find the direction you're receiving your signal from and point the adapter in that direction, it will improve weak signal strength. At least with my experience.
2) You can shut off your multi-directional built in wireless on your laptop. This actually can generate a lot of heat if you're in a weak signal area and your built in adapter is always searching for signal.
3) The configuration panel for this adapter gives GREAT information for those interested in how many packet drops they've had, etc... and allows for some advanced configuration.
4) The setup of the drivers and installation of the software was a snap.
5) Works on Mac or Windows. I guess this is a pro if you're a Mac user. Haven't seen anything about Linux drivers, though I'm sure someone's made drivers for it.

Cons:
1) The setup is a bit tedious. You need to understand how to disable your built in adapter if you're using a laptop, and various basic network attributes that characterize and identify networks.
2) This isn't a multi-directional adapter. You MUST know which way your router is and which direction signal is coming to you from. If you're leeching signal, this probably isn't the #1 choice for you, and you shouldn't be doing that anyhow. =p I wasn't expecting multi-directional pull, so this wasn't a con for me, but I could see how the common expectation could cause some to be disappointed.
3) This isn't so much of a con, but a misconception I could see coming from people who don't understand wireless signals and their restrictions. This isn't a miracle worker. You can't sit 3 miles away from a router, go through 6 feet of solid steel, or anything else that no signal could possibly reach you, and expect this adapter to work. Come on, that's just silly.
4) If you're using a multi-directional adapter and your signal is actually being bounced to your computer from a different direction than straight from the router, you'll need to play with the adapters direction a bit. See above (not a multi-directional adapter).

Conclusion:
This is a great adapter if you know a bit about wireless networking, how signals work, and read the product description before deciding this is a miracle worker. Go in to this purchase understanding exactly what you're buying, and checking to make sure that this is the right buy for you.

Personally, I've had this for about 4 hours, and I love it. Normally, I'd be shifting my laptops position trying to find a signal, only to have it drop and me have to move my laptop ten times before my routers signal is strong enough to establish a connection.

I hope this helps anyone who thinks about purchasing this adapter, and either guides you to decide that this is the adapter for you, or to keep you from buying this and giving an otherwise great product bad reviews.

Current OS: Windows Vista 64-bit SP 1. (I've read about some driver issues with the previous model of this device. I'm interested to hear if anyone has issues with this one.)

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not as good as the cheaper version, May 17, 2009

By 

Rick Daniels (Bay Shore, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hawking HWDN1 Hi-Gain Wireless-300N Network USB Dish Adapter (Personal Computers)

I own, from Amazon, the cheaper HWU8DD(increases WIFI 300%), this HWDN1(advertised 600% increase) may be defective or misadvertised b/c it was much weaker than the HWU8DD I already own. Some other reviewers seemed to have similar experiences.