Customer Reviews

Hawking HWL2 Hi-Gain WiFi Locator (Silver)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

An inferior product, period. Cheap pastic flip-lid that is loose, about 1" play after only 1 day of use. The LED's that supposedly find your hotspots don't. They flash real neat like, but display no meaningful information. Just all flash together. The software clobbered my wire-line conneciton on XP.

The unit did manage to find some rogue access points here and there, but there were no diagnostics like encryption type used, etc. When I managed to get it connected to an AP sitting right next to me, it gave moderate performance.

It's going back. Looked good on paper...

Over the past few months I have had an opportunity to work with several products from Hawking. My initial impression of the company was that it made products a cut above the "department store" brands. At the end of the day though, I find Hawking to be little different from the rest of the pack; i.e. mediocre products with sub-par support.

This cute little HWL2 Wifi locator is a case in point. The CONCEPT of the product is very, very cool. It's a USB based wireless adapter. Great! That means I can position the antenna away from the computer to pick up the best signal. Better yet, disconnect the unit from the mini-USB cable and you have yourself a portable Wifi locator. Two products in one. WOW!

The unit is indeed cute . . . and little. Even cooler, when the antenna is flipped up, it looks like an old fashion StarTrek communicator. Too bad it doesn't work very well! To begin with, the WiFi locator does not work as one would expect. You must point the device in the direction where you think a signal may be, press a button, wait for a couple of seconds while the signal strength lights flash, then you get a reading. Then the reading goes away! Then you have to reposition the device, press the button again, and again wait a second or two for a reading. If you expect, as I did, to be able to simply wave the instrument around until it shows a signal, you will be disappointed.

If you forgive that flaw, and you don't mind the cheap plastic look and feel of the unit, there's more. The sensitivity of the WiFi locator is very poor. Given that it comes equipped with a high-gain, directional antenna, I would have expected to be able to pick up weak signals. In turns out the unit has FAR less sensitivity than the antenna built into my HP DV4000 notebook. In walk-around testing I found repeatedly that my laptop would pick up a useable signal, while the Hawking detector showed NO SIGNAL. For me, that is a showstopper. Why have a WiFi locator if it doesn't locate? That is my question.

Parenthetically, I had to just had to send in a relatively new Hawking external antenna for exchange. This provided an opportunity to see how tech support works. The antenna came with some loose parts rolling around inside the sealed unit. I called support and was told they could not help me over the phone, but that I had to go to their website and fill out an RMA form. OK. Upon reading the instructions on their site, I learned that they want you to fax in the form with an original sales receipt. There is a notation that if you want, you can email the form with an electronic version of the receipt attached. That was easier for me, so I followed the latter procedure. They emailed me back telling me that I had to go back to their RMA form site and follow the instructions to snail-mail or fax in the receipt. This was maddening since I had followed the instructions to the letter.

I emailed them back and told them to read the instructions themselves, then to get off their [...] and process the RMA. No reply for a day. I then re-sent the email with a single additional sentence asking for the name and phone number of the manager of tech support. In short order I was sent the RMA number (never got the # for the support manager though).

I am done with Hawking. For those who are looking to step up past the pedestrian offerings from the handful of well known wireless equipment vendors, I would recommend a site I found a few months ago that has worked out quite well; [...] They not only have the everyday wireless stuff, like workstation adapters, they have a great line of HIGH POWERED access points and adapters for scenarios requiring pushing that WiFi signal a bit further. And if you have a problem, you reach the same person every time you call for support. Now whose ever heard of that?

This thing does has good range. I was able to pull in signals from a couple of my neighbors. It worked in both of my new notebook (running xp) and old notebook (running ME). However, as decribed by some other comment somewhere. It started to stop responding, and in a few days, it went totally dead. Well, I am glad it died so early. Otherwise, I would not be able to return it and get my money back.

This device looked like the ticket for someone in constant search of hotspots! I opened its attractive packaging, and charged it on my computer by simply plugging in the USB port.
I pressed the Power button, and was entertained by almost UFO-ish, colored lights -- but then the fun ended....

I spent hours trying to get this to work, but to no avail. Using my USB 1.1 port, I was able to get Windows XP to recognize it was there (but not link to internet through a strong wireless source), but with USB 2.0 port, it never was recognized. I returned the unit and Hawking sent me a new one that produced similar (lack of) results.
Technical support consisted of removing and replacing the software in exactly the way I had already done, and asking me to request different software drivers from another branch of Hawking. This software did not work either. Technical support was not able to help me troubleshoot why Windows would not recognize the device-- this is the type of help I expect from Technical Support, not a regurgitation of the software installation instructions.

What a product and service disappointment!!!

Strengths: You will be able to pick up stronger signals or maybe one or two extra signals. However, don't expect to connect to your mom's wireless network if she's more than one block away. It is a lightweight device with cool packaging.

Weaknesses: Unfortunately, it is very fragile you have to be very careful not to break it. There is no way to fix it, so it keeps moving whenever I move my laptop. I think it should be cheaper (got mine for $70)

I bought this item to use in our church building. The WiFi transmitter is about 40 yards away. I have recieved the signal up to 30 yard form the transmitter. In the room I am in I receive the signel but not strong enough. This item was not able to increase the signel strenght enough to pull in that last 5 yards.

I was almost discourged from buying this device by the other reviews posted, but I'm glad I wasn't. Few things have performed as advertised as well as this one. I've had it two months, traveled with it, and it has done all I asked.
It is quite as sturdy as I would expect. I had no difficulty at all in installing it. For me, it is well worth the price.

I've used my Hawking Hi-Gain HWL2 WiFi Locator Professional Edition Network adapter for 4 months, at least once per week. I bought it to replace my HWU8DD Hi-Gain(tm) USB Wireless-G Dish Adapter that I've had for a couple of years because this one is better suited for travel. As advertised, the gain is less than the HWU8DD, but more than adequate for picking up weak signals that are a problem for my laptops (Dell M6400) built in. Yes, they are both cheap plastic, so take care of them and they'll last.

Range is hard to state because everyone's setup is different. I travel to a remote desert/mountain site where the AP is a long distance (won't bother stating how far because you won't believe me ...suffice it to say it's more than 100yds) and there is absolutely nothing in the line of sight...no problem. In my suburban home neighborhood, I would definitely say I can see signals from several houses away that don't appear on my laptop. If you are really trying for weak signals (one's you definitely don't see with your built in but you know are there), go with the HWU8DD and accept it's less than convenient packaging.

Suggestion: the plastic housing slides around on a tabletop - put some sticky tape on the bottom (or other non-slip material)

I am not sure why they are still selling this. It was made in 2005. The accompanying software is no longer supported. Don't waste your time/ money. I returned it to Amazon without problems 2 days after it arrived.
This item should be removed from resale anywhere.

I tried three different copies of this thing at my local computer store. All had parts fall out when I attempted to install the battery. No one at the support desk could get it to work.