TRENDnet 54Mbps Wireless G PCI Adapter TEW-423PI
by TRENDnet
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List Price: Our Price: $18.86 You Save: $18.13 (49%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $5.85 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of TRENDnet 54Mbps Wireless G PCI Adapter TEW-423PI
Customer Review: As Good (or Better) Than Cards at Twice the Price
Summary: 5 Stars
I have multiple PCs linked to a wireless router and have used 54Mbps network card from Dlink, Netgear, Belkin, Microsoft and now TRENDnet. All of the cards were about $20, though the TRENDnet card is the only one that didn't require submitting a rebate form (and with my Dlink purchase, I missed the submission date on a $30 rebate so that one cost me $50).
The Netgear and Belkin cards were terrible (weak signal, dropped connections) and I ended up returning them. The Dlink and Microsoft cards on the other hand worked fine, though the initial install wasn't without some aggravation.
I was planning to get another Dlink card for my latest purchase simply because I have a Dlink router but I couldn't find the card for less than $30 (after rebate) which is why I decided to give TRENDnet a try. I'd never heard of the company before, but the reviews from users were mostly positive and the price was great. Well, I installed the card 2 days ago and it's been working flawlessly. Some reviewers had install issues and many mentioned problems with the drivers on the disk, but I didn't experience any issues at all - NONE! I loaded the connection management software, turned off the PC, popped in the card, turned on the PC, loaded the drivers from the disk, restarted the PC and I was done. It took less than 10 minutes and has been working perfectly.
As soon as I restarted the PC it connected to my network. All I had to do was enter the security code using the connection software. It now connects automatically every time and hasn't lost or dropped the signal once. This PC is in a finished basement office with the wireless access point on the 1st floor about 30 feet (2 walls and a floor) away, and the signal strength has been very good to excellent. I was planning to update the drivers, but everything is working so smoothly right now I don't think I'll bother (why mess with a good thing?).
Based on my experience, I would highly recommend this card. I'm fixing up an old PC for my daughter and will definitely be ordering another TRENDnet card. It works well and it's cheap which is a great (and rare) combination.
Customer Review: Cheapest wireless adapter around and works excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
I only tested the adapter for 5 days, but I did it heavily: 4 days of uninterrupted transfers, that was continuous file transfer and video streaming for about 90 hours.
What I noticed:
Problem: -at the beginning Windows XP had a problem on browsing the networks available, and I had to connect using the TrendNet utility.
Good thing: -once connected to my LinkSys WRT54G wireless router the transfers were just as good as over the wired network (note: I use 64-bit WEP security).
Problem: -once in a while I'll be noticed that my wireless network got connected (it happened about 3 times during my 5 days testing period), but I guess it's just a software bug or something as both my file transfer (using internet explorer) and video streaming weren't affected.
Problem: -the first time I restarted the computer I had to re-connect manually to my wireless network. However this issue has been fixed after, probably because Windows Xp has been able to browse the wireless networks since the first restart. Now the computer stays connected as it used to with the wired network.
Strange thing: when there aren't transfers ongoing the indicators show as the signal strength drops even spectacular sometimes. However, during my intense transfers, the signal strength went only to "very good" once in a while (from excellent) without affecting the speed of 54Mbps.
Conclusion: although I listed here several problems were all minor. If I would have to buy a wireless adapter again I would do the same choice without even hesitate.
Note: I use a Dell dimension 8400 desktop, P4 3.0 GHz HT, 512 RAM. The desktop has been within a close range to the wireless router but I'll come up with more information when I'll set the desktop further.
Customer Review: Good Card, Software Needs Work
Summary: 3 Stars
Pros: The card works great - strong reception and doesn't drop the connection. Good price.
Cons: The driver/utility software messes with Windows XP. Customer support is useless.
I installed this card following the provided directions, and chose to ignore the warning about the software not passing Windows logo testing. I soon noticed that my XP logon and logoff screens were different than usual. After a little bit of looking around, I discovered that fast user switching had been disabled by the software, and re-enabling it wasn't an option. Now, I never have good luck with tech support with these companies and usually do better figuring out the problem myself, but I decided to give them a chance. Total waste of time. After getting disconnected twice, I was finally talking to one of their support agents... kind of. I could barely communicate with her, and after telling me several times that there was no problem, she gave me a solution that was no where near correct. So I went back to troubleshooting on my own, and eventually came across the solution, which is to delete a particular registry value. If anyone else has this problem, you can refer to Microsoft KB article 302346 for the solution. I still don't know what the underlying cause is, but I suspect it's related to how the software tries to handle multiple user accounts.
Despite the above issue, the configuration utility interface itself is nice. It was very easy to find my router, enter the settings, and get connected. So overall, I have to say I'm happy with this product. It would just be nice if their software was tested a bit more thoroughly. A user really shouldn't have to get into deleting registry values to get back to normal after installing this product.
Customer Review: Works Great!
Summary: 4 Stars
At first, installed and did not work. Connected great for a short time, couple minutes, then would not work at all. Bought Linksys and Netgear wireless PCI cards from Circuit City and same problems. Actually Linksys worked alright then locked my PC up. I have XP Home Edition SP2 running on old Compaq, IBM chip not pentium, old machine for son.
Anyway, did some research and tried a few things and everything works awesome now. The little icon always says Very Low connection, and 1.0mps, but the speed is much faster, so I don't even care what it "says".
When it did not work at first, I uninstalled everything shut the machine down and put the card in another PCI slot, then followed the steps below:
First, I went to the website and downloaded the latest software for this card. Second, I installed the software, shut the machine down, put in the card, started the computer, when through the "recognizing" the card stuff. Then if I can recall everything, went to the Device Manager, right clicked on the network card, went to properties, in one of the tabs you can set the "channel" to 11 (or someone suggested trying 2,6, or 11), then set the SSID name to your router name, make sure hibernate/power save is off. Then check the wireless network settings, I double clicked the little signal buton near the clock on the taskbar, to make sure you are not automatically enabled to connect to other wireless networks. WPA encryption whatever worked fine, but as someone suggested, I changed the router and wireless PCI to WEP and manually entered the encryption key/code.
Hope this helps someone.
Like I said, everything works great now. The PC is about 50-100ft from the router through 2-3 walls.
Customer Review: Drops Connection, TRENDNET HelpDesk victimized me
Summary: 2 Stars
I have a Windows XP Home SP2. My wireless router is LinkSys.
I have a Dell C610 laptop that has built-in wireless, and a Dell desktop for which I purchased this TRENDnet PCI Adapter.
Installation was easy. I never shutdown my desktop, the next day there was no Internet connection. Upon checking the signal, it seemed to be at 80%. Repairing a connection did not solve the issue, the process hung. I had to restart the PC. Upon restarting the connection was fine. All the while my laptop was connected with no issues.
When I called TRENDNET helpdesk, the person told me that I was the only person who had this problem. He asked me to switch the card to another empty slot & call back. He hung up.
I switched the card to another slot. Next day the connection was not there. I called helpdesk again. This time some other person asked me to download the latest driver. I did that, the problem did not go away.
I was given an RMA number, but now I have to pay for shipping to TRENDNET, I sent an email asking for an explanation. They explained that "they would pay for the shipping of the replacement". I was not pleased with this policy. Now I have to bear the burden of a defective product, not the company. I responded with a request for escalation to the management. So far it has been 10 days, and no response.
I am writing this review from my laptop, because the Internet connection from my Desktop is completely unreliable.
I give this 2 stars for (a) easy installation (b) toll free customer service with good hours
I will not buy a TrendNet product again.