D-Link DWL-520 Wireless PCI Adapter, 802.11b, 11Mbps

Average customer rating: 2.5

Not too stable
BAD - no unix/linux support
Good value
D-Link DWL-520
Wireless Adapters

D-Link DWL-520 Wireless PCI Adapter, 802.11b, 11Mbps

Manufacturer: D-Link Systems, Inc.
Product Group: CE
Binding: Electronics
ASIN: B000063XJ7

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802.11b Standard

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802.11b Standard

Desktop Cards

802.11g Standard

Up to $50

Wireless Network Adapters

Product Description

The D-Link Air DWL-520 is an IEEE 802.11b, Wi-Fi compatible wireless PCI adapter. The DWL-520 provides an integrated PCI solution that will operate within the 2.4 GHz Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) for wireless networks in the home or office environment. Along with the advanced wireless technology that is incorporated into the DWL-520, wide range motherboard support is assured by compliance to the latest PCI 2.2 standard interface. The DWL-520 is the solution for users and network administrators looking for the convenience offered by a wireless connection. The D-Link DWL-520 can operate in either Ad-Hoc mode (Peer-to-Peer networking without an access point) or Infrastructure mode (Peer-to-Peer networking using an access point). In Infrastructure mode, the DWL-520 can be connected to a wireless residential gateway with a broadband connection to enable wireless sharing of the High-speed Internet access. The DWL-520 can transmit data at rates of 11 Mbps, 5.5 Mbps, 2 Mbps and 1 Mbps per channel. With its detachable antenna using a reverse SMA connector, the DWL-520 has an effective range of up to 70 m for indoor use and up to 300 m in an outdoor environment. In addition, the DWL-520 supports 64/128-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) Encryption for network security.

Customer Reviews:

Not too stable.......2006-06-21

i've been using this card for several months and if i have too many programs open at the same time, it disconnects & takes a while to reconnect. this never happened when i used wired-cable 'net. i use winxp & a motorola wireless modem/router combo and from reading the reviews, i think the problem is probably the card. im going to upgrade to a different brand.

BAD - no unix/linux support.......2005-03-10

D-Link created a confusion out there in the market area, selling the wirelss adapters with diffrent chipset using the same name for them.
The first models (version A and B) used to have Prism chipset from Intersil (which are supported by POSIX sistems) but now they changed thei chipset with other vendors like Realtek without changing the name of the product - that's how I bought this thinking it is spported - unfortunaltelly it is not !

Good value.......2004-12-30

There's a lot of bad reviews here, and I don't doubt people's experience. For me however it's worked great. No problems setting up or using. Good value for the money (...). I'm using Windows Media Center 2005.

D-Link DWL-520.......2004-09-03

Picked this NIC up because it was selling for a reasonable price. I am using it with a Netgear MR814 Wireless B Router. Have had no problems with it since. It is running on a generic Pentium-III running Windows 2000 Server. I did experience some of the slow-down effect reported (slow mouse movement) initially, but when I upgraded to the latest software, that seemed to solve the problem. This computer is upstairs, about 40 feet away from the router. I bought a second one and installed it on another server downstairs - a PowerEdge 400SC about 20 feet from the router running Win2K pro. Again, no problems and no dropped signals.

I get about 75% strength upstairs and 90% downstairs. It does not interfere with the Netgear wg511 that I am using with my laptop. If you're looking for an affordable, basic, wireless NIC, consider this one. I recommend installing the latest software from the website first to ensure compatibility.

Wireless Adapters.......2004-07-24

All of these negative reviews really surprised me. I have had this wireless adapter for over two months and it has not given me a bit of trouble.

I have a home network, consisting of four desktops and a laptop. My network equipment consists of a Netgear router, 2 Linksys wireless PCI adapters, this D-Link wireless adapter, Netgear wireless card adapter, and a Linksys ethernet card. Of the three wireless adapters, this D-Link has been the most reliable.

Let me add that this situation may have more to do with the operating system on those computers, rather than the Wireless adapters themselves. The Linksys adapters (WMP 11) are both installed on computers with the Windows XP Pro operating system. They give me constant trouble. They lose connection with the router on a regular basis. I noticed that this did not happen with a computer running Windows XP Home Edition that did not have the Windows XP Service Pack 1 installed. I am not alone in having this problem. There are plenty of people using Windows XP, with the Service Pack, that experienced the same problems. There is a possible fix in the microsoft knowledgebase.

This D-Link adapter is installed on an old, Pentium III computer. This particular computer is running Windows 2000 Advanced Server, as well as Windows 2000 Pro in a dual-boot configuration. I have not experienced any difficulties with this system. None.

I can find no fault with this adapter. Perhaps there are other factors that are causing the difficulties. I must admit that I have not explored the possibility of the Netgear router having a "preference". Unlikely, but perhaps possible. I would have preferred to have all my equipment come from the same vendor. However, given the situation, this D-Link adapter has been the most solid component of my mixed-vendor network. Since these reviews are based on our personal experience, and mine has been great, I would have to give this device a five-star rating.

I will try and install the D-Link adapter on a desktop running Windows XP Pro, with the Service Pack installed, to see how it will perform.

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