Hawking HWC54D adapter
Manufacturer: Hawking Technologies Part number: HWC54D
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Hawking's HWC54D grabs onto a weak network signal and squeezes as much data out of it as possible.
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CNET editors' review
Hawking HWC54D adapter price range: $43.57 - $67.28
- Reviewed by: Brian Nadel
- Edited by: Felisa Yang
- Reviewed on: 04/28/2005
- Released on: 01/01/2005
The good: High-gain antenna that swivels; excellent interface; good throughput and range; inexpensive.
The bad: Flimsy construction; card juts out of notebook; high battery drain; Windows only.
The bottom line: Hawking's HWC54D grabs onto a weak network signal and squeezes as much data out of it as possible.
Hawking's HWC54D is the first 802.11g PC Card adapter to incorporate a 6dBi antenna, which offers about twice the sensitivity of the antennas in most wireless notebook adapters and can be pointed at the wireless router or access point to make the most of a weak signal. The self-contained unit is more convenient to travel with and use than Compex's iWavePort WL54G PC Card and external antenna, but the HWC54D is heavier than other Wi-Fi cards and extends out of the side of the notebook a lengthy 1.6 inches, making it far more susceptible to breakage than standard PC Card adapters.
Hawking's HWC54D PC Card adapter comes with a basic printed installation booklet and a CD that contains setup software and a detailed 25-page user manual. The card works with every Windows release since Windows 98 SE and installs in a matter of minutes, but there are no Macintosh or Linux drivers; Hawking says it will have a Mac version by the fall.
The card's interface is one of the best in the business, with a great general summary screen that shows available networks, a Statistics page for a real-time accounting of successful and failed packets, and a button that lets you quickly turn the adapter on and off. In addition to offering both 802.11g/b and 802.11b-only modes, the software displays the current connection as well as signal strength, link quality, and noise level.
The security options for the HWC54D are good, with support for 802.1x authentication and the choice of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or the newer and stronger Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). The card can use TKIP and AES encryption. At close range, the HWC54D delivers a maximum throughput of 24.2Mbps in an 802.11g-only environment, putting it on a par with the Compex WL54G card. That bandwidth drops to 13.6Mbps in mixed 802.11b/g environments, just ahead of Netgear's WG511T and D-Link's DWL-G650. The HWC54D has an excellent range of 325 feet (we normally test maximum throughput for PC cards at 200 feet, but the HWC54D blew right past that range, so there are no max throughput comparison charts for this product). Unfortunately, the HWC54D is a power hog, draining the battery on an IBM ThinkPad T42 an hour faster than with the notebook's built-in Wi-Fi adapter.
The HWC54D comes with JiWire's Hotspot Locator software that can help you find a place to get online, but you'll need to register the software. Just type in your location, and you'll have access to more than 51,000 public and commercial hot spots in 71 countries, many of which are free. In addition to the company's two-year warranty, Hawking has a toll-free support line available 24/7. A knowledgeable technician was on the line in less than a minute and correctly answered our question about the card. Hawking's online support lacks many of the accoutrements offered by other networking vendors, such as a product-specific knowledge base and FAQs.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Throughput in Mbps |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Throughput in Mbps |
User reviews
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Hawking HWC54D wireless card
by ECMS on July 21, 2005
Pros: Inexpensive
Cons: Difficult to set up, software shipped with card is incorrect software
Summary: I was disappointed with the difficulty of set up and the performance of this product. Prior to purchase I had done a great deal of research, all sources raved about ...
Summary: I was disappointed with the difficulty of set up and the performance of this product. Prior to purchase I had done a great deal of research, all sources raved about the increase in performance this product provides, so I purchased one.
The first hurdle was getting the card installed on a Dell Laptop. The software shipped with the card would not allow the card to connect to my WLAN. After two emails and one phone call to Hawking support, I was told that I would have to download the software. I did so and got the card working. However, no matter what I tried, the speed and range were not even close to what I achieve with the same machine and a D-Link DWL-G650 wireless card. The antenna on the card is very fragile, and although I have been careful, and have not broken it, I can see that it would be very easy to do so.
I consider this item a serious disappointment, because of the high praise it received in reviews, and since I can achieve better performance/range using a D-link DWL-G650 card purchased off Ebay for 1/3 the cost.3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Does the Job
by Icaarus on October 15, 2005
Pros: Great Reception
Cons: No Case, flimsy antenna
Summary: The reason I special ordered a Hawking product was that I am in a dorm environment with multiple Cement walls between the routers and myself. This adapter picks up signals ...
Summary: The reason I special ordered a Hawking product was that I am in a dorm environment with multiple Cement walls between the routers and myself. This adapter picks up signals that I thought didn't exist with my old built-in card. I only have 2 cons, the antenna
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Total Waste Of Money
by davidfax on August 27, 2005
Pros: Absolutely none that I could find
Cons: Useless. I had to return it.
Summary: I had never heard of Hawking Tech but since the price was right and CompUSA sold it, I thought I would give it a chance. Bad move. First, after loading ...
Summary: I had never heard of Hawking Tech but since the price was right and CompUSA sold it, I thought I would give it a chance. Bad move. First, after loading the driver and associated software, it would not maintain a steady connection with my Linksys access point. Used my desktop to research and found that the driver in the box was the wrong driver for the model. Second, went to their web site for the correct driver and downloaded it. Knew I was headed for quality assurance problems when the downloaded driver was called "wirelwss". Lastly, the downloaded driver lacked a critical file that I was unable to find on their site and didn't bother looking on the web. If you have a lot of patience with stupidly, you'll love this adapter. I'm headed back to CompUSA to cuss them out for selling this trash and to buy a brand name.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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my first wi-fi card
by powr on February 21, 2006
Pros: seemingly strong signal, so far reliable
Cons: juts out, i'm worried it'll break in the case, flip-up anttena possibly too flimsy
Summary: Like my summary says, this is my first wi-fi card. unlike some of the other users, my installation was flawless and simple. Load the CD, insert the device, and your ...
Summary: Like my summary says, this is my first wi-fi card. unlike some of the other users, my installation was flawless and simple. Load the CD, insert the device, and your done. It immediattely detected My aunts wireless modem, as well as two other AP's in the vacinity, needless to say i connected to my aunts
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I have done some geek catch and release with it using netstumbler and i'm amazed at how well it can detect AP's from afar, so i can't say i've had any of the aforementioned troubles, maybe i'm just lucky. -
Incredible - Get It Now!
by dvarley on December 1, 2005
Pros: Signal strength and quality improved tremendously
Cons: Won't sinc up with my Netgear WPA-PSK
Summary: What a dramatic improvement! I have been fighting poor signal strength with my B wireless network (Netgear) for over a year. Upgrading to G or Super G didn't help. ...
Summary: What a dramatic improvement! I have been fighting poor signal strength with my B wireless network (Netgear) for over a year. Upgrading to G or Super G didn't help. This card did the trick. The setup is not nearly as automated as the major brands, but was fairly easy after figuring out that the WPA-PSK incompatibility was shutting down the router. Well worth the money!!
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Hawking Technologies
- Part number: HWC54D
- Description: Hawking Technologies' HWC54D Wireless-G Cardbus PC Card Adapter features the latest in wireless technology. Standard wireless cardbus cards use low power antennas that deliver a circular signal pattern. This type of pattern receives interference from the metal components within the laptop resulting in a drop in wireless performance and distance. The HWC54D solves this problem with its advanced directional 6 dBi Hi-Gain Antenna that delivers a strong concentrated signal in the direction of the wireless access point to establish a strong wireless link resulting in a significant increase in operating distance (up to 200%). The Hi-Gain antenna position swivels and folds to make finding an optimal signal easy and simple. When you are not using the card, simply fold the antenna down for compact, safe, easy transport.
General
- Device Type Network adapter
- Form Factor Plug-in card
- Width 2.1 in
- Depth 4.6 in
- Height 0.3 in
- Networking Device Type Network adapter
- Interface (Bus) Type CardBus
- Form factor Plug-in card
Antenna
- Gain Level 6 dBi
Networking
- Data Link Protocol IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
- Connectivity Technology Wireless
- Data Transfer Rate 54 Mbps
- Networking type Network adapter
- Frequency Band 2.4 GHz
- Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
- Spread Spectrum Method DSSS, OFDM
Expansion / Connectivity
- Compatible Slots 1 x CardBus
- Connections None
Miscellaneous
- Encryption Algorithm WPA, 64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP
- Compliant Standards FCC Part 15 B
Software / System Requirements
- OS Required Microsoft Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 2 years warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 2 years
Expansion / Port(s) Required
- Slot(s) Required 1 CardBus
- Port(s) / Connector(s) Required None
Warranty
- Service / Support Details Limited warranty 2 years
Manufacturer info
- Hawking Technologies
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Hawking Technologies products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.hawkingtech.com/
- Address:
15281A Barranca Parkway, Irvine, CA 92618 - Phone: 949-790-0800
- Email: info@hawkingtech.com
- Fax: 1-949-790-0880
