Customer Reviews

Hawking HWUG1 Wireless G USB Network Adapter with External SMA Jack

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This adapter works with Mac OS X, version 10.4, with a driver available from Ralink Technologies. I have tried this on both a Power PC (Powerbook G4) and an Intel machine (Imac). It worked on both.

To get the driver, go to ralinktech DOT com, navigate to support, then to Macintosh, and download the driver labelled RT2571...USB. Install the driver package, restart your machine, and then insert the adapter in a USB port. A "USB wireless utility" will then start. There is no documentation, but the utility is more or less self-explanatory. If you also have a built in airport card, it probably makes sense to turn off airport before using the adapter, just to be safe.

Out of the box, the sensitivity of this adapter seems to be at least as good as that of the built in airport card in my Powerbook. The adapter allows use of an external antenna. I expect that in situations where the built in airport cannot get an adequate signal, this adapter with an additional antenna could do better.

I purchased this little USB wireless adapter because it has a removable antenna which allows me to connect a more powerful antenna when needed. It works extremely well. On several occasions, for example when staying at a hotel with free in-room wireless, the built in network adapter in my laptop wouldn't connect to the network but this USB adapter did. At home, I use it when sitting in areas where the signal strength from the network is too weak to activate the internal adapter.

When I moved my office to the basement, my WiFi wouldn't quite reach where I wanted to place my computer. Since my network is broadcast from an iMac upstairs (which is also in a very comfortable place), antenna upgrades and such were not an option... at least not without a considerable amount of money, time and trouble (not to mention I'd have to remove covers and dig into both computers). Repeaters are fairly steep, and I needed a cheaper solution. Though the Hawking Tech drivers are only for PC's I took the advice of reviewer F. Goodman (thanks!) and downloaded the RT2571 USB driver from [..], and after installing (as he described) and switching to "Ad hoc" under "Network Type" in the "Profile" pane (this took me a while to figure out) I was picking up considerably more signal than with my computer alone! (especially considering that I was picking up NO SIGNAL WHATSOEVER before!!)

Great product, I like the added versatility of the external antenna options, as well as the fact that one could easily use a USB extension cable to place the adapter in a better area to recieve signal. It even comes with a little velcro sticky tab just for this purpose. I love it, and highly recommend it, it saved me quite a bit of stress, not to mention money!

i read some of the comments and people were talking like they thought it was gonna be a wireless internet range expander where they might get a better signal, if your signal isnt strong enough then this is not the item you are looking for, you are looking for a wireless booster, this is a regular wireless internet adapter for those who doesnt have a wireless lan built into their laptops...

After toiling for nearly a week to find a suitable wireless adapter for my unibody Macbook, I found this wireless adapter recommended on the Kismac site. I bought it and it works without a hitch. Just make sure you don't install the software included with the device. The rausb0 interface works fine with BT, Aircrack-ng, and Kismac-ng. The chipset fully supports injection. One thing to keep in mind is that the device is a bit wider than most USB devices, so you may not be able to access your second port if the adapter is plugged in.

Pros:

-If you're using this device for accessing the internet, the included software works great.

-If you're using it for auditing networks, this works great too.

-Jack for external antenna. No modding required!

-Low price.

Cons:

-Blocks second USB port on the Macbook. This isn't a big problem for me since I rarely have to run two USB devices at the same time.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this product to anyone looking for a great Wifi adapter.

This light weight USB Network Adapter has weak reception, even when external anttenna is attached. It is better to puchase Hawkings HWU8DD that has both wireless G and anttenna as an integrated unit. It works better but the anttenna cannot be fold, thus not very portable. Hawkings HWU54D (no longer available) has a foldable attenna with good reception. Hawking should bring the HWU54D back to market.

I purchased this product along with the HAI7SIP Hi-Gain antenna. While the HAI7SIP antenna proved to be far beyond useless, the HWUG1 is amazing. Upon opening the box you can see it is obviously a little on the large side. Then even more, picking it up the first impression is that it is going to be yet another low quality device with how flimsy it feels. Once installed however, the improvement over my builtin adapter was exciting. At this moment, I have both adapters connected to the same network. In the Windows XP Connection Status, my builtin adapter is showing a solid 2 bars. The HWUG1 with its stock dipole antenna, 5 bars with the occasional quick dip to 4 bars and back up. The signal strength with the USB adapter sits at 86% on average.

Another thing worth noting is the included software. While it doesnt have that fancy interface everyone is getting used to these days with all the colors and different shaped buttons, it is the most informative software i've seen. In the link status window, it lists the network name and mac, Link status, channel, Link speed (Tx and Rx in Mbps), Throughput(how much data is passing through Tx and Rx in Kbps). This screen also lists Link Quality, Signal Strength and Noise Level with the ability to toggle display between percentage and dBm. Another portion of the software is the Statistics tab, Listing transmit and receive statistics(Frames Tx'd Successfully [w/o retry and after retrys], Frames Rx'd successfully[and Rx'd with CRC error]) along with some other statistics too. As someone who loves being able to see performance and statistics, the software has me won too.

Also note that the CD I believe does not come with Vista drivers, however I cant say for certain. The paper in the box states that for Vista drivers to visit their website.

So if you are looking to improve your signal, I would highly recommend this product. Keep in mind however, that it is a bulky unit. The casing alone is about 1 1/8" not including the antenna. So if your usb ports are side by side, you may have to sacrifice one of them. My mouse receiver is fighting to stay in its slot.

Took this overseas with an old Mac G4 2002 era laptop w/ a weak internal Airport antenna. In my wifes mothers house in a densely (and I mean densely) populated city in an asian country, I wanted to see if this could pull in anything. It did. It grabbed and held a signal between 1-10 Mbps from almost a block away (the nearest internet cafe I could find walking around, assuming it had wireless) or possibly farther. At night the connection speed went up to 24-30 Mbps. The internal antenna did nothing. The signal strength was sometimes very weak, but it still held onto the signal. The relatives were astonished. So was I. Get this. Tried it here in the U. S. with an Intel Macbook Pro, picks up 2-3X the number of wireless routers than the internal Airport card. Any connection problems were always solved by disconnecting and reconnecting the thing.

I have been desperate getting minimal, poor or intermittent reception at an RV park in Golden, CO - both my boyfriend and I. Extremely frustrating. We would walk 150 yards and have no problems. I bought these overnighted, and installed today. This evening, both he and I are having no problems - from 1 bar without the device and up to 3 now. Thank God.

I am very disappointed in this adapter. I have a very strong wireless signal in my home. My wife's laptop will connect to our network 300 yards away from our home. Her laptop can also pick up the networks of 4 of our neighbors. This adapter wouldn't pick up a signal 25' away from the router.