Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

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.

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.)

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.

Recently purchased the Hawking HWDN1 dish, to replace Hawking HWU8DD dish. It has a much stronger link status in the same position as the old dish, usually better than 95% verus 50-60%. The dual reciever helps also.

I am using the same software as before, XP home SP3.

Main things I have noticed are--

1) Connection is very stable.
2) My laptop is quieter, it's not going crazy to keep a connection.
3) No longer have to reboot to get a connection back, as with HWU8DD.
4) With ~ 20 feet of USB ext cables, it works perfectly.

All in all, it's like having a real cable Internet connection, very rugged / reliable and fast. I'm totally satisfied with it.

If it's like the Hawking HWU8DD, make sure you put it in a water proof
container for outside use. My Hawking HWU8DD died due to rain real quick.

The bottom line is that this item really works. It's unidirectional, so you have to turn the dish, but I an receiving wifi signals from accross the street! Mac and PC compatible, and it folds down for easy storage. If you are looking for an item that will extend your wifi reception range, this is the item for you. It works great right out of the box!

This product works great when you use it correctly. I use it with Ubuntu Linux and it worked right out of the box without any configuration. My Thinkpad x200 has a nice wireless N card but this connects to hot spots that the Thinkpad can't even see.

Remember this antenna is directional not omnidirectional like most antennas. Therefore, if it is not pointing at the access point you want, your internal card may get a stronger connection.

We have a weekend getaway home and monthly internet costs just are not justified by the amount of time we spend here. My neighbor two houses away let me use this item to access his wireless network and I must say, it's as if I am sitting in his living room instead of two houses away. Wish it was wireless instead of usb, but what the hey, I'm saving monthly internet fees.

My son lives in a dormatory and was having difficulty picking up a wireless provider. He averaged between one and two bars and was continuously losing connection. After installing this dish, he aimed it through the concrete walls of his building and received 4 bars. Now he has almost no trouble with his connection.

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

I purchased this because the Belkin USB adaptor I bought for my Belkim N1 Wireless adaptor just couldnt hold a signal. I am pleased to say that the Hawking does the job very well with good sustained throughput.
I would recommend this to anyone who is having problems with a Wireless N MIMO network

The first one I received had a loose connection or something. It would connect/disconnect if you looked at it wrong. Amazon replaced it with out any trouble. Amazon wins hands down on how they handle RMAs! Good job Amazon!

My new adapter works beautify. The performance is beyond my expectations! It far surpasses my other 300N adapters. Where I was getting ~1.5MB/s with the other adapters, I now get ~10MB/s. Personally, I would rather have a more compact device that didn't take up desk space, but oh well. It isn't too ugly, but now I have another cable hanging over my desk.