D-Link DWL-920 USB Wireless Networking Kit
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Score: 2 out of 3
Review Type: Hands On
Reviewer: Chris Kaminski
Date: May 1, 2001
This kit is essentially one DWL-1000AP wireless access point and two DWL-120
USB to wireless Ethernet adapters. The total cost of the kit is less than the individual
products, so the kit is a pretty good value.
The DWL-920 kit is most appropriate for adding a couple of wireless PC’s or laptops
to an existing Ethernet network. The access point is a simple wireless bridge that
creates a seamless network between your wired and wireless networks. If you do not
need to bridge to an Ethernet network, you to not need the access point – just pick
up to wireless adapters.
The USB adapters performed well and came with some great software. Since they are
USB, they do not function with Windows 95 or Windows NT but operate well under Windows
98, 98SE, ME, and 2000. One nice point about the USB network adapters is the fact
that there are no IRQ sharing headaches and you don’t even need to crack your computer
cases. Just plug them in and they work. See the DWL-120
review for more details.
The1000AP access point works well once you get it set up. A little work needs to
be done on the configuration software to make it more intuitive. The access point
works best if you have a broadband router or other device with a DHCP server supplying
IP’s. See the DWL-1000AP review for
more details.
D-Links wireless products use 40 bit encryption. Pay special attention to the encryption
level when mixing 802.11b products between vendors. Many vendors use 64 and 128bit
encryption. Since encryption levels do not mix on the same network, mixed encryption
level products on the same network must all operate in non-encrypted mode to function.
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D-Link DWL-1000AP
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