D-Link DWL-7100AP Wireless Access Point w/SNMP, 802.11a/g, 108Mbps

Average customer rating: 3.0

Reliable, has many features, and is a solid performer
A disaster
good performance
DWL-7100 AP as an AP Client is terrible
Replaced a LinkSys 802.11a+b access point

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The Top 802.11b Wireless Access Points

D-Link DWL-7100AP Wireless Access Point w/SNMP, 802.11a/g, 108Mbps

Manufacturer: D-Link Systems, Inc.
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B0001CLYDO

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Access Points

802.11g Standard

Access Points

802.11g Standard

Product Description

D-Link, the networking industry leader, delivers another innovative and versatile solution in wireless connectivity with the D-Link AirPremier DWL-7100AP Wireless Access Point. This dualband (2.4GHz, 5GHz), tri-mode (802.11a, b, g) Access Point provides the most bandwidth coverage available in an AP. Multiple wireless clients can connect to the DWL-7100AP using both A and G wireless standards and any of its 11 non-overlapping channels to transfer data at speeds of up to 108 Mbps.

Customer Reviews:

Reliable, has many features, and is a solid performer.......2006-07-09

It had the latest firmware and wireless protocols installed, and the web-based configuration interface has well organized pages of setup options. The Help pages are actually helpful. As with any networking device it is good to be a little familiar with TCP/IP so you can handle minor annoyances like giving your computer a temporary static IP address in the same subnet range as the DWL-7100AP so you can communicate with it during configuration (This is explained in the manual). Afterwards, I was able to change my computer back to dynamic IP addressing, and still access the configuration pages of the DWL-7100AP. It will work just fine right out of the box with default settings, but as with any wireless access point, better security can be had by creating your own SSID name, disabling broadcast of the SSID, changing the default user ID and password, using MAC filtering so that only your computers will be accepted by the access point, and enabling data encryption. The DWL-7100AP allows you to use two kinds of WPA encryption, which is much more secure than WEP. I highly recommend this product and it's well-written manual. Some users report having their connection dropped frequently. I found that interference from 2.4 Gigahertz portable telephones in my house was the culprit for dropped connections on the 802.11g band, which is in the same frequency band as the phones. Since I switched to the 802.11a band (5 Gigahertz) I very seldom have dropped connections from the DWL-7100AP.

A disaster.......2006-04-11

This is probably the most awful wireless device I've bought to date. Not only does it reboot itself every few hours, but it drops packets at a horrific rate. Looking at the stats, it says it only has a 20% transmission success rate... my wireless devices are in the same room! The only positive is when it is working, it streams media without so much a hiccup.

good performance.......2006-01-22

I use two of these on the 11a band as bridges between two wired networks. They are 30 feet apart and can see each other down a hallway with obstructions that nearly block the line of sight from both sides. I have both set on quarter power. The status indicates no errors on either direction.

The manual that came with the equipment leaves a lot to be desired. For instance, it did not say that WAP-PSK TKIP mode is not available for bridges, just access points.

DWL-7100 AP as an AP Client is terrible.......2005-12-18

I'm not sure how the 7100 is supposed to work as a repeater but as an AP Client linked with the DI-784 it simply won't stay connected. I'm running the latest firmware on both devices,DWL-7100ap is running v2.00 and teh DI-784 is running v2.38. I've tried multiple configs for the encryption, different radio channels while the 2 devices are only sitting 2ft apart and it still won't keep a connection.

Tech support isn't helpful either, long hold times and operators that don't actually listen to the problem.

I can't reccomend this product, I think one star is still too many stars.

Replaced a LinkSys 802.11a+b access point.......2004-08-26

I upgraded from a LinkSys 802.11a+g PCI card in my daughter's computer to a DLink 802.11a+g card. At that time, I had a LinkSys 802.11a+b access point. The signal strenght jumped from very low to good. I believe this is due to the antenna design of the DLink PCI card. It is separate from the circuit card and connects with a 6' cable. This allows placement of the antenna on top of a computer desk hutch instead of on the back of the computer which may be on the floor.

I thought that if I upgraded the access point to a DLink I'd see another jump in signal strenght. I also wanted to pick up the 802.11g standard that my LinkSys access point was missing.

The upgrade from the LinkSys access point to the DLink did not provide any noticable improvement in signal quality. The signal strenght to the DLink PCI card was still only good. I did get 802.11g which helps with the business laptop I have but I was hoping for a little bit better signal strenght which was not found.

The firmware on the access point was old and I did have to download and apply an update. I had no problems doing this but have a lot of experience since I manage a network at work with over 200 802.11b access points (Symbol & Cisco).

Overall, I love the DLink PCI card (802.11a/b/g) and like the DLink access point. Being one of the cheap access points out I'd recommend it to any one looking for a wireless solution.

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