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D-Link DWL-AG132 Compact Wireless 802.11a/802.11g 108Mbps USB 2.0 Adapter | List Price: $99.99
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Brand: D-Link
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Features: - DWL-AG132 features Wi-Fi certification in all three wireless bands, 802.11a, 11b, and 11g, which insures wireless compatibility and robust data encryption for sensitive data requirements. The DWL-AG132 is also certified by Microsoft's WHQL, to ensure compatibly with Microsoft Windows XP
- Compact in size, this Wireless 108AG USB Adapter is great for travel and is a convenient solution for providing high-performance dualband wireless connectivity to your desktop or notebook PC
- Up to 108Mbps using 802.11a/g and AirExtreme Technology
Performance is OK but could be better [Posted on 2006-01-22]
I have seen the "Blue Screen of Death" a few times, but it is not something that happens all of the time. I can't complain too much about the product considering I picked it up at Fry's Electronics for $19 after a mail in rebate. I needed a USB adapter because the PCMIA card interface went bad.
Pros:::
(....)
*The extension cable is a nice add-on. Even if you don't need it for the AG132 it fits other USB devices as well. The AG132 is a little more bulky than most other USB devices so it can get a little crowded near your USB ports. I did not see the performance gain from plugging the adapter into the extension cable. In fact, performance was slightly degraded. (which was a surprise)
*Can be switched between laptops and desktops
CONS:::
*Occasional Blue Screen of Death. (When this happens it tends to happen when the system is booting into XP)
*Occasional when the system comes out of standby you can't get a signal no matter how close you are to the access point. In order to get a signal you have to remove the card, wait a few seconds and plug it back in.
*Performance could be a little better.
Overall Recommendation:
If you can pick this up for a good price, then you will probably be satisfied. If you are looking for solid performance as your main focus, then you might want to look elsewhere.
I don't know why wireless manufacturers not putting external antenna adapters on wireless devices. If the AG132 had an external antenna adapter I would give it a higher rating.
If you are looking for performance geek, then check out the Buffalo family of wireless cards.
If you are looking for something to connect a home or at the local coffee shop, can deal with some minor issues from time to time, and can pick this adapter up for a good price, then I say go ahead.
If on the other hand you want the best performance 100% of the time, or if you have to pay full price for this adapter, I would look for another manufacturer
**NOTES**
Tested on
Dell Latitude D600 with 256MB RAM
Windows XP service Pack 2
(...)
blue screen of death on usb equipment .... [Posted on 2006-03-14]
when usb card or device uses more electricity ten the usb
port can offer (usually 500ma) it goes to blue screen
especially on laptops...and on small pc s.
the reason i think is with in the 108 acceleraton argorythm
that could suck up more than usb port can give , hence error occurs.
so if you dont want your pc/laptop to go blue ,
dont use the super-G mode.
i think 5ghz router users must have a backup adapter like this
at hand.
Does not handle hibernate/stand by modes. Gives Blue screen crashes on Windows XP [Posted on 2006-08-10]
I have been using it on a desktop (XP Media center 2005) fir a year now.
The adapter's driver is problematic. Whenever I resume from hibernate or standby, the driver crashed my computer. Talked to tech support and they could not help me at all. (I had followed all the directions specified in the manual for its installation).
So I currently don't hibernate my PC :(
Works well on a freshly restarted machine though...
Unless they have an updated driver, I would not recommend buying this. (I am using the driver it shiped with and have not seen any updates to it on dlink's web site)
Dlink loves to consistently crash (blue screens!) [Posted on 2007-01-12]
My Windows XP system was running very stable and fast. Ever since I installed this 802.11 adapter, I'm getting blue screens consistently when I'm doing heavy internet activity. If I just leave the machine up with the connection up but NOT using the connection, it blue screens rarely.
What is worse, its somehow even crashing my machine when I connect other USB devices ( I disconnect the devices properly, telling windows to eject them). This never happened before installing this adapter.
Considering how stable my machine used to be (3-4 months avg up time before I'd restart it), it's pathetic that it now blue screens every couple of hours. They haven't addressed this issue - their driver on the website is the same it's been for 2-3 years.
I've tried a fresh install twice already and am now looking for a better product from some other manufacturer!
Bottomline: DON'T BUY this if you value the stability of your system.
PS: I wish there was a 0 star rating. This doesn't deserve even 1 star.
Excellent [Posted on 2008-09-05]
Absolutely no problems, work as they said it would. As is with computer hardware, the updated drivers are a must.
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