D-Link DWL-G730AP AirPlus G High Speed 2.4GHz 802.11g Wireless Pocket Router/AP
by D-Link
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of D-Link DWL-G730AP AirPlus G High Speed 2.4GHz 802.11g Wireless Pocket Router/AP
Customer Review: 6 years and going strong
Summary: 5 Stars
I have the Version A of this product. Version B is out now. Mine is about 6 years old and I have used it everywhere I go. Remember that hotel wireless in unsecured. That means that it's no different than a coffee shop.
I usually travel with 2 PC's, a work PC and a personal netbook. Or I may also have my family with me and they have their own machines as well. I used to travel with an Aluratek wifi modem that works with my wireless card. I mainly use this Aluratek in my home office when my Cable HSI goes down. I have everything in the home office connected into a switch, and the switch is plugged into my Netgear WNDR3400 router. All I have to do is unplug the LAN card from the WNDR and plug it into the Aluratek and I now have internet access throughout the home office via my wireless card and Aluratek modem. But for travel I have found a simpler and better solution, the free software called connectify.
What I do is one of two things.
1) If I am using my wireless Verizon card on my netbook or laptop, I'll run a very cool program called connectify. That program turns my laptop or netbook with the wireless card into an instant hotspot. I can secure connectify with WPA2 AES protection and each machine has access to the internet via my netbook or laptop running connectify. So, plug wireless card (Verizon in my case) into USB slot on Netbook, Start Connectify. Other PC's can now join my Netbook which is running as a hotspot. I can still use my Netbook for other things simultaneously. This is really an amazing piece of technology when you think about it! I'm also very interested in some of the new Sprint Android phones, although I don't have one yet. It looks like they offer hotspot capability for up to 5 clients.
2) If I have a hardwired LAN cable in a hotel or office building, I'll use this DLINK travel modem to make the connection wireless. For me, the single biggest benefit of this device is a cable that allows me to power the modem off of a single USB slot. Since hotels are notorious for not having enough electric outlets, I usually bring a powerstrip along; but if I am packing light, I'll just plug this modem into my usb slot on my netbook or notebook with the supplied USB > ROUTER power cord. How cool is that? Plug netbook into the outlet, plug modem into netbook. Now both machines or the whole family has secure wireless iwth WPA AES.
I've been thinking of picking up the N version of this. Trendnet has one that looks identical to it. But someone wrote that it needs 2 usb ports for power; so maybe I am just better off with this one. Plus, this works so well, I don't know that I really need N wireless for travel.
NOTE: I have made my SSID and WPA-PSK passwords the same on both the travel router and Connectify, so as long as I am only running one or the other, the same wireless profile works for both. I also used a Brother P-Touch labeller to label the SSID and the WPA-PSK key on the bottom side of the modem so colleagues can figure it out.
I've been in business conference rooms where we need internet access and there aren't enough LAN cables. Rather than carry around a switch, which I used to do, I now just plug this in.
This is such a great device. It's been in production since 2004 and it's just great. I also have the old Netgear wireless router. It works great as long as there is only 1 connection to it. And actually that has its advantages as well. If you are travelling alone, you really don't want to share your connection. And with the Netgear its impossible for anyone to get in; there's a hardware switch that selects only 1 user. But unfortunately, the multiple user capability causes it to lose connectivity every minute or so... bummer...
I have also seen the Engenious router, it looks very nice but would be interested in hearing if it can be powered by a USB port. If so, it appears to be a great option as well with lots of good reviews.
Now, this little fellow does other things as well. It can act as a wireless client or access point. I haven't used it for that as I use it so much for travel that it would be inconvenient. I just leave this permanently packed in its case my carryon.
I think it's important to note that I haven't ever had a situation in the 6 years that I've had this and the dozens of people that have connected to it that anyone's had a problem connecting. On some of the comments for the other units, some people complain they can't connect to the travel router. This just works.
Now the CONS. Although the travel router is easy to use once it's set up; I think the setup instructions are pretty cryptic. They may have improved, and maybe there's now a setup wizard or something mine didn't have; but you may have to read the instructions a few times. Also, there's a little switch on mine that changes the MODE of the unit from Router to Client to Access point. If you forget that it's there and it gets switched to the wrong mode accidentally, you may find yourself scratching your head wondering why it isn't working.
Customer Review: Here's How to Get it to Work in AP mode and Client Mode
Summary: 2 Stars
I played around with this device for 4 hours, called tech support - waited 30 minutes, was then put on hold for another 10 minutes before I gave up.
I've finally figured out how to get it to work in AP mode - Win XP.
One of the things I figured out was that every time you moved the switch on the bottom of the dlink, you lose all your settings.
1. Set the dlink to AP mode on the bottom of the unit.
2. Connect the dlink to your laptop via ethernet cable.
3. On your laptop - Ctrl Panel - Double click Local connections.
Scroll down to Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
4. Click on properties and change from "Obtain an IP address automatically" to "Use the following IP address - type in
192.168.0.99 and Subnet mask of 255.255.255.0
then click OK-OK.
5. Open up your browser and type in 192.168.0.30
type in "admin" for the name and since it doesn't have a defualt password, just click ok.
6. Run the setup wizard and follow the prompts and then have the router save and restart.
7. Disconnect the ethernet cable from the laptop and connect it to your regular router.
8. On your laptop "view your wireless connections" and choose the one you just setup withe the dlink. Enter your security password.
9 You should now be able to securely get to the internet.
Client Mode is very complicated, but with the help of other Amazon reviews I figured out. Here's the process as best I can describe.
CLIENT Mode - This is where you are connecting the 730AP Router wirelessly to the network and attaching it via Ethernet cable to your laptop. This is probably what I'll use most of the time when I travel.
You first need to know the name of the wireless network you are going to connect to, what sort of encryption it uses, (if possible) and the password to get into the wireless network. The router setup will ask you these questions.
You then need to setup the router to use those settings.(XP is what I use.)
Control Panel - Network Settings - Lan Settings - Scroll down to TCP-IP - Properties
Change it to read -
192.168.0.99
255.255.255.
DNS Servers
24.217.0.5
24.217.0.5
(Note the DNS servers I use are Open DNS.)
If you haven't already setup a password, use admin and no password.
If you have already setup a new password, entire that at the prompt.
When you go through the router setup, you need to know what type of encryption and the password for the wireless you are using.
You will also have to "Search" for the wireless network - there may be more than one around and choose the correct one.
When you haves setup the router, and it is rebooting, go back to Network Connections and change the Properties to:
- Obtain and IP address automatically
- Use the DNS Server addresses - 24.217.0.5
That's THE Open DNS servers I use.
Turn off the computer and reboot.
It finally works !
Customer Review: Meets all needs, very good choice for features and cost
Summary: 4 Stars
I was in search of portable wireless routers to set up remote networks of 5 to 10 wireless-enabled laptops to share files and printers. I read the reviews on the other simliar products and decided to give D-Link a try, although I am partial to Linksys and would likewise trust anything that Belkin and Netgear puts out.
After receiving the product, I read the quick-start guide (more out of curiosity concerning the configuration of the 3 modes rather than for how-to purposes), and in about 10 minutes, I had a WPA-encrypted network (in router-mode) of three laptops all connected and sharing files. In fact, changing the admin password and enabling WPA was the only thing I did, right out of the box. Since then, I made some other minor changes (changing the network and SSID, etc).
The carrying case and pockets for cables and adapter are great, and the thin 'horizontal' AC adapter ensures I don't have a bulky adapter hanging off the end of a power strip, or covering multiple outlets. I haven't tried running it off USB power yet - I would assume the range would decrease.
One nice feature for administrators - you can save the configuration to a file for quick reload, or use it to clone other G730AP devices. I did the later for the other three I purchased.
I have a few negative items so far: (1) The admin password is blank and encryption is turned off by default. This is the receipe for a hijacked router. This isn't unique to D-Link or this router, but the vendors need to ship these products fully secured. (2) The router's default IP is 192.168.0.30. Although this is documented in several places, it is an odd default. No harm, but I would have preferred a 192.168.1.1 default. But just change the LAN IP setting once you're connected to it. (3) Any restart after changing certain settings can take about 2 minutes to reconnect. I thought this was a little long. But it does finally come back up.
One last item of interest - I wanted to ensure I was at the latest firmware release, and upgrade if necessary. Their support site (which I found to be laid out quite well with minimum navigation to the product's support page) shows the original firmware of 1.0, and a 1.1 release. The routers I have are all at 2.0, with a release date of Aug 3, 2006. Strange how it isn't available for download on their site. I wonder if the problems cited by the negative reviews were using an 1.x firmware, and if 2.0 fixed the problems.
In conclusion, all four of the routers work well so far. It is extremely portable, quick and easy to set up, relatively inexpensive, and has the necessary features to meet my requirements.
Customer Review: Remarkable Feature-rich Travel Router
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not sure what else I could ask for in a product like this. It's just about perfect. Extremely compact (there's no excuse not to bring it with you), more than enough security options for the average person. And, it solves the persistent annoyance when you have only one network connection in the hotel, office, or conference room (plus you're behind your own firewall too). I get to the hotel, I plug it in, turn on both our laptops and we're on.
Pros:
- It's smaller than a deck of cards
- I can ditch the power cord and just run it off a USB cable (which I love) - there's no power brick though, the cable is very small so I'm sure I'll bring it along in the sweet travel case this unit comes with.
- More security levels to choose from than my home router (maybe I need to upgrade).
- Remarkable strength - you can pick this up from multiple floors away! But, don't worry, you can even throttle down the hotspot bubble if you want to keep the signal to your hotel room for example.
- Everything you need and a great travel organizer/case in addition (even a mini-ethernet cable)
- Once you get all your settings straight: security choices, passkeys, MAC address filters, etc., you can save all the settings in a back-up "config" file on your laptop. This is extraordinarily handy in case you have to "reset" the router at any point.
Sidebar: Because of the "client-mode" capability, if you have an old laptop without built-in wireless, give this serious consideration - it can double as your wireless card and firewall in one.
Cons:
- Included instructions are weak; the manual might be a little overwhelming for the non-techie. But, if you have set up a wireless router at home then you'll be fine. They even have a built-in wizard to step you through the basics.
- I couldn't get it to work with my wife's laptop but I don't believe it's the router. The other laptop worked fine regardless of how tight I set the security. (you can always lock your wireless network down by MAC address when you get into these kind of problems)
- Router reboots itself after every single change you make - and I do mean every change. See note above about saving your "config" file - that's very helpful. While this is annoying at first, once your router is set up, you shouldn't have to mess with it too frequently.
Not enough in the cons department to make me want to give this up. This is at least as good as my home router and its going with me on every trip from now on. I couldn't find a comparable product - this was really the only choice to suit my needs.
Customer Review: A real gem in a very small package! -- OOPS! Limited range
Summary: 3 Stars
D-Link DWL-G730AP Wireless Pocket Router/AP w/ Client Mode, 802.11g, 54Mbps
Fantastic product! A real winner. Just received and have already set it up and successfully tested as Access Point (using this mode right now) and Client. Amazing that so much capability is packed into such a small package. Suggest you show this along with Blu-ray Disc (BD) players that have only Ethernet connections (no wireless). Though I will use it to connect a BD player at home, I am a road warrior, and this product is a must have for my trips.
BUY WITHOUT HESITATION! (but only for use over short distances--see update below)
UPDATE: I am using this in Client mode with my new Samsung BD-1590 Blu-ray player for a wireless hookup. My Netgear Wireless-N router is in my home office on the second floor, and the Blu-ray Disc player is in the first-floor family room (I estimate that the separation between them is about 30 feet through wooden construction). I have draped the wireless pocket router over the front of the TV for maximum signal capture, with the player in a cabinet below the TV. I find reception to be disappointingly erratic. Sometimes, I get perfect reception. At other times, I cannot get the player to connect to the network. I have tested several hypotheses to fix this. I get very good wireless signal on my iPhone when I am in the same room as the pocket router and player, so I do not think that the fault lies with the Netgear Wireless Router. Also, I have tried several different broadcast channels, and that does not seem to make any difference. I also tried powering down the pocket router, thinking that perhaps it had overheated, but that did not work consistently. Finally, I decided to leave both the BD player and the pocket router (wireless client) powered on, and that seems to work to maintain the connection, at least for the last 24 hours. My working hypothesis is that the reception range of the pocket router is not all that great, and if something else diminishes the signal strength or available wireless bandwidth, the pocket router just gives up. So, I have ordered a Samsung WIS09ABGN LinkStick Wireless LAN Adapter (USB stick, proprietary to Samsung; other, much cheaper, USB wireless adapter sticks will not work--ARGHHH!) from Amazon in hopes that it will do a better job. Unfortunately, it is currently out of stock and back-ordered. So, I will just leave the player and the pocket router powered on until I receive the Samsung USB stick.